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墨書 Inktalez
The Cement Factory covers a vast area. A few people entered the tallest building in the Cement Factory, which was clearly the office building. Inside the lobby, there was a map showing the layout of the entire factory area. After glancing at it, they quickly located the production workshop.
As night fell, they decided to find a place to stay, as it would be even more dangerous to travel back in the dark. The six of them had brought some dry rations with them. Li Yan took out rice balls made by Yu Tian from his iron lunchbox. They were filled with pieces of cured meat and pickled vegetables. Although they were cold, they still tasted good.
Zhou Miao had a packet of soy milk powder given by his wife in his pocket, which only needed water to prepare. The six of them improvised by dismantling an office desk to make a fire and boil some water. Soon, the aroma of soy milk filled the office, and without any cups available, they had to share an iron lunchbox. The atmosphere became quite harmonious.
"Village Chief..." Zhang Mo kept his head down, thinking for a long time before speaking.
"Just call me Li Yan. Actually, I'm not much older than Miaozi; you can call us by our names from now on," Li Yan said with a gentle smile. He never intended to create a bureaucratic atmosphere in their village.
Zhang Mo wasn't rigid either; after thinking it over, he agreed. "Alright, Li Yan." Throughout their journey, Zhang Mo felt that this young man was quite decent. "To be honest, I feel really terrible today. On my way here, I saw Old Sangtou. Zhang Hong, do you remember him?"
"The peddler from our childhood?" Zhang Hong recalled after thinking for a moment. "I remember his family got rich a long time ago; I heard he bought a house in the city. Oh right, didn't his family live above and below your aunt's place? I heard they bought the fifth floor and got the sixth floor for free; their house must be spacious—over three hundred square meters! Back when your aunt visited your home—" Zhang Hong suddenly stopped talking and lowered his eyes to eat his rice ball.
"Yes, their house is above and below my aunt's place. I saw him yesterday on the road; he was walking in the snow with a child, looking all ragged. It's quite far from the city center; I remember he's almost seventy this year..." Zhang Mo stirred the fire with the leg of his chair, his simple face showing signs of gloom. "Last year during New Year’s, my dad called my aunt to come back to the countryside first. My aunt said she couldn't bear to leave her son and daughter behind and mentioned that things in the city had improved a lot. My dad even planted a few extra acres of land, saying we are family and could help each other if anything happened. But then with the establishment of the Safe Zone, communication just stopped. At first, my aunt would still call back..."
Zhang Mo spoke intermittently, just like he would chat about everyday life back in the village, but there was an indescribable feeling behind it.
Zhang Hong and the others remained silent; who didn’t have relatives outside? When life was better before, many families sought ways to move into the city—especially those college students who had gone out; hardly any wanted to return to the village.
Zhang Hong remembered how Zhang Mo's aunt used to give him candy when they were kids; that candy was truly sweet...
None of them slept well that night; there were too many thoughts on their minds, especially regarding Zhang Mo's aunt which left everyone feeling uneasy. The six divided into two groups for patrols since it wasn't safe outside. Li Yan and Zhou Miao exchanged glances; they could sense that there were people around them who were likely too scared to move after the bloody events of the day before.
The next day around seven o'clock, while it was still dim outside, they packed up their things and grabbed a quick bite before starting their search for cement. Conveniently enough, they found a map of the Cement Factory under one of the office desks, which saved them quite a bit of trouble.
They opened several warehouses but found that stock levels were low. In Warehouse No. 3, Zhang Yi discovered a truck—only it was out of gas. The truck's windshield was shattered all over; it seemed someone had caused trouble when the factory went bankrupt.
They realized that Li Yan's family's vehicle wouldn't be able to carry much cement either; after discussing it among themselves, they decided to look for gasoline instead. If they could use the truck for transport, it would make things much easier. Unfortunately, the factory had already been rummaged through; usable items were scarce.
When they reached Workshop No. 5, they found it locked from the outside. Li Yan sensed that there were about ten people inside; some breaths were even faint. Just as he contemplated whether or not to open the door, Zhang Hong had already found a stone.
When they broke open the door and pushed aside the thick aluminum door panel, several big men stood frozen in shock. Inside were nearly twenty women dressed in thin autumn clothes; some lay directly on the ground with their pants half down their legs. Many huddled together shivering uncontrollably.
The people looked at them in terror, and Zhang Hong was still holding that stone, unsure whether it was better to go in or not.
Li Yan frowned; he hadn't expected this outcome. It was clear that these people had been imprisoned by someone else, and he didn't even want to guess the reason for their captivity, as the word "guess" had become too heavy in the current context.
"Who are you?" After a few minutes of silence, a hoarse and aged voice came from the far eastern corner. The speaker appeared to be in her fifties, her hair almost half gray from the hardships of recent years, and she looked like she was barely holding on.
"We're just passing through," Zhou Miao stepped forward, and the old woman instinctively took a step back, though her gaze remained resolute and strong, like an injured lioness guarding her last territory. "Who are you? How did you end up here?"
"Everyone, please don't be nervous. We're farmers from a neighboring village. We came to get some cement; it's needed in our village. So... are you all okay?" Zhang Hong tossed aside the stone and rubbed the back of his head; he wasn't good at talking to women. Moreover, the situation of these people looked... dire.
The old woman scanned the six of them, lingering longest on Li Yan and Zhou Miao's faces. After a moment, she managed to swallow hard and said, "We were captured by them. As you can see, our situation... might be worse than death." After speaking, she stepped back and held a woman with vacant eyes in her arms. "If you're good people, please don't make things difficult for us; it's hard for everyone..."
"Are you Dr. Qiu?" Zhou Miao felt that the old woman looked familiar and finally remembered after thinking for a while. She had treated Zhou Laoyezi before and was said to come from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. At that time, he was busy and only saw her from afar when she visited the courtyard.
"Who are you?" The old woman hesitated; she didn't remember meeting this young man.
"I'm Zhou Yuanzhi's grandson." Zhou Miao glanced at the woman in her arms; she looked to be in her twenties and seemed too weak and confused for someone who had been deprived of food and water for long. He decided not to press further; how they ended up here wasn't important; everyone had their own struggles. "Is this your daughter?"
"Yes, my daughter." Perhaps encountering someone familiar made Dr. Qiu's tone a bit more bearable. "This child is ruined... If she dies, I will go with her." When they fled initially, it was with her daughter's fiancé; it was their old couple's oversight. That boy had looked so bright and reliable. In times of crisis, he had abandoned them without hesitation—just for three pieces of bread, just for three expired pieces of bread... She watched helplessly as her obedient child was taken by that group of beasts...
"This Dr. Qiu comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine," Zhou Miao mentioned to Li Yan as if discussing it.
"Alright then, there are no doctors in the village right now, plus medicine is hard to come by," Li Yan considered for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Dr. Qiu, would you be willing to come with us? Our village is a bit far from here, but we can take care of both you and your daughter. Of course, it won't be without cost; you'll need to treat the villagers once you arrive."
This condition was beneficial for Dr. Qiu and her daughter regardless of how one looked at it. The old woman glanced at Zhou Miao. She had lived most of her life; whether she lived or died didn't matter much to her, but her precious daughter—born after much difficulty in her thirties—she didn't want to give up on her. "Okay."
"Please, take me with you! I used to be a secretary, but I can do many things; really, I beg you to save me." A girl around twenty crawled over after hearing their conversation and hugged Li Yan's leg tightly while crying loudly: "As long as you give me one meal—no, just one bowl of porridge every day—I'll do anything! Really!"
Seeing this, others followed suit; among them were some younger ones who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen. These girls' eyes shone with hope as if they had seen a glimmer of light, pushing and shoving each other to get closer to these few men.
"Get lost!" Li Yan kicked away the first woman who clung to his thigh. He didn't use much force, but it was enough to have a deterrent effect. The others paused; they couldn't believe why these "heroes" would act this way. They stared intently at them, watching their next move. "Do you know how we got here? We killed some people before arriving here. If you keep bothering us, I won't hold back next time. Also, those who locked you up aren't all dead; if you'd like, I can send you back to them."
Indeed, Li Yan's words instilled fear among those present; they silently withdrew their hands and lowered their heads without making another sound. Those people were devils—they would rather die than be caught by them again. They could disregard their dignity as women, but those people would... eat them; they were monsters—they were perverts! No, they didn't want that! But what could they do? Without food, they would still die anyway.
"I used to be a teacher, and my family runs a winery, so I know how to brew wine, and of course, I can also make vinegar. Can you take me with you? I will work hard and won't slack off." A clear voice suddenly rang out.
This woman had been hiding in the corner, so Li Yan and the others hadn't noticed her. Now she looked unexpectedly clean among the group of disheveled women; she appeared fresh and beautiful. She wore a black down jacket and seemed to be in good spirits. More importantly, she seemed confident that Li Yan and the others would take her away.
Li Yan squinted his eyes, making the woman a bit nervous. The depth of his sharp gaze sent a shiver down her spine. He was not like the people she usually encountered, and her confidence wavered slightly. The woman raised the corners of her mouth and tossed her hair back; she was very pretty, the kind of beauty that could be remembered at first glance. Li Yan understood why she was treated better than all the other women.
But then, in that instant, another woman suddenly bumped into her from behind. The moment happened too quickly for Li Yan and Zhou Miao to help; the stunning woman was knocked hard to the ground. Of course, they didn't want to help; a woman who stood out too much could be seen as either ignorant or overly clever.
The woman who charged at her seemed quite mad, muttering, "You little slut! You little b*tch! You think you can seduce those men..." She seemed genuinely insane, her strength surprisingly fierce. The beautiful woman was pinned beneath her with no chance to fight back, each slap echoing loudly in the warehouse.
"Ah! My face! My face! You crazy woman, get away! Someone help me! She's going to kill me! My face hurts so much!!"
Unfortunately, her cries for help did not elicit any sympathetic responses from others; instead, the previously silent women gathered around with cold hatred. Zhou Miao took the opportunity to pull Dr. Qiu and his woman over, and amidst the chaos of fighting women, they quickly retreated. They did not lock the door; whether to leave or stay was up to those women themselves. They were neither gods nor philanthropists; they had their own families and responsibilities. Even though it pained them inside, none of them asked for help from those women.
Li Yan could smell blood even from a distance; he knew that beautiful woman wouldn't survive the night...
"That woman is getting what she deserves," Dr. Qiu coldly glanced back at the warehouse's location, his icy demeanor capable of chilling bones and blood—a disdain that couldn't be expressed in words.
"What did she do?" Zhang Yi couldn't help but ask; he didn't understand why those women hated this one so much. She looked quite petite and didn't seem like a bad person.
"She did nothing wrong; she simply exchanged her body for survival while those men chose to prey on others. And she even had the right to eat... meat... and choose which piece... of meat to eat." Dr. Qiu didn't specify what kind of meat he meant, but everyone present already looked grim.
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