“Enough!” Zheng said sternly, “If everyone was sacrificed, Team Leader Tang would have died in battle too! Moreover, the mission was extremely difficult; casualties were inevitable. Who could predict the zombie tide’s movement?!”
“Every soldier in our battalion was personally brought out by me from the Chengdu Military Region, nine of them!” Captain Kong said with grief and indignation. “The youngest was only twenty, the only child left in his family, without even knowing who to write a farewell letter to!”
Zhou Rong interrupted him: “My youngest soldier just turned eighteen, and she’s a girl.”
Captain Kong’s roar stopped.
“Deputy Director Guo’s entire family are martyrs, and his only grandson was also among them,” Zhou Rong said slowly.
“
Too late, Colonel Zhou,” General Zheng erupted with anger, yet displayed an astonishing restraint, staring directly into Zhou Rong’s eyes and enunciating each word: “Your life has not belonged solely to you since the moment you were marked as an antibody carrier. Have you considered what would happen if you died in battle? What if he commits suicide? Or more simply, what if he tells us that he won’t cooperate with the experiment unless we send Zhou Rong away?”
Zhou Rong said impatiently: “Si Nan would never…”
“But what if he would?” General Zheng immediately countered: “In his heart, do you think your life is more important, or the lives of those four comrades?”
Zhou Rong suddenly opened his mouth but could not say anything.
At this moment, General Zheng spoke again, his voice carrying a cold tone: “You should have known this day would come, Colonel Zhou. You are a soldier, a soldier who often writes wills for high-risk missions. Did you completely forget this when you were marked as an Omega? Didn’t you notice that he was immune to the zombie virus? Did you really not suspect at all that he might be the target of Mission 118?!”
Si Nan breathed rapidly, covering his eyes, his ears buzzing. A few seconds later, he rushed through the corridor, did not return to the communication room, left directly downstairs.
“I don’t care what you say,” the old General Zheng blocked Zhou Rong, picked up documents from the table and took up his large tea mug again: “The decision has been made. You must stay and accompany the antibody carrier… that Si Nan.”
