Chapter 30: Pushing the Boundaries

Page 1 of 3

A sound? What sound?

Fang Qiang, wearing a gas mask, spoke in a muffled voice, but his hearing was unaffected. He cocked his head to listen. Apart from the wind rustling through the leaves, there was no other noise in the woods on the hillside. He circled the helicopter in a standard crawling posture, saw nothing unusual, and gestured to Ma Tian. But before he could lower his hand, a faint, indistinct sound—something like a cat’s mewling, yet not quite—reached Fang Qiang’s ears. Instantly, he tensed up, pressed close to Ma Tian behind a bush, and whispered, “It seems to be coming from the direction of the valley. Zombies?”

“Could be. Xiaohua? Can you hear me? We think there’s movement in the eastern valley. Anything from the satellite?”

“Nothing. The trees are too dense. The upper branches are heated by the sun, the spectral analysis shows nothing.”

“Director Zhang, Director Zhang?” Ma Tian turned to call for Zhang Fu, but got no response. It seemed they had already entered deep into the armory. During this time, the strange sound occurred twice more, deepening Ma Tian’s frown.

As the two hesitated, a man emerged from the woods at the foot of the hill. Judging by his build and gait, he was certainly not a zombie. He carried a white garment, and as soon as he stepped out of the trees, he began waving it, slowly climbing the slope toward the spot where the helicopter had landed. When he was about a few dozen meters from Fang and Ma, he sensibly stopped and shouted, “We are refugees! North Korean refugees! There are dozens of us. We mean no harm! We need help! A pregnant woman is about to give birth! We don’t have a doctor! Help us!”

His accent was strange, clearly from the North Korean side, but the meaning was clear enough.

The two men were stunned by this development. Ma Tian kept trying to contact Director Zhang, hoping for guidance, while Fang Qiang began to respond, “You go back and tell them: Only two people are allowed to carry the pregnant woman over! If there’s one extra, we’ll open fire!”

Ma Tian was immediately anxious. “Fang, neither of us is a doctor—what do we do if they really bring a pregnant woman here?”

“We can’t just watch someone die!”

“I know we can’t! But do you know how to deliver a baby?”

“Hell no! But we can’t just—”

“Stop with the ‘we can’t just watch someone die’! You call Director Zhang, I’ll find Xiaohua for ideas!”

“A pregnant woman? About to give birth? Wait a moment!” Yang Xiaohua was well-versed in emergency rescue. In less than a minute, she had a practical plan: “My suggestion is to fly the helicopter to the nearest rescue center. There are doctors there for emergencies. It won’t take more than forty minutes. But if you do that, your evacuation will be seriously delayed. Also, these are North Korean refugees crossing the border—by national and international law—”

At that moment, Zhang Fu’s signal finally came back. “What’s the situation?”

Fang Qiang gave a brief summary. Zhang Fu didn’t hesitate long. He said directly, “That’s two lives on the line—we still have to save them! Warn the refugees about landmines! Also, allow the women and children to board the helicopter, but only if they take off their outer clothes! The children must be completely naked, and the pregnant woman too! Women may board in their underwear only! Anyone with wounds, no matter what kind, cannot board—remember, better to lose face than lose your life, otherwise get lost! Xiaohua, notify the nearest rescue center to prepare epidemic prevention equipment. During the helicopter’s refueling stop, they must perform comprehensive epidemic prevention! Understood? We’ll arrive in ten minutes! Be careful! Don’t open fire unless necessary, but if anything unusual happens, shoot without hesitation!”

This was why Zhang Fu was a leader—he’d covered every angle in an instant. As his transmission ended, commotion erupted in the woods. Ma Tian and Fang Qiang watched as nearly a hundred people rushed out of the forest, heading straight for the helicopter! If these people got close, let alone taking off, the helicopter would be torn apart!

Ma Tian didn’t hesitate—he fired into the air above the crowd.

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Three shotgun blasts. The crowd on the slope halted at once. Fang Qiang seized the moment and shouted, “Where’s the pregnant woman? Send two people to carry her over!”

The crowd was silent.

A bad feeling flickered in Ma Tian’s heart. He called, “Where’s the man with the white flag? Come out!”

Again, only silence.

Losing patience, Ma Tian grabbed Fang Qiang’s submachine gun and fired a burst over the heads of the crowd!

The group shrank back in terror, and the man was pushed out by his own countrymen! He tried to slip back into the crowd, but several men kicked him out. Bowing his head, he shuffled up the slope.

Faced with this, Ma and Fang felt a chill. This man had risked his life, waving a white flag to negotiate with armed strangers for his compatriots, yet was so easily betrayed by his own in the face of gunfire. The selfishness revealed by the threat of death was all too clear.

The man stopped about thirty meters from the helicopter and called out in his odd accent, “We are all North Korean refugees.”

“Where’s the pregnant woman?!” Fang Qiang, already suspecting he’d been duped, barked the question harshly, annoyed with himself for having lost his temper earlier.

“There is...no pregnant woman. Oh, no, there’s no one about to give birth. There are women who are pregnant... The cries you heard were faked by a woman. I said that hoping you’d take pity and help us.”

“You wanted to appeal to our sense of compassion?!”

“Compassion? Oh, yes. If you agreed, we’d have pushed our luck.”

His use of “pushed our luck” was a little off for the context, but still fitting enough to leave the two men awkwardly speechless.

Page 2 of 3

“Tell the refugees to watch out for the red objects on the slope—those are landmines. Have the women and children come up first…” At this point, there was no way to send the people back to the woods. If a hundred or so of them rushed, two guns wouldn’t hold them back. Fang Qiang, wearing his strange mask, called Zhang Fu to report, while Ma Tian relayed the helicopter boarding requirements to the man, who translated for the refugees below.

There was another commotion among the refugees, but Ma Tian’s shotgun kept them in check. It had to be admitted: being stared down by a large-caliber shotgun made even the boldest reconsider—far more intimidating than Fang Qiang’s “tiny” Type 05 submachine gun.

The arguing didn’t last long. The women in the crowd began stripping and crawling up the slope. Whether the man had mistranslated, was exacting some private revenge, or these women simply cared nothing for shame as long as they could board the helicopter and escape this beautiful yet destitute land, they all ended up completely naked. Whatever their ages and figures, the sight of a dozen or so shimmering, undulating bodies at once left Ma Tian parched and Fang Qiang, an old hand, rather distracted.

Fortunately, both men knew their priorities. Even as they feasted their eyes, their vigilance never lapsed. When the last four women, each with a child, climbed the slope, Ma Tian guarded the men below, while Fang Qiang aimed the submachine gun at the huddled women and children. When Zhang Fu arrived with four subordinates, the situation was still under control.

During the withdrawal, Zhang Fu quickly grasped the situation. He allowed the women and children to board the helicopter under guard, which immediately took off for the rescue center, promising to return after refueling.

“Director Zhang, I’m very sorry,” Ma Tian said, admitting his mistake as the helicopter flew off.

“No, your decision was correct. Our work isn’t always ruthless. These stowaways are still people. If we can help, we should.” Zhang Fu still looked like a minor bureaucrat, but seemed distracted, as if old memories had been stirred by the refugees.

Ma Tian of course didn’t pry. The commotion at the foot of the hill snapped Zhang Fu back to attention, just as the North Korean man who’d acted as interpreter scrambled back up the slope, shouting, “There are demons in the woods!”

Demons? Zombies!

On reflection, it wasn’t surprising. The helicopter’s noise would have carried hundreds of meters, and Ma Tian’s three shots had likely drawn zombies in. It was only a matter of time.

Now there was no need for Ma Tian to speak. Zhang Fu, holding his Type 95 light machine gun, took up a forward position and instructed the North Korean: “Tell everyone at the bottom of the hill to lie down. I guarantee their safety. If anyone stands up and runs, and gets caught in the crossfire, that’s their own bad luck.”

The North Korean nodded and shouted down the hill, lying down himself. The others followed suit. Zhang Fu and his three subordinates took up shooting positions, awaiting the zombies’ appearance. Ma Tian, shotgun ready, guarded their backs, especially the slopes on either side of the ridge. Knowing he was a poor shot, he removed the choke from his shotgun—sacrificing power for a wider spread. His mind was made up: whether it was infected rats or shambling zombies, if anything living entered his range, he’d blast it to hell!

Zhang Fu began firing irregular short bursts. The three subordinates stood watch—he alone, with one light machine gun, was essentially flawless at two hundred meters. Any zombie that showed its head in the woods was met with precise three-shot bursts to the skull, sending brains flying.

Anyone watching this shooting would know Zhang Fu was no ordinary man. Two hundred meters may not sound far, but with only iron sights, a human at that distance looks no bigger than a pen! The head is barely the size of a pen tip! Yet Zhang Fu, with only his eyes, was landing triple headshots at that range—a remarkable feat.

During a brief lull to change magazines, Ma Tian was equally awed by the combat skills of the security team. The three fired from prone, each shot hitting a zombie leaving the woods. They didn’t even seem to aim—relying on instinct and feel for the gun. If one shot missed, the second never did. How many rounds did it take to hone such skill?

Watching from below, the refugees gradually quieted, some even rolling over to watch as zombies fell at the forest’s edge. Now and then, there was even a cheer in a foreign accent.

Zombies don’t appear in infinite numbers. After half an hour, the gunfire became sporadic. When it finally fell silent, and no more zombies emerged, Yang Xiaohua’s voice came over the earpieces: the helicopter had landed at the rescue center near Tonghua, refueled, and would return in thirty-five minutes.

“Hey, you! Yes, you! Come up here first! Tell the others they can sit on the ground, but don’t run around!” Zhang Fu beckoned to the North Korean interpreter.

The man hurried up the slope, keeping a respectful distance of five meters from Zhang Fu, and bowed deeply. “My name is Li Chengxian, electrical maintenance worker at North Korea’s No. 97 coal mine.”

“Chengxian? Interesting name. How did you learn Chinese?” Zhang Fu signaled his men to stay alert and asked casually.

“My father studied in China. So did I. Later, the leader our family depended on lost power, so we became workers, coal miners.”

Get sent to dig coal for making mistakes? That’s just like Kim the Third, Ma Tian thought to himself.

“Alright, no matter what, you’re still stowaways. But the epidemic situation on your side is dire. I won’t lecture you, but we can treat you as refugees. After passing epidemic checks at the rescue center, you can head to the rear. But don’t expect to be treated as citizens—you’ll have to fend for yourselves. Understand?”

“Yes, yes. May I translate this for my compatriots?” Li Chengxian remained respectful.

Before Zhang Fu could reply, the burly man nicknamed Old Dog interjected, “Boss, something’s wrong. A dozen or so North Korean refugees haven’t moved from the bottom of the slope.”

“Tell your people to all come up to the slope. Old Dog, if they don’t get up after Li Chengxian calls out, fire short bursts at those lying down.”

“Got it.”

“No! Isn’t that too much?” Li Chengxian tried to argue for his countrymen. Maybe they were just exhausted and dozing off? But Zhang Fu just flicked his eyes at him, and even through the mask, Li Chengxian felt as if a beast was sizing him up. He swallowed his words and obediently called out.

Before he finished, the refugees dared not object. They sat up at once, making it even clearer that something was wrong with the dozen still lying down.

Old Dog didn’t hesitate. Raising his Type 95 rifle, he fired four shots at the legs of four refugees.

Blood sprayed, but the refugees didn’t react.

Those sitting nearby saw the blood, realized something was wrong, and, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire, scrambled away in the opposite direction. The awkward shuffle was almost comical, but the atmosphere only grew tenser.

“Xiaohua! Notify the Tonghua rescue center immediately! Send more people to monitor the North Korean refugees—something’s off!”

Page 3 of 3

While Zhang Fu was speaking, several more refugees collapsed as they tried to move. The rest of the North Koreans panicked, fleeing in all directions despite the slope.

Some, in their confusion, stepped on landmines. The resulting explosions tore the mountainside with blood and limbs, plunging everything into chaos.

If these people—possibly carrying pathogens or infected with something strange—spread within the border, Zhang Fu knew he’d be a criminal. Without a word, he raised his light machine gun: “Free fire!”

In his peripheral vision, Li Chengxian lunged at him, shouting, “Gangangni!” (meaning “stop” in Korean).

Zhang Fu didn’t understand Korean, nor did Ma Tian, but it didn’t stop Ma from smashing Li Chengxian to the ground with his shotgun.

Li Chengxian hit the dirt. The security men opened fire. They might have hesitated to shoot women and children, but faced with possibly infected men, they didn’t. One shot per target—dozens of North Koreans at the perimeter fell, skulls burst open, spinning to the ground.

Even at this critical moment, Zhang Fu and his three men remained composed, making sure the refugees were killed before they could turn into zombies.

The remaining North Koreans, even without understanding the language, knew enough from watching their companions die in front of them. Someone took the lead, and the rest squatted with their hands on their heads in surrender.

With the situation under control, and before Zhang Fu could gather the surviving refugees, the dozen or so North Koreans who had been lying on the ground began to stagger to their feet. From their movements and those familiar howls, it was clear they had become zombies.

Luckily, these zombies were slow and exposed. After another seven or eight seconds of gunfire, all the fallen refugees were finished off, and calm returned.

Only then did Li Chengxian stagger to his feet. Not caring about the blood on his face, he switched to Chinese and stammered, “Don’t shoot! They…mean no harm!”

“Whether they mean harm isn’t up to us. I can promise you this: as long as they don’t run, even if someone turns into a zombie, our marksmanship will handle it. But if anyone tries to escape, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, alright.” Li Chengxian nodded hastily, tearing cloth to bandage his wound while translating Zhang Fu’s warning. After so much life-and-death terror, the refugees were numb; whatever Li Chengxian shouted, they obeyed.

With his men on alert, Zhang Fu turned his attention elsewhere. He pressed his earpiece and called, “Xiaohua, is there any trouble at the helicopter?”

“No, the rescue center was warned and has the women and children under guard. No reports of abnormality or zombification so far.”

Strange. Statistically, if these people had been exposed to zombie-infested water, the weaker women and children should have fallen ill first. Since nothing happened at the rescue center, the window of suspicion narrowed to the time after the helicopter took off until now. But during that time, no zombie could have reached the North Koreans, and those dozen who turned showed no prior symptoms. Where had things gone wrong?

Zhang Fu couldn’t figure it out for the moment. All he could do was ask, “Were the battle videos just now recorded?”

“Yes, Director Zhang.”

“Send them to headquarters for analysis now. Also, you all should consider what happened while staying alert. You’ve heard the updates from the rescue center, so we can basically rule out infection before the helicopter left. Oh, use your earpieces so Xiaohua can join the discussion. We’re on site—if we can reason it out, maybe we’ll save more lives.”

The last part was for Ma Tian.

“If those people lying down were bitten by rats or something, they’d have jumped up immediately. Just turning into zombies like that can’t be from wounds,” Ma Tian said, keeping his shotgun ready. Watching so many deaths had left him nauseous, but gripping the weapon made him feel steadier.

“Right, it definitely wasn’t from being bitten. Maybe they ate something bad? I remember meals are separated by gender in North Korea—maybe the men ate something the women didn’t?” Old Dog suggested.

“But eating something wouldn’t target people in one spot,” said the agent codenamed Lynx.

“People flock together,” another agent called Quickhand muttered, shaking his head.

“Not such a coincidence,” Zhang Fu said. He couldn’t see the cause either. “Zombie transmission is by two ways: bites, or contact with zombie fluids. None of these turned-fit either.”

“There’s another possibility: respiratory infection. I saw a case at the rescue center—someone got zombie blood in their lungs through the nose and turned,” Yang Xiaohua said, her rescue experience giving her more insight. “I replayed the video. At the start of the firefight, even those lying on the slope were lifting their heads to watch you shoot. Those dozen did too, but later lay flat. From the distance, they were closest to the woods, in the lowest part of the gully. Some others looked closer, but were higher up. I checked the wind—it was southeast today. A simple simulation shows those who turned were all downwind from the zombie horde. The others were upwind. So, it wasn’t coincidence.”

“Shit!” Ma Tian cursed. “You mean the blood from shot zombies vaporized in the sun and turned into zombie gas? At such low concentrations, people should be immune! If the zombie pathogen can go airborne, how would we even fight an epidemic? That’s doomsday…”

“It’s just a hypothesis…” Yang Xiaohua was hesitant herself, having followed the logic to a conclusion that frightened even her.

At this, even Zhang Fu couldn’t keep his cool. He growled, “This must stay secret! No one says a word until it’s confirmed by higher-ups! Got it? Xiaohua, set up a private channel for me!”

“Yes!”