Dark Civilization Volume 1 Chapter 3

Book 1 Chapter 3: Hunting Zombies

"Are we to keep hiding here?" Ye Zhu swept her gaze across the pristine room, due to the immaculate surroundings; there weren't any insects like c.o.c.kroaches or mosquitoes to be found, it was perfectly safe in this room.

If it were any other normal place, once the apocalypse struck, there would immediately be numerous bared fangs and flas.h.i.+ng claws from the numerous mutated rats, c.o.c.kroaches, mosquitoes, and other monstrosities….

Ye Chen shook his head; he glanced out the window to see the sky covered in dark clouds, thunder rumbled in the distance and the winds outside were howling like mad, it was as though the heavens were weeping for the tragic fate that awaited humanity.

"Tomorrow, at the break of dawn, I'll be zombie hunting!" Ye Chen's eyes were gleaming, hiding away while slowly diminis.h.i.+ng their food supply was simply a delayed death sentence. The virus culminating in the bodies of the infected would only continue to multiply and evolve, by the time their food supply was diminished and were forced to confront the already strengthened zombies, it would be no different that throwing their lives away!

"What?" the absurd idea of Ye Chen heading out to hunt zombies left Ye Zhu utterly gob-smacked, "You can't, it's simply too dangerous!"

Ye Chen patted her head, with a smile he said: "Relax, I'll be alright. Right, it's getting late, so let's get some rest!" Having said so, he headed to one of the large beds, grabbed a comforter and dumped it on top of the sofa. "I'll be sleeping in the living room, if anything happens, I'll be the first to know, you should sleep in the bedroom."

Ye Zhu stared at her brother in amazement, she quietly muttered: "Such a disaster occurred, yet you're able to sleep so soundly?"

Ye Chen chuckled while whispering: "This is only just the beginning…."

The next day, at the break of dawn when the first rays of suns.h.i.+ne shone through the windows and landed on Ye Chen's face, he slowly opened his eyes. Glancing at the bedroom door, he felt a surge of warmth throughout his heart, he had once experienced an everyday life of hiding at certain locations, waiting for the break of dawn before heading out to hunt monsters. Day after day, repeating this way of life like a soulless machine, numbed him to his very core. 

But today, he was no longer fighting by himself….

With a bright smile, he got up and brushed his teeth, got dressed in some thick clothes, armed with a watermelon knife as well as a bottle of gasoline strapped in the pocket of his camo pants, it was his contingency for dealing with a large pack of zombies. Other than the gasoline, he brought along a box of matches, it was only sensible to bring matches if he planned to ignite gasoline.

By the time he was done preparing, Ye Zhu had also awakened, wearing her white night gown, she lazily strolled out of the bedroom before stretching herself. This girl had clearly no sense of alertness that was required during an apocalypse, looking at the well-dressed Ye Chen, she exclaimed: "Big brother is so handsome!"

Ye Chen almost choked on his own saliva, he grudgingly eyed her saying: "Breakfast is in the kitchen, I'm off, and don't you go wandering about."

Ye Zhu giggled and nodded.

Ye Chen could only smile bitterly. Peering through the peephole; he observed that the coast was clear throughout the corridor with no sight of zombies whatsoever, he confidently opened the door and walked out.

"Brother!" Ye Zhu gently called from behind.

Startled, Ye Chen turned around to glance at her in puzzlement.

Ye Zhu was standing next to the sofa with a fist raised, saying: "Be careful!"

Ye Chen felt a sense of warmth; he smilingly closed the door behind him.

She waited for Ye Chen to leave, before heading to the kitchen for breakfast, after she was done eating; she did not relax, but instead started doing pushups in the middle of the living room!   

"Big brother, Xiao Zhu will not be a hindrance to you!" Ye Zhu's forehead started perspiring, after ten or so pushups, he fair and delicate arms began trembling from fatigue.

Still, she gritted her teeth and continued.

Upon leaving the room, the door locked behind him with a 'click', cutting off Ye Chen from his safe haven. With his smile withdrawn and his demeanor grave, he gripped the watermelon knife close to his chest, that way, he could instantly slash at any zombie that he came upon. This method of gripping the knife, was ingrained into him through his ten years of living in the apocalyptic world, any other amateur would just grip it close to the side of their pants, delaying their reaction time towards zombies, often proving fatal….

While traversing the silent corridor, Ye Chen treaded carefully on the deep red carpet, making as little noise as possible, he didn't go very far, only arriving at the left room opposite to his.

The door was ajar; a slight breeze blew gently from behind it.

Ye Chen held his breath, with his back against the wall, he used his foot to carefully prop open the door. Like the unfolding of a prologue, the door slowly opened, the scene of the entire room gradually came into view. Before Ye Chen could take everything in, he discovered a youth in dapper clothes wearing a white checkered hat standing right behind the door.

As the door swung completely open, the youth slowly raised his head, his face was deathly pale along with multiple pustules, the corners of his mouth had lines of blood slithering downwards….

Zombie!

Ye Chen was jolted, however he did not retreat, instead, he swiftly waved the watermelon knife towards the zombified youth, if he retreated now, it would only lead to attracting even more zombies.

The zombified youth's milky green eyes instantly flared with ruthless savagery as it let out roar, moving like a wild animal, it pounced towards Ye Chen aggressively, with razor sharp nails, it encircled its arms around him, intending to flank him oh both sides.

Ye Chen was already quite familiar with such an attack pattern, any other person would have lost their cool in a panic, with only a knife and one shot to split the zombie's head open, if the strike was not lethal, what awaited was death by the zombie's claws.

Ye Chen calmly executed a straight kick towards the zombie's lower region; the sudden force of the kick caused the zombie's body to bend, instantly stopping its movement mid-pounce, almost at the same time, he jabbed the watermelon knife from below into the zombie's chin.

Squelch!

Blood came squirting out of the zombie's mouth; it was probably the forced clenching of its maw that caused it to snap off its own tongue.

Ye Chen could only sigh inwardly; a watermelon knife was not as useful as a proper blade, the tip of it had a flat edge, otherwise he could have easily pierced into the zombie's brain. However, now was not the time for idle thoughts, immediately after his failed attempt at a one-shot, he kicked out once again to put some distance between them.

Ye Chen did not stop there, he once again s.h.i.+fted his grip on the knife, with its blade facing outwards, he aggressively dashed towards the zombie, immediately after he neared, the zombie once again pounced.

Ye Chen's gaze was frigid, with a straight kick, he struck the zombie in its left flank, the sensation was like hitting a speeding motorbike, when it came to a contest of strength, the zombie was three times stronger!

The kick was precise and swift; retracting his leg in an instant, cutting off any chance for the zombie to grab his leg, though the recoil caused Ye Chen to tilt backwards slightly, the kick successfully killed the zombie's momentum, bringing it to a halt.

An opening!

Ye Chen's eyes were gleaming, on retracting his leg; he borrowed the momentum and spun his body in a circle, using the watermelon knife in a reverse grip with its edge facing outwards, he swung a vicious arc towards the zombie's neck.

Sphhhlt!

The knife bit into the zombie's neck, however it wasn't sharp enough to go all the way, stopping in the middle of its throat. Ye Chen did not attempt to twist the blade, doing so would only damage it, he pulled it out with his left hand and crouched to deliver a low sweeping kick attempting to topple the zombie, the sensation felt like kicking two steel bars, his foot was throbbing in pain, however there was no room for second thoughts. As the zombie lost its balance, it stumbled forward.

It was now of never!

Ye Chen seemed to have awakened his body's full potential, with the watermelon knife in a reverse grip, his body in a crouching stance and the zombie toppling towards him, he aimed the knife towards the zombie. With all the strength he could muster, he cut into the wound on the zombie's neck, taking its head clean off.

Thud!

The head fell like a ball to the ground, blackish blood oozing from the gaping wound where it was severed, emitting a rancid odour.

As for the zombie without a head, it continues to struggle, flailing its limbs around madly, Ye Chen had antic.i.p.ated this and did not relax the instant he decapitated the zombie, instead, he kicked his foot forward sending the headless zombie tumbling backwards, after a few moments of wild flailing, it finally slumped powerlessly to the ground.

This entire exchange may have been slow to describe, however from start to finish, this encounter only lasted 30 seconds! Ye Chen no longer paid any attention to the dead zombie; instead he swept the room with his gaze, the room was clearly in quite a mess, with bloodstains everywhere. It was fortunate that there wasn't a second zombie, if it were two against one; he would have been forced to pay a heavy price.

It should be noted, that a zombie was quite the powerhouse, having strength equivalent to three adult men combined, as well as possessing three lethal weapons, its infectious maw and two sets of razor sharp claws, the difficulty of confronting such a foe was immense, the average person would require a considerable number of favourable conditions in order to overcome them, more often than not, only death awaited.

Phew! Ye Chen heaved a sigh, turned and closed the door, looking at the zombie corpse, he calmly got to dissecting its torso, revealing its innards, they were still in pristine condition with no signs of decay whatsoever, only they were black, even the numerous bones throughout the body had been turned pitch black, as though they had been coated in a layer of black paint, so dark that it glistened.

Ye Chen covered his hand with a plastic bag and began rummaging through the innards of the zombie, other than the various pitch black organs, he didn't discover any "mutagenic flesh", he couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.

"Crunch-crack!"

Suddenly, from the corners of the room came a low chewing sound.

Ye Chen was startled, he reflexively gripped the watermelon knife before turning to a.s.sume a standing position, it looks like the noise came from somewhere behind the bed in the bedroom.

Ye Chen furrowed his brows, he slowly crept closer. Circling around the bed, in the corner, he saw a little girl dressed in a white one-piece dress squatting in the corner facing the wall, she seemed to be fiddling with something with her hands whilst her body trembled incessantly, her frail build made anyone who saw her feel a sense of pity.

"Little girl." Ye Chen called out.

The girl seemed to be terrified of strangers; she continued to hide in the corner facing the wall, hands fiddling with a certain something that was obscured by her dress, curious, Ye Chen approached closer.

"Little girl." Ye Chen called out once again and patted her on the shoulder.

The girl slowly turned around, she had a head of beautiful black hair, under her disheveled black hair, were a pair of milky green eyes, the corners of her lips were stained in blood, and in her hands, was a half-eaten human hand….

"Rrrargh!"

 The little girl ferociously tried to take a bite out of Ye Chen, alarmed, his hand holding the knife by his chest seemed to lash out on its own, it sunk into the little girl's left shoulder, yet that was as far as it went, Ye Chen was inwardly frustrated, this was after all just a watermelon knife meant for melons, not a butcher's knife for slaughtering people….

Ye Chen did not rely completely on the watermelon knife, even with the knife lodged in the girl's shoulder, it did not dampen her ferocity one whit as she came pouncing over, it was as though she was incapable of feeling pain. Without another word, Ye Chen heavily kicked the girl in the chest; the sound of her ribs shattering could be heard, slamming her right into the wall.

With a foot firmly pining her down, he ruthlessly hacked at her skull, ka-shluk! The girl's head was cracked open, blood slithered from the center of her forehead like worms, in her final moments; she glared at Ye Chen with eyes full of bloodl.u.s.t, greed and rancor!

Translator's Notes:

Ye Zhu calls herself Xiao Zhu here, this seems to be a nickname of hers as I have seen her brother call her similarly later on, Xiao meaning little.

EinCisco: If you couldn't tell, I have been improvising on the zombie roars and other various sound effects as I felt translating them as "Roar!", or "Kaka!" and Puchi! (sound of puncturing flesh) seemed a tad bland, let me know what you think!