Chapter 91
"Little guy, why are you here?"
The team leader held the flower and talked to himself in confusion.
No matter how you look at it, this is the little pear blossom that Wei Mingyang brought. But now Wei Mingyang is still asleep, could it be that he secretly plucked the flower and stuffed it into his mouth in the middle of the night?
He had seen how much Wei Mingyang treasured this pot of flowers, so this possibility should not exist.
Could it be done by other team members?
But now they are grasshoppers tied to the same rope. What good will it do to frame others and cause internal strife?
No matter how much humans guess, they can never guess that Little Lihua ran here on her own "long legs".
He held his breath behind his mask, afraid that the fragile little thing would be blown away by accident, and wondered whether he should put it back into the flowerpot without waking up Wei Mingyang.
...Speaking of which, the roots of the small pear blossoms are spotlessly clean, without a speck of dirt, as if they've been washed. Who on earth would go to such great lengths to do this?
Li Jue felt himself being lifted up high, the branches rubbed his flower disk, and he woke up, meeting the concerned gaze of humans.
"Uncle Dad!" Zizi greeted him happily.
Unfortunately, the language of a small flower cannot be recognized by humans. Not only did humans not respond to his good morning, they also pried its branches and leaves with their hands.
This is just like tickling for the little kid now. Li Jue remembered that his father used to play with him like this, avoiding human fingers and rolling around on his palm.
Seeing that the human showed no intention of stopping, Li Jue had no choice but to hold his fingertips with two tender little leaves: "No, no, it's itchy!"
The human was stunned.
It was unusual that the pear blossoms showed the same "interactivity" as the mimosa, and they could even extend to more responses; although he could only hear the rustling sound of the leaves shaking, it sounded, or looked, as if the little flowers were saying something to him.
And this action looks so familiar, like...
He touched his left ear out of habit, and felt relieved when he touched the hard ornament, and turned his attention back to the little flower.
Then, an even more surprising scene happened: the little pear blossom loosened its leaves, and the flower disk faced the direction of his gaze. It shook its petals happily, and then rolled up one side of its branches and leaves and shook it at him.
It was a very human, very visible gesture, the equivalent of a wave.
No matter how much he tried to deceive himself that this was all plant instinct, there was no way to explain what had just happened. Fortunately, this wasn't the first time he had encountered such a strange little creature. He hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Are you... communicating with me?"
Zizi was startled.
This uncle is talking to me! Can he understand me?
The little pear blossom shook its petals even harder, and together with its branches and leaves, it danced wildly in ecstasy, bouncing in the human's palm.
The captain couldn't help laughing. Well, it seems that this really is a little thing with spiritual powers.
What kind of physical condition do I have? It doesn't feel like I've entered the apocalypse where I have to struggle for survival everywhere. It's more like I've fallen into Alice's rabbit hole, where everything is a fairy tale.
At the same time, I sighed inwardly, realizing how quickly I'd become accustomed to these endlessly changing settings. There was no other way. If the world couldn't adapt to us, then we had to adapt to it.
"...Uh, Captain?"
He wanted to find out something more from Xiao Lihua, but he heard a puzzled voice.
The captain felt nervous, thinking that Wei Mingyang might have misunderstood.
He was not good at speaking and could not come up with an excuse on the spot. What's more, even he himself had no idea how this little guy got into his hands; well, it seemed that he had probably moved it here himself, but who would believe such a thing?
He ignored the reluctance that welled up in his heart and was about to return the flowers to Wei Mingyang. The latter had a suspicious look in his eyes, but for various reasons he did not directly question it and reached out to take it.
Then he took a big bite.
"ah--!!!"
Wei Mingyang completely forgot that this little creature was aggressive. He stared at his bleeding hand in confusion. If he hadn't pulled it back quickly, his finger would have been bitten off.
The captain watched as little Lihua hid in his palm, trembling pitifully, as if he was not the vicious little thing just now and he was the victim.
The baby cub felt wronged. Why did he take him away from his father? He liked his new owner and didn't want to go back to his previous owner.
Uncle, uncle, can you please keep me here, can you please protect me?
Little Lihua curled up in the human's palm, asking for help and acting coquettishly.
The captain softened his heart easily and stroked the milky white petals with his fingers. The little flower slowly stopped trembling under his comfort.
Wei Mingyang's eyes widened.
Was he seeing things? Why did this flower look like a kitten or a puppy?
The flower had mutated, and he already knew that;
If we can communicate with mutated plants, does that mean that humans have also mutated...?
When Wei Mingyang thought about this, his eyes changed when he looked at the team leader. The vague good impression he had before disappeared, and all that was left was suspicion.
The captain's heart skipped a beat. He was too familiar with this look. It was the scrutiny of humans tortured by the virus when they questioned whether the people around them were still their compatriots.
He is indeed not a zombie.
But he is really different from them, and this is a secret that must never be exposed.
At this moment, several other team members woke up from Wei Mingyang's scream, rubbing their eyes and asking, "What happened? Are there zombies?"
Wei Mingyang didn't speak immediately, staring at the captain.
The captain twisted his wrist, hid the little pear blossom in his sleeve, and took the initiative to divert attention: "It has started snowing, let's complete the mission as soon as possible and return."
Their main task this time was to scout the movements of the Silver Sand Family. Although there were equipment in the base for positioning, it was often not accurate enough due to distance issues, and sometimes they had to make a physical trip.
This was not a crucial mission. The commander ordered them to prioritize their lives over the mission, and to give up decisively if they encountered a zombie attack or extreme weather.
There is already snow, and it seems mild at the moment, but a blizzard could arrive at any time, so it is safer to return to the base early.
The team members, not knowing what was going on, started to adjust their locators and photographic tools. The team leader breathed a sigh of relief, sat back in the corner to test the radio, and reported the current situation to the base.
"I hope you are one of my kind." Wei Mingyang didn't look at him, but tilted his head in his direction and said in a barely audible voice, "I will watch over you."
He stroked the small flower in his sleeve without saying a word.
*
The snow did indeed stop the Silver Sand Family from moving forward. After all, the living and the dead think differently. This mighty army actually stopped only 500 meters away from the F17809 base, preferring to use a few old pine and cypress trees as shade.
The advance team could have evacuated quietly without any risk of being discovered, but new instructions suddenly came from base X332, asking them to go to the abandoned base to collect some weapons and other usable supplies.
The weather was changeable. The flash flood that was expected did not come, and the storm that was expected turned into a blizzard, which made the relocation of the F17809 base seem not worth it.
The team leader argued that there were only five of them with limited equipment, and the zombie army was too close to the abandoned base and could be easily discovered, so it was not suitable to suddenly change to carry out another mission.
But for some reason, the commander, who was usually quite amiable, was so tough today and told them that they must go and take as much as they could.
The team leader sighed and passed the news to the team members.
He originally wanted to take two people with him, but Wei Mingyang stared into his eyes and said, "Why don't you stay here, Captain? Someone has to be in charge of the rear."
A shabby outpost and a team of only five people, how can it be called a rear base?
But the captain also knew that Wei Mingyang still had doubts about him and would never let a guy with a risk of infection go to a place so close to the zombie army with others. He might turn against his "compatriots" and kill them all. He also didn't trust anyone to stay alone with him.
The team leader sighed. It was understandable. In the apocalypse, no one could truly trust anyone else. Everyone just muddled through, hoping for the best.
As Wei Mingyang wished, the team leader stayed at the outpost, and the other four went to the abandoned base.
"You must pay attention to safety. If the risk assessment exceeds the warning line and you abandon the mission, I will take the responsibility."
He watched as several people dressed warmly gradually turned into indistinct black dots in the snow. He felt a slight itch on his wrist, and the little pear blossom, unable to bear the loneliness, came out. Its branches and leaves were like nimble little hands and feet, strolling along his arm.
"I wonder when Xiao Wei will realize this is a game. What a terrifying place." His fingertips gently tickled the petals, like tickling a kitten, talking to himself and the flowers. "But I've adapted surprisingly well... Although I haven't recovered my memory yet, could it be that I've participated in these escape games before?"
Through the mask, Li Jue couldn't see his appearance, and even his voice became a little hoarse due to the cold temperature and fatigue. In addition, the gap between the little flower and the human was too big, and the sound was distorted like it was coming from a loudspeaker. Zizi couldn't immediately tell whether he knew this uncle or not.
But he still felt very familiar, especially when the human voice was almost whispering, just like his father telling him a bedtime story until he dozed off.
So, it’s not unreasonable for him to change the breeder.
When dad is not around, let uncle dad take his place!
The captain waited for a long time but the team members didn't come back, and fell asleep unknowingly.
This time, Xiao Lihua changed her position, climbed up to the crook of his neck, and pressed against the side of his neck, where she could feel the connection of the arteries, as if two hearts were beating at the same frequency.
As if they once shared the same heartbeat.
The human could smell the delicate fragrance of the small flower nearby and had a sweet dream.
I dreamed of a spring day, a park, blanketed in white pear blossoms with a hint of pink. A spring breeze blew, and a rain of flowers fell. He held my small, soft hands as we walked in the fragrant rain...
What woke him up was the sound of hurried footsteps, messy and hurried.
Are the team members back?
There won’t be any danger, right?
The captain shuddered and immediately came to his senses. He carefully hid the little pear flower under his collar, holding the gun in one hand and opening the door with the other.
Then, he met a pair of blood-red eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
