Chapter Eight: There Are Different Kinds of Zombies

Although he had managed to scare off that powerful zombie, Ma Yi’s heart remained heavy. Now that he had become a zombie himself, what was he to do? Happiness seemed just within reach, but for others, this was a disaster.

Yet, in Ma Yi’s eyes, his life was nothing short of heavenly—good food, good drink, a beautiful woman by his side, no overtime, no scolding from bosses, no disdain from clients. Everything was idyllic.

But what should he do now that he was a zombie? All the good things he’d dreamed of were about to come true, yet he had been transformed. Sighing, Ma Yi sat on the curb, cigarette dangling from his lips, gazing at the once-bustling city in the distance. The noise of traffic was gone; except for the occasional screeching of zombies, everything was peaceful.

Ma Yi truly couldn’t find joy in his situation.

Although he hadn’t infected Liu Wen during their days together, the thought that he might accidentally infect her haunted him. He would regret it forever if that happened.

There was no real emotional foundation between the two; their bond was merely a pretext for surviving the apocalypse together. Before the end of the world, Ma Yi had secretly admired Liu Wen for her beauty, but she was just one of several women he fantasized about while peering out his window.

Old Chen’s eldest daughter next door, in the bloom of youth, was another of Ma Yi’s silent crushes. The wife of Old Qian from the rooftop—a classic mature beauty at thirty-five, well-maintained, fair-skinned, always made up like a street girl—was enough to stir the blood of every man in the neighborhood. Many liked chatting with Old Qian’s wife.

Especially in summer, when she wore a leopard-print dress, every time she crouched down, a crowd of men would crane their necks, wishing they could stick their heads right under her skirt.

But after a few days of contact, Liu Wen’s standing soared above the others. Though they hadn’t exchanged any passionate words, her presence eclipsed the rest in Ma Yi’s heart. Most crucially, now Ma Yi lived under the same roof with her.

Compared to distant dreams, the reality before him was much more tangible—cooking meals together, chatting, sharing moments of joy and sorrow. Every glance and smile was woven into his daily life.

“Forget it, one step at a time,” Ma Yi said to himself, rising from the curb. He’d been lost in thought so long that the sun had moved high across the sky. He’d been out for hours; Liu Wen would surely worry.

He pushed his cart noisily down the street, openly ignoring the clusters of lesser zombies.

Sighing, Ma Yi tapped gently on his iron door.

“Liu Wen, open up, I’m back,” he called.

Someone hurried inside, quickly unlocking the door. Liu Wen peeked out, and upon confirming it was Ma Yi, relaxed her tense expression and opened the security lock.

Liu Wen looked surprised as Ma Yi carried bag after bag up from below, as though he’d emptied out a whole store.

“So much stuff!” she said, happily gazing at the array of food filling the living room—four sacks of fifty-pound rice, totaling two hundred pounds. There were all sorts of snacks and sealed cooked foods. Her cheeks flushed when she spotted a bag of women’s underwear beneath the pile of snacks, all of them rather sexy. Embarrassed, but knowing she hadn’t changed her undergarments in days, Liu Wen grabbed the bag and darted into the bedroom. The desire for cleanliness was as vital as beauty itself.

Ma Yi watched her disappear, knowing full well what she was up to. He smiled and began neatly organizing the supplies along the edge of the living room.

At times like these, Liu Wen didn’t care whether the underwear needed washing—water was more precious than most things.

Changing into clean underwear, Liu Wen felt instantly refreshed, her smile brighter. She joined Ma Yi in sorting the supplies, grouping those that could be stored and those that needed to be eaten soon.

After everything was sorted, Liu Wen, with Ma Yi’s help, began preparing dinner. Most of the food was ready-made, especially the cooked dishes, requiring only reheating.

Ma Yi found the meal exceptionally delicious, his first time sitting face-to-face with Liu Wen, sharing food. Looking at the beautiful woman before him, Ma Yi felt deeply satisfied. He’d happily spend a lifetime here.

Now, Ma Yi didn’t need to use the bathroom at night. He laid a bedroll by the living room wall; the sofa was too small for his height.

Having realized there was no danger outside, Ma Yi spent several more days wandering, and in that time, learned a great deal about the zombies.

Most were ordinary zombies—people bitten or mutated, the most common kind, filling the streets. Their strength was about twice that of a normal adult, and their speed slightly faster. Humans stood little chance against them. Fortunately, their eyesight was poor; beyond fifteen meters, they couldn’t see.

But their sense of smell and hearing were sharp. Ma Yi tested their hearing—a disturbance within one hundred meters would attract them, pinpointing the source no matter how hidden. Their sense of smell was effective up to one thousand meters, though Ma Yi hadn’t determined the exact range.

Ordinary zombies had obvious weaknesses: destroy the brain or central nervous system and the zombie lost its mobility. Severed arms, legs, or even losing half its body didn’t stop them otherwise.

The second type of zombie was more interesting—similar to Ma Yi himself: tall and strong, three times the speed of a normal person, four times the strength, standing about two meters tall. They could be spotted from afar. Unlike Ma Yi, their recovery ability was weaker, but their defense matched his.

Their heads and spines remained vulnerable. Ma Yi had fought several of these zombies to gather this data. Unlike ordinary zombies with endless stamina, these would tire. Most importantly, they had regained a bit of intelligence—like young children. After a few beatings, they learned to run at the sight of Ma Yi.

Luckily, such formidable zombies were rare; Ma Yi found only one after searching over a dozen neighborhoods, suggesting the mutation required special conditions. Their massive bodies resembled generals among zombies, so Ma Yi dubbed them Type J zombies.

The third kind was the swift, wall-climbing zombie Ma Yi had encountered. He’d not found another like it in days. Small, pitch-black, and fast, Ma Yi called these assassin zombies, or Type S.

The fourth type was also extremely rare—one in several thousand. They had a large bulge at the neck and could spit balls of strong acid. Their speed matched ordinary zombies, but their strength was weaker. The acid balls could be fired fifty meters; wood and iron were easily corroded, steel resisted longer, but plastic was barely affected—even shopping bags could withstand the acid for a long time. Ma Yi called these projectile zombies, or Type P.

Ma Yi’s range was limited, so he’d only discovered these four types so far. There might be others under different conditions elsewhere.

These days, Ma Yi’s outings weren’t in vain. He saw survivors in nearby neighborhoods, but due to his unique condition, couldn’t bring them along. He provided them with information on nearby supplies and shared his observations about zombies, hoping they’d survive longer.

Aside from his excursions, Ma Yi visited the basement each time he returned, where he had locked up two zombies found during his sweeps. One was Old Qian’s voluptuous wife from upstairs, the other a female zombie who had once been a beauty.

Ma Yi dared not touch Liu Wen, fearing he might transmit the virus. But with zombies, he’d experimented—there was no issue. Zombies didn’t emit the rotting stench seen in movies, and their healing abilities far surpassed humans, whether male or female.

Wounds healed slowly, and their skin felt smooth, much like a sphynx cat’s.

Over the past days, Ma Yi noticed some male zombies’ sexual organs were gradually degenerating, moving toward asexuality, while others were mutating their sexual organs. This sparked a strange thought in Ma Yi’s mind.

Most female zombies were evolving toward a more balanced physique. After several confirmations, Ma Yi concluded that whether they were nearly two hundred pounds before, or just chubby girls, after turning into zombies, they slimmed down daily, their proportions becoming ever more graceful.

With repeated experiments, Ma Yi even felt that zombies might eventually evolve into a new species, gradually supplanting humans on Earth.