After a pause, Henry Clark suddenly sighed and said, “I always thought an apocalyptic disaster would be something like a world war, or a planet colliding with Earth, or maybe even an alien invasion. But I never thought it would be zombies, because zombies aren’t scientific. But I didn’t expect that the first step of an alien invasion would actually be to create zombies…”

Ashley Grant said softly, “They’re not zombies, just patients infected by a virus.”

“No consciousness, can’t die, wandering around all day. They don’t rot, but when they see a living person, they’ll chase and bite them until they’re dead. And if someone gets bitten, they get infected too. Tell me, how is that any different from the zombies in movies?”

Ashley Grant looked at Henry Clark and said, “There is a difference. They eat food.”

Henry Clark was stunned for a moment and said, “What did you say?”

Ashley Grant replied firmly, “I’ve seen it. Those… zombies eat corn, eat cabbage. That’s not the same as the zombies in movies, right?”

Henry Clark was skinning a wild boar, but at this moment he stopped, looking at Ashley Grant in shock and said, “Are you sure? Are you sure what you saw were zombies and not normal people?”

“There’s a village not far from where I live. Everyone there was infected. I found that they always wandered around the village, but about a week after the virus outbreak, I saw some zombies gnawing on corn that hadn’t been harvested. They looked like beasts, but they really were eating corn.”

Henry Clark desperately needed information from the outside world, because ever since he hid in this abandoned mountain village, he hadn’t seen a single zombie.

And the information Ashley Grant brought completely overturned Henry Clark’s understanding of zombies. The zombies he imagined were the kind from movies or books, an unreasonable perpetual motion machine, so zombies weren’t scientific.

But now, the zombies were caused by a virus released by aliens, so the name “zombie” was just a habit. Their appearance and existence were reasonable, scientific.

Since these zombies are now reasonable and scientific, of course Henry Clark hoped that zombies could starve to death.

But if zombies actively seek out food and still retain their omnivorous instincts, that’s a problem. It’s not just a matter of whether to call those infected “patients” or “zombies.”

Henry Clark looked very shocked, which made Ashley Grant nervous.

“Zombies… let’s just call them zombies. Is it really that important that zombies are vegetarians?”

Henry Clark said helplessly, “I was planning to hide in the mountains for three months and then go out to a nearby village to see if the zombies had all starved to death. But if zombies still know how to eat, and can eat plants, then they won’t starve.”

Ashley Grant looked a bit shaken and said, “I advise you not to go near the village. Zombies aren’t slow like in the movies at all. The ones I saw moved slowly most of the time, but if they spotted prey, they’d move very fast—very, very fast.”

“And they’re very strong. Even if they’re injured, as long as it’s not a fatal wound, their movements are almost unaffected.”

After speaking, Henry Clark and Ashley Grant both fell silent. After a moment, they both sighed.

“You’ve seen them?”

Ashley Grant nodded, biting her lip. “I have. Have you?”

“Yes.”

Human nature is to repeat the obvious. After repeating this bit of nonsense, the two fell silent again.

After a long while, Ashley Grant said softly, “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Mm.”

They couldn’t keep talking about this, because both of them were remembering scenes they couldn’t bear. If they kept talking about zombies, they wouldn’t even be able to eat the wild boar.

They needed to change the subject, but in this environment and situation, it was hard to find a pleasant topic.

The only topic both could accept, that wouldn’t disgust or sadden them, was food.

It was very cold. Sitting still, Ashley Grant was shivering, seriously lacking in calories.

Henry Clark thought for a moment, wiped the blood from his hands on the ground, then opened his waist pouch and took out a piece of chocolate.

“Chocolate is for emergencies, but… go ahead, just this once.”

Ashley Grant took the chocolate, slowly unwrapped it, looked at it reverently, and then slowly licked it.

Ashley Grant began to cry, tears streaming down her face.

She took a small bite, then another, eating the chocolate with a look of devotion.

The chocolate wasn’t big, the kind divided into three pieces, and Ashley Grant’s stomach kept growling, but even so, she didn’t finish it. After eating just one piece, she carefully put the remaining two back in the wrapper.

“It’s so delicious.”

She couldn’t help licking her lips. When she realized she didn’t know what else to say, Ashley Grant said again, “It’s really delicious. I never realized chocolate could taste so good!”

Henry Clark felt a pang of sympathy and said gently, “Go ahead and finish it. I have more.”