The child took the key off his neck, opened the lock, and then laboriously pulled off the chain wrapped around the doorknob. Shi Lan looked around and, seeing no zombies, quickly crawled inside.
The sharp blade flashed past the child's eyes, and the child screamed in fright, his small body bouncing like a cannonball under the counter.
Shi Lan was startled, thinking he had seen something. She quickly stood by the wall, watching the door warily, and whispered, "What's wrong? Are there zombies?"
The child slowly poked his head out and saw that Shi Lan was facing away from him with complete peace of mind, and the blade of the long knife in her hand was only pointing outwards. He knew he was wrong, but he was too embarrassed to admit that he was being petty, so he could only give a vague reply.
Shi Lan was a well-behaved girl when she was young, and she always told the truth. Little did she know that kids these days are so shrewd. They can lie and deceive someone as easily as playing a game, and when you find out, they can even call it a white lie.
Seeing that she was standing by the door, the child slowly moved closer, tilted his little face up, and asked, "Will you take me to the base?"
Shi Lan kept her eyes fixed on the doorway, nodded absentmindedly, and said, "Wait for me a moment, I'll go call an older sister over, and then we'll set off."
Seeing that she was about to leave, the child quickly grabbed her hem and said, "I want to go with you."
Shi Lan's movements were thwarted, so she turned her attention to her waist-length body. "I'll go to the door and come right back."
The child stubbornly tugged at her clothes, her pink lips pursed, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Shi Lan quickly covered his mouth and scolded him in a low voice, "Don't cry, the zombies will hear you."
The child was startled and his tears vanished in an instant.
Shi Lan was speechless, feeling that kids these days were too clever and mischievous, but she still had to hold his hand and go out.
The roars of zombies echoed through the streets. Shi Lan stood by the door, protecting the child, and waved to Zhang Xiaomei.
Zhang Xiaomei had been carefully peering out of the car window. Upon seeing Shi Lan, she quickly got out of the car and ran over.
Shi Lan grabbed her and led the two of them back into the house, then locked the door again before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
The sound of two people talking could be heard coming from the inner warehouse, occasionally punctuated by the low, deliberately muffled calls of a child.
Shi Lan shook her head helplessly and walked over, saying, "Hurry up, there are zombies everywhere here, we can't stay here any longer."
Zhang Xiaomei packed up most of the warehouse, and looking at the remaining few boxes with reluctance, she said, "It's such a waste to leave them here." As she spoke, she grabbed a plastic bag hanging on the shelf and started filling it with canned biscuits. The child followed suit and started filling it up as well.
Shi Lan walked to the door, opened it, and turned around to see two people carrying and holding five or six bags.
Shi Lan sighed, rubbing her forehead.
Zhang Xiaomei argued confidently, "There's nothing in our car. If others see it, they'll become suspicious."
Shi Lan moved her lips, wanting to say that she could just take some out of her space, but seeing the joy on their faces, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Alright, get in the car. We need to leave town by noon today. We need to find a safe place to stay before dark, and then we can give our little dirty monkey a bath."
Zhang Xiaomei responded with a laugh, while the child, nicknamed "Little Dirty Monkey," blushed and whispered, "Sister, my name is Zhou Bin."
Shi Lan smiled and agreed.
A faint engine sound came from the street corner. Shi Lan twitched her ears, forgetting all her jokes, and hurriedly pushed Zhang Xiaomei, saying, "Get in the car quickly, we have guests arriving."
Zhang Xiaomei's face turned pale, and she hurriedly ran towards the car.
Although Zhou Bin didn't know why Shi Lan said that, his fear of zombies made him eager to find a place to hide.
Shi Lan held back her long sword and bent down to hug him, only to find that the spot where he had just stood was empty.
Shi Lan was taken aback. She looked around and saw that Zhou Bin had already silently stood a meter away from her.
Zhou Bin turned to look at her and found that she was not moving. He stomped his foot in frustration, turned back, and dragged Shi Lan to the side of the car.
Shi Lan felt as if she had been standing four or five meters away from the car in the blink of an eye. She opened the car door, helped Zhou Bin into the car, and then Zhang Xiaomei ran over.
Shi Lan got into the car and looked at Zhou Bin in surprise. She had felt something was wrong earlier, and now that she had experienced it firsthand, she could confirm that the child had actually awakened a superpower.
The car started quickly, and the distant howling seemed to fade away. Shi Lan breathed a slight sigh of relief, and only then could she listen to Zhang Xiaomei and Zhou Bin's conversation.
It turns out that when the disaster struck, he and his mother were minding the shop here. The customers in the shop turned into zombies. In order to save him, his mother lured the zombies out. He had been staying here for the past few days until Shi Lan arrived.
After Zhou Bin finished speaking, he asked Zhang Xiaomei, "Why hasn't your mother come back yet? Is she dead, or has she become like these people outside?"
Zhang Xiaomei was speechless for a long time before finally responding with a sigh.
Zhou Bin's eyes immediately welled up with tears. He clearly wanted to cry, but he kept his lips tightly pressed together and refused to utter a sound.
Shi Lan felt a pang of pity, but she was also helpless. In the face of such a catastrophe, they were nothing but ants who could not resist. It was already a blessing if they could barely struggle to survive.
Zhang Xiaomei also experienced her relatives turning into zombies. Seeing him trying so hard to be strong, she felt sorry for him and also heartbroken.
Gently holding his small body, Zhang Xiaomei said softly, "Cry if you want to, just don't cry loudly, the zombies outside will hear you."
Zhou Bin was silent for two seconds, and then the mournful whimper of a cub came from Zhang Xiaomei's arms.
Shi Lan stepped on the gas and drove the car very fast. The faint sound had barely drifted out before it was gone with the wind. The zombies that were swaying by the roadside heard the sound and, before they could react, were covered in dust.
Zhou Bin cried for a while before finally stopping. Shi Lan eased off the accelerator and turned onto the gas station by the roadside.
They were nearing the edge of the town. Shi Lan got out of the car first to scout ahead and dealt with three zombies. She parked the car next to the gas tank to refuel, and after thinking for a moment, she found two more oil drums inside.
As soon as I stepped outside, I looked up and saw a Land Rover arrogantly driving in.
Shi Lan was startled and quickly threw away the oil drum, drew the long knife from her waist, and stared at him warily.
The Land Rover stopped some distance away, and a tall man got out.
"Ma'am, would you mind if I refueled here?"
Shi Lan squinted as she sized him up.
The man didn't mind not getting a reply; he simply nodded politely, said thank you, and then took two oil drums out of the trunk.
Shi Lan was not one to suffer a loss. Seeing someone trying to take her oil, she quickly picked up the oil can that had been thrown on the ground, walked to the gas pump still connected to her car, filled both the tank and the can, and then stopped.
The man seemed to have a very gentlemanly demeanor. Although Shi Lan's actions were somewhat provocative, he didn't care at all. He simply leaned against the side of the car, waiting for Shi Lan to make room for him.
Shi Lan stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then ultimately drove away. After all, in this day and age, anyone daring to travel alone must have some serious skills. (To be continued.)
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