Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Could it be... Nathan Thorne is Turning into a Zombie?

"Sierra..."

Jayce’s voice had lost some of its clarity, growing hoarse.

He only said her name, but he subconsciously swallowed hard.

From Sierra’s angle, she could clearly see his Adam’s apple bob.

For some reason, Sierra felt herself being drawn to it.

With almost no hesitation, Sierra pushed herself up and nipped his Adam’s apple.

She didn’t use much force, but she heard Jayce let out a muffled groan.

It seemed to be pained, yet also tinged with pleasure.

It was a complex feeling, one that Sierra couldn’t quite describe at that moment.

"Sierra..."

Jayce called out her name again.

Just as Sierra was about to speak, General Aldridge’s familiar voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.

"Jayce, did you and Sierra get lost? Why aren’t you here yet?"

Even with the distortion from the walkie-talkie, the General’s booming voice was unmistakable.

The intimate atmosphere that had just been building vanished in an instant at the sound of his words.

Sierra pushed Jayce. "Get up. Let’s go. If we don’t, the General is going to come storming over here."

Jayce let out a deep sigh but didn’t argue.

Having known him for so long, it wasn’t just Sierra who understood General Aldridge; Jayce did too.

If they continued to dawdle, the General really might come storming over to demand exactly what the two of them had been doing all this time.

Sierra couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of that scene.

’Forget it, forget it. We’d better get over there quickly!’

Ten minutes later, the two of them finally arrived before General Aldridge.

As soon as the General saw them, he looked them up and down. "You two—"

Before General Aldridge could finish, Sierra quickly cut him off.

"General Aldridge, you seemed to be in a hurry for us to get here. Has something happened?"

After Sierra asked her question, the General didn’t answer right away, but he didn’t continue his previous line of thought either.

He just stared at Sierra, his gaze carrying a profound, knowing look.

Being stared at like that, Sierra felt as if he could see right through her.

It was not a pleasant feeling.

But she also knew General Aldridge didn’t mean anything by it.

After all, the General had lived a long life and experienced so much. There were some things he could guess at, even if she didn’t say a word and he didn’t ask. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

It was just a matter of whether he was willing to say it out loud.

After a few moments, General Aldridge averted his gaze.

"I had you come over to take a look at Nathan Thorne. His condition is a little strange."

’Strange?’

Sierra’s attention was instantly captured.

General Aldridge wasn’t one to make a big deal out of nothing.

If he was saying this, it meant Nathan Thorne’s condition must be exceptionally strange.

"Stop thinking about it. Come with me and see for yourselves. You’ll understand then."

Sierra and Jayce glanced at each other, then followed General Aldridge into Dr. Hayes’s lab.

Dr. Hayes was standing by a window, his expression grave as he watched the situation inside.

Although Dr. Hayes was often very serious, Sierra had never seen him with an expression as grim as this one.

Just from the look on his face, Sierra knew the situation was probably very bad.

"Dr. Hayes," Sierra called out softly.

Hearing her, Dr. Hayes turned around. "You’re here? Come and take a look!"

Sierra and Jayce walked over, standing on either side of the doctor.

Through the glass, they could clearly see the situation inside the small room.

Nathan Thorne was lying on a bed, his entire body bound by restraints.

But his body was constantly writhing.

On his exposed skin, something seemed to be surging along his blood vessels.

His veins would bulge intermittently, as if something was hidden inside them, something that was relentlessly searching for an exit, trying to burst out of his body.

Just watching made cold sweat break out on Sierra’s back.

It wasn’t fear, but a feeling of... revulsion.

"I’ve never seen a case like this before," Dr. Hayes said.

His expression was grave, but his eyes shone with a strange light that made Sierra’s heart pound with apprehension.

Sierra knew that the way researchers thought was different from ordinary people.

When faced with an unknown situation, most people would feel fear or disgust, but people like Dr. Hayes became incredibly excited.

She could understand it, but she couldn’t fully accept it.

Sierra took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down before she found her voice again.

"Is he... in any danger?"

Nathan Thorne had been perfectly fine when he arrived, full of hope for the future.

Sierra desperately hoped that nothing dangerous would happen to him here.

If something really happened to Nathan, how could she explain it to Trevor Thorne?

Dr. Hayes pushed up his glasses. "That’s a question I can’t answer right now."

He didn’t know the specifics of Nathan’s condition either and could only continue to wait.

In truth, it wasn’t that Sierra didn’t understand this; she was just anxious, which was why she had asked.

Hearing Dr. Hayes’s reply now, she didn’t feel disappointed.

Dr. Hayes was a man, not a god.

If he really could answer everything, the apocalypse would probably have ended long ago.

For the next while, none of them spoke, but everyone’s eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Nathan Thorne.

As time ticked by, Nathan’s condition showed no signs of improvement.

In fact, he seemed to be in even more pain than before.

The skin on his body had even changed from its normal color to an ashen gray.

This was not a good sign.

Sierra and Jayce had both seen zombies before.

The skin of those zombies was precisely this color.

’Could it be... that Nathan Thorne is turning into a zombie?’

The thought appeared in Sierra’s mind, startling even herself.

She didn’t want to admit it.

But now, it truly seemed to be heading in that direction.

"But why?" Sierra couldn’t stop herself from asking the question out loud.

She wasn’t asking anyone in particular, nor was she necessarily expecting an answer.

It was just that Sierra truly couldn’t understand.

Jayce walked over to Sierra’s side and gently patted her shoulder.

"Sierra, don’t overthink it. This is beyond our control."

Of course, Sierra understood that this was all beyond her control.

But understanding something and being able to calmly accept it were two different things.

The person she had been laughing with just a few hours ago was now lying on a bed, on the verge of turning into a zombie at any moment. This was not something that was easy to accept.

Sierra felt as if a ball of cotton was stuck in her throat, one she could neither spit out nor swallow.

This feeling of powerlessness made Sierra feel agitated and frantic.

"Look—"