Doomsday Cognition Guide

A burst of noise followed.

Li Xuan opened his eyes, listened for a while, and then sat up in bed. Outside the window of the iron gate, Uncle Zhang was frantically pressing buttons on his phone.

Uncle Zhang.

Uncle Zhang turned his head, his face tense: "Xiao Chen is having convulsions. I want to call 120, but my cell phone won't turn on, and my walkie-talkie is broken."

Li Xuan's gaze passed over the corridor window and landed on the sky outside. He said in a deep voice, "Uncle Zhang, it might be worse than you think. Look out the window."

Uncle Zhang turned his head to look.

A faint red glow shrouded the sky, filtering through the mist. Uncle Zhang turned around, frowning, and asked, "You mean, this is a biological weapon attack?"

Li Xuan paused for a moment, then thought, "So be it, biological weapons are biological weapons. The methods of dealing with them are all pretty much the same anyway."

So he continued, "It's very likely that it was attacked by a combination of biological, chemical, and electromagnetic forces."

Uncle Zhang was silent for a while. Although what the kid said might not be right, there was indeed an emergency. According to the emergency response regulations, the current action should be to seal off the scene and wait for support. One person's strength was definitely not enough; they needed to go to the front to find colleagues. But if danger occurred at the front, it would be equivalent to trapping the kid in the confinement room. So he made a decision: "This is a special situation. I'll let you out first and help with the handling. Consider it as redemption."

After releasing Li Xuan, Uncle Zhang said to him, "I'm going to find some colleagues to help us seal off the prison area. We're short-handed right now, so you'll have to come with us to handle things. If things improve, maybe you can go home for the New Year this year." Li Xuan nodded in response and said, "Uncle Zhang, Officer Chen's symptoms are a bit like rabies, so we need to isolate him." Uncle Zhang gave Li Xuan a deep look and didn't say anything more.

The two men used a bed sheet to lift Xiao Chen into the solitary confinement cell. Xiao Chen was still convulsing, his arms flailing unconsciously, and a low gurgling sound coming from his throat—a sound that didn't seem to be made by a human.

After locking the door to the solitary confinement cell, Uncle Zhang choked up a little: "Xiao Chen has only been working for two years. Just last month, we attended her daughter's one-month celebration..." After a moment of silence, Uncle Zhang composed himself and said, "You stay here for now. I'll go check on things up front. Blow the whistle if anything happens."

Watching Uncle Zhang leave, Li Xuan thought to himself that the apocalypse was indeed this cruel. He hadn't directly mentioned zombies because he couldn't explain it, but he still used rabies to warn Uncle Zhang to be careful ahead to avoid getting infected. He went to the duty room and found two buckets of instant noodles. Without hesitation, he started making both.

A dozen minutes later, Uncle Zhang returned with six police officers. Two of them saw him eating instant noodles in the duty room and glanced at him. Uncle Zhang was somewhat speechless and explained to his colleagues, "The situation is a bit special right now. We're short-handed, so I released him to help handle it." The officers nodded in agreement but didn't say anything.

After finishing the last few noodles, Li Xuan handed over the other bucket and asked, "Uncle Zhang, how's the situation up ahead?"

Uncle Zhang waved his hand and said, "Four comrades are in the same situation as Xiao Chen. I've locked them all in their respective bedrooms." He then added, "Now we'll go to the prison area right away and check on the situation inside."

After saying that, he picked up a riot shield and a baton, and led the way towards the prison area. The others also picked up their equipment. Li Xuan chose a riot fork; in some situations, this was more effective.

Before they even reached the cell door, a scream erupted from the end of the corridor. Immediately afterward, something slammed heavily against the iron bars.

Behind the iron bars, a cell was in complete chaos. One prisoner lay on his back, a fist-sized gash bitten into his neck. Another prisoner straddled him, burying his face in his neck and gnawing at it. The man's skin was ashen, his eyes cloudy; he didn't look like a living person at all.

The remaining prisoners huddled in the corner, some desperately trying to squeeze into the toilet.

Uncle Zhang hesitated for a moment, then took out his key to open the door. Li Xuan quickly stepped forward, took the key, and said, "Let me do it. You guys use your shields to block it from getting out."

The iron gate swung open with a clang. It immediately attracted the zombie's attention, and it staggered to its feet. Before it could fully regain its balance, Li Xuan plunged a riot fork into its chest. A tremendous force surged through it, almost overwhelming even for him—after the mutation, the virus had damaged the central nervous system, removing muscle limitations and increasing strength two to three times.

Li Xuan shouted at those still huddled in the corner, "Hurry up and leave!"

After everyone else had left, he pushed forward forcefully, causing the zombie to stagger backward, and then he followed them out of the cell. Uncle Zhang quickly locked the door.

The zombie got up and quickly broke free of the riot fork. Its somewhat deformed arms stretched out from the gaps in the railing and scratched frantically.

Uncle Zhang looked at Li Xuan, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't. In the end, he only said one sentence: "Don't act impulsively, follow orders."

Li Xuan nodded. In that situation just now, Uncle Zhang didn't understand the characteristics of zombies, and if he rushed in to save people, something bad could easily have happened.

Everyone present was silent. Li Xuan noticed that two young policemen's hands were trembling slightly; witnessing the zombies firsthand had shattered any remaining hope they had. However, the operation had to continue; it was their duty.

They headed to the next cell. Uncle Zhang selected two relatively calm and robust police officers to accompany him inside, but Li Xuan snatched the baton and shield from Uncle Zhang's hands first. A bespectacled officer, over 1.8 meters tall and rather overweight, chimed in, "Captain Zhang, let us young people handle this. You're in charge of opening the door and controlling the situation." In the ensuing action, Li Xuan and the two officers, shields in hand, charged in, first pushing the zombies aside, then leading the remaining personnel out.

They cleared several cells in this way. Fortunately, each cell didn't hold many prisoners, and there were usually only one or two zombies, so the whole process was uneventful. When they reached the door of the last cell, the scene inside made everyone gasp—three of the five prisoners had turned into zombies, and the other two had been bitten to death, their internal organs and blood everywhere. Several of the prisoners following behind vomited on the spot upon seeing this.

After the operation was completed, the group locked the rescued prisoners in empty cells. Li Xuan remarked, "The scratches might cause infection."

Uncle Zhang also realized the problem, so he put the injured prisoners in solitary confinement and the rest in group confinement. With everything handled, the prison area was temporarily safe.

In the duty room, several police officers sat together. Uncle Zhang spoke first: "We need to discuss what to do next."

The discussion began. Some suggested moving all edible and drinkable items into the prison area; others suggested sealing off the main gate and locking all doors leading to the outside world.

Uncle Zhang concluded, "We don't know what the situation is like outside, but we must trust in the country's capabilities. Right now, we should prepare to hold out for a while."

He looked at Li Xuan and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Li Xuan thought for a moment and replied, "None of us have experienced this situation before, but food and water are the most important resources in a disaster. In addition, the terrain of the prison is a relatively ideal base. Those survivors with any sense will definitely gather here, and when there are too many people, management will become a problem. We can cooperate with the armed police next door and implement military-style management." He paused and then said, "Also, something may have changed over there. I noticed just now that there were no sentries on the guard tower."

Uncle Zhang paused for a moment, then nodded. He hadn't anticipated the survivors gathering here; it seemed he needed to prepare in advance.

Li Xuan continued, "Uncle Zhang, you are now the highest-ranking leader here. I'm worried about my family's safety and want to go home to see them."

Uncle Zhang's eyes reddened slightly as the worry he had suppressed resurfaced. He was also very worried about his family, so he understood Li Xuan's feelings. He said, "This is a special case. Consider it as you serving your sentence outside of prison. However, you must return to report once order is restored." After saying that, he looked at his colleagues, and no one objected.

They actually wanted to go home; who wouldn't worry about their family? But their homes were mostly in the city center, where the population density was so high that going back now would basically be suicide. So nobody brought up the issue.

Li Xuan then said, "Since you agree, then please write me a note."

Uncle Zhang pointed at him, intending to scold him for being old-fashioned, but then thought better of it and said, "I'll write one for you."

Li Xuan received the note written by Uncle Zhang, walked to the prison gate, but then stopped.

Outside the gate is a drill ground, and across from the drill ground are the armed police barracks. Outside the gate, a road leads outwards, towards home.

He stood there for a few seconds, then decided to go over and check it out. He wanted to help if he could.

For no other reason than high walls, iron gates, generators, armories, and readily available manpower—the most scarce resources in the apocalypse are all here. At least in the early stages of the apocalypse, this is a decent stronghold.

Approaching the barracks, I saw someone taking roll call. The captain's voice was hoarse, but his enunciation was steady, pausing for a few seconds after each name was called. Some names went unanswered.

Li Xuan pushed open the door and went in.

Twenty-odd armed police officers stood in formation. Several new recruits were still trembling, their lips pale, their eyes involuntarily glancing towards the depths of the corridor. At the end of the corridor, something was banging on the door, again and again. Several long, rectangular packages wrapped in bed sheets lay on the floor.

The captain saw him, raised his chin slightly, and continued, "Soldiers should have guts. If they're not afraid of living people, why should they be afraid of a few moving corpses? My soldiers have no cowards." He then told everyone to take a moment to adjust themselves.

"Things are stable at the prison. I've come to check on you guys," Li Xuan said directly. He knew the company commander. When he first went to prison, his unit's leaders visited him. After all, a soldier who had just received a third-class merit award was going to prison right after returning home, so they needed to check on his situation. The company commander was the one who received and introduced him back then. A few days ago, he even invited Li Xuan to demonstrate combat techniques to the new recruits.

The captain said hoarsely, "More than twenty comrades have turned into monsters, including Lao Zhao." Lao Zhao was his partner.

The captain continued, "The weapons are all in the armory. I have one key here, and the other is with the armorer—he's also turned into a monster. We're about to go in and clear out the area and get the weapons."

Li Xuan glanced at several pale-faced soldiers with blood-stained bandages wrapped around their arms at the back of the line: "Scratches and bites are contagious."

"I've thought of that too. That's why I have concerns."

"Give me the riot shield and baton, and find two skilled men to come with me to get the keys," Li Xuan continued. "Don't worry, I've dealt with these things in prison before, I know how to handle them."

The captain nodded, then turned and assigned tasks: one squad leader led a group to the kitchen to seal off the supplies; two veterans stepped forward, took riot shields and batons, and went with Li Xuan to retrieve the keys.

The three men advanced down the corridor. Each time the door to the duty room was bumped, it bulged outwards, the screws on the door frame loosened, and plaster fell from the walls. Li Xuan listened intently—at least three.

He turned to the two veterans and said, "Place your shields side by side to block the doorway. Let them in and we'll fight."

He gripped the doorknob, took a deep breath, and shoved the door open.

A strong stench of blood filled the air. The armorer and two soldiers on duty had turned into zombies. The armorer was still wearing his uniform, his epaulets askew, and dark red bits of flesh remained at the corner of his mouth. The three zombies turned their heads simultaneously, making low, rumbling noises, and lunged stiffly at them.

Li Xuan didn't retreat. His riot shield struck the first zombie precisely in the chest, slamming it against the metal bed frame. The second one charged from the side; Li Xuan swung his baton, shattering bones, and the zombie collapsed. The third lunged at him, its claws aimed straight for his neck. Li Xuan parried with his shield, the claws scraping against the shield with a piercing sound, then kicked it in the chest, sending the zombie staggering against the wall.

The squad leader and two soldiers followed. One soldier swung a riot fork and stabbed the zombie in the chest, but the zombie didn't react. It grabbed the fork handle and yanked hard, almost pulling the soldier down. The other soldier hit the zombie three or four times with a baton, but the zombie still lunged forward.

"After mutation, the strength will become very great, and there will be no sense of pain, so try to avoid frontal attacks and attack the head," Li Xuan said.

The company commander was the first to react, striking the zombie twice on the back of the head, causing it to kneel. Two soldiers immediately adjusted their targets, one using a riot fork to lock its throat, the other finishing it off with a baton. The armorer lay slumped in the corner, his body still convulsing. Li Xuan bent down, pulled the keys from his waist, and tossed them to the company commander.

The group continued down the corridor. Before they had gone halfway, a series of howls echoed through the air—seven or eight zombies blocked the stairwell, some in uniforms, others in only vests. Hearing the noise, they all turned and charged stiffly toward them.

"Retreat!" the company commander growled.

The men retreated to the corner. The squad leader, panting, said, "The front door is blocked, and there are at least seven or eight in the stairwell."

Li Xuan glanced around the duty room. Besides the main entrance, there was a back door leading to the class dormitory. He pushed it open; the door wasn't locked, and the corridor outside was empty.

"Lure the zombies in, then go around to the back."

A soldier banged his baton against the wall, the sound of which was deafening. The zombies all turned towards the direction of the sound. The company commander led his men out through the back door, through the corridor of the barracks, and around to the sentry post through a side exit.

"Let's go. Grab the weapons."

The armory's heavy metal doors were tightly shut. The company commander inserted the key, and with a click, the door opened. A strong smell of gun oil wafted out—machine guns, rifles, riot guns, and ammunition were neatly arranged.

The men quickly armed themselves. The company commander distributed weapons and also gave everyone several stun grenades and tear gas canisters.

"Go to the sentry post and get the live ammunition. The squad leader will guard this place." After saying that, he handed another key to the armory to the squad leader.

The box door popped open, revealing rows of magazines inside, their brass casings gleaming coldly. The company commander took them out and distributed them to everyone.

"Ammunition reserves are low. Use them sparingly."

With live ammunition, the clearing speed increased significantly. The company commander and veterans took down the zombies with short bursts, while the new recruits followed up with finishing fire. Soon, seven or eight corpses lay scattered haphazardly in the corridor.

Everything has been taken care of.

Li Xuan was silent for a moment before asking, "What are we going to do with the soldiers who were scratched?" The company commander was silent for a long while before saying in a hoarse voice, "I don't know..."

"I have an idea, I don't know if it will work. To get through this infection, it's related to faith. Although the hope is slim, you can have them sing military songs." Li Xuan recalled some information from his memory. He wasn't sure, but he could give it a try.

"My home is in the next county, dozens of kilometers away. Could you give me your pickup truck?"

He paused, then added, "This doesn't count as a prison break; I have a note from the prison administration."

Without saying a word, the squad leader simply tossed the key to him.

Li Xuan took the keys, got into the car, and tried to start it, but it wouldn't start. He opened the hood and began to check.

Seeing this, the squadron leader quickly called over the driver, wanting him to take a look. Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "No need, I know this vehicle better than he does."

He went straight to the lines burned by the solar storm, not caring much about the details, just skipping the damaged parts as long as it was drivable. He closed the hood and got into the driver's seat.

The car drove out of the camp and didn't look back.

He raised his right hand and waved it slightly—as a farewell. Then he continued forward, driving towards the mist and red light outside the gate.