After saluting the sentry at the door, "he" walked out of the property center and walked towards the community hospital opposite, and people saluted "him" from time to time along the way, and "he" saluted one by one, "Captain Gu Wei?" ”

"In Ward 302, she just had an amputation."

"He" looked impassive, but his heart was a little unhappy, the amputation - which meant less limited anesthetic. Hell, these resource homes can't produce at all right now, and last month they issued a document requiring minor surgeries not to use anesthetics "unless necessary" – in other words, just put up with it! But Gu Wei, this child, wasted limited resources on a civilian, and a worthless civilian. It's really, so capricious!

"He" came to Ward 302 and pushed the door open.

Gu Wei, who was standing by the bedside, turned his head and smiled: "Mom, why are you here?" ”

"He" is actually her, a middle-aged female officer, with the rank of colonel, a little thin, although the military uniform is straight, worn on her, but it is a little empty. Just from the background, it is impossible to tell whether it is a man or a woman, and staying up late for a long time makes her voice as hoarse and ugly as a man.

Seeing her daughter with a bright smile, she rarely relaxed her expression, but quickly straightened her face again: "Captain Gu Wei, you went out without permission again today." ”

Gu Wei seemed to be accustomed to her mother's blunt speaking attitude, she walked to her mother's side with a smile, held her hand and said: "Mom, fortunately I went in time, this child's frostbite is already very serious, after carrying her to the snowmobile, I have been rubbing her whole body with snow blocks, which has lasted until the health center, but the child's toes can't be saved, and if you wear special shoes in the future, it will not affect your life." ”

The female colonel faced her daughter's bright smiling face, unable to maintain her seriousness. sighed: "You kid, you're the only one in the home, and you always violate the rules." You must have used anesthetics again when you operated on this child, right? I say it repeatedly. Narcotics are a first-class regulated resource, and for a long time, we simply couldn't produce it. A few days ago, Academician Zhong had a toothache and was about to have his teeth extracted, and he was in his 70s, so in order to save a little anesthetic, he didn't have a tooth that was dialed by anesthesia. But it's better that you're using such a precious resource on an alien survivor......"

The more the female colonel spoke, the more angry she became, and her voice gradually became higher, and with her mother's accusation, the smile on Gu Wei's face gradually faded, and she couldn't help but argue: "Mom, the child is still young, if you don't use anesthetics." The sharp pain of removing her toes would have caused her to go into shock. I can't take that risk. ”

"That means you shouldn't have brought this child back in the first place! It is strictly forbidden to take in outside survivors, it is a resolution unanimously passed by the committee, Captain Gu Wei. Your unauthorized actions have violated military orders! The colonel jerked her arm out of her daughter's palm.

Gu Wei has been begging for perfection since her mother entered the house, and now she finally can't help it, she sneered and said, "Committee? They're just your henchmen! They never object to anything you say. For them, it was enough to keep this home, this place to survive! ”

Slap, a crisp slap sounded in the ward.

The female colonel slapped Gu Wei hard, and looking at the swollen palm prints on her daughter's face, the female colonel shouted: "Captain Gu Wei, you disobeyed orders because of insulting your superiors. Kept in confinement for three days. ”

Gu Wei calmed down at this time, she cut her hair, held her head high and said, "Did I say something wrong?" Hmph, under the banner of saving all mankind, in fact, he is shrinking here as a turtle. It's been almost a year, and there is no shadow of the legendary vaccine! Obviously, there is such a strong force. I could have rescued more survivors, but I didn't do anything, I just hid here to live a small life. Vaccine! Vaccine! How long will it take for this thing to come out?! Maybe by the time you work out the vaccine, all the survivors out there will be dead! At that time, the vaccine will still be a fart! ”…,

The female colonel remained silent in the face of her daughter's questioning, she walked to the door and shouted, "Someone." ”

Immediately, a soldier wearing a red sleeve of "duty" on his arm ran over and snapped upright: "Please instruct the commander." ”

"Arrest Captain Gu Wei and stop her from all her duties and ...... The corresponding treatment was tried by a military court for the crime of ......"

"The crime is that the daughter did not listen to her mother." Another man's voice came from the door.

The female colonel and Gu Wei turned their heads at the same time, and an old man came in at the door, with gray hair, rimless glasses, tall and thin, and a thin and narrow face - his image had appeared in the media many times during the SARS period, and he was the only one who dared to say the truth that many people did not dare to say.

The female colonel immediately greeted her: "Academician Zhong, why are you here?" ”

The old man, who was called Academician Zhong, smiled: "I heard a daughter and her mother arguing, so come in and take a look." ”

He said to the soldier on duty who was still upright: "Let's go, let's go, two women are quarreling, what are you doing when you get involved?" ”

The soldier on duty looked at the female colonel, and the female colonel nodded slightly, and he hurriedly saluted Academician Zhong and exited the ward.

The female colonel pulled a chair and asked Academician Zhong to sit down: "Old Zhong, I'm really sorry to alarm you, your time is so precious......"

Academician Zhong waved his hand: "The old turtle who is still breathing, what is there to be alarmed or not alarmed." ”

Gu Wei's face was flushed, knowing that she had just said something unscrupulously when she was in a hurry, and the old man heard it, she dared to accuse her mother, but she didn't dare to be disrespectful to this old man with a very honest conscience, she blushed and bowed to Academician Zhong: "Uncle Zhong, I'm sorry, I, I said nonsense." ”

Academician Zhong waved his hand: "I don't blame you, I don't blame you, in fact, not only are you anxious, but I am also anxious." You're right, a year has passed almost and we haven't made any progress, old man, I'm sorry for the old and young in this homeland, and I don't have the face to see those comrades who have sacrificed. And what we are most sorry for is the countless survivors out there struggling to survive. ”

There was silence in the ward for a while, Academician Zhong sighed, and said to the female colonel: "Commander Xia Zhen, just let me ask you for a favor and let this little girl stay in the homeland, and her rations will be deducted from my share." ”

Female colonel-Xia Zhen nodded: "Understood, I will inform the logistics department." ”

Gu Wei gritted his teeth in anger - his mother is really unkind, and Academician Zhong is a lot older. How can his food quota be deducted?! She stood up and said loudly: "Captain Gu Wei, the deputy chief physician of the field hospital, reports, asking for permission to ......"

Colonel Xia Zhen interrupted her: "Please not allow. She helped Academician Zhong up: "Old Zhong, I'll accompany you home." ”

Academician Zhong said: "People are old. Unlike young people who are thirsty and sleepy, I have thought of some plans for vaccine research, and I am about to go to the laboratory, Commander Xia, if you are okay, come with me. ”

Colonel Xia Zhen helped Academician Zhong walk a few steps, and Academician Zhong turned around. said to Gu Wei, who was gritting his teeth and glaring: "Child, don't blame your mother, she is an amazing woman. ”

Gu Wei was about to chase out and continue to reason with her mother, there was a painful moan from the hospital bed, she knew that this was the little girl's anesthetic that had failed - she didn't know how the home lacked anesthetics, so the minimum dose was used when the child was operated, after the effect had passed. The child would have been in great pain – the toe had been frostbitten and had lost sensation due to necrosis of the peripheral nerves, but now after surgery, the necrotic part has been removed. The feeling of numbness, itching and pain is not something that a child can bear. The reason why she stayed by the bedside was that she wanted to wait for the child to take care of her after the effect of the medicine, but she didn't expect to have a big quarrel with her mother, and even scolded Academician Zhong a little. …,

Gu Wei hurriedly trotted to the side of the hospital bed and held the hand of the child who was dancing wildly: "Good boy, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, you have been saved." ”

Not to mention that Gu Wei took care of the little patients, Colonel Xia Zhen helped Academician Zhong all the way to the top floor of the health center.

After opening a gate guarded by two heavily armed soldiers. The two talked as they walked.

Academician Zhong sighed: "Commander Xia, everyone's mood is not good, there are many people like Xiao Gu who are skeptical about the progress of the vaccine, but they don't dare to say it in public." ”

Colonel Xia Zhen hurriedly said: "Academician Zhong, don't listen to Gu Wei's nonsense. She is my child, she always talks nonsense, violates discipline, I should have disciplined her well. ”

Academician Zhong shook his head: "Commander Xia, although I am buried in the laboratory, it does not mean that I really turn a deaf ear to what is going on outside the window - in fact, not only the soldiers, but even the committee are dissatisfied with the lack of progress in vaccine development. I've heard that many people are already talking about how instead of sticking to the Year of the Monkey to develop a successful vaccine, it is better to use the force we have to fight out, gather more survivors, expand the construction of homes, or even simply occupy an old industrial city and kill zombies with guns and cannons. ”

"Rat-eyed!" Xia Zhen said categorically: "As long as I am the commander of the homeland for one day, I will not agree to this kind of sacrificial thing for a day." ”

Academician Zhong said: "Don't blame them, they are actually good people - everyone in the homeland is a real warrior." They just can't bear to see the survivors out there suffering and doing nothing on their own. ”

Xia Zhen sighed: "On this issue, we have argued many times at the beginning of the construction of our homeland, and those who have different opinions have also chosen their own paths, and I don't want to waste my precious time on this meaningless battle for routes." Looking left and right, advancing and retreating, in the end, can only achieve nothing. I firmly believe that a vaccine is our only hope. Mr. Zhong, I'm sure you think so too. ”

Academician Zhong nodded: "You are right, but I will once again tell you seriously as a scientist that the research on vaccines is not a big luck, and I dare not guarantee and cannot guarantee when it will succeed - maybe, we will never succeed." ”

Xia Zhen said categorically: "If we can't succeed, then hand over this business to Gu Wei and them, and one day, we will definitely succeed." ”

The two walked and talked all the way, on both sides of the laboratory they passed, there were dissecting beds, on which there were zombies tied, some were complete, some had become parts, there were glass containers next to the dissecting bed, and the unknown liquid was filled with all kinds of internal organs, the most was the head of the zombie, if you looked closely, you could see that the lips and eyelids of the zombie head soaked in the container were still moving, and when you saw the two of them walking by, their teeth would cluck and bite each other.

There are a few dissecting beds, bound to the wisdom corpses, their appearance is much neater and cleaner than the zombies, seeing Academician Zhong and Commander Xia Zhen come in, one of the wisdom corpses also said hello loudly: "Alas, old Zhong, are you here again?" I don't sleep when it's so late. It's really tiring. You're not a smart corpse, you can't learn from us not to sleep, you're not young, but you have to take care of your body. ”

Commander Xia Zhen hadn't been to the lab for a while. It was the first time I saw such an "enthusiastic" intelligent corpse, and I couldn't help but look at it twice.

Academician Zhong noticed her expression and said casually: "It-well, he knows me, you know, I am more or less a celebrity, and my appearance rate is quite high." So he recognized me as soon as he was taken prisoner by our fighters a few days ago. ”

The wise corpse said dissatisfiedly: "Old Zhong, I don't just know you, I admire you very much." What you have done is worthy of the evaluation of the backbone and backbone of Chinese traditional knowledge practitioners. But then again, old bell, your research on me and my companions is useless. Really, I don't lie to you. I know what you're doing. Isn't it just researching vaccines, I can imagine it with my heels as soon as I get here. But you are doomed to failure, there is no vaccine for biochemical viruses. I think this thing is an evolution. Look at me, immortality, isn't that cool? I said old clock, don't be busy in vain. It's true. You are now in your 70s, and your life is rare for 70 years, who knows when Lord Yama will call. If you want me to say, if you let me bite you, you will be as immortal as I am. If you're lucky, you'll be able to retain your IQ like I did, and become what you call a smart corpse. ”…,

Academician Zhong looked at Colonel Xia Zhen. He winked mischievously like an old child: "Look how I tease him." ”

As he spoke, he took out a strawberry from his pocket, deliberately stood in front of the long-winded corpse, slowly put it in his mouth, took a bite, and said in his mouth: "Hey." The strawberries in this greenhouse were harvested a little early, and they looked red and a little sour. ”

The verbose corpse's eyes were as big as a searchlight: "Old Zhong, old Zhong, you are not kind, you are not kind, you know that this is what I am most hungry for now, fuck, you can't understand the pain of those of us who don't feel it - Lao Tzu doesn't feel it even if he eats apples in his dreams." You are deliberately torturing me, right? It's a loss to you. ”

Academician Zhong ate the entire strawberry and wiped his mouth: "So, I don't want to be a piece of walking corpse like you, what is the difference between such a so-called 'living' and dead." ”

Ignoring the smart corpse, Academician Zhong opened his office at the end of the laboratory, and after inviting Colonel Xia Zhen to enter, he closed the door with a bang, leaving only the smart corpse still chattering: "Who said that Lao Tzu is dead, Lao Tzu still feels very good about eating raw meat." ”

As soon as he entered the closed office, Academician Zhong immediately returned to his old state, he sat behind his desk and gently tapped the table with his fingers full of age spots: "Commander Xia, you see, the evolution of biochemical viruses is too fast and too fast, what is the difference between that intelligent corpse and a human?" We measured his metabolism, heartbeat, blood pressure, and body temperature, and confirmed that if this was really a person, it could only be a vegetative state. But he, since he entered the laboratory, has not eaten a mouthful of food or drunk a sip of water, but he is still alive. ”

Colonel Xia Zhen remained silent, these words of Academician Zhong are all clichés, it is not once or twice that they have dealt with the corpse in their homeland, and everyone will be surprised at the beginning, but now they have turned a blind eye. Everyone has to admit that these zombies with wisdom are more advanced than ordinary zombies, and the "smart corpse" that Gu Wei inadvertently blurted out has also become the standard name for this new type of zombie.

Colonel Xia Zhen coughed: "Elder Zhong, although I don't want to rush you, I still want to ask, how is the progress of the vaccine?" ”

Academician Zhong didn't answer, he fumbled and took out a key from his body, walked to an incubator with a combination lock by the wall, first entered a long list of passwords, and then used the key to open a mechanical lock, and then took out a test tube from the incubator.

In the test tube, there is a small half-bottle of clear liquid.

Needless to say by Academician Zhong, Colonel Xia Zhen's breathing immediately became heavy -- the vaccine, this is the biochemical virus vaccine developed by the homeland after nearly a year of successive deaths and injuries.

Academician Zhong's hand suddenly loosened and snapped, the test tube fell to the ground, the glass tube wall cracked very neatly under the impact of the cement floor, and the vaccine became a thin puddle of water stains on the ground.

Without waiting for Colonel Xia Zhen to be angry and crazy, Academician Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "Vaccine? This thing is not even as harmful to the cyborg zombies as a tube of clear water. ”

"Failed, utterly failed."

"Bioviruses are completely different, unlike any virus I've studied in my life."

"You know, any kind of epidemic on the earth, in fact, can find the source, they have existed on the earth for hundreds of millions of years, and some viruses are as old as the earth, in the long history of evolution, they continue to mutate and evolve. They have killed countless creatures, but they have also been killed by the immune systems of evolved creatures. ”

"The causative agent of SARS comes from civet cats, AIDS is orangutans in African forests, and avian influenza is migratory birds – we can always find their original source. By finding the original strain of the virus and peeling back the camouflage of its migration from one organism to another, we will surely find a way to kill it. Of course, from a pathological point of view, it is very simple to kill any kind of virus, but the difficult thing is how to kill the virus itself without harming its host, the human. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )