This chapter contains dark themes and minor self-harm.
Mood: Horror love, dark fluff, yandere, angst
Summary: In an alternate timeline, Lu Hao brings home a zombie Hong Sheng and loves him just as much. He'll do anything to take care of him, no matter how wrong it seems.
Content: Implied zombie-human intercourse
—
The SG discovered something horrifying in F City.
In the second year of the apocalypse, there had been a researcher in B City sentenced to death for his inhumane experiments. This man had escaped and traveled south, and now, he had set up a new lab in F City.
He had been kidnapping human survivors, and turning them into zombies.
"We can't let this continue." Lu Hao's eyes were sharp, angered by the blatant disregard for human life, the cruelty of the details he'd read in the reports. "Get ready to go immediately. We need to investigate. If this is true, we'll stop him."
At Lu Hao's side were the elite SG members who made up his strike team. They'd gone through thick and thin together, and if this lab was going to be guarded by advanced, mutated zombies, they needed all the firepower they could get.
The team broke into the lab, an underground bunker hidden in a forest. Just as the intel had said, the entire area was full of horrific evolved zombies whose powers were far beyond the scale of the zombies outside. Lu Hao and his team fought through them, carving their way deep into the laboratory.
There, they saw evidence of the experiments. The humans were being kept in cells, penned like livestock. There were isolation chambers holding zombies at various stages of transition.
In the end, the best mercy they could give these test subjects was death.
As they cleared out the rooms in this chamber, Lu Hao solemnly gave his order. "Anyone who's been tested on will need to be killed. Make it quick and painless. They deserve peace."
It was after Lu Hao had killed the lead researcher that he had found the defunct passageway.
It'd been obviously abandoned for a while. Old and crusted blood lined the walls and floor, and a rotten, musty scent filled the air. Lu Hao wouldn't have bothered to notice it if not for the subtle sounds of scuffling and zombie groans he heard far inside, past the walls.
He had an obligation to give these people a proper death. That's what stirred Lu Hao to enter the abandoned passageway and investigate the worn-down, forgotten cells.
This was where he found the failures.
They were the experimental test subjects whose mutations had made them even weaker than normal zombies. Lu Hao saw zombies with missing limbs, some whose muscles had atrophied to impossible thinness, and some that didn't seem to react to his presence at all.
More than anything, they were pitiful.
These people had their lives stolen from them. They'd been turned into monsters against their will. And then, they had been thrown away to rot.
Lu Hao went to each zombie and, with a gentle strike of electricity, ended their lives. His method left no marks on the bodies, so they could be recovered and documented in case any family members searched for them.
Once Lu Hao reached the last zombie in the hall, that's when his whole being froze.
The zombie in that cell looked familiar.
It was very thin, so pale that the skin was nearly a blueish white. It had long dark bangs covering its face, and when Lu Hao called out a name, horror overtaking him—the zombie looked up.
It was Hong Sheng.
Lu Hao hadn't seen him for six years.
He had never imagined their reunion would be like this.
He was frozen, unable to move, unable to think.
The zombie Hong Sheng growled at him, a weak sound that wasn't the least bit intimidating. He looked so skinny, small, and miserable, with his t-shirt hanging loosely off his far-too-bony shoulders. He looked like an abandoned stray.
Hong Sheng staggered to his feet. He shuffled toward Lu Hao, but perhaps because he was too weak, Hong Sheng collapsed and smacked his face on the floor.
"Hong Sheng!"
instinct took over Lu Hao, and he tore through the bars of the cell. His hands gripped Hong Sheng's arms and hauled him up.
Even if he knew it was stupid of him—even if he knew that this was just a zombie, that all of these zombies were supposed to die... he couldn't stop himself.
Just now, Lu Hao had killed so many of them with his own hands.
Yet, just this one zombie, he cradled preciously in his arms.
He was a hypocrite. A complete, and utter hypocrite.
The zombie Hong Sheng raised his head, with his pale, half-blind eyes searching aimlessly. Lu Hao didn't move, even as Hong Sheng sniffed at his arm. When Hong Sheng opened his mouth and sank his teeth against Lu Hao's flesh, Lu Hao let him.
But the bite didn't break skin. It felt ticklish. Hong Sheng mouthed and nipped at Lu Hao's arm, seeming frustrated at how his bites couldn't sink in at all. His growl turned into a sad, confused whine, and Hong Sheng laid there, frail and exhausted in Lu Hao's grasp.
Hong Sheng was a failed, useless experiment.
He was a zombie so weak that he couldn't even attack a human.
When this thought entered Lu Hao's mind, his eyes lit up.
The change that came over him seemed sudden from the outside. But it was the slow unfurling of a seed that had been long buried in his heart. The same instinct that had led Lu Hao into this cell, now had him gathering Hong Sheng in his arms, with one of his hands gently running through Hong Sheng's hair.
"Hong Sheng, how could this happen to you?" Lu Hao murmured. Of course, Hong Sheng couldn't answer him, but Lu Hao had a general idea of what happened.
The researcher had targeted the civilians of the F City base for his experiments. He must have kidnapped Hong Sheng, penned him in with the other helpless survivors, then dragged him out to experiment on him...
And when Hong Sheng had become this weak, helpless little zombie, the researcher had thrown him here to be forgotten.
No one wanted poor little zombie Hong Sheng. But Lu Hao had found him now.
Hong Sheng was cold and soft in Lu Hao's arms, still giving kittenish bites to Lu Hao's neck and shoulder. Because he'd turned into a zombie through an experiment, Hong Sheng didn't have any wounds on his body, other than the dried blood at the corners of his mouth and under the beds of his nails.
Of all the zombies Lu Hao had seen, Hong Sheng was the cutest, cleanest, and most well-behaved one.
Lu Hao smiled warmly, his eyes gentle and affectionate. He rubbed a thumb over the corners of Hong Sheng's pale lips to help wipe off the dried blood. "Look at you. We'll have to get you cleaned up." The movement of the thumb caught Hong Sheng's attention, and he made a move to chomp on it. The expression in Lu Hao's eyes was unchanging as Hong Sheng swallowed Lu Hao's thumb in his mouth. He bit and sucked on the finger with his round, weak zombie teeth, seemingly very happy to have finally caught some 'prey' in his mouth.
Lu Hao merely gazed at Hong Sheng with a gentle, indulgent expression.
But if anyone else had been around, they would have seen it for what it was.
The way Lu Hao looked at this mindless zombie would have made people feel numb with fear to their bones.
It was a chilling, terrifying obsession.
"Sheng Sheng, I'm home."
The moment Lu Hao returned to his room, he shut the door, and an invisible prison of lightning sparked back into place over the walls.
A cold zombie pounced on Lu Hao.
Chuckling, Lu Hao happily hugged and petted the zombie.
"Sheng Sheng, were you being good while I was away?"
He didn't expect a reply, of course. Zombie Sheng was a quiet and obedient little zombie who only liked to bite Lu Hao or suck on his hand. That was okay. Lu Hao still loved him. Hong Sheng had always been very shy, and now he was just shyer.
"Here, Sheng Sheng." Lu Hao put his fingers against Hong Sheng's lips. "You can bite my fingers. You like that, don't you?" As he'd expected, Hong Sheng opened up eagerly, a bit of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. While Hong Sheng gnawed on him, Lu Hao scooped Hong Sheng up and carried him to the bath.
Lu Hao had just gotten through a long mission, and he was exhausted, sweaty and dirty all over. He ran the water of the bath, getting it full of steaming hot water before he stripped himself and Hong Sheng of their clothes. Hong Sheng didn't resist other than a few grumbles when Lu Hao had to pull his fingers away, and once they were both in the water together, he resumed nibbling on whatever part of Lu Hao interested him.
Steam billowed in the bathroom as the two sat in the bathtub, immersed in hot water up to their chests. Lu Hao's muscles relaxed, and he idly stroked his hand up and down Hong Sheng's body while lying back in the tub. With how hot the water was, the heat transferred to Hong Sheng as well, making his skin feel warm and comfortable to the touch.
After enjoying the sensations for a while, Lu Hao reached for the body wash and opened the bottle with a click.
He squeezed a dollop on a rough wash towel and used it to scrub the grime and sweat off himself with harsh efficiency. Though he was thorough, it took only a few minutes to finish.
There was no care to treat himself with simpler pleasures. He maintained his own body like a weapon.
Lu Hao dropped the wash towel to the side.
With that, his hurried, military precision disappeared. Lu Hao spurted more body wash into his hands. This time, he slowly rubbed the gel between his hands, forming a soapy, bubbly lather. He took the time to get the texture just right, a perfect smoothness that glided comfortably.
Then, with soft, massaging motions, Lu Hao gently rubbed the lathery bubbles over Hong Sheng's supple skin. His fingers slid in the nooks and crannies of Hong Sheng's body, spreading the smooth froth everywhere. Over his back and around to chest. Behind the ears, down the neck. Under his armpits, along his arms, and between each finger. His hands traveled everywhere.
He didn't hesitate to slide between Hong Sheng's thighs, either. To keep the body wash from dissipating in the water, Lu Hao repositioned Hong Sheng who sat on Lu Hao's legs while leaning against his chest. Lu Hao lifted Hong Sheng's legs from the water. Droplets trailed down the slender calves, dripping onto the rippling water surface with crystalline plops. Some of them were caught by Lu Hao's hands as he rubbed the delicate skin of Hong Sheng's thighs.
Hong Sheng leaned over to gnaw on Lu Hao's jaw, unable to reach anything else in this position.
Lu Hao gave him a doting smile and teased, "Silly." Hong Sheng couldn't get enough of biting Lu Hao, even if he never succeeded in eating him.
Calloused, wheat-colored hands ran up and down Hong Sheng's legs. They caressed the soles of his feet and rubbed between the toes, carefully cleaning around the nails.
Lu Hao took his time to lave over every bit of Hong Sheng's body, making sure he was pristine without a single trace of dust or dirt.
There was only one place left that Lu Hao had to clean.
Hong Sheng's intimate parts were left completely unused now that he was a zombie with no need for food or drink. Yet Lu Hao cleaned these parts of him with reverent gentleness. He made Hong Sheng kneel in front of him, lower half just barely emerged from the water. That was enough to let Lu Hao knead the frothy white soap over him.
It was as if Lu Hao was a worshiper of Hong Sheng, cleaning him with the utmost and devoted care. His motions didn't stray beyond loving and gentle, as if the thought of blaspheming had never crossed his mind.
The entire time, Hong Sheng idly nibbled on Lu Hao's jaw and cheeks. But it was as Lu Hao dipped his fingers to wash Hong Sheng in the most intimate places that Hong Sheng slid over. His face ended up right in front of Lu Hao's, and zombie Hong Sheng gave a little growl. He targeted the soft, edible meat, licking the corner of Lu Hao's mouth, and nibbling on the lips.
Lu Hao's hands tightened around Hong Sheng, his pupils dilating immensely.
A treacherous desire rose from the water. Lu Hao breathed heavily, his body trembling with strain. Unaware of the danger, Hong Sheng continued to nip and suck on Lu Hao's mouth—until finally, Lu Hao kissed him back, hard, before instantly pulling away.
"?" Zombie Hong Sheng was confused by the sudden attack and the loss of his food.
Lu Hao had returned to his gentle expression, that unhurried and peaceful calm. "We're all done bathing, Sheng Sheng. It's time to dry you up." He pulled Hong Sheng out of the water to wipe him clean.
On the surface, it was as if nothing had happened.
Zombie Hong Sheng, who looked up at Lu Hao in confusion, didn't understand the look in Lu Hao's eyes or the strange heat that had taken over Lu Hao's body.
One day, Hong Sheng got sick.
He became even more sluggish. Liver spots grew over his body. He was decomposing from the inside and coughing up black blood that dribbled from his mouth.
In desperation, Lu Hao bundled Hong Sheng in layers of jackets and cloth. He drove out to the research compound. It had once been the base of the mad scientist, but now, F City had taken it over, and a researcher named Lisa Xi was trying to find a cure to the virus.
Lu Hao had heard of her from the theories she'd publicized. Zombies weren't undead. The virus controlled them and mutated their DNA. He knew that if anyone could find out what had gone wrong in Hong Sheng, it would be her.
The compound was guarded by the F City forces—but none of them could stop Lu Hao.
"What are you doing?" The guards recognized him. They raised their hands and their weapons, a cursory effort to stop Lu Hao, yet they didn't dare to actually get near him. Around Lu Hao, the air simmered with static electricity. Leaves from the forest rose in the air, carried by the currents, and singed away into ash. As Lu Hao passed the guards, they felt the hairs on their bodies stand on end, the smell of ozone filled their noses. "Stop. We can't allow you to pass without orders."
"You can't allow me?"
A slight smile lifted Lu Hao's lips. The guards broke out into a cold sweat, the rising static passing over their bodies. One of the weaker guards stammered, "Sir, what—what's your purpose here? If someone's expecting you, we'll just confirm it and let you go."
"Sure." Lu Hao humored them, a darkness falling over his eyes. "Contact Lisa Xi. Tell her I'm coming to see her."
The guard fumbled with his walkie-talkie and made to contact the others in the base. Lu Hao heard every word clearly, of course, and his piercing gaze and smile landed on the guard, who trembled in fear.
In the tense atmosphere, Lu Hao wondered if he shouldn't just walk past them. Kill them. His hands gripped Hong Sheng, who was curled up against his chest. Hong Sheng was getting so weak that he didn't even struggle, didn't even try to bite Lu Hao. He just laid there, like he was dying.
"S—Sir, you're free to pass. Scientist Xi said... Scientist Xi is waiting for you."
These words brought Lu Hao back to the moment. The guards didn't know that they'd been moments from death as Lu Hao walked past them without a word.
He was a storm, a hurricane moving out of their vicinity. All around the entrance of the compound, the ground was disturbed in strange, magnetic patterns, like the static electricity itself had carved the world.
Lisa Xi worked in the deepest section of the compound. Once Lu Hao finally met her, she was alone in her laboratory, checking something through a microscope. Lu Hao was surprised she didn't have anyone else with her. As the door closed behind him, he said, "Scientist Xi. No guards with you?"
"Would they do me any good?" Lisa Xi snorted and moved from the microscope. "The leader of the SG. I heard you killed the level-10 zombie in F City the other week. There's nothing that could stop you if you wanted to hurt me, so I won't bother. Tell me why you're here." Her sharp gaze landed on Hong Sheng. It didn't take much to notice how intimately Lu Hao treated this person. "The person in your arms. What's wrong with them?"
Lu Hao lowered his gaze. "You can't hurt him. Or else."
With that, he slowly unraveled Hong Sheng before Lisa Xi's eyes.
When she saw the zombified form of Hong Sheng, her pupils dilated, and with a sharp inhale she backed away a step.
She opened her mouth as if about to ask, 'Are you crazy?!', but when her gaze moved to Lu Hao, she stopped whatever she was about to say. A trace of fear crossed her face.
Her chest rapidly rose and fell from her disturbed breathing, and Lisa Xi quickly came to a decision. "Put him down on a research table so I can get a better look. Restrain him. Don't let him bite me." She moved so quickly that it was hard to tell she was shaking. Lisa Xi snapped on some nitrile gloves and watched as Lu Hao gently, tenderly, set Hong Sheng down on the metal surface of the table.
Hong Sheng barely reacted, except for a wheezing cough. More black blood spilled from his mouth, which Lu Hao hastily wiped away.
Lisa Xi murmured a low curse. She then gingerly approached the tableside to get a better look. "This zombie... where did you find him?"
"He was an experiment." Lu Hao's hand gently stroked Hong Sheng's cheek. "From this lab."
Lisa Xi's body tensed all over.
She knew something.
Lu Hao's gaze sliced up at her like a knife. There was a deadly quiet to him, like he would kill her at any moment.
"The experiments... the data that I recovered from this place. There were leftover samples. Test tubes filled with human flesh and organs. They were prototypes of the DNA reassembly experiments conducted on the victims. And they... over the past month, the test materials in the tubes started to rot, and in the end, they..."
"Stop."
Lisa Xi stopped.
"I'm not here for you to tell me this," Lu Hao said slowly. "I'm here for you to tell me how to save him."
Silence descended over the lab. Hong Sheng let out a soft groan, a weak little snuffle, and Lu Hao instantly was there to soothe him. He ran his hands over Hong Sheng's head, shushing him with gentle, coaxing sounds. Eventually, Hong Sheng quieted under Lu Hao's touch.
Lisa Xi watched in horror, pale with her lips pressed tightly together to keep from making a sound.
When she did speak, it was only after Lu Hao raised his gaze to her, an eerie and haunting image. "He's... He must have been in your care for around a year. Is that correct?" Lu Hao nodded. "Then... in that time, have you ever... fed him?"
"No," he said slowly, "I haven't."
Trembling, Lisa Xi got a hold of herself and nodded sharply. "Normal zombies don't decompose this way. They're able to remain active and mobile even after years of isolation. We can attribute this to the virus, which functions in a manner unlike anything we've ever—"
"Stalling?"
At Lu Hao's interruption, Lisa Xi went silent.
Casually, Lu Hao said, "From the beginning, I put up an electric field around the compound. Even if you send out the evacuation order, no one can leave alive." He smiled, handsome and horrifying.
A lightning bolt surged past Lisa Xi to the emergency alarm, which she had subtly walked towards as she talked. The lightning fried the system, letting out sparks.
There was no escape. Either Lisa Xi helped him, or she, and everyone else here, died.
"...The virus in the experimental subjects is different. It's incomplete." Lisa Xi changed her words. "The zombie virus transforms the DNA of the host. I theorized that zombies mutate and grow stronger by assimilating new genetic material—new DNA—that allows them to continue their evolution. They do this by eating humans and ability users. So, my theory is... if your zombie's body is breaking down, you might be able to stimulate the virus through feeding."
Lu Hao saw how nervous she was. It was a very simple solution. So simple that Lu Hao wasn't sure why he didn't try it earlier. Hong Sheng had been so hungry this entire time. Lu Hao had been horrible, starving him, just watching him as he struggled to try and eat.
Whatever Lisa Xi saw happen in Lu Hao's eyes made her take a step back. "Lu Hao—you—don't forget that you're the leader of the Survivor Guard. I don't know why you have this zombie with you, but know that if you feed people to it... It's inhumane. You'll be turning your back against humanity. This zombie could kill you. No matter who he was to you before, right now, he's just—"
"We'll test your theory," Lu Hao said. With a flick of his finger, Lu Hao cut a gash into his arm. Crimson blood welled over the wound, and for the first time, Hong Sheng stirred, raising his head with interest.
Lu Hao gently held his arm over Hong Sheng's lips, a tremulous, perverse pleasure flashing through his eyes. The blood spilled down, falling over Hong Sheng's tongue.
At the side, Lisa Xi covered her mouth in horror, watching as Lu Hao fed the zombie with his own blood.
And true to Lisa Xi's theory, Hong Sheng got better.
Lu Hao's flesh and blood was extremely potent material, and soon, Hong Sheng recovered at a speed visible to the eye. His bruises and liver spots healed, and Hong Sheng actively leaned up from the table, gripped his hands around Lu Hao's arm to try and pull the wound to his lips.
Overjoyed, Lu Hao laughed, his eyes bright and vibrant with ecstasy. "Ah-ah, we can't do that," he said, steadying Hong Sheng. The wound on Lu Hao's arm has already begun to scab over. "Don't worry, Sheng Sheng. You won't be hungry anymore."
He then looked at Lisa Xi, his attitude like night and day compared to before, all smiles and easy relaxation.
Yet he was even more terrifying like this, especially when he said, "Thank you, Scientist Xi. I'll be grateful if you don't tell anyone about my little Sheng. Don't worry. He's shy and well-behaved, and won't cause any trouble. But if anyone comes looking for him..."
Cold sweat broke out over Lisa Xi's entire body. "If you don't commit any crimes against humanity, I won't tell a soul."
Lu Hao laughed. "Don't worry," he said. He affectionately rubbed his thumb under Hong Sheng's eye. "I wouldn't want my little Sheng to have anyone else in him."
With daily feedings, Hong Sheng recovered quickly.
He even grew more energetic. Now, he could jump and pounce on Lu Hao, eager to bite him everywhere. Lu Hao was delighted by Hong Sheng's attempts, but even though Hong Sheng's teeth were still too weak to eat him, they left ambiguous marks all over Lu Hao's body.
Lu Hao even noticed that Hong Sheng's strength and eyesight seemed to be getting better. This meant he had to be even more careful to not let Hong Sheng lick at his open wounds while feeding him, lest Lu Hao get infected and be unable to provide more food for Hong Sheng.
An unintended consequence of Hong Sheng's healthy activities were Lu Hao's reactions. Every time Hong Sheng 'attacked' him, Lu Hao suffered certain urges which became more and more difficult to hold back. There were lines he felt he couldn't cross, a moral boundary that he still clung to no matter how twisted he had become.
But that boundary shattered the night Lu Hao woke up to feel something wet licking at his thigh.
Because he was so worked up every day without finding time or help to relieve himself, he accidentally had a sweet and loving dream with Hong Sheng in his arms. His body expended itself under the covers.
Now, Lu Hao jerked right awake, and he threw back the blankets to find zombie Hong Sheng there below him, busy eating a late night snack.
Lu Hao's pupils dilated to an insane degree, and he gulped.
He didn't care about crossing the line anymore.
Hong Sheng felt like his head was full of cotton.
He had... strange memories. Something awful had happened to him. He was trapped in a small cage, where he was slowly dying.
And then Lu Hao was there, like a Prince Charming out of a fairytale.
Lu Hao brought Hong Sheng home. But then Hong Sheng got sick. He was very sick, and so hungry, and felt like he was going to melt away into nothing.
Until Lu Hao started giving him medicine.
Everything after that... was just very happy.
Hong Sheng opened his eyes.
Huh?
Wait a minute.
Was that all real?
Hong Sheng sat up on the soft bed. He looked around the bedroom and saw that everything looked exactly like it had in his dream. Then he looked down at himself, and saw that he was... naked, covered in ambiguous little marks, with some...
Some of... Lu Hao's... 'medicine'... on him...
Something exploded in Hong Sheng's brain.
The world's first fully-evolved zombie king, one minute after awakening intelligent consciousness, fainted from blushing too hard.