Chapter 5: Purple Rain
Brigade Commander Chen turned and walked back to the command post set up in the town government compound. The largest conference hall had been converted into a temporary command and dispatch platform. On the main wall hung a massive world map, marked with an irregular number of red dots. A closer look revealed fewer red dots on the Ryukyu Islands and the Korean Peninsula, while Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Western Europe were more densely marked. The dots in Eastern Europe, Siberia, and Australia, however, were sparse and scattered. In stark contrast were North and South America. The red dots on the HK and the Canada looked like a few generously sized meatballs and shrimp scattered on a large pizza, while the nations of South America were like a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
The African continent and other regions were, for the time being, unmarked.
The conference hall's original oval table had been removed, replaced by several large, flat tables pushed together. On them sat a massive three-dimensional sand table, centered on Qinghe City and extending to the surrounding counties and towns. Most of the urban area was densely packed with small blue flags, completely blocking the exits to the east, south, and west. Only the northern passage remained, extending to Longtan Town, where a few scattered red flags were planted. Another lifeline, slanting towards the northwest, connected distantly towards the direction of Rongcheng.
Looking towards the northeast, across the Qinghe urban area, several more red flags were planted. These represented the remnants of the 52nd Mechanized Infantry Division, which had now retreated to the hilly terrain of Xiling County, backed against Yiling City, assuming a defensive posture. To the northeast and southeast of Yiling City, two large, dense clusters of small blue flags had appeared. The garrison in Yiling City had advanced to the Dangyang, Zhijiang, and Songzi lines to establish defenses and set up resettlement points.
This was the current situation in the southwestern part of Jingchu Province. Their forces were severely insufficient. Friendly forces in other regions were either tied down by other outbreak zones or needed to guard strategic locations and could not be moved lightly, lest opportunistic organizations try to fish in troubled waters or set fire to their backyard. The consequences of which would be unthinkable.
Although martial law had been implemented in some areas, recalling a large number of reservists, some could no longer answer the call. They had been corrupted by the meteorite virus, turned into walking corpses, and become enemies. As for the others, with transportation cut off and in remote areas, it was unrealistic to expect them to assemble and form a combat-effective force in a short amount of time.
Re-examining the situation on the sand table, Brigade Commander Chen sighed with emotion. Just over ten days ago, when he had led his airborne brigade on an emergency parachute drop into Qinghe City, he had never imagined the disaster would spiral so catastrophically out of control. Although Qinghe City was a fourth-tier county-level city, it governed 10 townships, 3 towns, and 172 administrative villages, with a total population of over 830,000. The main urban area alone was 17 square kilometers with a population exceeding 130,000!
At the time, his entire brigade at full strength was just over 5,000 officers and soldiers. They were tasked with guiding and evacuating over 100,000 civilians. It was a task that was utterly inadequate, like trying to put out a burning cart with a cup of water.
Although, after coordinating with the city government, the thousands of local armed police, special police, firefighters, and public security officers were quickly allocated to various sectors under unified command, they were still stretched thin. However, they were familiar with the local conditions, and as long as they coordinated properly, their task of holding out until the main army forces arrived would have been mostly complete. These local officers and the airborne brigade's soldiers had worked around the clock to ensure the safe evacuation of the populace. Many had sacrificed themselves on the spot, becoming food for the walking corpses. Others, after turning, had fallen under the guns of their comrades and colleagues.
In reality, no one had expected that the key point leading to such heavy casualties and a passive situation would be a belated order to open fire.
Typically, police officers could return fire or shoot to kill when attacked with dangerous weapons like firearms, explosives, or potent toxins, or when facing a violent mob that endangered their own lives, the lives of auxiliary personnel, or other citizens. This was legally justified.
But what about the army? This was domestic soil. They were here for disaster relief, not to fight a war. When attacked by the infected walking corpses, who would dare to shoot indiscriminately before the health and epidemic prevention department officially confirmed whether they were unconscious patients or bloodthirsty mutants? Did they think this was some zombie movie or TV show where you could just eliminate the enemy without any consequences? Who would dare to fire that first shot?!
Thus, a bizarre scene had unfolded on the streets. The main combat force doing the shooting was actually the armed police and special police, while the regular army was tasked with evacuating the civilians, with only a few soldiers holding riot shields and steel batons to assist in defense.
By the time the headquarters' order to open fire came down, the troops had already suffered significant casualties. The morale was particularly devastated when injured soldiers, after turning and suddenly attacking, would pounce on the medics or comrades trying to save them, tearing into them frantically.
Unwilling to dwell on those painful memories, Brigade Commander Chen rubbed his face with his hands, then took the wet towel handed to him by an orderly and wiped his face. He walked to one side of the command room, pushed open a window, and let the outside wind blow in to ease the frustration in his heart. The sky was already dark. They had only managed to send off the first batch of evacuees today. Tomorrow, when the convoy returned, they would try to send off as many as possible. He hoped everything would go smoothly from here on out.
Not long after, the sky flashed a few times, followed by a clap of thunder, and a fine rain began to fall. Brigade Commander Chen stared at the purplish-black clouds, his brow immediately furrowing.
On the streets, the people still queuing for supplies reacted to the sudden rain in various ways. Some, who naturally hated getting wet, cursed and took shelter into nearby houses, turning back to warn others not to cut in line. Others, who had long disliked the gloomy, humid weather, welcomed the rain as a chance to cool down, cupping their hands to catch the water and even splashing some on their faces.
It wasn't until the command post issued an emergency notice for everyone to avoid direct contact with, drinking, or using the rainwater that everyone finally scattered to take shelter. The soldiers on duty were soaked through. A local resident who lived some distance away had inadvertently collected a basin of the rainwater. After carrying it inside, they saw under the light that the water was a deep, unsettling purple. Frightened, they quickly poured it out.
This first rain since the disaster began continued until late into the night before gradually stopping.
An Tianhe had been on duty during the day and was resting at night. On top of not sleeping well the night before, he went straight to bed after dinner and slept like a log, only waking up around two in the morning with a full bladder.
He got up groggily, walked out of his room, and went to the toilet in the courtyard to relieve himself. Just as he was about to go back to sleep, he heard a neighbor's dog suddenly start barking frantically nearby. The barking was quickly cut short, as if its throat had been clamped shut, followed by a brief, urgent whimper, and then silence.
"You've got to be kidding me," An Tianhe muttered, feeling a pang of sympathy for the yellow mutt he'd seen during the day. He couldn't help but take another look.
Just as he turned to go back inside, a figure that looked human but didn't move like one stumbled out of the darkness of the first-floor living room. It made a sound like a dry, thirsty gasp for air. In the moonlight, half of its face slowly came into view.
Veins crawled from its neck up to the corners of its eyes. Fresh red blood overflowed from its eye sockets, dripping down to its chin. The entire eyeball was bloodshot, swollen like a goldfish's, as if it would burst open at any second.
As this humanoid thing reached the doorway, it seemed as if something inside it was writhing around, causing it to twist into bizarre, jerky poses. Then, it suddenly began to convulse all over as if having an epileptic seizure, before finally freezing and standing up straight.
In the moonlight, An Tianhe recognized the pale face, flickering in and out of the shadows. It was Xiao Hu!! How could this be?! How could he have suddenly turned? He was perfectly fine during the day! What the hell happened?!
Just then, Xiao Hu, who was now a walking corpse, locked his pinpoint pupils onto An Tianhe. He wasn't wearing his usual glasses. His mouth opened, snapping twice in the air, and then he let out a shriek and lunged at An Tianhe.
An Tianhe choked back a curse and only had time to sidestep, narrowly dodging Xiao Hu's lunge. Instinctively, he kicked out, sending Xiao Hu off-balance and tumbling to the ground, just as he often did in the search team.
But now, there were no teammates to pin it down with a steel baton, and no air brigade soldiers to deliver a finishing shot. An Tianhe felt a chill run through him, a cold sweat breaking out. An intense feeling of loneliness forced him to shout, "Guo Dazhuang! Zhang Jun! Old Li!! Stop fucking sleeping! Get up! If you don't get up now, you'll—"
Crash!
The glass on the second floor suddenly shattered, and a figure plummeted down. A soldier in a firefighter's uniform, covered in blood, collapsed on the ground. Luckily, the fall wasn't from a great height, and he didn't lose consciousness. He spotted An Tianhe, who was still frozen in place.
"Run! Run—" Before he could finish, Xiao Hu, who had already gotten up, pounced on him and savagely bit into his throat, tearing it out. Blood spurted high, splattering all over Xiao Hu's face.
When the pungent, rusty smell of blood hit his lungs, An Tianhe finally snapped out of his daze. Run! I have to run! It'll be too late if I don't!
He shakily started to move, the sounds of frantic tearing and chewing echoing in his ears. He subconsciously sprinted down the familiar path, but he forgot that he had only come out to use the toilet and his shoes were just slipped on, the heels not even pulled up. Sure enough, after only a few steps, his foot twisted and he fell.
The pain finally brought him fully to his senses. A powerful will to live made him ignore the ache. He scrambled to his feet and saw that only one shoe was by his foot; the other had flown off somewhere. Just then, he saw more infected people rushing out of the house. Gritting his teeth, he pulled on the remaining shoe and without daring to pause, sprinted towards the main street.
Before he was even halfway there, he heard the crisp sound of gunfire. His heart sank. Damn! There are infected people in the town too!! What the hell is going on!!
He glanced back and saw no walking corpses chasing him, which eased his mind slightly. As he neared the main street, he slowed his footsteps, scanning his surroundings to prevent any ambush from the shadows.
Occasionally, piercing screams came from the houses lining the street, only to fall silent moments later. Unarmed, An Tianhe could only creep forward along the base of the walls. Fortunately, most of the infected seemed to be inside the houses; the outside was relatively safe for now.
A weapon, I need a weapon!! His gaze darted towards the direction of the equipment depot, then back to the empty street leading out of town. He gritted his teeth and headed deeper into the town.
The closer he got to the temporary equipment depot, the denser the gunfire became. He could even hear the voices of living people, which bolstered his courage. He broke into a sprint, leaped, and grabbed the top of the town government's compound wall. As he swung his leg over, he was spotted. A voice shouted, "Freeze! Who goes there?!"
"It's me! It's me! I'm with the search team..." In his panic, his words came out slurred.
"Get down here, and do it slowly!" The voice under the light from the compound was sharp and quick.
"I really am with the search team. My captain's name is Gao, Captain Gao from the Airborne brigade!" An Tianhe didn't dare make any extra moves as he climbed down the wall, quickly reporting his superior's name.
Hearing Captain Gao's name, the man's attitude softened. "Turn around. I need to see if you've been bitten!"
"No, no! Definitely not!!" An Tianhe shook his head vigorously.
"Your word isn't enough. I have to check you myself!" The man said, walking forward with his gun raised.
"I'll check him. He really is from my team. Liu, thanks for the hard work." A familiar voice came from behind him.
An Tianhe turned to look. The man was of medium height, with dark skin and a grim, poker face. It was Captain Gao.