Chapter 77 Northland Plateau
More than three hours later, Shu Fu, who had left smoothly with Lu Zheng and his friends, saw the thin man who Lu Zheng had mentioned as "cracked" in an abandoned gas station.
The abandoned gas station is very small, with only two gas pumps. The high flat roof is connected to the low building behind. The building should have been a small supermarket, but now it is clean and there is not even a metal rack left. According to Lu Ce, the last remaining supplies and metal racks here were looted when they passed by here earlier on the way to the salt lake.
They later used tools to cut the metal frame and reinforce the car. Tonight, a piece of metal plate from the metal frame was on the SUV that Lu Zheng drove to take the three of them away.
The two cars stopped on the left and right under the flat roof. After Lu Zheng turned off the engine and got out of the car, he handed the keys of the SUV to Shu Fu, officially handing over the car to them.
Shu Fu, Chen Fa and Chen Yuezhen got off the car one by one, locked the door, put on the N95 masks handed over by Shu Fu, and got on the bus on the other side.
In just three or four days, in addition to repairing the broken windows and reinforcing all the windows and roof, they also converted the back half of the bus into a place similar to an RV. They removed the seats and installed the ready-made upper and lower single metal beds in the container house. They fixed a bed on each side, which can accommodate up to four people.
The luggage rack on the top level has not been removed and a guardrail has been installed to ensure that the materials on it will not fall off due to the bumps of the vehicle while it is driving.
At this moment, the thin man was lying on the lower bunk of one of the bunk beds. He was still drowsy due to the effects of the sleeping pills, but probably because of the pain, his body was still twitching even in his coma.
"It was Skinny's idea to turn the back half of the seat into a bed. The long-distance migration was too tiring, and he wanted Xiaoyi to live as comfortably as possible. Maybe she would be happy and willing to pay attention to him again..."
The bald man leaned against the bed frame opposite him and said in a mocking tone, "He would never have thought that the first person who said he turned into a zombie today was Xiaoyi."
Behind him, Lu Ce was lying on the upper bunk with his tabby cat. Because of the solemn atmosphere in the car, he was particularly quiet. When he saw Shu Fu coming over, he didn't say anything.
Beside the thin man's bed, Xu Jiechu was standing outside the end of the bed, holding his cheese cat in his arms, his face also very solemn. Seeing that Chen Fa did not show a cockfighting expression for the first time, Xu Tingfeng reached out and uncovered the thin cloth covering him. I don't know if he used the thin cloth because he was afraid that the blanket would be too heavy and would press on his wound.
Under the thin cloth, the thin man's body covered with gray scabs was revealed. Just as Lu Zheng said, he was "cracked".
All the hardened and dry scabs broke apart as if they were pried open from the inside by something or some force. The scabs separated slightly from the original skin, but not completely.
Through the cracks in the gray scabs, one could vaguely see that the flesh underneath seemed to be alive and was wriggling from time to time. Blood and pus continuously flowed out through the cracks in the gray scabs because of this "wriggling", and the whole person looked horrible.
There was an unpleasant odor in the air. Shu Fu and the others were wearing masks and could only smell it vaguely. For some reason, this smell reminded Shu Fu of the red liquid in the glass bottles.
Although the two things look completely different now, Shu Fu still has some guesses about the red liquid. After all, Tang Ping has been studying this type of patients for a long time. If the liquid really comes from the patients, it seems reasonable.
That night, the three did not stay on the bus and quickly returned to the off-road vehicle to rest.
When Shu Fu left, she gave Lu Zheng and the others some painkillers, saying that she didn't have much and didn't know if they would be useful, but it was better than nothing, so she could try feeding them to him.
Because they were outdoors, Shu Fu and Chen Fa took turns to rest and keep watch. One of them sat in the driver's seat to keep watch, and the other two slept on the flat back seats. The travel bags and backpacks that were originally placed in the trunk were temporarily moved to the co-pilot area.
The rain was not heavy that night, but the wind was very strong. It blew for a long time. From time to time, construction debris was blown by the wind and hit the car body, making a scraping sound.
In the second half of the night, the effect of the sleeping pills on the thin man seemed to have worn off. He woke up again and immediately screamed in pain from the cracked skin on his body. At the same time, his hands and feet moved around, as if he wanted to pull the painful skin and tear off all the gray scabs.
They stepped forward to stop him, but were attacked by him instead. He seemed to be completely crazy, howling and punching his former teammates.
Finally, a few big men got angry and tied his limbs to the bed frame, which stopped his unconscious self-mutilation and aggressive behavior.
After this action, the gray scabs on his body cracked more and more seriously, and he screamed hysterically in pain. He was still unconscious and could not recognize people, and he could not even feed medicine. In the end, they had no choice but to block his mouth.
It was not until almost dawn that he gradually calmed down. The bald man went forward to check and found that the gray scabs on his body had gradually stuck together again. Although blood was still oozing out, it seemed as if the cracks had stopped and began to calm down.
The thin man's pain eased and he fell asleep due to exhaustion.
The next day the wind was still strong and the rain became heavier, but there was no thunder or hail. This was considered good weather for people who had been struggling in troubled times for a long time.
The people in both cars ate a little and set off on their journey.
Lu Zheng only had paper maps, so every time he went out, he had to pay close attention to the road signs to avoid getting lost.
But Shu Fu's mobile phone has a map of the entire Northern Plateau. Although the road conditions are changing every day, it is definitely better to have a navigation than to have no navigation.
Chen Fa didn't have a power bank, and Shu Fu hadn't packed it into her backpack, so they saved their phone power during the trip, and wouldn't turn it on unless absolutely necessary. Now that they have a car, as long as they have a charging cable, they can always keep their phones fully charged, which also means they can use their phones as they please.
So, after discussion, it was decided that the off-road vehicle with navigation would go in front and the bus would follow.
From the Salt Lake Scenic Area to Youcheng in the southwest, it is about 500 kilometers. Including a few places that require detours, the total distance is estimated to be around 600 kilometers.
Shu Fu was originally worried about the high fuel consumption of off-road vehicles, as well as the difficulty of navigating some mountain roads and the need to take detours to avoid extreme weather conditions. The 60L of fuel was not enough to drive to Youcheng. How could she quietly add more fuel to the tank?
But at noon on the first day of the trip, when they were taking a break at a rest stop beside the provincial road, Xu Tingfeng took the initiative to come to their car. He was not wearing a raincoat, but only pulled up the hood of his waterproof jacket and knocked on the passenger seat window.
Shu Fu turned down the volume of the music player and opened the car window a little.
He came over to express his gratitude. Although the gray scabs on the thin man's body would not crack during the day, he would occasionally cry out in pain unconsciously.
They gave him a painkiller when they fed him breakfast today, and it seemed to have some effect. He was much calmer today. Although his condition was still getting worse, he was finally able to sleep well. Only by resting well during the day can he have the energy to deal with the pain at night.
He also told them that they didn't have to worry about fuel on the way to Youcheng. Previously, they didn't have enough space to carry too much fuel because of the load. But now the car is so big, they already have enough fuel, and they will help them fill up if the fuel is insufficient.
The other party thanked him with practical actions, so Shu Fu also thanked him politely.
When Xu Tingfeng left, he looked at Chen Fa in the driver's seat and asked, "Does it repeat every night?"
Chen Fa knew what she was asking: "Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I hear the patients screaming in pain every night."
Xu Tingfeng looked solemn, nodded and returned to the bus.
At this time, Shu Fu and the other two had not expected that this long journey to Youcheng would become a painful journey for them to witness the changes of the patients with their own eyes.
**
Youcheng is located in the south of the Beidi Plateau, in the southwest corner of Lankou Province. From the map, it is close to the north of Xiangzhou Province.
From Tianyan Salt Lake to Youcheng, the altitude drops from 1,500 meters to 700 meters. Most of the provincial roads pass through wilderness, and occasionally pass through villages, but those villages are far away from the provincial roads.
There are many mountain roads in the middle. Even if we avoid some overly steep sections, it is still difficult to drive under the current weather conditions. For safety, we can only slow down the speed and occasionally find a place to hide and rest.
There was also one time when they drove on a mountain road for three hours only to discover a large landslide on the road ahead. They had to go down the mountain and return to the previous section, check the map and navigation, and re-plan a new route.
Since they set out, they spent two nights outside. Every night, the thin man, who had been quiet during the day with the help of painkillers, made miserable cries because of the cracking of the gray scab, like an alarm clock that would ring on time.
These gray scabs began to crack as soon as it got dark and could not come into contact with water, as their spread would accelerate and cover his body and limbs in large pieces, leaving him without a single piece of healthy flesh on his body.
Some of the gray scabs began to fall off after cracking twice. What fell off was in pieces, some of which looked like dry cuticles. They thought it was getting better, but the flesh under the gray scabs grew light gray scabs again. They were not as hard as before, but felt smoother. They were still stacked together in small pieces, densely light gray, and they would wriggle at night. People with trypophobia would faint at the sight of them...
The other people who were on the same bus with the thin man were all fine and showed no signs of illness. Xu Tingfeng, Xu Jiechu and Chen Fa, the three people who had been bitten and stabbed by the strange fish, did not show any similar symptoms.
On the third night, after taking several detours and dodging a severe storm, the group finally arrived at the suburbs near Youcheng.
Having just arrived at a new place, they did not dare to enter the city at night without knowing the situation. In addition, the thin man would make trouble at night, so they found an isolated abandoned factory, drove the car into a large warehouse, and rested overnight.
The rain began to subside as night fell, and by the time the group was ready to rest, the rain had stopped.
Lu Ce called Shu Fu out from outside, saying that the clouds had dispersed and they could see the stars.
Finally, Shu Fu followed him and climbed up a small platform next to the warehouse. They sat on the damp iron frame and looked at the rare starry sky together.
There are few cities and many wildernesses in the northern plateau. The ecology is more primitive and closer to nature. It has always been a paradise for self-driving enthusiasts. Camping and stargazing are also indispensable activities.
“When I called you to Pincheng, I was thinking that when you come, on a day when it’s not raining, I will take you to the roof to watch the stars. The starry sky here is so beautiful, the stars are super bright, and today’s ones are not bright enough…” Lu Ce has been in a low mood since Skinny got sick. He has been spending every night these days listening to Skinny’s screams. He couldn’t sleep well at all, and he looked unhappy.
Shu Fu took out a can of chocolate beans from her backpack and gently put it into his hand: "Eat something sweet, you will feel better."
As a result, Lu Ce looked at the chocolate beans in his hand with an even sadder expression: "Are you going to separate from us again?"
"..." Shu Fu took a while to remember that she also gave him a can of chocolate beans before leaving Suicheng last year. This guy must have remembered it until now. "No, I just gave you a can of chocolate beans."
So Lu Ce was happy again. He thanked her first, and then said that he wanted to show off in front of that guy Xu Jiechu. He quickly climbed down the platform and ran to the bus parked in the warehouse.
Shu Fu didn't sit alone for long. Soon, Chen Fa, Lu Zheng and Xu Tingfeng climbed up one by one.
We have been running around outside for a few days and have not been able to sleep well. We have been extremely nervous every day. Now we are about to arrive in Youcheng, and it is a rare period of time when the rain has stopped. No one wants to talk and just wants to look at the starry sky quietly.
Several people lined up on the shelf, and Shu Fu took out a small can of hard candy from her backpack, put one in her mouth first, and then passed it to the side. In the past few days of traveling together, even though they didn't talk much, they had already reached a tacit understanding. When they got the candy jar, they poured out a candy, ate it themselves, and then passed it to the next person.
After everyone ate the candy, they passed the candy jar back to Shu Fu to put away and continue next time.
A little bit of fruit sweetness spread silently on the tips of their tongues, and seemed to spread a little sweetness in their hearts at the same time.
In an age of continuous disasters, life is so hard. Sometimes we suffer so much that we even forget what our original life was like.
On a warm and lukewarm night after the rain, they should have had dinner with friends in a restaurant. The crayfish in June were still plump and delicious. Sitting in a shop along the street at night, ordering some barbecue and beer, they could wash away the fatigue from the busy work during the day.
The sweet ice jelly, the chilled beer, the aroma of barbecue, the fresh, salty and spicy taste of lobster... they miss them all.
"I want to eat skewers." Chen Fa suddenly said.
"A bowl of spicy hot pot would be fine too." Xu Tingfeng actually started talking as well.
"A cup of iced coffee would be nice, Americano would be fine too." Lu Zheng sighed. He always drinks latte, but latte requires milk, and milk is hard to find these days.
"Why drink American coffee so late at night? It would be better to have a cup of hot milk tea." Chen Fa sighed while looking at the starry sky, "Even Xiangpiaopiao will do..."
Shu Fu didn't say anything. She had everything. She could even immediately conjure up a set of barbecue utensils and barbecue on this platform. Everyone drank iced coffee and hot milk tea while chatting and looking at the stars.
But what then?
She trusted Chen Fa and Lu Zheng, but she didn't trust Xu Tingfeng that much, and even less trusted the other people on the bus.
Human hearts are unpredictable. At least for now, she doesn't dare to gamble.
Several people sat quietly for a while, enjoying the quiet starry sky, and then returned to reality with the sudden shouting in the bus. Several people climbed down the platform one by one, Shu Fu was at the end, and Lu Ce was in front of her. He looked at Chen Fa and Xu Tingfeng and was about to bend down to climb, but his movements suddenly stopped.
This pause was very abrupt, because he maintained the bent posture for more than ten seconds.
"What's wrong?" Shu Fu asked.
Lu Zheng stood up again. He first shook his head left and right, then stretched out his hands and waved them in front of his eyes, as if he was waving something away.
After a while, he turned around and looked at Shu Fu, his face blank and shocked: "Something seems to be wrong with me."
"What? Did you remember something about me again?"
"No." He shook his head, then pointed at the air in front of him, "Can you see it?"
"Ah?" Shu Fu didn't understand.
Lu Zheng was still pointing at the air in front of him: "Here - here, there is an extra panel."
Shu Fu:! ?
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