He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had drunk too much, then scrolled the mouse wheel up a few times, finding the report again.
Test Result: [Uninfected]
Dr. Jenner's breathing stopped instantly.
He was shocked and looked at the blood donor information again—
Louis.
It was the blonde child wearing a sheriffs hat who had gotten bright red from drinking the wrong alcohol.
Dr. Jenner forcefully suppressed his emotions and reread all the files from beginning to end.
He confirmed that only this one was [Uninfected].
Immediately after, he rushed to the freezer, took out the blood sample, and dashed into the highest-level laboratory... After battling Walkers, dealing with spies at the gas station, and worrying about the future, everyone was enjoying this rare moment of rest.
Louis first took a quick shower to get rid of the dusty smell on him. Once he looked about the same as everyone else, he rushed to the recreation room without stopping.
He rummaged through it, but there were only a few books on the shelf, mostly "CDC Emergency Handbook," "Introduction to Virology," and a few outdated popular magazines.
This result was within his expectations. Although regretful, he wasn't disappointed for too long.
Louis checked the time, estimated that everyone had gone to sleep, and quietly returned to his assigned room.
He didn't rest; instead, he took out the book "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" from his backpack and began to recite it from memory.
For Louis, this unique magic book, besides using the Shrinking Charm or Undetectable Extension Charm to preserve it, actually had a more secure and primitive method.
That is, whether he could learn it or not, he would first memorize all the content and engrave it in his mind.
He really wanted to quickly learn those powerful spells, but the reality was that he struggled even with the most basic Reparo Charm.
In the apocalypse, life was precarious, and even if he remained vigilant, there would always be moments of oversight. If his backpack was lost, stolen, or damaged one day, he would truly become an "extinct Wizard."
So, after realizing he couldn't achieve quick success, he prioritized, starting with the most practical spells, memorizing them one by one.
Currently, he has memorized all the important spells from the first-year textbook and the practical magic compendium by heart.
Just as Louis was about to review the casting essentials of the Reparo Charm again, there was a sudden urgent knock on the door.
His heart tightened, he quickly put away the book, and got up to open the door.
Outside, Dr. Jenner was standing there.
"Child..." Dr. Jenner stood at the door, his chest heaving violently, clearly having run all the way.
"I think I have something I must tell you, it's very important," he took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, "Can we talk?"
Seeing the other party's expression, Louis's biggest guess seemed to finally be confirmed.
"Something important?" He looked at Dr. Jenner's serious expression, feigned hesitation, and nodded, "Okay."
...A few minutes later, Dr. Jenner led Louis into a place similar to a laboratory.
The air was filled with a pungent smell of disinfectant.
Dr. Jenner stopped in front of the control panel but didn't speak immediately. He just turned around and silently observed him with an extremely complex gaze.
Finally, the doctor sighed deeply and spoke in an unprecedentedly serious tone:
"Child, what I'm about to say is very important and is closely related to your life safety."
He seemed to be weighing his words, his expression showing struggle: "I don't know if it's right to let a child like you know this, but perhaps... I have no better choice."
The first moment Dr. Jenner saw that [Uninfected] report, he originally intended to talk to the child's father, the leading police officer, Rick.
But after the initial euphoria and shock subsided, he carefully recalled the entire process of this group's interaction and suddenly discovered some details he had overlooked.
The most obvious was hair color. The child had brilliant blonde hair, while Rick and his wife Lori both had dark brown hair.
Following this doubt, he discovered more.
Although Ricks Team introduced Louis as their child and showed strong protectiveness towards him.
He had never heard the child call Rick "Dad," or even "Father."
Perhaps the family relationship was much more complicated than he imagined.
This discovery made Dr. Jenner waver about Rick.
He couldn't be sure how Rick would react upon hearing this shocking secret.
Would it be protection? Control? Or... perhaps Rick was a noble person, but... Jenner dared not gamble.
He couldn't allow this child, who might carry humanity's last hope, to face even the slightest risk.
So ultimately, he skipped Rick and went directly to Louis himself.
Looking at the doctor's heavy, hesitant expression, Louis's heart, on the contrary, calmed down.
"You came to me," Louis said calmly, "It's about the virus, isn't it?"
Jenner suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with surprise:
"You know?"
Louis nodded, calmly analyzing: "We all had blood tests before, and calculating the time, the results should be out by now."
"You're avoiding others, calling me here alone, and specifically emphasizing that it's related to my 'life safety'..."
He paused, then concluded: "I think it can only be this matter."
"Yes!" Jenner's expression instantly became excited, and he eagerly stepped forward, "That's right! I must tell you..."
The next second, both voices sounded simultaneously in the silent laboratory, but they were saying completely opposite things.
Louis: "I'm infected with the walker virus, right? How long do I have to live?"
Jenner: "You don't have the walker virus!!"
"..."
"..."
The air seemed to freeze.
Both were stunned, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"What?" Louis looked surprised, as if he hadn't heard clearly.
"You... you don't know?" Dr. Jenner also hadn't reacted, he was more confused than Louis.
"I... what do I know?" Louis looked even dizzier.
He blinked, looking at the doctor blankly: "With your serious expression just now, I thought I had accidentally contracted the virus and was about to die."
"Oh, no no no!" Dr. Jenner suddenly realized, understanding that his preconceived serious attitude had misled the other party.
Then, he took a deep breath and explained heavily: "Actually, everyone alive in this world has already been infected."
"What?!" Louis's eyes widened in disbelief, his face filled with shock.
"I know this is hard to accept," Dr. Jenner sighed, "Regardless of whether they've been bitten by a Walker, anyone who dies will turn into a Walker within minutes to hours."
"Being bitten or scratched only drastically accelerates this process."
Louis seemed to still be immersed in the shock and didn't speak for a moment.
Dr. Jenner didn't bother to comfort him; he had more important news to announce: "But, I just tested your blood..."
"I found that you don't have the walker virus in your body."
"Among the hundreds of thousands of samples we've tested," he stated word by word, "you are the only one who has not been infected."
The only one?
Hearing this description, Louis's heart stirred.
He had treated Duane before.
If his guess that the immense consumption of the Healing Charm was due to fighting the virus was true, then there should be at least two people without the virus in their bodies.
Yet Dr. Jenner now said he was the only one.
This result immediately made Louis think of several possibilities.
First, and what he leaned towards most: the Healing Charm simply couldn't cure the virus. Its significant consumption and mediocre effect on others might only be suppressing or delaying the virus's activity while simultaneously combating wound infection, nothing more.
Second, the Healing Charm did clear the virus, but they were quickly re-infected by the omnipresent virus in this world. However, Louis felt this probability was low.
Moreover, this also greatly differed from the effect of the Healing Charm as he understood it.
As for other more complex possibilities... that would depend on the doctor's subsequent answers.
"You mean..." Louis feigned excitement, "I won't be infected by the walker virus?"