Chapter 9 Poison Town - Part 2 Two people, one in front and one behind...
The two got out of the RV one after the other. Tang Bufan walked in front, holding a sniper rifle, while Lu Yi followed behind him, protecting him.
The ground was covered with withered grass. Based on the growth and direction of the grass, Kai Ge deduced several paths frequently used by the poisoners. In addition to the path leading to the hospital lobby, there were two or three other paths that had been trampled out, but he didn't know where they led.
A loud crash shattered the surrounding silence. Tang Bufan, holding his sniper rifle, turned his head and saw that a window had fallen and crashed onto the messy, withered grass.
Tang Bufan raised his sniper rifle and looked up, catching a glimpse of a dark figure flashing by on the fourth floor.
Hot winds mixed with dusty sand blew against their faces, and the faint, eerie cries of the poisonous man could be heard in the wind.
The drug addicts were communicating, and as the two drew closer, the whispers in the darkness became clearer.
Tang Bufan had never heard such a cry before, and he felt a little scared.
The two entered the dilapidated hospital lobby. Lu Yi gestured for Tang Bufan to go to the left, where the hospital's deep corridor was located. Tang Bufan stepped in with his gun in hand, and the surroundings immediately went dark.
The temperature even dropped several degrees.
Tang Bufan's Adam's apple bobbed nervously as he moved forward, cautiously observing his surroundings. He saw faint fluorescent escape signs, syringes scattered on the ground, and most of the doors on both sides were open. Inside, rusty iron-framed hospital beds lay haphazardly, and empty IV drips with their IV lines swayed wildly in the wind, emanating a putrid smell.
Suddenly, a rapid, frantic crawling sound came from behind. Tang Bufan immediately raised his gun and turned around, seeing two poisoned men crawling away quickly down the dimly lit corridor, like twisted monsters.
Tang Bufan silently backed up to Lu Yi. There were no lights in the corridor, only a little light coming in through the broken glass window at the end. Tang Bufan then raised his hand to adjust the light screen glasses on his face and switched to night vision mode.
Suddenly his entire field of vision turned a dark green, and the corridor became much clearer.
The two entered the stairwell smoothly, and Tang Bufan secretly breathed a sigh of relief before speaking to Lu Yi.
"They spotted us, but instead of attacking, they ran away." Tang Bufan, carrying a sniper rifle, followed Lu Yi upstairs.
There were no lights in the stairwell, and each floor exit had a tightly closed fire door, so even though it was daytime, it was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. If Tang Bufan hadn't been wearing the light-screen glasses, he wouldn't have been able to see the steps at all.
"They probably recognized me." Lu Yi thought for a moment: "Last time I came here, I killed quite a few poisoners."
After he finished speaking, he noticed that Tang Bufan was panting heavily, so he turned around and reached out to him: "Give me the gun, I'll take it."
The bulletproof vest and sniper rifle are both heavy, so Tang Bufan is carrying at least ten kilograms of weight.
"No need." Tang Bufan didn't want to be a useless person, nor did he want to lose his ability to protect himself: "Don't be fooled by my shaky hands, I'm a pretty good shot. If a poisoner jumps out from upstairs, I can shoot him anytime."
Seeing his stubbornness, Lu could only protect him and walk inside the stairwell.
After climbing to the fifth floor, Tang Bufan was already panting heavily, so Lu Yi suggested that they take a break.
Tang Bufan sat down on the dusty steps, clutching his sniper rifle. His chest heaved violently as he silently rested, feeling a deep unease.
Tang Bufan was shocked to find that his body had deteriorated to this extent. He used to be able to climb seven or eight floors without even breaking a sweat.
"Thank you for not suggesting I stay in the car." Tang Bufan's breathing became more steady, and he said softly in the darkness, "I wanted to do something, but it seems I'm not up to the task."
“I’m worried about leaving you there alone,” Lu Yi explained to him. “Even if the poisoners can’t get into the carriage, they’re smart and might think of setting it on fire.”
Tang Bufan suddenly realized, and then felt a wave of fear. The RV was sturdy, but once it was on fire, it would become a scorching iron cage. If he didn't get out, he would be steamed to death inside.
"You've thought of everything very thoroughly," Tang Bufan remarked, feeling that Lu Yizhen was not like a 17-year-old child; she was thoughtful and cautious.
Suddenly, a clanging sound came from above them, seemingly from iron chains. Tang Bufan was startled and immediately stood up from the steps, clutching his sniper rifle.
Lu Yi reached out and stopped Tang Bufan from approaching the stairwell, then calmly listened to what Tang Bufan was saying.
"They're locking the door. Judging from the sound, it's the 11th floor." As Lu Yi spoke, his strong arms suddenly wrapped around Tang Bufan's extremely thin waist. Before Tang Bufan could react, he grabbed him, stepped onto the stair railing, and jumped up from the middle stairwell.
The sudden leap made Tang Bufan's heart soar. He saw Lu Yi grab the edge of the 6th floor staircase with one hand, pull Tang Bufan up with his arms, and then climb up again. His powerful arm strength propelled them upwards once more. This time, he stepped onto the edge of the 7th floor staircase, then pushed off and jumped, grabbing the edge of the 8th floor staircase with his hands...
After repeatedly leaping and climbing upwards, three seconds later, Lu Yi carried Tang Bufan over the stair railing and landed steadily, gently putting the dazed man in his arms down.
The two had reached the 11th floor.
Tang Bufan's heart pounded, feeling as if he had just escaped death.
"Don't do that again next time." Tang Bufan was quite frightened. What kind of reckless way was this to climb the building? "What if you fall?"
“I won’t fail.” Lu Yi walked to the rusty fire door and tried to push it. Sure enough, the poisoner had locked the door from the inside. Through the gap, he could see a thick chain and a large padlock wrapped around the door handle.
"What if I fall down?" Tang Bufan's heartbeat calmed down, and he walked to the fire door.
"There's no 'what if'." Lu Yi turned to look at the door hinges again, which were also covered in rust.
"Better safe than sorry!" Tang Bufan said stubbornly, and through the crack in the door he saw the chain and padlock, so he raised his sniper rifle.
"Then let's fall to our deaths together." Lu Yi smiled at Tang Bufan in the darkness, leisurely and innocent. He was also wearing large-screen glasses, so Tang Bufan could only see the corners of his mouth turned up.
"It's not funny." Tang Bufan said with a straight face, gesturing for him to move away. "I banged that lock."
"No need for a gun, just kick it open." Lu Yi grabbed his shoulders with both hands and gently moved him away from the crack in the door.
Tang Bufan remained silent, thinking that a person's strength really does influence their thinking. He was thinking of using a gun to knock off the lock, but Lu Yi chose to kick the entire fire door open with violence.
Tang Bufan then retreated to the wall, giving Lu Yi space to kick the door. At that moment, he suddenly noticed a gaze, sharp and cold.
Tang Bufan turned his head and saw a gaunt, poisonous man squatting on the handrail of the stairs leading to the 12th floor, staring at the two of them motionless in the darkness.
Tang Bufan's light screen glasses were in night vision mode, making the world appear eerily green, which made the Poison Man look even more sinister, like a terrifying surveillance video.
"..." Tang Bufan calmed his breathing and silently raised the sniper rifle in his hand towards the poisoner.
He didn't fire immediately; bullets were limited, so he had to conserve them. The man and the skeleton faced off for a few seconds, and then the poisoned man slowly climbed back upstairs along the handrail.
"Why didn't you shoot?" Lu Yi asked. He had already sensed the presence of this toxic person, but seeing Tang Bufan raise his sniper rifle, he wanted to see if his marksmanship was really that good.
"They're not sane, are they?" Tang Bufan, still pointing his sniper rifle towards the 12th floor, said, "Since these poisonous people in the hospital haven't attacked us, there's no need to kill them."
The bullets saved might one day become the key to saving lives.
"Okay, then watch out, I'm kicking the door down."
Tang Bufan nodded, and after Lu Yi turned around, the poisonous man climbed down the handrail again, but remained quiet and showed no signs of attacking.
Tang Bufan pointed the gun at it.
Lu Yi raised his long leg, and the moment he kicked out, the Poison Man's face contorted in a ferocious grin as he lunged at Tang Bufan!
"Bang!"
"Thump!"
Gunshots and the sound of fire doors being kicked open rang out simultaneously, echoing throughout the entire hospital. Lu Yi turned around and saw the poisoned man fall heavily at Tang Bufan's feet.
Tang Bufan stomped on the poisoned man to stop him, then kicked him hard down the stairs. The lifeless man slid limply down the steps.
"Disgusting..." Tang Bufan put down his sniper rifle and turned his head to the side in disgust. The poisonous man's blood was extremely foul-smelling, and since Tang Bufan had shot it in mid-air, some of the poisonous man's blood splattered onto his face.
Tang Bufan's face was covered with a black cloth, and the extremely foul-smelling blood soaked through the cloth, blocking his mouth and nose. He tried to hold back but couldn't, and he lowered his head and vomited.
"Are you alright?" Lu Yi immediately leaned down to look at Tang Bufan with concern, and then saw the man who had been covering his face reach out and pull off the cloth from his mouth, revealing a very thin chin.
Tang Bufan's skin was very white, a bluish white, and his allergy was not as severe as he claimed. At least Lu Yi did not see any rashes. His lips were purplish-black due to poisoning, so he looked quite striking.
The lips are nice. Lu Yi thought to herself that Tang Bufan's original appearance must have been quite good, because his skull was beautiful.
She's just too thin; her cheeks are very sunken.
After tearing off the black cloth covering his chin, Tang Bufan was able to breathe easily. He stopped gagging, stood up, and took a deep breath while holding the sniper rifle.
"Much better." Tang Bufan pushed up his large, high-contrast glasses and steadied his voice: "Let's go to the pharmacy."
The fire door was lying on its side. The two stepped through the rusty iron door and entered the corridor on the 11th floor. The lights they had seen outside were now off, and the entire floor was dark and quiet.
The corridor was lined with dark rooms. Tang Bufan's night vision goggles didn't show any of the poisoners, but they did mark many of their footprints.
"I see it, in that room." Tang Bufan, holding a sniper rifle, moved close to Lu Yi, intending to walk towards the room with the most footprints.
Lu Yi reached out and pulled him back.
“They know our target is the pharmaceutical room.” Lu Yin heard rustling noises coming from the rooms on both sides. He frowned and used his arm to block Tang Bufan from retreating to the corner: “Don’t go over there. They are hiding in the rooms, and there are a lot of them.”
Tang Bufan quickly leaned against the wall, staring at the dark corridor as he asked Lu Yi, "What do we do now?"
There were only two of them. They could manage to deal with a dozen or so poisonous people, but dozens would be a problem.
Lu Yi thought for a moment and looked at the fire door lying on the ground: "I'll go pick up that door and use it as a shield for you."
Tang Bufan frowned subconsciously: "Is the shield this big? I can't lift it."
"I'll put it against the wall, in the triangular crevice under your nest."
"Oh!" Tang Bufan finally understood; it was indeed a very good cover.
Lu Yi then walked towards the fire door while keeping an eye on what was ahead.
“These poisoners are smart. Be alert when I pick up the door.”
"Know."
Tang Bufan leaned against the wall, holding his breath and raising his sniper rifle, so focused that his hands barely shook.
Sure enough, just as Lu Yi bent down to pick up the door, a large number of poisonous people suddenly poured out of the dark rooms on both sides like a tide.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Tang Bufan treated the poisoners as people, therefore he believed the poisoners were "him" and "her".
Other humans of this era already regarded the poisonous person as a wild beast, hence the use of "it".
Not a typo
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com