It wasn’t a particularly pretty scene.
Many of them weren’t entirely without aggression, they only hesitated slightly or showed some protective instincts towards those they were close to. However, many others had completely lost such emotions and were left with only their instincts for attack and feeding.
I held onto one of his hands as he bent down at the stairway and glanced at the situation below.
The stairs in this two-story building were damaged. The first floor could contain them, while the second floor had a makeshift ladder from the window for entry and exit.
The people living here were all children.
The oldest was seventeen, the girl who had previously aimed a gun at me. Her name was Fang Yao. Besides her, there was a thirteen-year-old girl, and the remaining four were boys around fifteen.
He stood up and looked at me. The girl glanced at us and asked, “How did he get better? Is there a cure?”
Am I better?
Can I be cured?
The occasional gnawing desire in my mind made me uncertain about this.
He didn’t answer but asked, “Why are you children here?”
Fang Yao replied, “We were high school students from outside the town. It happened during the holiday when we were at home. A few boys were playing basketball, and Xiao Xue and I went to call them back for dinner. But suddenly, the town became chaotic… Our parents were scratched and bitten while trying to protect us. We hid, and then everything changed.”
Her younger brother, seeing his sister looking sad, couldn’t help but speak up, “We initially wanted to leave, but there were too many zombies at the town’s entrance… We couldn’t get through, so we found a place to settle. The boys took turns keeping watch and went to small shops or supermarkets for food. It was only when we found out that Xiao Guang’s mother hadn’t bitten him and hadn’t let others bite him that we decided to stay here.”
Other children around couldn’t help but ask, “Are they really beyond saving? Will they always be like this, like in the TV shows? Can they get better?”
I let go of his hand and walked to the stairway.
He followed me and asked, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, groaning and mumbling, then turned back to ask urgently, “Have you fed them?”
Fang Yao’s brother, perhaps scared by my tone, stammered, “We’ve fed the live chickens and ducks from the town… but they refuse to eat anything else.”
He understood and frowned, “Don’t feed them for now. Raw food… isn’t good for their recovery.”
The children looked around, seemingly regretful.
But that alone wasn’t enough.
I wasn’t sure if it was my expression or my eyes that had become more alert or something else. Before I could figure out what to say, he looked at me in confusion and asked, “Is there another problem?”
I thought for a moment, nodded, and pointed at him and then at the girl.
He signaled to the girl, and the three of us went down to the open space outside the window.
The night was thick, and the occasional wind made it cold. He seemed a bit chilly, his hands clasped in front of him. I went to the upwind side and addressed the puzzled girl.
“The people down there who have stronger awareness… separate them,” I thought about it and added, “Increase interaction with them.”
Whether this would be effective was uncertain, but it was worth a try.
The girl, however, read into it: “So the others… can’t be saved?”
He answered for me, “Not necessarily. They’re also slowly changing. We can only offer some advice.”
Then he turned to me, “Should we inform everyone about this?”
He actually asked me this?
I had no choice but to nod. Because of my presence, the team had gradually developed some acceptance. This matter should be reported to them.
I confirmed this, and he began trying to reassure the girl’s unease.
He talked about our team’s situation, explained our attitude, and told her not to be afraid. He also mentioned that if possible, she might leave with us.
His articulate manner made me proud. Soon, the girl nodded in agreement.
He smiled, exuding a reassuring aura, glanced at me, and raised an eyebrow as if asking what was wrong.
I shook my head and kept my eyes on him.
He came over and squinted, “What are you staring at?”
I continued to look at him, “Looking at you.”
He glanced at himself, seemed to recall something, and his shoulders shook slightly as he held back a smile.
What was he laughing about?
Before I could ask, he said with a smile, “Chen Ke, you never change.”
???
I was puzzled again.
He clearly wasn’t planning to explain. After glancing at the stains on his clothes, he continued, “I’ll go back over there by myself. Can you watch these kids?”
That was reasonable enough, and I agreed.
He adjusted my hat, took out a handgun from his waist, and handed it to me, “Wait for me to return.”
Alright.
I took the handgun and watched him walk out of the courtyard, gradually disappearing into the night.
For a long time afterward, I was confused. Did I wait for him to come back, or did we just part ways again?
During a pause between gunshots, when I pried open the wooden-planked door on the first floor of the building and pushed out the thirteen-year-old girl with a sprained ankle, I saw the morning light.
The other uninjured children had already escaped outside. I saw him running towards me against the light from a distance.
I couldn’t see his expression clearly. The frantic zombies behind me left me no choice but to close the door from the inside, isolating everything outside.
Nearby, two zombies with clearer awareness pressed against the door, preventing the others from trying to leave.
I couldn’t hear the outside noise clearly but heard Aru raising his voice, warning that more zombies had appeared in the town.
I might have chosen to go outside.
But that would likely only result in them being surrounded. The door, having been rattled earlier, might not be sturdy enough. It wasn’t practical to keep these frantic zombies locked inside unless I could eliminate some.
I fired intermittently, hearing him call my name from outside. His next shout seemed muffled, followed by chaotic gunfire.
The time was a blur in my mind.
There seemed to be sounds of fire and thick smoke, stimulating my senses, along with the sounds of car engines and more of my kind groaning and howling.
When our combined efforts finally resolved the remaining people inside the building and we managed to move the piled-up corpses to open the door slightly, the sun had already risen.
Outside, besides some scattered wandering zombies, I didn’t see any familiar faces.
The store’s useful items were gone, and there were no vehicles around.
I finally relaxed, exhausted, and leaned against the counter, sliding down.
The other two, uninterested in the shelves, just stood aimlessly, not looking around.
The watch on my wrist was dirty from the earlier events. I wiped it with another sleeve. The sunlight poured in from the window, refracted on the mirror, and formed a bright dot on the roof.
— “Persi, stop shaking me!” He shielded his eyes in dissatisfaction.
— “Hahaha, isn’t it pretty?” Another person laughed, bending down and playfully shaking the watch on his wrist, like a child not getting enough.
— “…” The latter glared, refusing to speak.
— “Xu Lin.”
— “What?”
— “If possible, let’s all wear them in the future, okay?”
— “Is it okay? Xu Lin.”
— “… Okay, okay, you’re so annoying.”
