I Opened a Clinic in the Apocalypse

The sky gradually darkened, Wen QingLing walked on a road filled with zombies. None of the zombies dared to approach him, they all kept their distance.

Wen QingLing was the same as them, aimlessly wandering about, he didn’t know where to go.

At this moment, he was deeply aware that he was no longer a human. He had become a zombie.

He stood on the desolate and broken street and felt empty inside.

It’s already been two years since the start of the apocalypse. In the beginning, the military was still able to control the situation, organize evacuations, establish bases, and accommodate survivors. But there were so many zombies they were uncountable and no base was able to resist a zombie siege.

A month into the apocalypse, all machines in the country stopped working, the entire world fell and the situation completely went out of control. The survivors would only rely on themselves to survive.

Three months into the apocalypse, the first ability user appeared and gave hope to mankind. But this hope was quickly accompanied by despair because while humans awakened abilities, zombies and mutated organisms were continuously evolving.

A vaccine had to be developed, otherwise humans would not have a future.

The zombie virus was constantly evolving new variations, it was impossible to research a successful vaccine.

To this day, the base has been re-established four times in different places and under different leaders.

Wen QingLing and other survivors constantly transferred, their base was already destroyed three times. Many people died, but there were also any who joined.

This was their fourth time rebuilding and it has safely stood for three months. He originally thought that he would always stay at the base, up until he died when he was scavenging for resources.

Turning into a zombie with consciousness was something he never would have imagined.

He was abandoned by his base.

His former companions now gathered to kill him all because he was a zombie and zombies must die.

He didn’t willingly become a zombie and he also didn’t harm anyone. Why didn’t he have the right to live? Why did he have to be killed?

None of the zombies became like that because they were willing. So why didn’t any of them have the right to live regardless of their good and bad?

Are there good zombies?

Wen QingLing didn’t know, but he wanted to be a good zombie.

A zombie that doesn’t eat humans.

Not only him, he believes that his mom and dad would also be a pair of good zombies.

After his daze, he had a direction.

He wanted to go home. Since he was no longer human, why not reunite with his parents who also weren’t human?

A whole family together, even if they were all zombies, that was still family.

Wen QingLing found a car on the street and drove home towards South City to find his parents.

When the apocalypse began, he rushed home from school and saw his zombified parents. Back then, he couldn’t bear to watch his parents aimlessly wander, so he locked them up inside. They should still be there.

There were zombies everywhere within the neighbourhood. Wen QingLing parked the car on the first floor and climbed to the twelf because the elevator was broken.

He made it all the way up in one go. The exhaustion Wen QingLing thought he would experience did not happen. His stamina was inconceivably good.

Everyone had lost their homes after the apocalypse, but Wen QingLing had always carried his house keys. It was like he thought that as long as he had the keys, his home would still be there and that he could return whenever he wanted.

It was originally just a comfort, he hadn’t thought that it would come true, but he really did return home.

It was extremely quiet inside. The dark was unable to obstruct Wen QingLing’s vision.

He went directly to the storage room. There were no windows, only a door, as long as he closed it, his parents wouldn’t be able to leave.

Wen QingLing opened the door, two zombies laid on the ground, their bodies had decayed to the point one couldn’t make out their original appearances. Although a zombie wouldn’t die until their head had been removed or shot, they would enter into a state of suspended animation after a long time of not having eaten.

Wen QingLing put his backpack down and took out a dagger from the side pocket. He cut his wrist and dripped some blood into the two zombies’ mouths. He could barely feel any pain and the wound quickly healed itself.

Just when Wen QingLing thought to make another cut, a violent gasp suddenly sounded. The two zombies shot up abruptly, their breathing recovered, and then they lunged for Wen QingLing’s backpack, ripped open the zipper, pulled out a blood anemone, and began wolfing it down.

Wen QingLing, “…”

Mamma Mia, is this what beggars can’t be choosers mean?

The scent of blood filled the storage room, Wen QingLing got up, internally he was shocked, externally he continued to have no expression.

However, something more shocking happened after each zombie devoured an entire blood anemone. Their bodies began to change, previously where one could see their ribs, they grew new flesh and muscles, their faces which had decayed until they were unrecognizable also began to restore itself.

Right in front of Wen QingLing’s eyes, they went from decomposing zombies that barely resembled something humanoid to his completely intact parents.

The two zombies who had just come out of hibernation, drank blood, and ate blood anemones were still in a daze.

Wen QingLing, “Hi, mom, do you recognize me?”

Jiang Lan¹蒋 (Jiang) – surname Jiang

兰 (Lan) – orchid suddenly raised her head, she looked at Wen QingLing expressionlessly. “Why didn’t you go to school? Our clinic is still waiting to be passed down to you. Even if you don’t like learning medicine, you also need to consider the future. As long as you become a doctor, you won’t be unemployed, unless there comes a day where all of humanity becomes extinct…”

“Mom, mom, my beloved mother!” Wen QingLing interrupted her rant, “Please just let me say one thing, doctors have already become unemployed.”

“Bullshit! Your father, I, am still alive, how could doctors all suddenly become unemployed?” Wen Zheng²闻 (Wen) – to hear/smell

征 (Zheng) – journey/expedition or to invite/recruit confidently admonished his son.

Wen QingLing faced their pressure. “A doctor’s skills lose to healing-type abilities.”

Wen Zheng, “What’s that?”

Wen QingLing finally understood, his mom and dad’s memories remained at before they became zombies.

Wen QingLing, “We’re two years into the apocalypse. Think carefully, you just changed back from being zombies.”

Wen Zheng and Jiang Lan tried to remember and then they looked to each other.

Jiang Lan, “I think your belly is rotten.”

Wen Zheng, “I think your face is rotten.”

Jiang Lan, “Even if you’ve become a zombie, you are still the most handsome zombie dad among zombies.”

Wen Zheng, “You are also the most beautiful zombie mom.”

His parents were rarely so lovey-dovey as they expressionlessly embraced each other.

Wen QingLing, “…”

Beauty in the eyes of the beholder?

It was so ugly that he could cry, alright? But he didn’t dare to say it.

Jiang Lan’s temper flared again and began to scold her son, “You wanted to starve me and your father to death by locking us in here? Is that something a person would do?”

Wen QingLing was weak and helpless against his mother. “I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find you guys if you wandered off.”

Wen Zheng placed his hands on his hips, the poise of an old manager overtook him. “A vaccination has been developed, right? We’ve become human again?”

Wen Qingling, “No, maybe not completely human.”

Jiang Lan, “Then what are we?”

Wen QingLing braced himself as he said, “A self-aware zombie family?”

Jiang Lan, “…”

Jiang Lan, “You’ve also become a zombie? Weren’t you uninfected?”

After that, the three zombies sat together and listened to Wen QingLing narrate everything that happened in the past two years. He emphasized that he was pushed into a zombie horde by Xu ShengFei, bitten by zombies numerous times, secretly attacked and stabbed by a wooden thorn, before finally becoming how he was currently.

Wen Zheng, “…”

Wen Zheng didn’t dare to speak, he feared that this fire would spread to him.

Of course, even if he didn’t speak, the fire still spread to him.

Jiang Lan slapped his head. “Look at the child your good big sister raised! A heartless ingrate! To think I looked after her for a few years, is this how she repays me?!”

Jiang Lan stood up. “My son, where’s that lousy base of yours? Your old mother is going to bite them to death!”

Wen QingLing and Wen Zheng each held onto her from the sides.

Wen Zheng, “The outside is teetering with zombies, don’t carelessly run around.”

Jiang Lan shook him off, “I’m also a zombie, what’s there to be scared of?!”

Wen QingLing, “The base has a lot of ability users. They’ll kill you.”

Jiang Lan similarly shook him off, “I’ll organize our fellow zombies and bite them together!”

Wen QingLing shook his head in disapproval. “Comrade Jiang Lan, your thoughts are very dangerous. You must restrain them. We must be good socialist³society-conscious/oriented zombies. First, let’s start with not biting people.”

Wen QingLing’s head suffered a punch.

Jiang Lan, “Fuck being good! My son was pushed to feed zombies and you want me to be a good zombie?! After I kill that ingrate Xu ShengFei, then I’ll answer the call!”

“Mom, mom, mom!”

Wen QingLing clung to her legs, Wen Zheng hugged her waist, even with two zombies weighing her down, it still didn’t stop comrade Jiang Lan’s angry footsteps.

Wen QingLing was suddenly struck by inspiration and cajoled, “Mom, we don’t need to find her, she’ll come on her own.”

Jiang Lan flew into a rage, “She still dares to come?!”

Wen QingLing, “As long as she still wants to kill me, then she’ll definitely come. Since I’ve become a zombie, as long as she still has some intelligence, then she would definitely be able to guess that I’ll return here to find you guys.”

“Good, then I will wait for her here!”

Jiang Lan plopped onto the floor and sat down. Wen QingLing quickly rolled to the side, he’d almost suffered a fatality.

End of Chapter 2

Wen Family Daycare:

WQL and WZ: young miss Jiang Lan, you must not bite the other children.

JL: …*raises fist*

• 1

  蒋 (Jiang) – surname Jiang

  兰 (Lan) – orchid

• 2

  闻 (Wen) – to hear/smell

  征 (Zheng) – journey/expedition or to invite/recruit

• 3

  society-conscious/oriented