Chapter 17 The Third Scream
Will there be a third wave later?
"How do we handle this?"
"Let's take the injured person into custody first. At least before the police arrive, they can't get away."
"You won't be able to escape until the water recedes, right? You don't have to worry too much about that."
"What about zombies... no, I mean sick people? Do they really bite people?"
The person who spoke looked at Wang Liansheng, but Wang Liansheng lowered his head and said nothing.
He wasn't present when the incident occurred, and all he heard was what others said. He didn't want to listen to unfounded rumors about something he hadn't witnessed.
The other village chiefs looked at each other and made a joint decision.
"Regardless of whether the bite allegations are true or not, we should first control it. Tie it up with ropes and observe it for a while."
"Everyone should go and look for people in their own village to see if there are any unusual situations. If there are similar situations, do not hide them and make the seriousness of the matter clear to the villagers. This is a matter of life and death for everyone."
"That's true!"
"When it rains, it pours!"
After several village chiefs discussed it, they called the villagers from their village back to the main hall and side halls that had been assigned to them.
After the decision was made, most of the villagers understood and kept their eyes on the people around them.
After searching through the six or seven hundred villagers, they found more than a dozen people with unwell faces who looked like they had symptoms, and they were all tied up with ropes.
After discussion, the village chiefs vacated a side hall to house these people and look after their families.
However, during the process of tying people up, many abnormal "patients" lost their minds.
Even though he was tied up, he was still struggling, which made it easy to think of the rumors of biting people that we had just heard.
Fortunately, the situation was handled in time and no one was injured.
Because these people lost their minds and behaved aggressively, although they were finally brought under control, panic still spread in the temple.
But this matter obviously cannot end like this.
The village cadres from each village were standing outside the side hall where people were being held captive, their faces already changing as they watched the villagers struggling to attack others.
But in today's predicament, I can only shoulder the responsibility on my shoulders.
After sending people out to contact the outside world again, a group of people gathered in a corner of the hall to discuss solutions.
The disaster that we thought was over suddenly had many complications, and everyone looked unhappy.
"All those who have experienced abnormal conditions have been centrally managed. What should we do next?"
"Let's wait for a reply from above. Is there any other solution? What can we do before we figure out the specific situation?"
"Do those 'sick people' have any signs before they become ill?"
"What I want to know now is, is this situation unique to us, or is it happening everywhere?"
"If it's like this outside, can we still wait for rescue?"
"Now many people are saying that those are zombies. If we can't deal with this problem quickly, the order we've worked so hard to maintain will soon collapse!"
"Solve it? How do we solve it? We can't just kill everyone who has a seizure!"
"Let's wait. We still have a way to contact the outside world. We'll talk about it after we make contact. Let's comfort the villagers first!"
…
Just as they made the decision, before they could take action, they heard a staggering sound of footsteps.
"Oh no, someone has mutated again!"
"What's going on? Aren't they all tied up?"
"It's not... it's not the ones who are tied up, it's... it's someone else!"
The person who came did not lower his voice, and everyone in the hall heard it, and everyone was in panic for a while.
I thought that by controlling the mutations in those who had already undergone them, I had controlled the mutations, but I didn't expect that was only the first batch.
Jiang Hongbing stood up suddenly and looked at his nephew who came to report the news. "Where is he?"
The person who reported the news panted heavily, "There are people in every hall, including the old branch secretary..."
Before he could finish his words, Jiang Hongbing rushed out.
The village cadres did not dare to delay any longer and named a few close young people to go with them.
When Jiang Hongbing arrived at the main hall where his village was located, there were not many people inside.
From the moment the incident occurred, almost everyone fell into panic. Although they were unwilling to believe in the stories of zombies and doomsday, more and more villagers chose to leave the hall and stay in their cars with their families.
And when someone else had a strange change, those who had stayed in the hall also hid far away.
"Uncle Ping An!"
As soon as Jiang Hongbing entered the room, he saw someone lying in the corner.
The skinny old man's face had turned blue, but his eyeballs had not completely disappeared, indicating that he still had some consciousness.
"Uncle Ping'an, Uncle Ping'an, wake up!"
Jiang Hongbing called out anxiously, calling out to the old man who had dedicated most of his life to the village.
The young man following behind him had tears in his eyes and his voice was hoarse.
"Grandpa hasn't been feeling well since the day before yesterday. He didn't want me to tell anyone, fearing it would cause trouble for everyone," the young man said, choking up. "I asked him to lie down in my car, but he didn't want to. I thought it would be more comfortable to sleep in the temple than curled up in the car, so I stopped trying to persuade him. But when I came to give him a blanket just now, I saw... I saw..."
The young man spoke, sobbing.
The people around him felt tears in their eyes when they heard his words.
The old man is over eighty years old, but he has been the branch secretary in Xiaohewa for more than forty years.
During his tenure, he worked diligently and wholeheartedly for the benefit of the village. Even after leaving office, he continued to contribute to society.
The old man's eldest daughter died young, and his son also died. But as lonely elderly people, the old couple did not feel at ease and relied entirely on the state for support. They still worked in the fields like other villagers.
After his wife died of illness, Jiang Pingan, now in his seventies, has been living alone. Even at such an advanced age, he still supports himself and even donates most of his income to the city's welfare institution.
The villagers all respected this dedicated old man. Although he had no close children or grandchildren, none of his collateral descendants had forgotten him. Neighbors also cared about him, and Jiang Hongbing, the village chief and a descendant of his generation, often visited him.
This time during the evacuation, the old man followed his neighbor's car out.
Because the neighbor's car was not big and could not carry much stuff, in order to take up as little space as possible, the old man only carried a backpack. The mattress for sleeping on the floor was brought by Jiang Hongbing from his own car. He also asked the younger generations in the village to take better care of him.
But I didn't expect that after just two days of not seeing him, the old man who was originally energetic has become like this.
The cadres from other villages also felt very sorry when they saw this.
Although they are not from the same village, almost everyone in the nearby villages knows about the Jiang Ping'an family in Xiaohewa.
Some people stayed with Jiang Hongbing, while others, remembering what they had just heard about abnormal situations in each hall, ran elsewhere to prepare for another screening.
"Uncle Ping'an, Uncle Ping'an?"
Jiang Hongbing was still shouting, and the people around him wanted to persuade him to stay away to avoid being affected by any accidents.
But before he could be reminded, the old man lying on the ground spoke first.
The old man's entire face was red and his eyes were unfocused. Although he spoke slowly, his voice was still clear and he seemed to be somewhat conscious.
"Red soldiers, tie me up, tie me up..."
The old man had difficulty speaking, but he still kept repeating the last few words.
Jiang Hongbing knew what the old man was thinking. He was simply afraid that once his willpower weakened, he would suddenly attack others as others had said.
"Okay, I understand."
Jiang Hongbing's voice was hoarse. He ordered the young man next to him to get a rope and tied up the old man's limbs with his own hands.
After all the limbs were tied, the old man continued.
"Red Soldier, I don't think I can hold on any longer..."
"Don't say that," Jiang Hongbing looked at the old man and persuaded him, "You are just sick. As long as help comes, there will be a way."
The old man laughed briefly, as if he was amused by what he said, or as if he was laughing at his naiveté.
After all, no one can feel the feeling of the vitality in the body being lost more clearly than him.
He did not refute Jiang Hongbing's words and continued, "If... I go crazy, then control me if you can. If you can't... then you can..."
The old man didn't finish his words, but everyone present understood what he meant and their eyes were red.
Jiang Hongbing's eyes were red too. "Uncle Ping'an, we still have a long way to go. Don't think like that. If you're gone, what will happen to us? You're our backbone!"
"ha……"
The old man shook his head slightly, his face turning slightly purple. "Hongbing, you did...very well. I'm old...I don't have much time left...to live. If...I don't want to cause you any trouble, so you must remember what I just said...put me, put me..."
"Ah... cough..."
The old man's breathing became more and more difficult, his eyeballs became more and more dazed, and the expression on his face became more ferocious, but he still insisted on saying something.
The originally kind-looking old man had become what he was now. Jiang Hongbing's heart felt like it was being gripped by a hand, but seeing that the old man would not give up until he achieved his goal, he closed his eyes.
"Don't worry, I understand." Jiang Hongbing took the rope from the person behind him, wrapped it around the old man twice and tied a knot.
"well!"
When the old man heard these words, he felt a sense of restraint coming from all parts of his body. His mind, which had been holding on, seemed to relax, but his whole energy and spirit also disappeared.
But in a moment, the face turned completely blue and purple, and the old man's struggling movements became more and more intense.
Only because they were tied up with ropes did no one get hurt.
Everyone around was shocked by this scene. Even though they had seen it more than once, they still couldn't get used to seeing a good person turn into a hideous monster in front of them.
Jiang Hongbing wiped his face and led everyone out.
He had no time to be sad, as there were more important things for him to do right now.
The people who had just left early had already taken care of all the abnormal people according to the previously agreed-upon treatment method, but no one dared to take it lightly.
After all, who knows if there will be a third wave?
The people who were woken up were also horrified when they heard about the current situation.
Those detained were from several nearby villages. They might have spoken and eaten together yesterday, but today they have become irrational "monsters."
What about me? Will I suddenly turn into a "monster" and attack my loved ones?
The village committee said it was a strange disease, but even the cause of the illness hadn't been found. Everyone shuddered at the thought of the completely unpredictable future.
At this moment, another scream came from not far away.
Everyone's heart was instantly startled.
【Author’s words】
This is really a long and sleepless night!
I really wanted this night to end quickly. After all, it was too painful, for both the living and the mutated. But after thinking it over, I decided not to. If it ended too quickly, it would only mean annihilation for the entire army, and the price would be too painful.
So we decided to keep it this way, so that everyone can be prepared and watch humans struggling to survive and fight against fate while staying awake.
Thanks to the editor, there is another list this week. This week, I will update at least 15,000+ words according to the word count requirement. I hope to write about the next major plot point in a week and let our train set off.
Thank you for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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