Chapter 5
The panting and footsteps stopped abruptly, and after a loud metal collision sound, the entire central park fell into complete silence.
Pei Zhao's eyes also fell into complete darkness.
The hand that pulled him down loosened immediately after they fell. It was dark inside, and Pei Zhao almost stumbled because he didn't stand firmly. Zhou Yuli was quick to pull him in front of him and let him lean on him to finally stand steady.
"Yes, who?" Pei Zhao chose his words carefully towards the darkness. He didn't know what to address, and he didn't even know whether the person in front of him was a human or a ghost.
"Click--" After a familiar sound of a plastic spring snapping, the light from the lighter illuminated the entire area.
This is a site that looks like it has been bombed.
The reason why it was bombed was that the ground was surrounded by charred soil and metal shells. In the center of the earth, in the bright firelight, stood a couple and a pair of children. Judging from their appearance and clothing, they looked like a family.
The couple looked to be around 40 years old. Their son looked about the same age as Pei Zhao and his family, and their youngest daughter looked only five or six years old.
They looked haggard and skinny.
The little girl's eyes were dull and red and swollen, and she looked dazed and silly.
She was wearing a bright red dress - the lace edges of the fabric were slightly curled up, which was inconsistent with the expression on her face.
"What exactly happened here?" Pei Zhao couldn't help but ask.
He has seen zombie movies and has many possibilities for the origin of zombies, including laboratory viruses, disease transmission, or even some kind of hallucination. Most movies begin with a person or a family, making them the protagonists of the story, and the fate of the protagonist is usually full of hardships.
Pei Zhao hoped that the family standing in front of him were not the protagonists of a zombie movie.
"Mom..." As the family was silent, the little girl opened her mouth and was about to cry.
The mother, looking at the thinnest woman, immediately knelt down and hugged her, raising her sleeves to wipe away her unnecessary tears. More tears rolled down her face. The woman said, "The child is so hungry. We have been hiding here for 33 days. The food reserves have long been eaten up. We haven't eaten for a week..."
This was not good news for Pei Zhao and his group. Without food, they lacked the most basic elements for survival.
"It seems like something is missing..." Pei Zhao suddenly came back to his senses and looked up, "Where is my title?"
Zhou Yuli also reacted and looked above Pei Zhao's head. The three words "Puppet Master" were nowhere to be seen. "Could it be that he refreshes his identity every time?"
"No." Pei Zhao denied it immediately, thought about it, and simply said: "Xiao Rui."
How can we help you? 】
Pei Zhao: "My title is gone. Also, introduce this world to us."
He paid attention to Zhou Yuli's expression, trying to see if he could still hear the system's voice. Zhou Yuli's obvious listening expression proved that he could hear it. Pei Zhao remembered it silently in his heart and listened attentively to Xiao Rui's introduction.
[Good host.] The laboratory virus invaded this coastal city through the sea water, and the mutated human zombies became tools for slaughtering their own kind. 】
Xiao Rui's businesslike tone came to an abrupt end as the flame of the lighter went out.
"We are so hungry... There may be some food at home. If possible... please help us get it."
The request of a family of four is very unreasonable in the context of the zombie siege. Thinking of the crazy zombies outside, Pei Zhao subconsciously wanted to refuse, but when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them.
Rejected, where should they go then?
Only by completely puppeting humans can they return to their original world, and this skinny family of four are the only humans they met after walking around with zombies for half a day.
"...Okay." In the darkness, Pei Zhao uttered a syllable and was grabbed by a hand.
Following the force, Pei Zhao leaned against a solid chest.
"If you ask me..." Zhou Yuli's voice sounded unreal, slow and very serious. Pei Zhao was expecting him to come up with a reliable solution.
"Don't bother. I suggest you learn from me and just run away completely."
"?"
"Get lost." Although he couldn't see the confused expressions of the four members of the family, Pei Zhao, feeling embarrassed, thrust his elbow backward fiercely, successfully causing a muffled groan, "Stop giving suggestions, you're being long-winded."
Putting aside whether he could take away four puppets at once, just these four - at least looking like a family that loves each other very much, it is impossible for them to meet the conditions for puppetization!
Unless, there is another way to achieve it?
【No. 】As soon as the thought came to his mind, Xiao Rui answered at the right time.
The somewhat outrageous expectations that had just been ignited were now completely dashed.
"...We can help, but there is a condition." Pei Zhao said, "No matter how much food you bring back, I want to talk to someone in your family."
They cannot survive in the other world for a long time, so they must find a way to return to it.
*
It is night here.
Most of the buildings were destroyed by the massive tide of zombies, and smoke and dust covered the sky above the city.
The helicopter circled above the smoke and dust, searching for survivors. The smoke was so thick that visibility was very limited.
The virus infection has changed the characteristics of human beings. Thousands of zombies are active at night and hide during the day, patrolling the streets with bloodshot eyes and making heavy footsteps.
In the city center park, under a pile of rubble on the road, Pei Zhao and Zhou Yuli carefully pushed up the heavy iron sheet, revealing a hole that was only wide enough for one person to pass through.
In order to rescue a family of four who were about to starve to death, Pei Zhao and Zhou Yuli had to act at night.
Originally, Pei Zhao wanted to act on his own, but... he could hardly guarantee whether the starving family of four would do anything to Zhou Yuli while he was away.
After all, he had just witnessed an example of cannibalism not long ago.
It is more convenient for two people to act in coordination, but the goal is undoubtedly bigger.
Even though they moved lightly, the sense of smell of zombies is far superior to that of humans, and soon after Pei Zhao and his companions entered the building, they were still able to sense their scent because of the zombies roaming nearby.
According to the family of four, the address where they stored supplies was on the rooftop of the building. With the help of the cloudy moonlight, Pei Zhao saw that the originally open rooftop was sealed with wooden boards. It should be the last defense the family took before the zombies came to their door.
After pushing the heavy unit door shut, Pei Zhao was able to temporarily block the gathering zombies outside the unit door. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, "I hope there aren't too many zombies in the corridor." Pei Zhao prayed silently.
Most of the zombies left in the corridors are missing limbs and have little attack power, but before we figure out how the zombie virus spreads, it is best to hide as much as possible.
Pei Zhao and Zhou Yuli finally reached the top floor.
"What do you think is the probability that supplies are intact in the face of such a large number of zombies?" Zhou Yuli took out the key given by the family, inserted it into the keyhole and turned it, and suddenly asked.
"Less than 10 percent." Pei Zhao guessed a number and pursed his lips. "I always have a bad feeling in my heart."
Zhou Yuli paused and a "click" sound came from the keyhole.
"Squeak--" The old door made a sharp and piercing sound, once again awakening the broken zombies in the corridor. They propped up their remaining limbs and came towards the direction of the sound with their fangs and claws bared.
"What bad feeling?" Zhou Yuli asked.
They saw the nearest zombie climbing up the first step leading to the rooftop and rushing towards them.
It was a zombie, with the purple skin on its face divided into several pieces of flesh by deep wrinkles.
She had gray hair that was neatly parted on the side, and if it weren't for her terrifying face, she would have been a very decent and elegant old lady.
What caught Pei Zhao's special attention was that this elegant old zombie woman had a puppet in a red skirt hanging on her waist.
The terrifying roars of the zombies instantly filled the narrow stairwell.
Pei Zhao didn't have time to think and pushed Zhou Yuli into the door.
Boom—the wooden door slammed shut.
Creaky, creaky—an unknown noise came from inside the door.
Zhou Yuli pushed the sofa against the door and straightened his back: "Okay, it's safe now."
Pei Zhao said coldly: "Well, the only way out is now blocked."
Zhou Yuli pretended not to hear the sarcasm in his words, "That's right."
Pei Zhao: “Hmm?”
Zhou Yuli pointed to the top of his head and said, "Those three words popped up again."
Pei Zhao looked up and suddenly felt tired. He didn't know when, three big words appeared on his forehead again. Last time I asked Xiaorui, I didn’t get an answer. I don’t know if I should ask again…
Zhou Yuli suddenly spoke up, interrupting his thoughts: "What did you just say was a bad feeling?"
"I always feel that there is something strange about that family." Pei Zhao thought for a while and frowned.
Zhou Yuli thought about it and didn't think it was strange, but Pei Zhao said it was strange...
"If you really feel weird, it's okay not to go back."
Pei Zhao looked towards Zhou Yuli. His puppet was staring at him intently.
If it weren't for that family, they might have run out of energy and been caught up by the zombie horde as soon as they came to this world.
In a sense, that family saved their lives.
No matter what their purpose is, they are lifesavers.
And casually abandon your savior...
Pei Zhao couldn't help but frown, and had some disagreement with Zhou Yuli in his heart.
"Okay, let's end this topic here." Pei Zhao took the lead and walked into the house.
Zhou Yuli stopped where he was, lowered his head, and wondered what he was thinking.
Pei Zhao did not take the initiative to talk to Zhou Yuli until he had packed up the food to take away. During this time, Zhou Yuli took the initiative to find topics to talk about, such as "This may take a little longer to eat" and "The packaging of that is less likely to make noise"...
Pei Zhao just said "hmm" softly.
Finally, when Pei Zhao silently tried to drag the sofa against the door by himself, Zhou Yuli, who was sentenced to be ignored, finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong." Zhou Yuli lowered his voice and spoke quickly, "I shouldn't have said irresponsible words, shouldn't have made decisions for you on my own, and shouldn't have looked down on other people's lives."
Pei Zhao raised his eyes to look at him, "Yeah."
Zhou Yuli lowered his head, looking aggrieved, and a low voice lingered in his throat, "Then, can you forgive me?"
Pei Zhao didn't answer, just looked at him coldly.
Zhou Yuli pursed his lips and opened his mouth, but said nothing.
"Just this once." Pei Zhao looked serious and sighed.
Pei Zhao's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked up and assured: "Yes, for the last time."
The work was not allowed to be done. Pei Zhao, who was asked to step aside by Zhou Yuli, realized belatedly that he was not a nosy person. Why did he habitually treat Zhou Yuli's every move with his own standards?
Could this be the legendary feeling of raising a son? !
After this thought came to his mind, Pei Zhao was shocked and did not notice at all that after the sofa was moved away, Zhou Yuli just stood there silently.
By the time I reacted, I felt that the surroundings were terribly quiet.
"What's wrong?" Pei Zhao leaned over and looked down following Zhou Yuli's gaze.
Just one glance and Pei Zhao frowned.
On the ground, there lay quietly a puppet in a red dress.
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