Chapter 12: Very Good, A Reward
The fragrant scent of blood drifted through the breeze. The little zombie’s nose twitched; dropping the glass jar without a second thought, he bounded over to Pei Zhi. His eyes sparkled as he looked at the man, and with an eager growl, he lunged to snap up the meat on the ground.
With lightning reflexes, Pei Zhi snatched up the saucer, lifted it high above his head, and looked down calmly at the little zombie.
The little zombie cried out in frustration, spinning around Pei Zhi in frantic circles. His small hands reached up again and again, desperate to touch the plate.
Yet Pei Zhi stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, while the little zombie barely reached 1.7 meters. The overwhelming height difference made it impossible for him to get close no matter how hard he hopped. In the end, he could only peer up at Pei Zhi with an aggrieved pout, looking utterly heartbroken.
Pei Zhi’s heart softened. With a soft sigh, he picked up a strip of meat and held it out.
The little zombie’s face brightened instantly. Clutching the meat with both hands, he began tearing into it with ravenous bites.
Pei Zhi instructed quietly from the side, “Be more obedient from now on. You can only eat meat when I say so. If I haven’t given you permission, even if the meat is sitting right before your eyes, you are not allowed to touch it. Understand?”
The little zombie wolfed down the meat in seconds. His gaze remained glued to the plate in Pei Zhi’s hand, and he nodded vigorously to promise he would listen to every word.
Satisfied, Pei Zhi officially began training him.
“Sit.”
The little zombie dropped straight onto the ground without hesitation, his eyes fixed on the plate without wandering a fraction of an inch.
“Very good. A reward.”
Pei Zhi offered another strip. The little zombie took it, swallowed it down, and immediately sat up straight again like an eager puppy waiting for its master’s command—docile and perfectly behaved.
Pei Zhi found the sight endearing, a rare, faint smile curving his usually cold lips. Holding another piece of meat, he gave the next order: “Spin around.”
The little zombie promptly spun in a tight circle on the spot, lifting his chin with wide, hopeful eyes.
Pei Zhi lowered the entire plate to the grass before him. “Eat.”
Overjoyed, the little zombie pounced forward, burying his face in the dish as he chewed noisily.
Munch, munch…
“All right, stop!”
How could the boy possibly listen now? He kept right on chewing: Munch, munch…
“Stop!” Pei Zhi reached down, caught the boy by the collar, and hauled him off the ground. Even then, the little zombie kept a fat strip clamped between his teeth, hugging it tightly and refusing to surrender it.
Pei Zhi pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “Did you forget what I just told you in the blink of an eye?”
Nibbling tiny bites from the corner of his prize, the little zombie looked up at Pei Zhi with large, round eyes, his small face full of guarded suspicion—deathly afraid the man would snatch it away.
Steeling his heart, Pei Zhi confiscated the remaining half-plate entirely, his voice cooling down by several degrees: “Disobedient. No more meat for you today!”
The little zombie took a quick second to let out an aggrieved whine at Pei Zhi, venting a tiny complaint, before finishing off the scrap in his hands. Reverting back to an angelic, well-behaved boy, he hugged Pei Zhi’s arm to plead for mercy.
Pei Zhi stood firm. “You’re not listening at all. The second you smell meat, you forget everything else. How am I supposed to feel safe taking you outside?”
The little zombie cast a guilty glance at Pei Zhi, then buried his face sheepishly into the man’s chest.
“This is a human base,” Pei Zhi continued, softening his tone into a deliberate, patient warning. “If anyone discovers you are a zombie, they will drag you off for laboratory testing. You won’t have any meat to eat, and you’ll get stuck with needles every single day!”
Hearing that there would be no more meat, the little zombie finally grasped how serious the danger was. He looked up, tugged softly at Pei Zhi’s fingertips, and whimpered a contrite apology.
Pei Zhi stroked the boy’s soft hair and murmured gently, “Remember: you must never let anyone discover your identity.”
The little zombie nodded hard, letting out a determined chirp.
Pei Zhi then took out the supplies they had scavenged from the boy’s storage space.
He realized that even though the spatial realm belonged to the little zombie, Pei Zhi could freely reach into the boy’s pockets to deposit or retrieve goods.
He knew enough about spatial abilities to understand the rules: another person could only access a storage space if the user gave their full, willing trust.
Watching the little zombie hold his pockets wide open with pure devotion, Pei Zhi made a quiet promise to himself: through the rest of this ruined world, he would keep this little zombie by his side.
Turning in missions was straightforward; one only had to present the results at the base’s administration office.
The hall was set in a repurposed military academy building. It was not fancy, but it operated with crisp, military efficiency. In the center stood the reception counter, where duty officers coordinated assignments. The boards behind them were covered with requests for search-and-rescue runs, transport escorts, and horde sweeps.
It was nearly noon, and most squads had already left the base on duty. Holding the little zombie’s hand, Pei Zhi bypassed the short line and stepped up to the counter.
The young clerk looked up, his jaw dropping in shock. “Captain Pei! You’re back! I thought you…”
Realizing his slip, the clerk quickly corrected himself, “It’s wonderful that you’re safe, truly wonderful! Are you here to register a new assignment?”
Pei Zhi hoisted a heavy rucksack of supplies onto the desk. “Submitting the previous run.”
After tallying the goods and entering the records into the ledger, the clerk smiled warmly. “Understood, Captain Pei. The supplies brought back in Shen Qing’s transport truck have already been logged under your name. With the rescued survivors factored in, you’ve exceeded your quota. You’re cleared for a full rest day tomorrow.”
Pei Zhi gave a low grunt of acknowledgement. “Did Lin Feng return with Shen Qing?”
The clerk let out a heavy sigh, regret washing over his face. “He did… but he took a bite from a zombie. I’m afraid he won’t last much longer.”
“Where is he?”
“In the quarantine ward.”
Pei Zhi nodded, took the little zombie by the hand, and turned toward the exit. As they walked, he leaned down and whispered into the boy’s ear, “Be patient. You’ll have something to eat in a moment.”
The little zombie had taken the man’s lesson to heart: never bite people on his own, and only strike when Captain Pei gave the word.
He glanced left and right at the crowds of living meat strolling past him, wondering which piece Pei Zhi would let him sink his teeth into. Hearing that food was on the way, he let out a giddy squeak and squeezed the man’s hand tightly in excitement.
The quarantine ward was housed in an old military barracks on the western perimeter, its exterior walls slathered in bright warning-yellow paint. Two armed ability users guarded the checkpoint.
“Captain Pei!” Seeing him approach, the sentries snapped to attention.
“Take me to Lin Feng.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
Pei Zhi occasionally accepted missions to secure zombie tissue samples and carried special clearance throughout the medical blocks; the guards didn’t dare question him.
The facility was lined with private observation cells, divided into mild and critical wards.
There was no cure for the zombie infection. Those locked in these cells invariably turned, only to be humanely put down before the rot took complete hold.
Lin Feng was being held in a mild-case cell, though his condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Through the glass panel, Lin Feng could be seen leaning heavily against the concrete wall, gasping for breath. The puncture wound on his forearm was bruised a sickly blackish-purple. Black, spiderweb-like veins had already crawled up his limb and reached his collarbone.
His mind was fading fast. Hearing the lock turn, he turned his head with great effort, his voice parched and raspy: “Captain… Pei…”
“Open the door,” Pei Zhi instructed the guard.
The guard hesitated, trying to reason with him. “Captain Pei, he’s on the verge of turning. It’s too dangerous!”
“If anything goes wrong, I take full responsibility. Open it.”
The guard dared not object further, unlocking the heavy iron door at once.
The little zombie followed Pei Zhi inside. Spotting Lin Feng, his instincts told him that this was his intended meal. Darting forward, he pointed at Lin Feng’s arm and looked up at Pei Zhi with an inquiring gaze.
Pei Zhi gave an approving nod. “Go ahead. Bite.”
Lin Feng: “…”
The Food-hoarding Zombie Was Kidnapped by the Apocalyptic Boss
