Driving isn’t that hard, I’ve done it before. Despite thinking that way, I still felt a bit nervous. He was sitting in the passenger seat, giving me instructions on the clutch, brake, and accelerator. Although I had learned these in the past two months, this was my first time actually driving, given that we finally had a car.
The car was only sparsely filled with food, clothes, and with Xiao Miao and Zhou Kang sitting in the back. After I accidentally pressed the gas pedal incorrectly for the third time, he couldn’t help but start nagging.
Xiao Miao laughed from the back seat. He turned around in confusion and asked, “What’s so funny?”
Xiao Miao answered bluntly, “You really are a control freak.”
He pursed his lips and looked at me, and I quickly hid the agreement in my eyes.
He squinted at me. I asked, focusing on the pedals, “Which one is the brake again?”
“…” He straightened up and said, “Just press whichever one you like.”
“…” I sighed slightly.
“Xu Lin.”
“What?”
“I made a mistake.”
“… It’s too late.”
Zhou Kang, unable to tolerate it any longer, said, “I’ll go with Ah Lu in that car.”
Xiao Miao grabbed him, “Big brother Zhou, don’t go! I don’t want to be in the same car as Ah Lu.”
“Fine, you stay then.”
“Just me alone? It would disturb their world of two.”
“…” He rolled his eyes.
I accidentally guessed the brake pedal again. Great, that must mean the other one is the accelerator. I quickly pressed it, but pressed too hard, and he rushed to turn the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding the taillights of the car in front.
Zhou Kang, who had been startled in the back, was furious: “You two stay in the back, I’ll drive!”
I looked innocent. I had already said I wasn’t good at gauging pressure. Pressing the gas pedal to the floor was just an accident.
Once we moved to the back seat, I sighed in relief. Finally, we could set off. I peeked between the front seats to watch Zhou Kang’s driving and continued learning.
Before long, someone tapped my wrist, which was resting on the seat.
He said impatiently, “Your hand just healed, don’t lean on it.”
I had no choice but to sit back properly and squeezed a bit closer to him.
He glanced at me sideways and said, “You’ve been a bit strange lately. Very clingy.”
Have I?
Maybe it’s just because of the various memories, everything pieced together, and I realized that if things hadn’t exploded before, with so many obstacles and considerations, now it’s mostly just the difference between life and death. If that’s the case, then of course, when we can be together, I should stick close.
Besides, maybe the difference between life and death isn’t so crucial.
I reached out and rubbed his face, seeing the smile on his face, and slowly smiled myself.
“How about we find a place to get more gasoline next time and try again?”
“Sure.”
The car was heading northwest, where there were fewer people, meaning less danger.
After leaving the mountains and with the weather cooling down, the area became more open. Apart from the occasional abandoned car on the road, villages became rarer. To stock up on supplies, we had to stop, or else we’d face trouble if we couldn’t find any gas stations later.
We came across a small town after half a day. The number of houses was relatively small. On the road, we saw a few zombies wandering at the town entrance.
The skeletons won’t be wandering around, so we couldn’t yet tell how many there were or if there were any.
Zhou Kang, who was good at shooting, climbed onto the roof of a large truck and began sniping the slow-moving zombies, while others handled them.
A few had been attracted by the sound of the car and walked over. I got out, wearing a hat. As I passed by them, they turned their heads to look at me but did nothing further, they continued walking forward.
Only a small part of them had regained awareness. Though I was reluctant to see them being shot, often there was nothing I could do.
With the sound of falling zombies behind me, the team worked well together. With this number, there was no threat. I wasn’t worried about his safety and walked into the town. Besides the few wandering zombies, the town seemed quite empty. Most had likely come out from the town following the sounds on the road.
Many of them had decaying skin, walked a bit faster, and emitted a strong stench, indicating they probably couldn’t be saved.
I continued deeper into the town and saw a store. The windows were covered in dust, but there seemed to be plenty of items inside. I opened the door slightly and went in. There was no one visible at first glance.
I walked behind the counter and still found it empty.
What caught my attention was a faint… handprint in the dust on the table.
I instinctively pulled my hat down and exited, closing the door behind me.
Residential houses didn’t need too much inspection. If there was something inside, they would try to come out. I only needed to pay attention to any sounds of banging doors or windows. Also, places with crowds needed high alert. Fortunately, the doors of the two restaurants and an internet cafe I passed were either open or broken, proving that whatever was inside had already come out.
The only thing that drew my attention was a two-story independent building.
The windows were still covered in dust, but I couldn’t see inside. It seemed like there were black cloths covering the windows.
Were there still humans here?
But as I approached, I felt a familiar moan coming from inside.
Closer, I could even distinguish simple words.
I knocked on the window, wondering what to say, when suddenly I felt a gun barrel pressing against my back.
“Who are you?” The voice was a bit trembling and… youthful.
I stood straight, raising my hands. Thanks to the long sleeves provided by Xu Lin, my wrist injury wasn’t visible for now.
I didn’t dare turn around and tried to make my words smooth, “I have no… ill intentions. No weapons, just heard some noise inside.”
“How did you get in without weapons?” The voice didn’t trust me. I heard a footstep, and saw two dirty hands reaching out, checking me.
Then the person stepped back and said, “Sister, he really has no weapons.”
I still didn’t turn around, continuing, “My friends are outside. Are you… trapped here? They can help you out.”
The boy’s voice asked, “Who are you? The military? Do you have a solution?”
Honestly, I felt a bit dizzy. I usually only talked a lot when I was with him. Even if I couldn’t say something, it wouldn’t matter much. But now, if I couldn’t answer clearly or let them discover who I really was, I might really die.
It didn’t matter before, but now I couldn’t die.
“We’re not military, just ordinary people. We’re looking for a place to stop.”
The girl’s voice said, “No, you can’t stop here…”
“Brother, behind you…”
I heard a faint moan and the sound of a gun being chambered. The girl seemed to have turned around. I instinctively did the same and saw an elderly zombie staggering towards her.
She was trembling, stepping back, but did not fire.
The boy, who seemed to have seen my eyes, had his mouth open in shock. I pushed the elderly zombie forward and whispered, “Can’t… eat…”
He understood.
I knew he understood.
I stopped pushing and, as the girl murmured in surprise, “Why isn’t he biting you?” I turned away—
Since this one had regained awareness, I couldn’t let them kill him.
I quickly took off my hat and asked, “Is there a place… to keep him?”
The boy, still confused, nodded and tapped his sister’s shoulder, “There’s a place, follow me.”
The girl put away her gun. I pushed the old man and followed them.
My watch showed that nearly half an hour had passed.
He might be getting anxious.
But… I can’t…
Zhou Kang and Xiao Miao would stop him.
I had to figure out what was going on here first to avoid harming innocent people… or those who might still be saved.
