天空终于放晴了.庭院间的战斗虽然没有造成人员伤亡,但每个人都筋疲力尽.
嘉安宣布,前方不到 50 公里就是安吉,这是一个三线城市,我们可以在那里找到一个安全的地方休息和恢复体力.
张麒麟昨晚终于体验了一把真正的丧尸战斗,兴奋不已.她绘声绘色地向队友们讲述了整个过程.
"张队长,这不公平!你竟然瞒着我们偷偷溜出去打仗!我们昨晚都熬夜了,可没人叫我们.我们不敢出去惹事,可是被困在家里都快疯了!"艾儿抱怨道.
张麒麟咧嘴一笑,揉了揉头发."差点被朵姐拦住了!她不信任我,连把刀都不肯借给我.哼,真小气!朵姐,你是不是误会我了?"她这是在对我说话.
我当时正在附近吃早餐,转过身对她笑了笑."好了好了,下次别这么鲁莽了.身边这么多男人,你就不能学会让他们保护你吗?"
张麒麟愤愤不平地跳了起来:"我又不比任何男人差!女人怎么了?没错,我尊重严泉,嘉安这样的兄弟!但我绝对比那些弱鸡强!"
她卷起袖子给我看她的肌肉.我不得不承认,她的手臂结实有力——她显然力气很大.
"我还没见过你真正战斗过.昨晚我拦住你,是怕你受伤.跟丧尸战斗可不像跟人打架——要是受伤了,根本没人能救你!断胳膊断腿还能治,但丧尸哪怕只抓破你一下都可能致命!昨天感染的人那么多,我不能让你这样的年轻姑娘冒这个险!"我捏了捏她的二头肌,硬得跟男人似的.
"呵呵,朵姐,我知道你是好意.但以后别把我当累赘!我的队友都很厉害——你等着瞧!"张麒麟骄傲地拍了拍胸口.
"轻点儿!我知道你的胸肌很发达,"我打趣道.
张麒麟居然脸红了!原来假小子也会害羞啊!她的队友们哄堂大笑.
"麒麟姐,你吃饭了吗?"严泉突然出现在我们聊天声中.
"严泉兄!我有,你呢?"张麒麟热情地向他问好,严泉的脸上顿时绽放出笑容.
"过来,小妹!哥哥给你准备了好吃的!"严泉领着她走到一处僻静的地方.张麒麟睁大眼睛好奇地跟了上去."是什么?是什么?"
令她惊讶的是,严泉突然捧起她的脸,在她嘴唇上印下一个大大的吻!
张麒麟反应迅速,一把推开他,狠狠地拍在他的头上."你这个混蛋!你这个老色鬼!你竟敢占我便宜!"
严泉困惑地揉了揉脑袋."怎么了,小妹?我以为你喜欢我呢!我是单身,而且我是认真的!"
Zhang Qilin's face turned crimson. Not wanting to make a scene, she hissed, "Who likes you? You're shameless!"
Yan Quan grew anxious. "Didn't you confess to me last night? How can you deny it this morning?"
Zhang Qilin was even more furious. "Confess? We were fighting zombies! Were you dreaming?"
Yan Quan laughed in frustration. "Little sis, you were the one who kissed me first! You can't deny that!"
But Zhang Qilin stubbornly refused to admit it, insisting Yan Quan must have been dreaming…
It was a hopeless argument—one claiming it happened, the other denying it. Eventually, they came to me to settle the dispute.
After hearing them out, I burst into laughter. The truth was, last night, when Yan Quan gave her the Tibetan dagger, Zhang Qilin had indeed been so excited she'd kissed his cheek. But for a straightforward girl like her, it was just a gesture of camaraderie—not the romantic interest Yan Quan had misinterpreted.
But I couldn't very well testify, "Qilin, you did kiss him! Admit it!" and then tell Yan Quan, "She kissed you, but don't take it seriously." That would only make things messier.
The difference between "good buddy" and "romantic interest" was just one word, but the meaning was worlds apart…
Helpless, I had to let Yan Quan down. After all, Zhang Qilin was a girl. I cleared my throat and said, "Well, Yan Quan, I didn't really notice you two last night. I was too worried about whether my husband was safe on the ladder…"
I had to fudge it.
Neither was satisfied with my testimony. Yan Quan wanted to drag Zhang Qilin to A-Ze and Jianan for confirmation, but she refused. After some bickering, the call to assemble made them drop it for the time being.
Yan Quan left indignantly, but I could tell he wasn't giving up. He'd clearly taken a liking to Zhang Qilin and wouldn't let go easily.
Once he was gone, Zhang Qilin whispered, "Thanks, Sis Duo." So, the little rascal was all bark and no bite! She remembered perfectly well but refused to admit it.
"Yan Quan is quite manly and good-looking. Why not consider him?" I actually thought they'd make a good pair. A wild girl like Zhang Qilin needed an even tougher man to match her.
"Looks aren't everything in a husband. I don't even know him well. Besides, with times like these, I don't want to bother with such trivial matters!" It turned out Zhang Qilin had a decent impression of Yan Quan—she just couldn't handle his direct and aggressive pursuit.
It seemed Yan Quan had a chance. I felt secretly pleased.
The convoy slowly left the village and headed for Anji City.
Fifty kilometers wasn't far. By noon, we'd reached the outskirts of Anji.
It was a small city with a population of only 480,000. If all 480,000 had turned into zombies, they could devour us all without leaving a trace. But we had no choice—to get to Jianan's family farm, we had to pass through Anji.
The convoy stopped outside the city. To enter, we had to scout the route first and be prepared!
Lao Wu, Meng Yidong, and Erbao volunteered to scout again. They'd nearly died in the tunnel last time but didn't seem to care.
They were alert and experienced, so we felt reassured sending them.
The rest of us waited near the courtyard of a factory outside the city for news from Lao Wu's team.
From the factory yard, we could see a large bulldozer parked inside. The factory seemed deserted, with no people or zombies.
"The bulldozer will be useful in the city!" Jianan radioed to ask if anyone could operate heavy machinery. It turned out Yan Quan's team had someone named Xiao Chao who could. Jianan assigned seven men to escort Xiao Chao to the factory.
They quickly reached the bulldozer. Xiao Chao climbed in—the keys were still inside. He started it up, and thankfully, it worked.
"Brother Jianan, this thing runs on diesel. The tank's almost empty. We need to find a gas station for more," Xiao Chao reported after checking the fuel gauge.
Jianan looked up at the massive machine and nodded. "Alright, Xiao Chao, drive it to the front of the convoy first."
Xiao Chao maneuvered the bulldozer slowly toward the factory gate.
Jianan and the seven others followed closely. Suddenly, low growls came from behind them!
Zombies! Jianan and his team turned around quickly.
Several zombies had just emerged from the factory building. They'd been alerted by the humans outside!
Not knowing how many more were inside, they couldn't afford to linger. Jianan and his team rushed toward the gate. Xiao Chao had already driven the bulldozer out.
Just as Jianan and the others were about to exit, a cry came from behind: "Help!"
Reluctantly, they stopped and looked back. Three people were frantically waving their arms from a large window on the second floor of the factory building.
Survivors trapped inside! Jianan's group couldn't ignore them. They quickly assessed the zombies approaching—only five!
Jianan shouted to Xiao Chao, "Don't worry about us! Just get out of here!"
Xiao Chao nodded and drove on.
"Brothers, let's gang up on them!" Jianan said to the men beside him.
Five against eight—they outnumbered the zombies. The eight turned back to face the five zombies.
Judging by their uniforms, the zombies had been factory workers. Their bodies were heavily decayed, and the stench was unbearable.
The eight men spread out seamlessly. The stronger ones fought alone; the less experienced teamed up. The five zombies were quickly dealt with.
"Rest in peace!" Jianan roared after killing the last zombie.
The eight ran to the window where the three people were. Jianan shouted, "How many more zombies are inside?"
A young woman replied, "Just those five! Wait, we're coming down!" The three disappeared from the window.
不到两分钟,他们就气喘吁吁地冲出了大楼.领头的是一名二十岁出头的女子,后面跟着一对四十多岁的中年夫妇.他们带着锋利的刀具和一把消防斧.
贾南没有问任何问题,而是带领他们回到车队,并安排他们坐进我们的车里.
看到更多幸存者,我欣喜不已.过去,我总觉得街上的人太多了.现在,每一个活着的人都像我的家人一样.
"你们叫什么名字?我叫多多."我自我介绍道.
"朵姐,我是华凯,这是我爸妈!"年轻女子指着那对中年夫妇,他们礼貌地点了点头.三人面色苍白,营养不良.
一家三口!真好!
华凯的父亲感激地说:"谢天谢地你们来了.我们被困在工厂二楼一个月了.我们没东西吃了,也出不去了!"
我感到困惑.丧尸疫情爆发已经半年多了.他们怎么可能只被困在这座位于城市郊区的废弃工厂里一个月呢?
"才一个月?"我脱口而出.
华凯见我一脸茫然,连忙解释道:"事发时,我们一家都在爸爸的公司,和他的五个同事一起被困在那里.半年多的时间里,我们八个人互相扶持.爸爸和其他叔叔们冒险外出,为我和妈妈寻找食物."
"后来,随着丧尸占领城市,情况变得太危险了.爸爸决定带我们逃到他的工厂——一家他新买的,还没开始运营的工厂.因为工厂是空的,他觉得那里应该很安全."
"我们收集了剩下的食物,杀出城外.但是高叔叔在逃跑过程中被咬了."
"他坚持要跟我们去工厂.那里的确空无一人,很安全.爸爸和其他四个叔叔不忍心杀高叔,就把他锁在一楼的一个房间里.但他逃了出来,还咬了其他人.在他们反水之前,爸爸把二楼的铁门封死了.这样一来,他们进不来了,但我们却被困在了楼上.要不是我们带了足够八个人吃的食物,我们早就饿死了."
华凯讲完故事,眨了眨眼.然后,我听到一声低沉的咆哮声.
那味道很熟悉,但不是来自我的胃.一家三口脸颊微微泛红.
哦!我赶紧拿出我所有的食物——两包饼干,两根小香肠和两瓶水,这些都是我和嘉安没吃完的午餐口粮.
"谢谢你,亲爱的!你太好了!"华凯的母亲感激地说着,撕开一块饼干喂给华凯吃.
"妈,你先吃吧,我不饿."华凯抗议道.
"华凯,你先吃吧.我们有很多吃的——都在我们后面的大卡车里.这些只是暂时让你垫垫肚子.等我们安顿下来,我再给你弄些午饭吃."我安慰他们说.
听到这话,他们放松下来,开始吃饭.
就在这时,老武的侦察队从城里回来了.