Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 532: Politics and Minivans

A few minutes later...

As Xiaoyun walked out of the house with a small book in hand, his mind was filled with questions that he had no answer for.

It was only thirty seconds of talk inside the house, lasting shorter than the time he waited inside for the old man to hand him a book in hand.

"The Revolution has not yet succeeded... I must carry it on... But what should I do to preserve it?"

Being confronted with politics made him a little uncomfortable. He knew it was unavoidable, but deep inside, he wanted to keep stalling it.

"Am I really going to upend myself?"

The inner question made him freeze for a fraction of a second. He stood still on the road, not caring about the outside world.

A decision was needed more than ever—an answer not just for himself but for everyone around him and the generation in the future.

The solution was right before his hand. But he was too afraid to open it up. He was no proletariat or hero, nor did he ever think of himself becoming one.

"I can't... The sacrifices are too big... I'm never giving them up."

Flashes of his wives appeared right before his eyes, causing him to conclude that he was incompatible with any kind of progress.

Just as a conclusion was about to be made, Xiaoyun's mind quickly reverted to the starting point.

At the very last second, he realized he was digging himself into a grave, trying to find an answer that wasn't necessary. The old man was right at the end.

There was no rush to answer the question right now. Perhaps this wasn't a decision he could make at all—a popular consensus.

The will of the future generation can decide the path forward, something he didn't need to worry about right now.

First, he needed to clear all the other challenges before him, like getting rid of all the zombies and maybe even establishing peace for all of humankind.

"Yeah, right. Totally happening the next year..."

With a satisfied answer, the frown disappeared from his face. In its place was a small little chuckle as he laughed at his naive thoughts.

---

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The sudden loud sound instantly snapped Xiaoyun back to reality as a minivan somehow ended just inches away from hitting his face.

Looking over to the left, he had somehow managed to walk out of the sidewalk at some point and ended up on the paved road.

"Sorry."

As Xiaoyun apologized, he quickly put the small book straight into his pocket before moving out of the minivan's way.

"Watch where you are walking next time. I almost crashed into you!" A familiar voice stated with a hint of anger.

"Sorry, I was too distracted——"

Before Xiaoyun could apologize again, the minivan's window was rolled down, revealing the person inside to be the veterinarian from earlier.

"You're the soldier that helped me earlier, weren't you?" The middle-aged man curiously asked.

"Yeah, I was... Is there something wrong?"

Xiaoyun asked back, noticing the middle-aged man kept staring at his face with his minivan's engine still running.

"You need a ride back to Luoping, right? There's no car driving back until tomorrow morning."

Xiaoyun thought for a second, then quickly realized what the veterinarian was trying to offer to him.

"I do. I would really appreciate it. I can pay you——"

"No need. Just get on."

As the minivan door opened on its own, Xiaoyun quickly hopped onto the passenger seat before closing it.

"Thank you so much." Xiaoyun murmured in gratitude.

"No problem... Ahem, I probably should apologize to you first, soldier." The middle-aged man murmured as the minivan began moving forward.

"Hm? What apology?"

Xiaoyun looked back at the man in confusion, unable to think of a reason for the apology until he revealed his reasoning.

"I should have been more careful with my driving. Pedestrians have the right of way on these kinds of dirt roads."

"No, no, it's my fault. I should have seen the car a mile away and moved back to the side. I was too distracted to hear the horns earlier," Xiaoyun argued.

"We're even then."

A bit of sweat fell from the middle-aged man's forehead, his face letting out a small sigh of relief as if he had just gotten away with something.

After driving for a few seconds, the minivan came to a stop as it reached the village entrance.

"Doctor, was the cow alright?" The young policeman from earlier asked curiously as he walked to the driver's side window.

"Yeah. Should be fine..."

"And you, soldier. You found the person you're looking for?" The young police officer asked, noticing Xiaoyun in the passenger seat.

"No. I'll just report back to my commander that they are not here."

"Okay. You guys can go——"

"Wait."

As the senior police officer emerged from the building, he quickly handed Xiaoyun's gun right in front of the veterinarian's face.

"Thank you," Xiaoyun murmured as he put his pistol back to his waist.

"I should be the one saying that... Thank you for your service."

The moment the senior police officer saluted, the young police officer quickly copied the salute towards Xiaoyun.

"Thank you for your service!" The young officer stated with energy.

Xiaoyun didn't say anything back but saluted back to the two of them as the entrance gates finally slid to the side.

Three minutes later...

"Geez, you all soldiers get so much respect, " the veterinarian murmured, as the village was now just a small dot in the distance behind them.

Once again, Xiaoyun didn't say anything back, but he kept up a smile, feeling glad that the civilian population seemed to respect the soldier's job genuinely.

None of the people were scared by the uniform, which was his main concern the whole time he was traveling through the countryside.

"If only my job gained as much respect as yours... I knew I should have signed up to be a soldier back then."

"You still can."

"No thanks. I'm scared of zombies."

As the veterinarian instantly answered back, Xiaoyun suddenly had a few questions inside his mind.

"Ahem, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Go for it, Mr.Census." The veterinarian jokingly stated, making Xiaoyun scratch his head out of embarrassment.

"When did you start becoming a veterinarian?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"Fifteen years ago... I graduated with a veterinarian degree and started working in different villages."

"That's so long ago... Wait, how old are you?"

"Forty-two."

"Forty-two? You look like you're in your mid-thirties."

Xiaoyun's eye kept staring at the veterinarian's face, as it looked way too young to be someone in their forties.

"Thanks for the compliment. But I already have grandkids. They already went to kindergarten last time I checked."

"Grandkids? What the hell..."

Seeing the shocked face from Xiaoyun, the veterinarian couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"How about you? Are you married yet?" The veterinarian questioned back.

"Yeah."

Xiaoyun quietly answered as all of his wives flashed before his eyes, making him lose focus before the minivan suddenly came to a complete stop.

"Hm?"

"Shit. There's no way they just put a stop sign here. I swear they weren't working on the road earlier."

As the two of them looked forward, they could see two construction men blocking off the road with poles and tapes.

"Hey! Can we just get through here? I really don't want to turn around!" The veterinarian yelled as he peeked his head through the window.

"Sorry! The road ahead is being worked on. We can't let your car through." One of the construction workers answered.

"Fine. Whatever... Fuck."

As the veterinarian shifted into reverse, Xiaoyun had nothing else to say other than watching him turn the car around.

"We're going to need to take the long way." The veterinarian murmured as he began driving in the road's direction.

---

When the minivan came to a stop, they were finally back to civilization——By civilization, it was just an extremely small settlement at Qingyuan's city center.

There was barely anyone in the city itself, as the settlement itself shifted the majority of its focus to countryside farming instead.

If it weren't for the minivan running out of gas because they needed to take the long way, they wouldn't be in Qingyuan.

"What do you mean gas is rationed? I can't get any gas at all?" The veterinarian questioned the gas station employee.

"It's under strict ration across every city. Only 10 liters allowance."

"Whatever... Here, filled up 8 liters."

As the veterinarian handed fifty NRC, the gas station employee stood still with the cash in hand.

"What's wrong? Why are you standing there?"

"Your minivan is not qualified for that. Only sedans or hybrids are qualified for refueling, " the employee answered. freewёbnoνel.com

"You can't be serious. So you're telling me I'm stranded here?" The veterinarian questioned in anger.

"Until further notice, yes... But I heard that the gas refinery is starting back up next month."