"What are you going to do?"
Seeing Eve preparing to walk towards the door, Shoufeng said nervously.
"There's something up there," Eve said confidently, "I'm going to take a look."
This was a habit she had developed after being hunted for many years - she would never tolerate the presence of anything unknown nearby. Once she let her guard down, danger would take advantage of the opportunity to sneak in.
Shoufeng hesitated: "But Huasha won't let us go up to the third floor."
Eve smiled.
"Who said I was going upstairs?" She walked to the bedside, hooked two fingers around the thin quilt, and slowly held it in her hand. "I'm just going to look for a quilt."
As he spoke, a small knife emerged from between his fingers, and the sharp tip cut the sheet without hesitation, leaving a huge hole in it.
Eve said leisurely, "Look, this quilt is so torn that it can't be used anymore."
She blinked at Shoufeng, a deep light flashing in her green eyes.
Shoufeng's expression was very ugly, and his feet seemed to be nailed to the spot: "I won't go up."
"Really?"
Eve replied nonchalantly, glancing at Qi: "Let's go."
Qi was the first to walk out of the room, with two huge shadow tails spread out, covering Eve behind him like a protective umbrella. They walked straight to the stairs on the third floor. When they passed 204, there was no movement inside. It seemed that Song Shuye and others did not hear the collision just now.
Eve lowered her voice and asked Qi, "Where is the flower sand?"
Qi looked around the second floor and shook his head at Eve.
It seems that Huasha is not here, Eve thought, and said to Qi: "Okay, go up."
The dormitory building hadn't been repaired for a long time. When Eve stepped onto the third-floor floor, the old copper-colored wooden boards creaked sharply. She quickly lowered her footsteps and was about to greet Qi when a voice suddenly fell in her ears: "Bang!"
Eve quickly turned her head and saw an iron door standing quietly at the end of the corridor. Its surface had been oxidized, and large patches of deep red rust corroded the dark surface, giving people the illusion that it was splattered with blood.
——The sound came from behind the iron gate.
Eve stopped talking and gave Seven a look. The latter stepped forward silently, using Shadow Tail to press lightly on the iron gate instead of his hands.
Eve originally thought that it would not be so easy to open the iron gate, but before Qi even exerted any strength, Shadow Tail pushed forward, and the iron gate creaked open.
She was startled for a moment and called out softly, "Seven."
Qi understood, and his two tails slowly sank into the shadow behind the door like spirit snakes. After a few seconds, they retreated again. He nodded to Eve, who then walked forward and looked inside the iron gate.
When she saw the furnishings in the room clearly, Eve opened her eyes in slight surprise.
——A very ordinary double dormitory.
She glanced around the dormitory. The layout of the room was almost exactly the same as theirs: iron beds standing opposite each other, simple and thin bedding... If there was any difference, it was only the rectangular gray electrical appliance on the desk.
Eve recognized the thing; it was a laptop computer, which was said to be quite valuable before the end of the world, but now it couldn't even be exchanged for a piece of brown bread - that's why it was left here gathering dust.
But apart from these, there was nothing suspicious in the entire room, and there was not even a dent on the smooth floor.
Did I find the wrong room?
Doubts appeared in Eve's eyes. She was about to take two steps forward when she suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps behind her.
Qi quickly stepped forward and stood between the door and her.
Eve turned around and saw Huasha's flushed face appear in the door frame.
"Why are you here?!" She rushed in like a cannonball, her eyes wide as copper bells, "Didn't I tell you not to go up to the third floor?!"
Eve: "My quilt is torn, I'm here to find a new bed."
"It's on the second floor!" Huasha shouted, "You don't need to go up to the third floor!"
Eve raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, sorry, Qi heard some noise upstairs, and we got a little worried, so we came up to check."
"What's that noise?" Huasha's voice suddenly rose.
Eve's heart moved slightly, and she looked at her calmly.
The little girl's face was tense, her lips almost forming a straight line. If you looked closely, you would see that the corners of her mouth were trembling slightly. Her hands were twisting the edge of her clothes so hard that her joints were bruised.
Eve deliberately said vaguely, "I just came up to see what happened because I didn't know what happened."
After she said this, she looked at Huasha again and found that her expression had relaxed.
"You didn't see anything... That's good," she muttered to herself. She looked up and noticed Eve's gaze, then immediately frowned. "But I told you not to go up to the third floor. Hurry down and get down!"
As he spoke, he stood on tiptoe to pull Eve, but was blocked by Qi.
Eve tugged at the corner of Qi's clothes: "It's okay."
Then he turned to Huasha and said, "Sorry, let's leave now."
"Yes, yes, and don't come up again! You are not allowed to go to the third floor!" Huasha said forcefully.
Eve narrowed her eyes slightly.
Huasha's behavior was very strange now - while she was talking to the two people, her eyes were looking around, as if she was checking the things in the room, and she was trying to squeeze into the room.
Eve winked at Qi, and the two of them walked out of the room one after the other. She turned around and deliberately asked Huasha, "Aren't you coming down?"
Huasha is blocking the door, and his hands-on-hips posture makes him look like a little door god.
"I want to watch you two go down." She said sternly.
"Okay," Eve waved at her and said with a smile, "Then we'll go down first. Good night."
When she turned over, the smile on her face faded like bubbles.
There is definitely something wrong with this room.
Eve had a vague intuition that there must be more to the room on the third floor than what it appeared to be. At least Huasha's reaction could well confirm this.
——She is trying to hide something.
As she walked in deep thought, a small voice suddenly sounded in the corridor: "Eve? Seven?"
Eve looked up and saw Shoufeng had come out at some point. He was standing nervously in the corridor. His eyes lit up when he saw them: "Are you okay?"
Eve: “?”
She replied calmly: "It's okay, go back."
She was about to walk past Shoufeng, but she saw that she seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out.
Eve raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
"I..." Shoufeng wanted to speak, his eyes fell on Eve's back, but suddenly froze, and he quickly lowered his head, "It's okay, I... I was scared, so I wanted to wait for you outside."
She recited the line in a staccato tone, like a novice actor. Without waiting for Eve to react, she quickly walked back, and her short figure disappeared in Room 204.
Eve blinked, thought of something, and turned back suddenly.
Huasha was standing on the stairs between the second and third floors, her face tense. When she saw her looking back, she crossed her arms and said, "Aren't you going to bed yet?"
This child...
Something flashed across Eve's eyes, but it was hidden behind her rich green eyes, making it impossible to see anything unusual. She smiled slightly and said, "Let's go now."
She cooperated and called out to Qi: "Let's go."
The two of them did not linger any longer and quickly crossed the corridor, but until Eve closed the door of Room 204, she could still feel a pair of eyes glued to her back.
"Eve..." As soon as she closed the door, Shoufeng, who was sitting on the bed, straightened up immediately, "Just now..."
"Huasha has left," Eve interrupted her, "If you have anything to say, just say it."
A hint of surprise flashed in Shoufeng's eyes: "You know..." She is avoiding her?
Eve: “…” Baby, your guilt is written all over your face, okay?
She kicked off her boots, threw herself onto the bed, and lazily turned over before continuing, "So? What do you want to tell me? Why are you avoiding the flower sand again?"
Shoufeng first glanced cautiously at the door before saying, "Just now...did you find anything upstairs?"
"The third floor?" Eve said, playing with Qi's hair. "There's nothing there."
"How could this happen?!" Shoufeng's eyes widened in shock when he heard this, "This... is impossible!"
Eve paused with her hand wrapped around the seven strands of hair.
"What does this mean?" She half raised her eyes. "Is there supposed to be something upstairs?"
The snow-white hands stroked Qi's black hair one by one, as if combing a cat's hair. The latter seemed to be sensitive to Eve's mood, raised his head, and gently touched her palm with the tip of his nose.
Eve flicked Qi's nose, let him go, and turned her green eyes slowly to Shoufeng: "Why aren't you talking?"
Shoufeng took a deep breath.
"I was worried something might have happened to you, so I wanted to look for you," she said in a low voice, "but when I was halfway there, I suddenly smelled something..."
Eve seemed to sense something: "What's that smell?"
"...Zombies," Shoufeng raised his head in response to her slightly surprised gaze, and said softly but firmly, "There can't be nothing on the third floor—because I smell a strong odor of zombies."
***
"Eve, this isn't a good idea...?"
In the dark corridor on the third floor, three shadowy figures walked slowly forward.
After Shoufeng mentioned that he smelled zombies, Eve insisted on going up to the third floor again.
Shoufeng stayed at the end of the team, looking back every few steps: "What if Huasha finds us?"
Eve made a hushed gesture to her and said in a low voice, "It's okay. Children are sleepy. It's already midnight. She must be asleep."
Since she insisted, Shoufeng said nothing more and followed the two of them silently. The three of them walked forward for dozens of meters in the silent corridor and finally stopped in front of a wall.
Shou Fengwei was a little confused: "What's wrong?" Why did it stop in front of the wall?
Eve stared ahead without answering her. Shoufeng thought she hadn't heard him, and was about to ask again when he heard her suddenly say, "...It should be here."
Shoufeng: "What?"
"Here," Eve finally turned around and pointed at the wall. "The room I entered earlier should be here."
But now, there is only a bare wall in front of them, and the iron gate is gone.
Shoufeng was stunned for a moment: "Did you get the wrong location?"
"I couldn't possibly make such a stupid mistake," Eve said calmly, squatting down and pressing her hands against the wall. "The whole room disappeared."
She touched the entire wall inch by inch, but found nothing. The wall was smooth and there was no trace of any mechanism.
Eve pondered for a moment and said to Shoufeng, "Come and smell it."
Shoufeng didn't understand her intention, but he still leaned forward and twitched his nose a few times at the yellowed wall.
Eve lowered her eyes: "How is it?"
"Cement, wood, moss," she paused, then opened her eyes in surprise, "and... the smell of zombies?!"
Eve let out a low laugh.
"I see." She slowly loosened her hand and narrowed her eyes into an upward arc.
Shoufeng still didn't understand and looked at her blankly: "Why do I smell zombies?" There was clearly nothing here.
Eve sighed: "Isn't this simple? Don't forget what Huasha's special ability is."
Shoufeng reacted: "Block!"
"I ran into Huasha on the third floor just now," Eve pretended not to notice Shoufeng's startled look and continued, "After I went downstairs, she stayed there alone for a while."
About ten minutes, enough time for her to cast a barrier.
"But why did she do that?" Shoufeng asked, "Did she know there were zombies here?"
Eve only said, "When Qi and I came here, there was nothing in this room."
The two looked at each other and fell silent for a moment.
Suddenly, Eve noticed something on the ground and bent down suddenly: "What is this?"
She picked up something the size of a little fingernail from the ground and spread it out in her palm.
Shoufeng leaned forward to take a look out of curiosity, but after seeing clearly, he quickly retreated: "Teeth...teeth?"
A tooth lay in Eve's palm, its surface gleaming with smooth glaze.
Eve looked at the tooth carefully and said with interest, "This tooth is quite healthy."
The shape is neat, the surface is smooth, and the color is white - well, it's a beautiful tooth.
Shoufeng's expression was a little hard to describe: "You... just throw it away." After all, it was a human tooth, and it felt weird to hold it in his hand.
Eve pretended not to hear him. She pinched the tooth and turned it around, then suddenly said, "It's a bit strange."
Shoufeng: “?”
"Judging from its size, this is already an adult tooth, so it doesn't belong to flower sand."
"Zombie teeth are usually severely corroded or deformed. This tooth is well-preserved and cannot possibly be a zombie tooth."
As she spoke, Shoufeng realized something and turned his gaze to his teeth in shock.
Eve held up the small white dot with a faint smile on her face.
"Then...whose tooth is this?"
***
The next day, everyone gathered in Room 202.
Song Shuye asked everyone: "Did you have a good rest last night?"
Several people nodded, and Shoufeng quickly glanced in Eve's direction. The latter looked straight ahead and nodded in cooperation.
Song Shuye didn't notice him and continued, "I just asked Huasha, she said the barrier would open at 5pm and told us to go out at that time."
"Five o'clock?" Lin Bing crossed his arms and said dissatisfiedly, "Why so late?" It was almost dark.
"Maybe they're afraid that opening the barrier during the day will attract too much attention," Song Shuye guessed. "But it's not a bad thing. It's rare to find a safe zone. We can rest up before setting off again."
Everyone thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. Moreover, Huasha's mood was unpredictable. If they made her angry and refused to open the barrier, they would be the ones to suffer.
Lin Bing immediately pretended to fall onto the bed: "Then I'll go to sleep. Call me when we're almost ready to leave."
Fang Yong also took out a compressed biscuit: "I want to eat breakfast!"
Song Shuye sighed and was about to reorganize his backpack when he was poked on the shoulder. He turned around and met Eve's smiling face: "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Song Shuye stopped what he was doing and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
“You come first,” Eve said without saying anything, and pulled Shoufeng up with her when she passed by, “You come too.”
When the three of them reached a secluded corner, Song Shuye asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Eve got straight to the point: "We went to the third floor last night."
Song Shuye was surprised: "What?!"
Eve gave him a warning glance, and he quickly lowered his voice: "Did Huasha find out?"
Eve: “Of course.”
Song Shuye: “…” Why are you so proud?
He recalled that Huasha's attitude this morning was quite good, and he had even asked when they would leave, so he said, "It should be fine. You two should be quiet. Stay here until you leave, and don't go anywhere."
Eve shook her head: "That won't work."
Song Shuye: “???”
He rubbed the veins that were about to burst: "Why?"
Eve glanced at Shoufeng, whose mouth was tightly shut, as if someone had put a zipper on it. Then she laughed and said, "Because Shoufeng and I discovered there are zombies here."
"Zombie?" Song Shuye was stunned. "Are you sure?"
Eve simply told the whole story truthfully: "Last night we heard a noise upstairs, so we went up to take a look. There was a room with an iron door at the end of the third floor. Qi and I didn't see anything at the time, and we bumped into the flower sand, so we went straight down."
She turned to Shoufeng and said, "You can talk later."
Guard Feng's expression was clearly reluctant, but when he met Eve's smiling eyes, he could only speak softly: "I was waiting for them at the door. I was a little worried, so I used my supernatural power."
Song Shuye: "And then you smelled the smell of zombies? Did you see any zombies?"
Shoufeng shook his head in embarrassment. "No, we went up there again later, but not only were there no zombies, but even the room Eve had found was gone."
"The rooms on the third floor are hidden by the flower sand," Eve added.
Song Shuye was confused: "Why would she do this?"
"Who knows?" Eve said lightly. "Anyway, when she caught me on the third floor, she was furious."
Song Shuye: "...That's because you went up to the third floor without permission, right?"
"Captain, what should we do now?" Eve simply ignored his words. "Shoufeng and I have confirmed that there are definitely zombies in this dormitory building. But we're leaving this afternoon anyway, so we just need to be cautious for the next few hours. There's no need to hunt them out."
The end of the world is full of dangers, and sometimes there is no need to seek hardship.
She brushed aside the strands of hair covering her face and said slowly, "The key is..."
"It's Huasha," Song Shuye understood what she meant, "She has no ability to protect herself. If she doesn't get rid of this zombie, she might be in danger."
Eve: "Are you going to tell her?"
Song Shuye pondered for a moment.
"I'll go give you a heads up," he finally decided to intervene. "It's better to say something than nothing."
Eve shrugged: "Whatever."
So Song Shuye went to find Huasha, while Eve and Shoufeng returned the same way, planning to go back to 204 to rest.
As she passed the stairs leading to the third floor, Eve paused and looked up.
Shoufeng noticed it: "Do you want to go up and take a look again?"
But Eve shook her head.
"No need. There's nothing there even if you go up."
"How do you know?" Shou Feng was a little surprised. "What if that room appears again?"
Eve was very sure: "No."
Shoufeng looked at Eve with a hint of doubt. The latter smiled back, put her hands in her pockets, and walked forward casually.
Eve placed the tooth she had found last night in her pocket, pressed against her fingers.
Teeth, sand, room, zombies.
She thought slowly, there must be a connection between these four things.
***
For the next few hours, Eve and the other two stayed in the dormitory until it was almost time to gather, at which point they put away their luggage.
Seeing Shoufeng constantly wiping her silver pistol, Eve asked casually, "Are you still going to use it? Isn't it out of bullets?"
Shoufeng said, "It also has to be kept clean—my father taught me that."
This was the first time Eve had heard her bring up her family situation. The corners of her mouth curled up in interest. "Oh? What about your father?"
"Dead," Shoufeng said calmly, putting down the rag in his hand, "He was bitten to death by zombies a long time ago."
"Where's Mom?"
"He died with my father."
Eve blinked. No wonder she was a child trying to make her own way.
Shoufeng had finished wiping the gun. The surface of the gun was so shiny that not even a drop of blood could be seen. The smooth lines reflected a faint silver light under the light. She stared at the silver gun with a complicated expression, but suddenly took a deep breath and carefully put away the gun with the empty bullet.
Eve looked at her and realized belatedly that she seemed to have touched a sore spot.
Well... you can't blame her, after all, she has been an orphan since childhood.
She added, trying to make up for it: "It doesn't matter, at least you are still alive, and your parents will be relieved..."
"This gun," Shoufeng said suddenly, "I took it from my father."
Eve was slightly startled.
"He was a criminal police officer and always had a gun with him. When the zombies broke into our house that day, I snatched his gun and ran away to protect myself," Shoufeng whispered, "and then they died."
As she spoke she kept her eyes on the floor, as if something there attracted her.
Eve touched her nose and felt a slight headache.
Why did Shoufeng say this to her? Their relationship didn't seem close enough for a girls' talk, so what could she say?
But Eve didn't have to worry about it, because Shoufeng stood up from his chair.
"Let's go, it's almost time to gather."
She murmured this, threw her backpack over her shoulder, lowered her head and quickly walked out of the room.
Eve blinked and looked at Seven: "Tell me, why did she talk to me about this?"
"I don't have any parents," she said, looking troubled. "How am I supposed to know what it's like to kill them?"
But Eve knew that Seven couldn't respond.
He simply walked forward and gently rubbed Eve's face with the tip of his nose, as if leaving a light kiss on her cheek.
***
Eve and Seven were delayed for a bit, and by the time they reached the first floor of the dormitory where they were required to assemble, the others were already standing there.
But there is one person missing.
Lin Bing looked around and frowned: "Where's Old Song?"
Fang Yongqi asked, "The captain didn't come?"
"I haven't seen him since just now," Lin Bing's eyes rolled over everyone, "Has anyone seen him?"
Fang Yong shook his head in confusion. Eve and Shoufeng looked at each other and said, "We talked to him this morning."
Eve briefly explained what happened in the room on the third floor and added, "Then he said he was going to warn Huasha, and we didn't run into him again."
Lin Bing lowered the arm that he had been holding.
"Come to think of it..." He wasn't concerned about the zombies and the room Eve mentioned. Instead, he noticed Huasha. "I didn't see that little girl today either."
Huasha was so wary of them, how could he let them move freely in the barrier for half a day?
He suddenly looked at Eve: "Since Old Song looked for the little girl, you haven't seen each other since?"
Eve shook her head.
"Damn it," Lin Bing cursed, "Why are there always problems?"
Shoufeng suggested: "I can find the captain by smelling him..."
Before she finished speaking, Fang Yong suddenly shouted in surprise: "The captain is back!"
Everyone looked up at the same time, and a man walked in from the dormitory door. It was Song Shuye.
Eve noticed that he looked unhappy, so she asked, "What's wrong?"
For some reason, Song Shuye was a little out of breath, as if he had just done strenuous exercise. He took two deep breaths and spoke hoarsely:
"Huasha...she's gone!"
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