Chapter 1: So Hungry
Qiaoqiao hadn’t eaten a full meal in nearly half a month.
Dragging her stiff body, she wandered through streets devoid of any living souls. Due to extreme hunger, her steps felt floaty and unsteady, and the scenery before her eyes began to blur.
Two months ago, a catastrophic zombie virus swept across the globe, and Qiaoqiao was unfortunately infected, turning into a zombie.
She noticed that after others became zombies, they grew incredibly strong, with green faces and protruding fangs—terrifying yet imposing. At the time, Qiaoqiao envied them immensely, thinking that in such a form, no one would ever dare to bully her again.
So Qiaoqiao hid herself away and secretly observed how other zombies dealt with humans. She spied for two full days until she finally believed she had mastered the essence: wear a fierce expression, roar loudly, and bare your fangs to scare them into tears!
Full of confidence, Qiaoqiao set her sights on a human who looked particularly strong—his flesh must taste absolutely delicious.
As a result, Qiaoqiao was knocked down by his single move.
If she weren’t smarter than ordinary zombies—if she couldn’t play dead—she would have died all over again.
After this lesson, Qiaoqiao finally accepted her status as a total weakling.
Being naturally optimistic, Qiaoqiao decided it was best to hide behind her companions and just nibble on tiny bits of meat.
But she never expected that not only would humans bully her, but her fellow zombies would also despise her weakness, refusing to share any food with her.
Qiaoqiao felt utterly ostracized; she could only trail behind the main zombie horde, whimpering and scavenging tiny scraps of meat just to fill her stomach.
At first, things were fine. Since Su City was densely populated, Qiaoqiao managed to eat her fill every day. But later, when Su City fell—humans either devoured or driven into hiding—Qiaoqiao began to starve.
By now, it had been nearly half a month.
Hungry zombies always possess an incredibly keen sense of smell. Qiaoqiao, still dazed and confused, suddenly saw her cloudy white eyes light up as she caught the scent of something exquisitely delicious.
Her spirits instantly lifted; there must be companions feasting nearby. If she quietly crept over, perhaps she could snag a few scraps of meat. With that thought, Qiaoqiao felt both energized and a touch disheartened.
She’s so weak… is she destined to merely scrape by for the rest of her life?
Oh well, one must be content; humans can’t endure hunger as well as zombies can. It’s a good thing she turned into a zombie, otherwise she would have starved to death on the streets.
With that thought in mind, Qiaoqiao had already reached the spot where the scent lingered. She remembered that just earlier today, a zombie horde had erupted right here. Fearing she might get caught in the chaos, she had deliberately kept her distance before the fighting even began.
So, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were humans here too.
Qiaoqiao shuffled over slowly and began rummaging through the corpses one by one. They were all bodies of her own kind; not a single human could be found.
Qiaoqiao didn’t give up; she grabbed a zombie by the hair and flung the one blocking her path aside.
Then, caught completely off guard, she met a pair of eyes.
Human eyes.
A person.
A complete, living human being.
Qiaoqiao gradually grew excited.
Someone who would lie amidst a pile of zombie corpses must be an even weaker creature than herself.
She, Qiaoqiao, though weak, would one day be able to feast upon a whole, living person!
Mommy, I don’t have to starve anymore, sob sob!
A living food reserve that can last for so long—she’s mine!
Thrilled, Qiaoqiao pounced toward her living food reserve.
Lu Mie’s temple twitched as he watched this inexplicably excited female zombie; he raised his hand, intending to block her as she lunged at him.
Qiaoqiao hadn’t expected this human to possess the strength to fight back, let alone with such force. Caught completely off guard, she was shoved to the ground by him.
Qiaoqiao was stunned.
Lu Mie was equally bewildered.
Were zombies in the early days of the apocalypse really this weak?
Obviously not; the emaciated zombie standing before her was a clear exception.
Lu Mie rose to his feet, brushed off the zombie blood staining his clothes, and walked toward Qiaoqiao.
Qiaoqiao felt like crying but found no tears; instinctively, she opened her mouth to call for help from her companions, only to have her lips swiftly covered by his quick hand.
Qiaoqiao clawed at his hand, then bared her pair of tiny fangs at him.
Lu Mie saw her about to bite him and reached out to dislocate her jaw, but he was a moment too late; Qiaoqiao had already sunk her teeth into his rough palm.
Surprisingly, there was no pain, only a faint itch, as if a tiny kitten had gently scratched her.
Lu Mie: “…”
Boohoo… she had no experience biting living humans; all the humans she’d ever encountered were already dead. Even gnawing on corpse flesh took her ages.
Qiaoqiao shamefully clamped her mouth shut and turned her head away, ceasing her cries. Besides feeling utterly embarrassed, there was another reason: she sensed that the human before her harbored no malice.
Lu Mie found her quite amusing, so he clenched one hand into a fist and pretended to smash it down on her head.
Qiaoqiao was startled by him; instinctively, she curled into a ball, hugging her head.
…so practiced it broke his heart.
Lu Mie had never encountered a zombie with such tiny courage; she was truly an embarrassment to the notoriously fearsome undead.
He lowered his hand and, regardless of whether she could understand him or not, said, “Don’t make a sound, or I’ll kill you.”
The man’s voice was pleasant—deep, slightly hoarse, carrying a steadiness that put one at ease. Yet upon closer listen, its tone leaned toward cold indifference.
Qiaoqiao, unable to appreciate such qualities, quickly nodded and instinctively shuffled into a small corner, clearing a wide path for him.
Lu Mie discovered that she could actually understand his words. Surprised, he decided not to leave just yet.
Qiaoqiao grew frightened as he continued walking toward her.
He crouched down before her, bringing his eyes level with hers as she sat on the ground, hugging her knees.
Lu Mie asked in a low voice, “Little zombie, are you very hungry?”
Qiaoqiao hesitated, then nodded.
Could this human possibly cut off his own flesh to feed her?
If that were the case, Qiaoqiao felt she would be deeply moved.
But unexpectedly, he reached out again, placing his hand right against her lips: “Come on, bite.”
If only her teeth weren’t in such poor condition, Qiaoqiao would have gnawed on him without hesitation. She was truly starving.
But this person looks so annoying.
Qiaoqiao reached out with both hands, holding his finger to her lips, opened her mouth wide, and took a big bite.
Still, she couldn’t bite through.
He seemed greatly amused, letting out a low chuckle.
Qiaoqiao whimpered, pressing harder until the metallic tang of blood finally filled her mouth.
So sweet. She wanted more.
But she didn’t dare bite down again.
Shamefaced, Qiaoqiao spat his finger out and gazed at him uneasily, terrified he might strike her.
She couldn’t bite him to death; if he were infected by her and turned into a zombie, she would be even less capable of defeating him.
Lu Mie, however, felt no anger.
In this post-apocalyptic world, some people possessed formidable immunity and could not be infected by the zombie virus—he was one of them.
“Let me feed you,” he said with unexpected mercy, offering his blood-stained fingers to Qiaoqiao’s lips.
Qiaoqiao, having received permission, happily clasped his hand and sank her teeth back into his finger, sucking up every drop of overflowing blood until it was clean.
This person’s blood smells so sweet, yet there is so little of it.
Remembering Lu Mie’s earlier promise to feed her until she was full, Qiaoqiao eagerly discarded the nearly drained finger and lunged toward him, aiming to sink her teeth into his vulnerable neck.
That spot offered the tenderest flesh, easiest to tear open, but Qiaoqiao had never had the chance to try it herself; she only knew this because her zombie companions had boasted about it to her.
So, Qiaoqiao wanted to give it a try.
And then show off in return.
This time, Lu Mie promptly grabbed her messy hair cascading down the back of her head, his voice tinged with danger: “Little zombie, don’t get greedy. Or I’ll twist your head off.”
If a zombie’s head gets twisted off, that means true death.
But he had clearly just said he would feed her; she had only taken a tiny sip of his blood, yet now he was threatening to twist her head off.
A stingy, good-for-nothing liar.
Qiaoqiao glared at him angrily, then immediately cowered and lowered her head again.
Lu Mie’s hand, which had been gripping her messy hair, paused for a moment before gently smoothing it down in the same motion, as if comforting a small dog.
“You can’t bite here,” he said, as if explaining.
Qiaoqiao pouted.
Fine then.
If you won’t bite, then don’t.
Lu Mie glanced at her, then rose to his feet. As he stood, he effortlessly pulled Qiaoqiao up with him.
Once she was standing straight, Lu Mie realized just how petite and frail she truly was.
Gazing at her face, which was now indistinct and unrecognizable, one could only faintly discern traces of youth. She was likely just a girl of eighteen or nineteen, blooming like a flower when the zombie virus struck her. What a pity.
To be honest, Lu Mie had only ever seen humans turn into zombies and then “binge-eat” themselves into bloated monstrosities; he had never encountered one as pitifully emaciated as Qiaoqiao.
But Lu Mie’s pity ended there.
Originally, he had planned to hide among the nearby pile of zombie corpses to survive the night, intending to find a way out once daylight arrived. However, unexpectedly, not long after he had settled into his hiding spot, Qiaoqiao had dug him out.
The fact that even such a weak zombie could discover him fully demonstrated that this place was not safe for surviving the night.
So Lu Mie decided to find another place to hide and wait until dawn before taking action.
With this in mind, he casually chose a direction in the night and set off to explore.
Seeing him walk away like that, Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but rub her still-empty stomach, then dragged her stiff body along, slowly following Lu Mie. But he walked so fast; even when she was human, she might not have been able to keep up with him, let alone now as a zombie with a completely rigid body.
Qiaoqiao opened her mouth and said, “Wait for me…”
But she could not speak; the only sound that escaped her lips was the guttural growl of a zombie.
Qiaoqiao was weak not only in body but also in voice. Her faint sounds could hardly be called roars; they resembled more the whimpering of a small beast.
The surroundings were so quiet that Qiaoqiao’s sudden noise stood out with jarring abruptness.
Lu Mie halted his steps, turned around, and gazed at Qiaoqiao, who stood far away from him.
At that moment, behind him, zombies had already heard the sound Qiaoqiao made and were heading in their direction.
Left with no choice, Lu Mie ran toward Qiaoqiao.
Seeing his fierce approach, Qiaoqiao thought he was coming to attack her. Terrified, she quickly curled up, covering her head with her arms.
But Lu Mie had no intention of settling scores with her; instead, he simply dashed past her.
Qiaoqiao realized what was happening and panicked; she struggled clumsily to her feet, emitting a frightened whimper from her throat.
Her companions would surely attack her upon seeing her here, smelling the scent of humans yet unable to locate any.
Lu Mie’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
He saw the female zombie standing foolishly in place, gazing at him with cloudy white eyes that seemed to well up with tears.
Lu Mie had seen such a look before.
It belonged to his distant past life.
Lu Mie turned back, reached out to yank Qiaoqiao over his shoulder, and sprinted headlong in the opposite direction.
Qiaoqiao rested on his shoulder, struggling to lift her head.
She noticed the surroundings becoming increasingly familiar.
Qiaoqiao extended her finger, tugging at the clothes on Lu Mie’s chest, then pointed in a certain direction.
She called out softly, seemingly urgent, hoping Lu Mie would heed her.
Since he had no direction anyway, Lu Mie decided to trust Qiaoqiao’s words. Hoisting her onto his shoulder, he ran toward the direction she indicated.