Chapter 224 - 208: Strange Hospital

Chapter 224: Chapter 208: Strange Hospital

"North River District First Convalescent Hospital... We should definitely check this place out."

Qiao Yunliang looked at the building and said, "Anyone from Yanhai City should know about this place. Even though it’s not one of the major public hospitals, it’s a top-tier convalescent facility where some very important people stay. The medical staff is top-notch, and it’s full of expensive, high-end medical equipment."

"Important people?"

"Ahem! In short, people with high status and influence. My mentor... lives inside."

"Say no more, I get it."

’Qiao Yunliang is the military head of Yanhai City. His mentor... just how high-ranking would he be?’

This was actually the first time Yu Dong had visited a large hospital since the apocalypse began.

He’d managed to get plenty of medicine from pharmacies and small clinics before, so they weren’t short on everyday supplies for now. But they didn’t have a single piece of high-end medical equipment.

His team now had a surgeon and an internist, but if they needed to perform surgery, they had to go to the research institute. Their cruise ship lacked the necessary equipment.

"Let’s do it."

Yu Dong was brimming with confidence. His combat team was now highly experienced in fighting zombies. Add to that Qiao’s 370 regular soldiers, and a small hospital seemed like nothing. There were probably fewer zombies here than at the elementary school yesterday.

Besides, the area was clearly quiet. This wasn’t a public hospital, and the main gate was shut from the inside.

WHIRRR~

WHIRRR~

Drones from both the military and his own logistics team flew into the hospital grounds simultaneously to scout the area.

After making a sweep, Liu Ye’ye reported, "It’s... very quiet and clean inside. I don’t see any living things."

"Commander, no zombies spotted outside. The main building’s doors are sealed tight. We suspect there are survivors inside."

Yu Dong looked at Liu Ye’ye, who nodded. "It’s highly likely there are people in there."

The group, which had been ready for a major battle with hospital zombies, relaxed their aggressive posture.

A look of delight crossed Qiao Yunliang’s face. "Survivors are good news! Li, go knock on the door and call them out."

They had been through this process many times.

Yu Dong frowned slightly. "Everyone, be ready for a fight. Follow my lead."

Zhao Youcai and Huang Zhiqiang, who knew Yu Dong well, exchanged a look. They immediately understood what he meant.

The dark forest law of the apocalypse.

On this point, Qiao Yunliang and Yu Dong were complete opposites.

"Hey, folks in there! We’re the Yanhai City military! We’re here to kill zombies! Open up!"

After they shouted for a while, the drone feed showed a door opening in the medical technology building. A male doctor in a white coat looked around before jogging to the main gate.

He didn’t open the gate, however. Instead, he called out warily from behind it, "Officer, can I help you? We don’t have any food here."

Hearing this, Qiao Yunliang replied, "It’s all right if you don’t have food. We have plenty. You can come with us."

"That won’t be necessary. I’m comfortable staying where I am... The world outside is too harsh now. It’s too dangerous to leave."

Qiao Yunliang didn’t press him. Instead, he lit a Liqun cigarette for himself and slid another one through a gap in the gate.

"Smoke?"

"Smoking isn’t allowed in the hospital."

"Heh~ Alright, then. How about you open the gate, and we can go inside and talk."

"Officer, I’m afraid I... can’t open the gate for you."

"Why not?"

"Because last time, a guy in a police uniform brought a group of people here. He said one of his men was injured and needed our help. I opened the gate, and later... after we treated them, they stole all our food and took a large amount of medicine. We don’t trust outsiders anymore. I’m sorry."

Hearing this, Yu Dong became thoughtful.

Qiao Yunliang, however, asked, "Are you sure you can hold out? How many of you are there? This place isn’t very secure. It can’t protect you from the kind of zombies that can climb."

"There are only a few of us. Our life is quiet now, and no zombies have noticed us... If you’re really the army, please go fight the zombies and don’t disturb our lives. Thank you."

Qiao Yunliang sighed. He had met many people like this.

Sometimes, all you could do was... respect their decision. But it was a shame to leave behind all this medical equipment and these doctors. They’d have to deal with it later, once order was gradually restored.

"If you insist..."

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?"

Before Qiao Yunliang could finish, the doctor in the white coat had been subdued by Yan Yikai and the blond punk Sun Yu, who had scaled the wall and dropped in beside him.

CREAK~

The gate swung open from the inside.

Yan Yikai held the doctor’s head down with one hand while pressing a tactical knife against his neck with the other.

"Stay still! And don’t scream!"

Qiao Yunliang stared at Yu Dong, completely astonished.

"What is this?"

"A preemptive strike, in case he was planning to take us out."

Qiao Yunliang looked at his own troops, then at Yu Dong’s combat and logistics teams. There were over five hundred of them combined.

"Him? Take *us* out? Is there... something I’m missing?"

"Maybe not him alone, but he has accomplices inside, doesn’t he? Since he was so insistent on keeping us out, that’s all the more reason for us to go in. Who knows what kind of dirty secrets they’re hiding in there."

A flicker of panic crossed the subdued doctor’s eyes. He shouted, "You’ve got it all wrong, Officer! We’re just medical staff... what could we possibly do? It’s just... once bitten, twice shy. If you don’t believe me, I can take you up and show you. I even have a video of that group robbing us."

"You should have done that from the start," Yu Dong sneered.

He didn’t judge people by what they said, but by what they did.

The doctor could come up with a hundred reasons to stop them from entering the hospital. As long as things weren’t open and transparent, Yu Dong’s default assumption was that something was wrong.

Qiao Yunliang observed Yu Dong closely, making a mental note of his methods...

’He likes to be in complete control.’

The reason Qiao Yunliang hadn’t wanted to force his way in was because he was in a hurry to get to the military district, not to waste time sorting out personnel issues in every little settlement they came across.

That included dealing with crimes... He really couldn’t manage it all. If they investigated and judged every single case, his soldiers would have no time for anything else; they might as well be full-time judges.

As long as there were no zombies and no immediate threat, everything else could be dealt with later.

But Yu Dong wasn’t like that. He cared about what was happening *here*...

With Yan Yikai’s knife at his throat, the doctor in the white coat suddenly became much more cooperative.

"This way, sirs, please come in."

Before entering, they sent in the robot dogs to scout ahead. The military sent two assault teams into the medical technology building first, both composed of their most elite soldiers.

Finally, once it was confirmed to be safe, Yu Dong and the others gathered on the second floor of the medical technology building.

Besides the male doctor from earlier, there was also a young female doctor and a young nurse. Both were quite attractive.

Zhao Youcai curled his lip in disdain.

"That explains it..."

The male doctor seemed a little embarrassed. "It’s just the three of us here now. We used to be colleagues, and we’ve been living here together. Luckily, the three of us don’t eat much, and that group couldn’t carry all the hospital’s food when they left, so we still have enough for a while."

The female doctor and the nurse both nodded slightly, confirming his story.

Qiao Yunliang had a professional from his ranks question the two women. They both seemed fine, with nothing they were reluctant to talk about.

Yu Dong and Qiao Yunliang also watched the robbery video they mentioned. It was filmed surreptitiously from a low angle. They could only see that the leader was tall and thin and wearing a police uniform. The physical features of the others, mostly men, were indistinct.

Moreover, it was filmed from behind, so aside from seeing them carry away bags of food and medicine, nothing else was visible.

"This can’t be used as evidence, but... it does more or less match what you said. Let’s leave it at that. Just chalk it up to bad luck. In the future, don’t open the gate for anyone besides us military folk."

"We understand, we understand... Officer, are we... are we okay now?"

"Don’t worry. We were just passing through and wanted to take a look. We have no intention of taking your supplies or taking over your place."

Qiao Yunliang chatted with the three survivors, creating a picture of harmony between the military and civilians.

Yu Dong, meanwhile, gazed out the window. Yan Yikai, Zhao Wenjie, Sun Yu, and Zhao Youcai—members of his combat team—were searching the entire hospital as he had ordered.

After a bit of idle chatter, the search team returned and shook their heads at Yu Dong.

"The hospital’s clean. Didn’t find anything..."

"You guys search this building again..."

This was unexpected for Yu Dong.

But the more normal things seemed, the more Yu Dong felt something was wrong.

"Doctor, are you saying you three are the only living people left here?"

"That’s right. Some of the others turned, some died, some ran away... In the end, only the three of us are still holding on."

At that moment, Yu Dong’s eyes darted around.

"That... doesn’t add up, does it?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Where are the zombies in the hospital? This place is a little... too clean. It’s as if no zombies were ever killed here. Do you have some special trick?"

"Also, what were the three of you doing in the medical technology building in the middle of the morning? Is this where you... rest? Or have fun? Unless... you were still working. On what?"

"Finally, and most importantly, if the hospital is really this clean, why were you so determined not to let us in? What are you hiding?"

Yu Dong’s rapid-fire barrage of three questions made the color drain from the survivors’ faces.