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墨書 Inktalez
Could it be that the dream is about to end? I pulled Huang Di, who had transformed back into human form and dressed nicely, back to the rooftop. Hmm, the scum was still trapped in the car, and Zombie was closing in.
In an instant, fear gripped me again, and my heart stopped. I realized this was a protective disguise for survival; I could switch sides at will.
I had turned into a Zombie, but the Zombie below was still gathering, seemingly summoned by my Huang Di.
"Did you see that car and the woman inside it?"
Huang Di understood without needing to be told but made no move.
"Don't you hate her?"
"But she can't die here and now, in this way." Even though I had been cursing her daily not long ago, showing Huang Di her photo and urging him to bite her if he saw her.
We were all acquainted, and before the calamity of our kind, I couldn't condemn her based on my assumptions and let her die here. When it was impossible to save her, it felt justified; when it was possible to save her, I truly found it hard to act.
Although he looked overly relaxed and strong, I still needed to confirm just in case.
"Can you guarantee your own safety completely?"
Huang Di was a dog that proved himself through action. He leaped beside the car, yanked off the head of a Zombie surrounding it, and single-handedly tore open the locked car door. Ignoring Dai Za's screams and kicks, he lifted her like a chick and brought her before me.
Now the question arose. Dai Za was afraid of me and desperately tried to cling to my Huang Di, only to be disdainfully tossed away by him.
I walked over, grabbed her hair, and slapped her with all my strength. This slap was filled with old grudges—every drink I had tried to avoid, every night spent working overtime.
"Hey, wake up! Can you hear me?"
Dai Za stopped screaming, her face twisted in fear; her eyes were bloodshot and more terrifying than my reflection in the mirror.
This was right; this should be her true self—the tip of the iceberg beneath her human facade.
"I'll save you once, fulfilling my duty as a human. I can even take you home along the way."
Dai Za caught onto the keyword "home," staring at me blankly.
"Two points. First, I'm not responsible for your safety. Second, you'd better stay calm. Bring out that calmness that scared others into not taking maternity leave, causing miscarriages while making snide remarks."
I knew where she lived; in fact, I was quite familiar with it. After all, in her eyes, my job was to be her slave; she had made me do quite a bit of personal work for her—almost like cooking two dishes for her every day.
Huang Di held me while carrying Dai Za as he jumped onto a rooftop with fewer Zombies. He had just transformed into a human and had been searching for me outside for a long time, so he was a bit out of breath.
I stopped Huang Di from rushing ahead and took the lead myself. Huang Di closely followed beside me, while Dai Za lagged a few steps behind. This area was filled with old buildings of six or seven stories, and the stairwell was narrow. I leaned on the handrail and looked down, confirming that there were no Zombies in the stairwell for now.
I turned back to give Huang Di a questioning glance, wanting to confirm if he sensed or smelled anything unusual. Huang Di understood my meaning perfectly. He knew something was off about this stairwell but looked conflicted about how to express it.
If he were still a dog, he would have been pacing anxiously. I squeezed his hand to signal that I understood. Given that the stairwell seemed fine, it likely meant there were Zombies inside the rooms, and the door was open.
The night was silent, but at this moment, it felt dead quiet. We descended without speaking, and I could hear Dai Za's teeth chattering. As we passed the fourth floor, sure enough, one of the doors was open, and faint noises came from within.
I subtly signaled for Huang Di to go first and gestured for him to sit down while I slowed my pace to block the staircase between the third and fourth floors. A Zombie lunged out; Dai Za's attempt to use me as a shield was half a step too late, and I found myself protected in his embrace first.
Her actions were expected. I didn't want her to die, so I kicked her away to safety. I didn't say anything further; after she fell, she didn’t scream like usual but simply lowered her head and followed us, occasionally rubbing her sprained wrist.
Once we exited this complex and crossed a road, the high-rise on the opposite side was her home.
In this apocalypse, the bad news was that I hadn’t awakened any decent Abilities, but the good news was that my dog had turned into a human and was excessively strong. With Huang Di around, we smoothly arrived at the entrance of Dai Za's building. She took out her access card, causing Huang Di, who had been on alert, to suddenly look at her.
I also noticed that she hadn’t sprained her wrist; instead, she had been scratched by a Zombie when reaching out for me in the stairwell. It was a shallow wound; otherwise, even amidst all the mixed scents, Huang Di would have detected it. At this point, the wound had already started to rot and ooze pus.
I asked her, "Are you still going up?"
She turned around with heightened emotion and shouted at me with more fervor than usual, "What are you talking about? I'm at my doorstep; hurry up and take me up!"
With my consent, Huang Di quickly cleared the stairwell. Dai Za hurried up the stairs in leaps of two steps at a time while muttering curses at me as she climbed.
"It's just an infectious disease; they are suffering too much for it to be this way. My wound is so shallow, it's just a bit dirty along the way and got infected. Mild cases can definitely be treated quickly. What kind of attitude is this? You've only been outside for a couple of days and you're already acting all high and mighty. When the time comes for disaster recovery and the economy isn't good, won't you be begging me to come back to work..."
I couldn't be bothered to respond to her, someone on the brink of death. I followed her to the twelfth floor and watched as she opened the keypad lock. Inside the room, her husband was on guard with a wrench in hand. I reverted to my adult form and told the man, who didn't seem very pleased, "She scratched her hand." Then I ignored the furious curses coming from behind me and pulled Huang Di away.
Not long after leaving the community, I heard a familiar "bang." Huang Di pressed his hand against my head, preventing me from turning around to look. I obediently relaxed my strength. Huang Di informed me of the outcome: "It's a woman."
"In the hallway, I intentionally left the door open and didn’t remind her. I accept her fate and don’t feel guilty about it."
I turned to Huang Di and asked, "Can you understand?" I didn't want to save her; I chose this method to see if there was any glimmer of humanity in her. Regardless of whether I had the right to do so or not. Huang Di bent down and rubbed his high nose against mine, saying, "You're not happy."
Although I knew he was the dog I raised, I still couldn't fully connect that unfamiliar face with him. This breaking of species barriers felt so close that it left me momentarily stunned. After thinking for a moment, I told him, "Because today is my last time pushing milk."
He looked confused, but I couldn't explain this knowledge gap to him. Poor little dog; having turned into a human, he hadn’t enjoyed any of the pleasures of a prosperous life in civilized society. He didn’t understand what we had lost.
"And also about the lottery ticket I just won." At this thought, sadness overwhelmed everything else, and I transformed back into a human, tears uncontrollably streaming down my face. "So much money, all useless now; why let me have it?"
I knew it was an inappropriate time for such feelings, but I couldn't help but sob uncontrollably, severely dragging down our escape efforts. Thankfully, Huang Di was strong enough; he navigated through the horde of Zombies unscathed, looking like a hero from a sci-fi martial arts movie.
After turning back into a human, my body felt exhausted; in the end, Huang Di carried me home on his back. Despite the mingled stench of blood and smoke along our bumpy path over obstacles, I didn’t realize when I fell asleep.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone carried me on their back. My father, whom I'd hardly seen, and my mother who had remarried years ago felt very distant from me now. It turned out being carried like that felt so safe yet made me drowsy.
I bought a house in the suburbs; cars in the city always raced by day and night, streets were crowded with sparse plants and throngs of people, while nighttime lights obscured stars and the moon. I didn’t like it.
I slept deeply, and when I woke up, the sky was already dimly lit. Huang Di was sound asleep, his fluffy belly facing up, and he was snoring lightly.
I lay in bed and closed my eyes again, sincerely praying that everything from yesterday was just a nightmare. However, when I opened my eyes again, Huang Di was still such a large creature. The custom-made big bed was completely occupied by him, leaving barely enough space for me to sleep.
I looked at him and noticed some changes in his appearance, leading me to speculate about his species. The "Shan Hai Jing" records, "There is a beast that resembles a raccoon but has a white head, called Tengu." The current situation is that I am no longer human, and he is no longer a dog. In any case, being able to survive in this disaster is a good thing.
The outside world is so dirty; I wonder if he has taken a bath before jumping into bed.
I couldn't help but think about how my mom and Hua Zhang were doing. As soon as Huang Di feels rested today, we must set off immediately to find them. I hope they are both alive. Hua Zhang is relatively easier to deal with; although transportation is paralyzed and the distance is far, at least she is in the same city. My mom, however, is truly thousands of miles away. When I left home, I thought about planes and high-speed trains connecting the world but never anticipated such a special situation in the apocalypse.
Perhaps it was because I had just woken up and my nerves were relaxed; an inappropriate joke with Hua Zhang came to mind. We had joked that if the apocalypse came, we would jump from buildings if there were any or hang ourselves if there were ropes, and mix cefotaxime with alcohol. I never expected the apocalypse to actually come, yet here I am still alive and even hopeful about living well.
I got up gratefully and took a shower; it would probably be difficult to enjoy such a comfortable bath in the future. Then I prepared all the food into ready-to-eat meals—what could be eaten was eaten, and what could be taken was packed up. I don't know if I'll be able to come back after this trip; power could go out at any moment. Habitually, I steamed some dog food for Huang Di, but since he has turned into a human, his diet should have expanded as well.
Previously, having suddenly gained money and leisure time, I bought many outdoor supplies that were originally intended for camping; now they can be used for survival. However, strangely enough, all the dog food at home has disappeared. Could it be that Huang Di consumed too much during his transformation yesterday? Did he even swallow the bag?
Huang Di woke up and came over to wait for his meal as he smelled the delicious food. The apocalypse seemed to have no sense of tension for him; no matter what it was like outside, as long as he was at home, he felt relaxed.
"Where's the dog food?" I asked.
Huang Di transformed from a dog into a human without any panic on my part as I picked up the prepared bedsheet to wrap him securely.
"It's here," Huang Di said as he reached into thin air, and in the next moment, an unopened bag of dog food appeared at my feet.
What a treasure he is! Excitedly, I hugged his head and asked, "Space? How big is it?"
A dog that has never been to school fell into deep thought.
"It's so big to go out and play around."
The place I often take Huang Di to play is a soccer field, which is about eight hundred meters around. So the answer I heard was: "Just pretending it's that big."
My Huang Di, if you say he's silly, he knows to bring his own food; if you say he's smart, he only brings his dog food.
"What about the clothes you were wearing yesterday? Where did they come from?"
"I took them off someone I met on the road."
Well then, I guess we won't need the bedsheets anymore.
"First go take a shower, then come eat."
Huang Di loves playing in water but doesn't like taking showers. He walked into the bathroom with a long face. I brought a small stool for him to sit on while I washed his hair. Huang Di's hair is a messy silver-gray, looking like it has highlights, quite trendy.
After washing his hair, I lathered some body wash into bubbles and told him to apply it on himself and rinse off, just like before.
" Wen Bie, wash me." With his serious face turned human, he still had a pair of moist dog eyes that made it hard not to feel soft-hearted.
"Other people's puppies wash themselves when they turn human. Have you seen how dangerous it is outside? If you can't even wash yourself, how can you protect me?"
The naive little puppy sensed something was off but didn't know what exactly, looking at me with a conflicted expression as I closed the bathroom door.
I continued tidying up; once there was space, everything would be easier—food, clothing, necessities—everything that could be taken was packed up.
When Huang Di came out of the shower, I found him a set of my largest clothes and made some adjustments so it would cover him adequately.
Old habits die hard. Even after turning human, Huang Di was still eager for my food; after finishing his own meal, he wanted to try mine too. I pushed my plate toward him, and fearing I wouldn't have enough to eat, he scooped a spoonful and pushed it back to me.
I couldn't help but laugh; it felt like we were struggling at home and couldn't afford food.
It turned out he just liked eating food with seasoning; for his health, I hadn't let him eat it before. Now that wasn't a concern anymore.
"This is your last nutritious meal today; from now on, whatever I eat, you eat too."
Huang Di nodded with the spoon in his mouth and responded loudly, "Mm."
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