Am I wearing it?
It should be the year 3901 now, the fourth day after the New Year.
The New Year Fireworks Festival was still being held on the Hongshan Bridge in Guangqin City. Before Jiang Ziyao closed his eyes, what he saw were overlapping fireworks exploding. The bridge bank was brightly lit and surrounded by crowds of people. The surrounding noises were very loud, but they could not suppress the gunshots that were now ringing in his ears.
Bang--!
A gunshot woke Jiang Ziyao up. Before he regained consciousness, he felt a dull pain in his chest. He felt as if a hard stone had hit him directly in the chest. His saliva choked on his trachea and he started coughing.
"Brother Jiang?"
Then he heard a wheezing sound.
Jiang Ziyao opened his eyes dazedly, his chest was a little painful from the impact, his vision was swaying, and his body was shaking with the ups and downs of the movement. The person running with him on his back was none other than Huo Chi.
Huo Chi, his boyfriend.
"Come in quickly!" It was a strange man's voice, very urgent.
"Okay." Huo Chi responded quickly and turned around with Jiang Ziyao on his back.
"Stay still!" the strange man warned.
The light reflected from the glass stung Jiang Ziyao's eyes, but only for a moment. They entered a relatively enclosed space with dim light. Jiang Ziyao fell from the man's back and was supported against a hard object.
There was a small supermarket nearby, which he could barely see clearly. Just a quick glance revealed the extent of its dilapidated state, which was not common in the country. The public security in CI would not tolerate rampant looting by terrorists.
The shelves were scattered all over the floor, and there were still mottled bloodstains on the glass at the door. They were clearly the outline of a palm, overlapping and some shallower. This was an effect that could only be caused by repeated slapping of blood-stained hands. There were faint cracks on the glass door, and the room was filled with a foul odor mixed with the smell of waste smoke and dust, so pungent that it made him feel nauseous.
Before Jiang Ziyao covered his nose, his hand touched the dust on the ground. It was so dirty.
He got up from the ground, and Huo Chi helped him up.
"Brother Jiang..." Huo Chi saw him wake up and immediately put his arms around his back and hugged him. He held his hands tightly and patted Jiang Ziyao's back hard: "You didn't wake up, I thought something happened to you, are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Ziyao opened his mouth and took a quick breath. He didn't say anything. He looked through Huo Chi, and from that angle he could just see an arm that was rotten like dry firewood.
Yes, the human arm, you can still see the blackened joints.
Further up is a head. The face of the head has rotted away, and there are a few hairs attached to the shriveled ball. This is a corpse that has been dead for some time. There is a round black hole on the forehead and a deep depression in the rotten flesh.
The incomplete torso of the dead man suddenly appeared before his eyes. He stared at it for a few seconds and then turned his head away expressionlessly. In silence, he felt that he was probably dreaming.
"Brother Jiang?" Seeing that he had no reaction, Huo Chi reached out and patted his slightly dull face, "Don't scare me——"
His movements were gentle but urgent: "Brother Jiang... say something!"
Jiang Ziyao remained silent. Huo Chi waved his hand in front of his face. He had no expression and felt a little confused.
“Brother Jiang?” Huo Chi finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and yelled out, “Jiang Ziyao——!”
Jiang Ziyao was stunned. Huo Chi wanted to shout his name, but fortunately he stopped him in advance: "Stop shouting, my ears hurt."
His voice was a little hoarse and dry. Dreams can't be so real. Jiang Ziyao knew in his heart that the body in front of him was real. He closed his eyes and opened them again, and that was the situation. So... why did he appear here? Compared with kidnapping and pranks, he could accept that he had encountered a ghost.
"Then why didn't you answer me!" Huo Chi was annoyed: "I thought you had lost your soul!"
Huo Chi's face flushed red, and he looked very angry. As soon as he finished speaking, he touched Jiang Ziyao's face and stared at him carefully: "Where does your ear hurt? Let me see, did you hit it against the wall just now?"
"I..." Jiang Ziyao just said it casually. Just as he was about to explain, someone suddenly warned him in a deep voice: "Shut up! Something is coming. Do you still want to live?"
The conversation between the two was interrupted. The man said in an overly serious voice, "Damn it, I shouldn't have shot you if I had known."
Oh, there’s a third person here.
Jiang Ziyao frowned, and Huo Chi glanced outside quickly, then immediately grabbed him.
"Shh - Brother Jiang." Huo Chi interrupted his doubts in advance, using a lot of force and very suddenly, as if he wanted to stuff him into a corner immediately.
"Danger...We have to do as he says."
Jiang Ziyao rarely saw Huo Chi so nervous.
However, Huo Chi's vigilance was directed outward, so Jiang Ziyao followed his wishes and squeezed behind the shelf against the wall.
Huo Chi pointed outside. Following his line of sight, Jiang Ziyao saw a swaying black shadow outside the glass door of the supermarket. It was a person with arms and legs, but his walking posture was not normal. He kept his head down, like a lame drunk. He was not far away from the supermarket and even had the intention of getting closer.
A tall man walked out of the supermarket. He was the person who spoke just now.
Jiang Ziyao could only see the back of the man. He was wearing a cowboy hat, his eyes and eyebrows were hidden in the shadows, and he was carrying a rifle on his back.
Real guns. Jiang Ziyao took a breath. It is not easy to get such equipment in CI country. Who is this tall man? An extremist in the dark web?
The tall man quickly took out a short knife from his waist. The knife was at least 3 cm wide and very sharp. He held the handle of the knife and cut two of his fingers. Blood immediately oozed out and dripped down his fingers.
He opened the glass door a narrow distance and stretched out his bleeding finger.
The lame drunk suddenly turned his head, moved his neck in the direction of the tall man, raised his head and moved closer step by step.
The man walked against the light, and when he got closer, Jiang Ziyao could see his appearance clearly.
It was a man with half of his face missing, but he was still walking.
In the sunlight, the man's body was covered with shadows of flies and insects flying around him. Only half of his teeth were left without lip flesh covering them. He was still trying to open his mouth, and a buzzing whimpering sound came from his mouth. A piece of his flesh was hanging from his chin, and it was obvious that it had been bitten. As the other party approached, the unpleasant stench became stronger.
Zombies?
This was the first word that Jiang Ziyao came up with, and he was so shocked that his back began to feel cold.
The trembling man seemed to have no self-awareness. He was like a demented beast that could only follow the smell of blood. He was no different from a walking corpse.
The tall man stood quietly at the open gap in the door, holding the knife tightly in his other hand.
He twisted his wrist, his arm muscles tensed, and the knife stabbed into the man's head accurately. The sound of the knife tip piercing the forehead was like stabbing into a sandbag. He twisted his wrist holding the knife hard, and the knife was stirred into the brain. Jiang Ziyao could even see the blue veins bulging on his forehead.
The man had no time to resist. The tall man raised his arm and quickly pulled out the knife. The man who was stabbed by the knife fell backwards stiffly, like a pile of meat. There was no life in his white eyeballs. The knife exploded his head between his eyebrows. Not much blood was shed, but there was a festering liquid all over the floor, which was mostly brain matter.
Use blood to attract and avoid being rashly knocked through the glass by this close-range threat. Too much noise would be a nightmare. After a while, when there were no more such figures outside, the tall man temporarily let down his guard.
From the other party's behavior, Jiang Ziyao had some understanding of the outside world. He must have been exposed. He lowered his head, at a loss as to what to do.
"Are there any wounds on your body?" The tall man used a knife to cut open his clothes and tore off a piece of cloth to bandage his hand. He did not put the knife back, but turned around and pointed the tip of the knife at the two people.
Huo Chi stared at the knife in his hand and replied: "We are not infected, we are normal people!"
"Your words don't count." The tall man said, "Put your hands up and stand still! Don't make any small movements. This knife is more than enough to deal with you."
Huo Chi saw the situation clearly and did as he was told.
"And you!" The tall man moved the tip of the knife decisively towards Jiang Ziyao, but it was a pity that the young man in front of him did not know the situation.
Jiang Ziyao looked visibly dazed, and he did not respond.
"It's even more impossible for him to do that!" Huo Chi shouted hurriedly, "Also, can you lower your knife a little? What if you accidentally hurt someone? You just stabbed someone in the head!"
The tall man calmed down a bit, but Jiang Ziyao remained silent. He couldn't help but taunt him, "What? Are you scared silly?"
Of course he was surprised, but at this moment Jiang Ziyao's attention was completely attracted by the words that suddenly appeared in front of him. Just when he saw the tall man's face clearly, his head began to hurt. This pain was barely bearable. In just a blink of an eye, this abnormal situation appeared in front of him.
[——Text: It has been two years since the virus outbreak, and we have lived for two years. The temporary comfort made me relax my vigilance. We planned to find a relatively clean house in the city, but this time my laxity almost made me fail.
As the door of the room on the second floor opened, a foul-smelling, bloody mouth came towards me. I luckily dodged it but rolled down the stairs. I was not bitten but fell into a coma.
Huo Chi had been carrying me on his back the whole time. Seeing that I had been unconscious for a whole day and had not woken up yet, he took the risk of taking me to a pharmacy. Huo Chi was relieved only after he made sure that my wounds were bandaged and there was no risk of inflammation. However, because of this rash action, we were surrounded by zombies and trapped in danger.
We hadn’t met anyone for weeks, and the person we met here for the first time used a gun to help us get a chance to escape. It’s rare to meet a good person in this world. 】
Jiang Ziyao tried to close his eyes, but when he opened them the words were still there. This abnormal phenomenon did not disappear until it formed a memory in his head.
Huo Chi couldn't see it. His eyes were only on the tall man from beginning to end, and he was just on guard.
Jiang Ziyao didn't want to be treated as a psychopath, so he looked calm. He raised his hands and stood in front of the tall man. He asked casually, "What did you just kill?"
"Zombies."
The tall man spoke very little. He glanced at Jiang Ziyao with a look that was like he was looking at a mentally retarded person. He answered the question and quickly lowered his head. He took a rough look at the two of them. Jiang Ziyao was relatively clean except for some dust on his body.
The tall man's eyes finally fell on Huo Chi, and he said coldly, "Pants legs."
Looking closely, there was a bloodstain on Huo Chi's leg, which looked like a palm print.
Jiang Ziyao's heart skipped a beat when he saw it, and then he heard Huo Chi explain: "Then... the zombie grabbed my foot, but there was only a little blood, no wound."
The tall man said firmly: "You want me to help you take it off?"
Huo Chi had no choice but to roll up his trouser legs: "I already said no, I didn't lie to you."
Jiang Ziyao also breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that if there was any problem with them, that person would probably turn them both into corpses immediately.
"You're lucky, kid." The tall man put the knife back. Without even looking at the two of them, he turned around and walked into the supermarket. In addition to the gun, he also had a black bag on his back and was picking through the remaining items on the shelves.
Huo Chi pulled down his trouser legs angrily. His T-shirt was dirty and he looked a little disheveled.
"How did it happen?" Jiang Ziyao asked, pointing to the bloodstains on his trouser legs.
"When I was half asleep, I felt something crawling on my legs. When I opened my eyes, I saw a ghost grabbing my legs! Fortunately, we were in a high position on the box, otherwise we would have been eaten!" Huo Chi said excitedly, "Brother Jiang, we got it! We were still by the bridge at night, and the fireworks hadn't finished yet, and I..."
He was furious: "What kind of shitty luck is this."
"I guessed it. So it's a science fiction movie?" Jiang Ziyao smacked his lips. He rubbed his fingertips gently, but unfortunately he had no cigarettes.
"It's a thriller," Huo Chi corrected.
It was very similar to the apocalyptic movies they had seen. He thought that these zombies should be transformed from humans and seemed to be very sensitive to human smell. That little bit of blood could attract the zombies. The route of infection should be the wound. The tall man was very concerned about this.
When Huo Chi was surrounded by zombies while carrying Jiang Ziyao on his back, fortunately the tall man shot and killed them at the entrance of a corridor. He was rescued by him and followed him all the way here.
The tall man was rummaging around in this dilapidated supermarket. He deliberately dealt with a zombie outside without making any noise, and now he could move around in the supermarket with peace of mind.
He came here to look for supplies, Jiang Ziyao thought.
There were still zombies wandering outside, which was enough to show that the area they were in was not safe. Jiang Ziyao didn't know much about the current environment, but if the end of the world came, food and water would be priceless treasures. There were no lights around, and he didn't even see a complete package of food. The tall man had a few bags of biscuits and a toothbrush in his bag. Almost everything that could be used was put into his black bag.
Jiang Ziyao gave Huo Chi a look, and the two of them immediately started searching. There were traces of blood on the shelves, and it looked like a fierce fight had taken place. The shelves on one side had collapsed, and there were even a few rotten corpses lying there. That was the source of the stench.
Jiang Ziyao finally understood that the dent on the corpse's head was a gunshot wound.
Huo Chi was still frightened, worrying that the body lying on the ground would suddenly move again and bite someone. Everything that had happened in the past few hours was enough to make people feel terrified.
After enduring the stench for so long, Jiang Ziyao did not gain nothing. He found a few scattered pieces of chocolate next to a corpse. He bent down to pick them up when Huo Chi suddenly reached out and pulled him.
"Brother Jiang! Don't go forward!" Huo Chi said, "Be careful!"
Jiang Ziyao didn't notice that the half body beside him actually moved. The hand that was as shriveled as jerky was actually raised up. It was obvious that the body below the waist was missing, and the organs had fallen out of the broken stomach, but it could still move.
This scene is really shocking.
When Jiang Ziyao's eyes fell on the pool of black organs on the ground, he immediately retched, but unfortunately his stomach was empty and he couldn't vomit anything.
Huo Chi grabbed Jiang Ziyao's arm tightly and supported him. Both of them were obviously stunned for a moment.
This zombie was restricted by his own body. Most likely, he smelled something and could only try to raise his head and move closer to them. There were only bones left on his face, but he was still persistent.
"I'll do it!" Huo Chi didn't stand there stupidly anymore. He looked around, plucked up his courage, picked up a piece of wood from the ground and smashed it on his head. Perhaps because he was a little nervous, he missed the target a little and all his strength landed on the edge of the shelf.
With a bang, the shelf tilted and almost fell over. The stick in Huo Chi's hand was also broken in half. He stared at the half-body and sweat broke out on his forehead.
The tall man heard the noise, he walked over, took a look, and snatched the half of the stick from Huo Chi's hand. In front of them, he inserted the broken tip of the stick into the zombie's head, and black brain juice splashed out.
"Only brain damage can lead to death." The tall man looked at him questioningly, "Do you need someone to teach you this? How did you manage to survive until now?"
Huo Chi was frustrated: "I was just anxious, I won't do it again next time."
The tall man snorted coldly, ignored the two of them, put on his backpack, turned around and looked at the situation outside the supermarket, as if he was planning to leave.
[——Text: That person came out to look for supplies. He had a Type 65 semi-automatic rifle on him. I guess he should belong to a camp, but he was unwilling to reveal more information to us. In today's living environment, everyone who can survive has enough vigilance.]
"After you have found the supplies, can you take us with you?" Jiang Ziyao couldn't help but ask after reading that passage. His face was solemn. Now that he and Huo Chi had come to this unfamiliar environment, they urgently needed veterans like the tall guy. The top priority was survival.
"No, I don't have the time to be a new dad." The tall man sneered, with some disgust visible in his eyes. He looked at the awkward and immature young man in front of him and didn't think there was a chance for him to survive.
The text was confirmed, and Jiang Ziyao did not gain nothing. He smiled and said, "Then we will say goodbye here. I wish you and your family a safe reunion."
When the word "family" was mentioned, the tall man's face changed, and his hand was ready to take out the gun: "What do you want to do?"
Jiang Ziyao immediately pointed at his bag and said, "I have no ill intentions. What I said just now was a sincere wish. I saw you took a few small toys with you when you took your things just now. I guess you should have a child."
The tall man glared at him and said, "You are very careful."
Jiang Ziyao continued, "How old is your child? It's not easy to raise a child in this environment, right?"
The tall man didn't say much. His gaze lingered on Jiang Ziyao and the other man for a while. He didn't want to add unnecessary risks to himself.
To him, although Jiang Ziyao and Huo Chi were tall and strong, their eyes were too pure.
After thinking for a while, the tall man asked, "Can you use a gun?"
Jiang Ziyao nodded: "Although it may be a little unfamiliar, we used the Type 81 automatic rifle during military training in college."
"It's all right if you know how to use it." The tall man took a pistol from his waist and pushed it to Jiang Ziyao's feet. He warned: "There are still five bullets in this gun. I can keep them for you to protect yourself. I advise you to find a hidden place before dark. Whether you can survive depends on you. But if you want to follow me, I will kill you."
"I understand." Jiang Ziyao said sincerely: "Thank you."
"We are grateful that you were willing to save us in the beginning, and even more so now."
[——Text: He was unwilling to inform the camp, and we did not force him. The other party also gave me a gun. Ammunition is more precious than gold. I haven't touched a gun in two years. The weapon I have always used for survival is sharp iron. The body of a zombie is more fragile than that of an ordinary person, but when dealing with alien species, only guns have a chance of winning.
He is leaving. I think we may have a chance to meet again in the future. There are not many survivors in this world, but living people represent hope, even though living people are just as scary as alien species. 】
Jiang Ziyao did not sit still and wait for death. He turned to Huo Chi and said, "Go check out the things that have not been used yet and pack them up and take them away."
The environment here is not safe, and he doesn't want to stay any longer after the tall man leaves.
Huo Chi responded, "Okay, wait for me to find a bag."
But before the tall man had gone far, Jiang Ziyao's head began to hurt again, and the tingling sensation paralyzed his nerves.
[——Text: But this also became something I regretted later. As we were avoiding the zombies, we didn’t realize that we had been targeted. It clung to the wall in the blind spot at the door, watching our every move.
And he became the primary target of the alien's attack. At that moment, it pounced on him. His neck seemed to be bitten off in that instant, and human blood spurted out. Its thin wings were as wide as a person's shoulder. When I reacted, I opened fire, four shots at the monster and one at his head. Before I watched him being alienated, I had to kill him first.
Another person has been killed in this world. At the beginning of the apocalypse, the dead were the most numerous. I didn’t even have time to deal with his body. We were used to it. We took away his weapons and supplies indifferently and numbly, just to be able to survive in the future. 】
Jiang Ziyao immediately turned around and looked at the blind spot. The tall man had already walked to the door as the text said, and his hand was on the handle.
The blind spot should be there!
Jiang Ziyao frowned. He didn't know whether what happened next would be as the text said. He couldn't take a gamble. He raised the gun and opened the safety almost the next moment.
"Brother Jiang?" Huo Chi was surprised at his sudden action.
Jiang Ziyao's arms were already tense, and in an instant, he pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out from the muzzle.
The sound of gunfire was deafening. One shot shattered the glass, and the glass door instantly broke into pieces. The fragments exploded, a loud noise was produced, and a black shadow fell directly from the blind spot. He held the gun and pulled the trigger one after another. A total of five bullets were fired, and four of them hit the monster.
【——Text: The elm borer was once a pest that only harmed white elm trees. 】
【Low-level alien species.】
The tall man twisted his body immediately when he heard the first gunshot. Although the insect's blood splattered half of his body, he successfully avoided the moth's attack.
Jiang Ziyao fired two shots at its wings, causing it to lose balance and fall to the ground. The monster was half the size of a human, and one could even see the cobra-like pattern on its wings and the fluff on its body. Its middle was covered with large dark brown spots, like dead leaves.
It was still trying to struggle, its mouth opened wider and hidden under its whiskers were sharp teeth that could crush a person.
Jiang Ziyao's bullets broke a pair of its wings and pierced its lower abdomen, but these shots did not seem to be fatal to it. The moth let out a loud roar and he took a breath of cold air. The oppressive tension actually dispelled his fear of the unknown.
The low-level alien species, the moth that usually has no presence, has turned into a huge monster.
It seems that there are more than just zombies in this world; other creatures seem to have mutated as well.
The tall man reacted immediately. He bent his back and pointed the gun at the moth.
Bang--!
The shot hit the moth's head accurately.
Even a mutated monster cannot escape brain death. The moth became motionless, its body falling at the door. The tall man quickly wiped the sticky blood from the side of his face.
The two looked at each other in shock.
"Now, can you take us with you?"
Jiang Ziyao asked. His voice was calm, but the sound of the gunshot made him dizzy. He pressed his numb knuckles with his thumb and hid his head backwards. He endured it for a long time, but his fingers were still shaking violently.
The tall man was also stunned. He held down his hat and said quickly, "The gunshots will attract all the zombies nearby. We can't stay here anymore."
"Follow me now."
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