Chapter 23: Fate, shackles, and no scruples!
The main urban area was flooded, and the suburbs were not much better off.
There was still a thin layer of accumulated water, covering the uppers of the shoes and creating small whirlpools on the ground.
Cheng Ye walked north for nearly four kilometers before he finally saw a bus parked at the platform.
"Sir, due to heavy rains that damaged the power infrastructure in the buffer zone, we have been informed that starting today, the free bus service will no longer apply and the fare will be charged according to the previous standards."
The middle-aged driver was wiping the car window with a rag when he saw Cheng Ye coming over and reminded him.
"Also, the bus will only depart if there are five people on board. If you leave with less than five people, you will need to pay five times the fare personally."
During the flood season, hydropower stations have abundant electricity and can be used at will.
But now heavy rains continue to hit, and the hydropower station itself is in trouble and has to open the gates to release floodwaters to relieve pressure.
Due to the impact, the free public transportation, which lasted only one and a half months, was hastily announced to end and returned to the normal operation and charging period.
"How much per person?"
"2 coins."
"Let's go. I'll pay for five people."
Cheng Ye turned his head and looked at the empty space behind him, then took out a happiness coin with a face value of 10 and put it into the coin slot.
If the distance was closer, he would have walked there, but both the north and south stations were in the suburbs, at least 15 kilometers away from the main urban area.
"Okay, let's go now."
The driver also followed the regulations of the Public Works Department. Seeing Cheng Ye's decisiveness, he realized that his identity was not ordinary.
He quickly put away the rag and got into the driver's seat. After the motor was warmed up, he rushed out like an arrow.
Along the way, Cheng Ye saw several buses coming from the opposite direction, and long queues of more than a dozen people often lined up on the side of the road heading to the city to work.
When the wheels rolled over the accumulated water, they created half-man-high waves that splashed onto the pedestrians' raincoats, causing a burst of shouting and cursing.
But even so, no one chose to get on the bus to the main urban area.
"Was it like this before?"
Cheng Ye was sitting in the front seat and couldn't help but look at the driver and asked.
"Back then, it was much worse than now." The driver paused, his hand on the steering wheel, grinning. "Now, at least these people can get into the city and make a living. Back then, if a major natural disaster hit the buffer zone, it was common to see people lying all over the streets, thousands of people gone in an instant."
As he spoke, the driver suddenly turned the steering wheel, and the wheel drifted to the center to avoid the puddle. The dome light inside the car flickered twice as the car body bumped around.
Cheng Ye's eyes swept out the window. Just this simple action earned him a thumbs-up from the refugees on the roadside.
"Back then, even the corpse collectors had to line up by district. How could we be so happy now?"
happiness?
Cheng Ye suddenly fell silent, and for some reason he thought of Edmund's wailing before his death.
Happiness, fake...
When all the beautiful fantasies in his mind were shattered, he must have been in great pain at that moment, right?
The car rolled over the bumpy road and moved forward. The chemical plant staff quarters turned into gray shadows in the rain.
Suddenly, Cheng Ye's eyes fixed.
"Sir, do you need to stop here?" The driver saw Cheng Ye's strange look from the rearview mirror and asked.
"Well, stop here."
The chemical plant community is about two kilometers away from the North Checkpoint, but through the car window, Cheng Ye has already seen a familiar figure on the side of the road looking forward in the rain.
After getting off the car, the figure immediately walked towards me quickly, completely ignoring the raindrops splashing on my trouser legs.
It was none other than Luo Xiaoxue.
"Sister Luo, why are you standing here so early in the morning? It's raining so hard, Yiyi must be scared at home alone."
"Don't talk nonsense. How can I sleep if you're going to North Station?"
Luo Xiaoxue's voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't slept well all night.
"North Station isn't a place where people get eaten. Hasn't Brother B been on duty there many times before?"
Cheng Ye felt warm in his heart. In his previous life, he was a rootless weed and grew up in an orphanage.
Although I have always had friends around me as I grew up and never lacked people to talk to, I always silently envy others when they talk about family affection.
Now that I think about it, this is what family love is like. There will be someone who cares about you and worries about you from the bottom of their heart.
"He is he, and you are you."
Luo Xiaoxue was still hesitant on the phone last night, and even when she hung up, she was still a little hesitant.
But today, Cheng Ye found that there was only a blade-like sharpness left on her face.
She is no longer a full-time housewife, but has returned to the warrior who fought against the infected eight years ago.
"Everyone has his own destiny, which is determined by heaven and even more by himself!"
"Everything you said to me last night, I just thought it was bullshit. I'm too lazy to listen, and I don't want to listen."
"But today, I'm standing here waiting for you, and I want you to answer me in front of me, looking into my eyes!"
Luo Xiaoxue spoke each word with a solemn expression:
"It's easy to follow the will of Heaven, but difficult to go against it. The path you've chosen is difficult. Above you are not just mountains, but massive boulders that can crush you to dust at any moment."
"If you take a step forward today, you will be doomed. If you take even a step back, you will suffer a fate worse than death!"
"If you want to survive, you have to fight hard."
"Cheng Ye, are you ready to fight to the death?"
Fight hard?
Luo Xiaoxue's series of questions inevitably made Cheng Ye stunned.
But soon, he couldn't help laughing, and a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Over the past two months, he has stood on the rooftop several times. What he lacked was not the courage to die, but a reason to convince himself to give up.
Now, not only did he not find a reason to give up, but he found a reason to live hard.
Why should I be afraid of...fighting with others?
What's more, he is alone now. The people at the checkpoint are all worried about their families and their own interests. Who would dare to stand up and fight him?
"Sister Luo, believe me!"
"Except for the infected, no one in the checkpoint can touch me."
Patting the standard pistol on his waist, Cheng Ye smiled more and more freely.
The prosecutor's position is not high, but in this buffer zone, there are very few people who can easily take his life.
On the contrary, if he wanted to kill someone, he just had to raise his hand and gently pull the trigger.
No worries, no scruples.
At worst, you'll end up in the wasteland, living with the infected, wandering in the ruins and wilderness.
"Okay, I believe you!"
Luo Xiaoxue nodded heavily and reached into her bag.
It turned out to be the Bison combat pistol that Cheng Ye had planned to buy. Judging from its condition, it should have just been produced not long ago.
It was obvious that Luo Xiaoxue got up early in the morning and went to the material exchange store to buy it for him.
"That gun of yours is too weak. It's scary enough, but it's not good enough to hit the infected."
"Use this, it's very powerful. If anyone wants to kill you, let him taste the bullet first!"
"good!"
Cheng Ye took it gently and inserted it into the empty gun bag on his right.
"Then I'm leaving?"
"Go ahead. Remember, I'll be waiting for you to come home after get off work."
"Um."
There is no need to say anything else. Just this agreement alone makes Cheng Ye feel heavy in his heart.
When I turned around, the bus was still waiting where I had just parked.
Seeing Cheng Ye looking over, the driver smiled and waved, "You paid five times the price, so I should take you to your destination."
"Thank you."
After getting in the car, the driver shook his head with emotion, not knowing what he was thinking. "Sir, you have such a murderous aura that anyone with a faint heart would be scared to death."
"What if someone isn't afraid?"
"Then he might really want to die." The driver shrugged. "When I was still struggling outside and before I joined Happy City, I always avoided people like you."
"Oh, what do you do?"
"Don't worry if you laugh at me, I used to be... a third-rate killer?!"
The middle-aged driver laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But then I had a wife and a son, and my heart was tied up with so many things. It was like I was wearing shackles, and I couldn't do this job anymore."
"So now I am even more afraid of people like you."
"Are you afraid that if I get angry, blood will splatter within five steps?"
"That's not the case. We're all just a bunch of idiots. We're not those old men in the inner city. There's really no need to fight to the death."
"That?"
"It cannot be said. It cannot be said."
Cheng Ye gradually put away his smile and looked at the middle-aged driver with strange eyes.
The wasteland is so vast that all kinds of wonders can be found.
Since a driver is so smart, there shouldn't be anyone in such a big North Station who would do something stupid, right?
...
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