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Chapter 251: 251

Shen Haoxuan’s phone was confiscated when the people from the disease control centre came yesterday. Even if it was not, the young man was too weak to play with it anymore. Since he was hospitalized, his fever had not abated, and the constant coughing meant that he could not have a good sleep. He woke up with sores all over his body.

“Is that an alarm…” Drifting in and out of sleep, Shen Haoxuan believed he heard a siren coming from outside, it sounded like he was in a video game…

He peeled open his eyelids. He was still the only one inside the spacious room. The plastic pail that was placed beside his bed for his vomiting stink badly. ‘How come no one has come to clean it yet? When was the last time any nurse has been in here? It must have several hours already…’ Shen Haoxuan’s stomach churned from the horrible smell. His throat felt parched. He saw the water glass on the bedside table but he was too weak to even reach for it. He used every last ounce of energy he had to press at the service bell by his bed. “Nurse, nurse…” But no nurse or doctor answered his call.

Coughs echoed outside the corridor. It was mixed with screaming, and hurrying footsteps. The hospital appeared to be crowded but no one seemed to hear his call for help.

“Can someone hear me…?” Shen Haoxuan wished to reach for the bell again but his arm was too sore to even move. The exertion caused the young man to cough again. He gagged as a ball of unknown substance flew out from his mouth and landed on his patient’s garb. Sharp pain gripped his chest and he had trouble breathing. It felt like his lungs or his heart was breaking. The ball on his garb consisted of blood, brown phlegm and rotten tissue mixed together. It reminded him of the excretion hacked out by the uncle on the bus, but somehow this looked much more disgusting. Shen Haoxuan was disgusted by it but his body was too weak to swat it away. Surveying the emptiness around him, the young man was overwhelmed by fear. ‘Am, am I going to die… No, I still have my university degree to get, I don’t want to die yet…’ Desperation fuelled his action, Shen Haoxuan found the energy to reach for the service bell again. “Nurse, nurse… Cough… Doctor Huang… Is anyone there…”

…

After the coughing started that morning, Huang Lin was assigned an individual sickroom. When she did her consultation round, she did not take off her mask. In fact, she added 3 extra plies but that was not enough. She appeared to be infected nonetheless. 3 hours later, the ‘appeared to be’ was confirmed. Her temperature started to rise and her coughing became more violent. Huang Guoxin’s condition confirmed that antibiotics like akicillin and aminoglycosides meant for common pneumonia were useless.

Huang Lin volunteered to use the treatment meant for legionella pneumonia. She self-injected ilotycin and rifampicin, drugs meant to counter legionella pneumophilia. But by afternoon, her condition continued to worsen and her coughs started to carry blood.

‘The latent period is 6 hours and the conditions take about 6 to 10 hours to worsen, it’s acting too fast… And even the ilotycin has no use?’ Huang Lin’s mind was frazzled, ‘So this is not legionella pneumonia after all? But records of legionella pneumonia did show that ilotycin shots have to be taken continuously for 2 to 3 weeks before the fever starts to recede. The effect will not be visible so soon, Huang Lin, calm down…’

Her resoluteness shrivelled when she got the news that the PCR results confirmed the bacteria as legionella pneumophilia. Unfortunately, even Expert He started to show the symptoms, which meant that grade 3 protective gear was useless against it.

Huang Lin’s mind was then made. As a clinical doctor, she knew what this meant. She took out her phone and called her parents one more time after midnight. Then she called her boyfriend. She tried to keep her voice as even as possible. She advised them repeatedly to stay at home to wait for the evacuation notice, to keep the doors and windows closed and put on their masks.

The corridor was bustling with noises, more and more patients rushed into the hospital. After making those calls, Huang Lin laid down on her bed. She picked up a pen and between coughs, started drafting her will on her patient’s record. “My condition is worsening. Based on what happened to Huang Guoxin, I’ll lose my consciousness by tomorrow. I might not be conscious enough to write a will then so I’ll have to finish it now. I will write until I am unable to. I have many things that I wish to say but I don’t know where to start. After I leave, I will miss Dou Dou the most. To be honest, the dog is the thing I will be most worried about. I know how unfilial that sounds… but who will look after him after I’m gone? I shouldn’t have put off my wish to get the veterinarian degree. I’m sorry Dou Dou, I’ll make it up to you in the next life…”

1

As her pen moved, tears slowly fell.

…

34 hours after he was hospitalized, Huang Guoxin passed away from acute respiratory failure. Soon after the patient’s death, the staff, who was responsible for Huang Guoxin’s emergency rescue, showcased symptoms like fever and violent coughs. Without enough sickroom and manpower, the hospital practically halted in operation. Chaos was everywhere.

He Feng was assigned a single room. He had no idea whether everything that they had done was meaningful or not. His understanding of viral pathology drained his hope. ’34 hours from infection to death and no known drugs are effective? How will such an epidemic be contained?’ He thought as powerlessness overwhelmed him. A grey thought crossed his mind… lockdown, abandon and destroy the infected area. Do not let anyone in and do not let anyone out…

But he knew that was not possible. Just the thought of his 7 year old daughter made his heart wince in pain. His daughter, wife and his parents were in the infected area. Therefore, he had to latch onto any shred of hope. His superior told him on the phone that the government had already sent over a secret service unit. This secret unit had settled many problematic cases in the past. As the alarm rang, He Fang saw people in military grade gear walk into his room.

“Leader He, please press your hand on this stone and try to envision the imprint on it in your mind. See if it has any use.” This middle-aged man who introduced himself as Doctor Luo suggested. He Feng did as instructed but nothing happened. Doctor Luo made other attempts but it was all to no avail. He Feng had no idea what was happening but seeing the grim expression on Doctor Luo’s face after everything was said and done, he knew these people sent by the government couldn’t do anything either…

“I wish to make a phone call.” He Feng walked to the side. While he still had some energy left, he wanted to call home.

“Daddy, the siren is very loud.” Niu Niu’s young voice came through the phone, “Is there an earthquake? But I don’t feel anything.”

“It’s not an earthquake, it’s just a drill, don’t be scared…” He Feng said gently and tried his best to stop the urge to cough. “Mummy is there with you, right?”

“But daddy, cough…” Niu Niu suddenly started to cough, it made her voice sound hoarse. “When will you come back home?”

Hearing that, He Feng’s face turned ashen white.

…

The coughing reverberated endlessly inside the office. Lee Mingqiu, Wei Xiaoru, Zhang Dawei and the rest waited anxiously outside in the corridor. The suspected patient, Lin Mingda was locked inside the office. They already called the hotline. After waiting for half an hour, finally a member from the disease control centre in heavy protective gear came.

“He’s inside there!” Zhang Dawei pointed at the office door. He accepted the mask given to him and quickly put it on. Wei Xiaoru added, “We came out here once we heard him cough. The air-cond unit has been switched off a long time ago, everything will be fine, right?”

“I’m sorry but you’re all now suspected victims.” The person from the disease control centre said in a heavy tone, “Please come with me.”

“No, it’s not us!” Zhang Dawei gasped in desperation, “It’s him!”

“The virus is transmitted through the air.” The officer replied, “You have been in the same space as the patient so there is a chance that all of you have been infected.”

Lee Mingqiu predicted this outcome so he did not resist futilely like the rest. In the end, they were all led away. When they left their company, they realized not only their floor had been vacated, but everyone else inside the building was corralled out as well. Under the dim night, there were multiple vehicles parked by the road. There were not only custom quarantine vehicles, but also public transport vehicles like buses as well. Lee Mingqiu was ushered onto a medium-sized yellow bus. When he got on, he saw the other passengers in masks. They were silent and expressionless like statues.

“Please remain quiet, do not chat and do not panic.” The officer from the disease control centre commanded. Lee Mingqiu sought out an empty seat and soon the bus started. It headed into an unknown destination in the night. Suddenly he heard a sob coming from a corner of the bus and it was soon joined by others.

…

The sea breeze howled and the sea was dark. The only light came from the lighthouse. This was not an abandoned building by any means, according to the driver, there was a regular who came to do the maintenance. Before heading in, Gu Jun called for reinforcement. After everything was prepared, his team stormed into the lighthouse. The land’s travellers had taken rudimentary military training. They were followed by another unit from the Action Department.

The light from the rifles scanned the darkness at the bottom of the lighthouse. The place was deserted, empty of even trash. It only had a stone spiral staircase leading up. But something caught Gu Jun’s eyes…

On the wall by the mouth of the stairs, there was a bloody message written in the foreign language. It appeared to be painted with bloody phlegm. It trailed up alongside the staircase.

“The fruits of darkness sprouts, shrouded by the darkness of the trenches. The parasites of death will live with the Heavens and Earth forever.”

1

…

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