Rewriting My Fate in the Apocalypse

"The first zombie army will reach its target in eighteen hours."

The words left the atmosphere inside Leng Pan’s space unusually heavy.

Zhao Kun stared at the moving red point on the map.

"Can you see which base they are targeting?"

"Not from this map," Leng Pan replied. "It only shows the location."

The image created by the two crystal fragments had very few labels. Most of the symbols did not belong to any language she knew.

She could understand the warning because the smaller purification shard had sent the meaning directly into her mind, but it did not explain every detail.

Lu Zhen memorized the target’s position.

"We can compare it to our paper maps."

"We should go outside first," Leng Pan said. "The others need to know what is happening."

She stored the smaller shard again.

The blue crystal continued floating above the ground.

Its light had dimmed after revealing the map, but the red point still moved slowly inside it.

Lu Zhen placed it inside several layers of isolation barriers before they left.

If the aliens could detect the crystal’s energy, keeping it exposed could lead another recovery unit directly to them.

Zhao Kun tried to stand.

His legs gave way before he could take one step.

Lu Zhen caught his arm.

"You are not strong enough to leave."

"I could still help identify the area."

"We will bring the map here."

Zhao Kun did not argue.

He had only recently escaped the roots that had been draining his body. Wanting to help did not mean his legs would cooperate.

Leng Pan gave him another piece of medicinal chocolate.

"Eat this and rest. We will return if we need more information."

Zhao Kun accepted it.

He looked down at the chocolate.

"I never thought I would eat something like this again."

"It is medicine."

"It still tastes better than anything I ate before the apocalypse."

"That means Uncle Li would be very happy."

"Who is Uncle Li?"

"Our family chef."

Zhao Kun looked at her strangely.

"You still have a family chef?"

"The apocalypse took away many things, but it did not take away his profession."

Lu Zhen placed a hand on Leng Pan’s back.

"We should go."

"I am going."

"You were starting another conversation."

"He asked a question."

"He asked one question. You would have answered ten."

Zhao Kun watched them leave.

For some reason, their casual exchange made him feel safer than any grand promise could.

These two had walked into a nest filled with alien parasites, killed the creature controlling it, and rescued hundreds of people.

Yet, they could still argue about a family chef as if the world outside was normal.

Maybe humanity had not lost everything yet.

Leng Pan and Lu Zhen returned to the village and found the team gathered around the captured aircraft.

Assistant Yao had managed to bring down the second one as well.

It had landed more smoothly than the first craft, although one side of it had crushed Chief Gao’s vegetable fence.

No one felt sorry about the fence.

Lu Tao was standing inside the open hatch of the first aircraft.

He had changed his shirt and wrapped a bandage around his arm.

"Did you find out how to fly it?" Leng Pan asked.

"Not yet."

"You have been inside for a long time."

"I know how to turn on the lights."

Lu Hao stepped down behind him.

"He turned them off and could not switch them back on for ten minutes."

"There were too many buttons."

"There are no buttons."

"That is the problem. Everything appears when you touch the panel."

Assistant Yao came out last.

"The aircraft can fly automatically, but most destinations are locked. We would need an alien’s biological signature to access the full system."

"Didn’t you use one to open the hatch?" Lu Zhen asked.

"The entry scan only requires a handprint. The main controls require the person to be conscious."

Lu Tao looked towards the houses where the alien prisoners had been separated.

"We could wake one up."

"They are already awake," Silk said.

She walked towards them while holding several rolls of thread.

"They are pretending to be unconscious whenever someone enters."

"How do you know?" Janna asked.

"One of them tried to untie the others."

"Did he succeed?"

Silk raised the thread in her hands.

"Does it look as if he succeeded?"

No one needed to ask further.

Leng Pan spread an offline map across the hood of their lead vehicle.

Lu Zhen pointed towards the location they had memorized.

"The zombie army is moving in this direction."

Ouyang Jin studied the map.

"There are two bases in that region."

"Which one is larger?" Leng Pan asked.

"Qinghe Base."

"How many people live there?"

"The last report estimated more than eighty thousand. However, that was several months ago."

"What about the second one?"

"Nanping Base. It was established by a private security company."

Ouyang Jin traced the roads with his finger.

"It only had around ten thousand survivors when we last received information."

"Which one would the aliens target?" ZaiZai asked.

"Probably Qinghe," Lu Hao said. "It has more people."

"Unless they want to test the army on a smaller base first," Sonny replied.

Both possibilities made sense.

The location on the crystal map was somewhere between the two bases.

They could not identify the exact target without better information.

"We need to warn both," Leng Pan said.

"The communication devices we have won’t reach that far," Lu Tao replied.

"What about the aircraft?"

Everyone looked towards the captured crafts.

"If we can unlock the communication system, it might connect to other military networks," Assistant Yao said. "Even if it cannot, we could fly there ourselves."

"How long would that take?" Leng Pan asked.

"I don’t know."

Lu Tao leaned against the hatch.

"It is an aircraft. It should be faster than driving."

"That is a very professional assessment," Lu Hao said.

"You are welcome."

"We still need an alien to unlock it," Ouyang Jin reminded them.

Lu Zhen looked towards the separated prisoners.

"Then we should ask one."

The alien chosen for questioning had pale blue skin and silver markings around his eyes.

He appeared to hold a higher position than the others.

Silk dragged him into the open space and secured him to a metal chair.

The alien looked at everyone with contempt.

Lu Tao crouched in front of him.

"Can you understand me?"

The alien said nothing.

"He understood us during the battle," Blaze said.

"Maybe he only understands Commander-level conversations."

"That is not a language."

"It could be."

Lu Zhen took one of the captured weapons.

When he activated it, the device translated his words into the aliens’ language.

"Unlock the aircraft."

The alien replied immediately.

The weapon translated his answer.

[Primitive organism.]

[You cannot control our technology.]

Lu Tao’s face brightened.

"He understands."

"That is what you got from his insult?" Lu Hao asked.

"It means the translator works."

Lu Zhen remained calm.

"Unlock the aircraft, and you will remain alive."

[Your threats have no value.]

[The High Command will recover us.]

"They already left you behind," Leng Pan said.

The alien’s expression did not change.

[We will be recovered.]

"They had two empty aircraft and still escaped without you."

[The commander had a priority mission.]

"Of course he did."

Leng Pan crouched in front of him.

"He had to save himself."

The alien looked at her.

[The High Command knows your location. You will be captured.]

"You should worry about yourself first."

[My death would serve the mission.]

"That can be arranged," Lu Zhen said.

Leng Pan touched Little Vine.

The green bracelet slid from her wrist.

It changed into several thin tendrils and moved towards the alien.

For the first time, his contemptuous expression changed.

He tried to pull away, but Silk’s threads held him in place.

[Keep that organism away from me.]

Little Vine paused.

Then it moved closer.

The alien’s silver markings darkened.

[It has consumed the Mother.]

"So you know what it can do," Leng Pan said.

[It is contaminated.]

Little Vine slapped his leg with one tendril.

It seemed offended by the description.

"I would choose my next words carefully," Leng Pan advised. "It understands more than you think."

The alien stared at the vine.

Little Vine opened the ends of several tendrils.

It did not possess a mouth, but it made its intentions very clear.

[What do you want?]

"I already told you," Lu Zhen said. "Unlock the aircraft."

[You cannot pilot it.]

"It has an automatic system."

[The navigation network will report your location.]

"Can we disable that?" Assistant Yao asked.

The alien remained silent.

Little Vine climbed onto his knee.

[Yes.]

Lu Tao smiled.

"I like this vine."

"You like it because it is threatening someone else," Lu Hao said.

"That is still a reason."

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