To the Start of a New World

2.5

The next morning, Lu Hao and Hong Sheng packed into a jeep. One of the SG members drove so that Lu Hao could keep his attention on the area while Hong Sheng sat in the back, holding on to a case of his devices.

The immediate area of the SG was clear of zombies—barricades, various traps, and the natural geography of the mountain and forest kept it that way—so they drove down the mountain toward the roads and small towns. After about 40 minutes of driving, they finally found some roaming zombies. Lu Hao motioned the driver, and they rolled to a stop along the outskirts of a small town between the SG and F city.

Inside the car, Hong Sheng opened up the case and handed Lu Hao two of the three devices inside. They looked like steel canisters and were heavy and dense with metal. Lu Hao slid the one labeled '002' into his pack and held '001' in his hand.

They'd already discussed the plan beforehand, so the two of them didn't have anything more to say. Lu Hao met Hong Sheng's eyes and nodded, and Hong Sheng nodded back.

Lu Hao got out of the car first. After casing the nearby houses, he gave the OK signal. Hong Sheng then exited the car and climbed up to position on a nearby rooftop, binoculars in hand.

Prep over, Lu Hao made his way toward the zombie, hiding his presence. It was a level 5 zombie, stronger than average but not yet advanced enough to have intelligence. Lu Hao placed the device 001 around the corner a few houses down; the distance was about 20 meters, near the edge of how far a level 5 zombie could sense. He then activated the device, which kicked to life with a hum, and waited.

For a moment, the zombie only stood there, not reacting. But then, it slowly raised its head and turned around.

The zombie walked toward Lu Hao's position, gradually gaining speed until finally it ran around the corner, hissing with its jaws wide open. Lu Hao watched it with satisfaction; the first test was a success. And now on to test two.

Once the zombie rounded the corner, Lu Hao released his presence and picked up the canister. He then turned and ran from the zombie, leading it along a chase. When he was just about to outrun it, he turned along another side street and threw the canister into some house's yard. He continued running, checking back to see if the zombie was still following him.

It wasn't.

A smile curled up one side of Lu Hao's mouth. The zombie had run into the yard of the house, searching for the other 'human' presence.

Now it was a test to see how long the device could keep its attention. Lu Hao masked his presence again and hopped up onto a rooftop so that he could see Hong Sheng across the other side of the neighborhood. He took out the radio and waved in the air, and after seeing Hong Sheng's distant figure wave back, he said, "Looks like the new toy for the zombies is a success."

Lu Hao faintly heard his own staticky voice come out of the radio sitting next to Hong Sheng, who continued gazing through the binoculars toward the zombie. Hong Sheng didn't bother picking up the radio to reply; he just said into the air, "You didn't follow the plan."

"It was more efficient this way. We didn't need to use one lure to test whether it'll work, and another to test whether it'll chase me or go after the device. And now you get to keep one of your lures."

"Mm," Hong Sheng replied, which meant that he didn't quite agree but wasn't bothered enough to keep fighting for it.

They waited, watching the zombie for when the lure would stop working. The zombie prowled around the house, searching for the human heat, but after fifteen minutes it finally smashed the canister. Once the heat signature was destroyed, the zombie froze as if in shock over where the human presence had gone.