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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 28: The Tent in the Mountains
The four of them watched as Yellow Dog finished urinating and returned home, and for a while, no one spoke.
Jiang He mechanically turned his neck and asked the others nearby, "That’s a dog, right?"
"That's right, a big Yellow Dog. Back in my hometown, there are plenty of these local dogs," Chao Yifan nodded, thoughtfully scratching at the dry skin on his lips. "How about we have dog meat hot pot today?"
Song Yao shot him a glare and said, " Jiang He, did you call us over just to watch a dog pee?"
"Yeah," Jiang He nodded, then shook his head. "Don't you find it strange? There’s actually a dog here?"
"What’s so strange about a dog?" Chao Yifan didn’t understand what Jiang He was getting at.
Ming Junwei pulled the binoculars from Chao Yifan's neck and held them up to his eyes for a moment. "We need to go take a look."
"Huh?" the three of them responded in confusion.
"It’s not a wild dog; there should be people in the woods," Ming Junwei lowered the binoculars. "Let’s head back and get ready. We can’t use the highway right now, so it’s better to check it out. It’s over a hundred kilometers to the Service Area; Zombies shouldn’t be able to move that fast."
"What if there are Zombies in the woods too?" Chao Yifan expressed some concern.
"Whether there are or not, we have to go in. There are too many cars across from the toll station," Jiang He clenched his fist and turned to head back.
An Zheng expressed his agreement with their plan, and the group immediately got busy. Ming Junwei climbed onto the roof of the vehicle to keep watch, while the others moved most of the supplies from the two smaller cars into the large Coach. The spacious Coach had plenty of seats, allowing the two children to play happily while the adults enjoyed a rare moment of peace. To prevent any Zombies from emerging from the forests on either side of the road, Ming Junwei deliberately turned the Coach around. Since they couldn't pass through the toll booth and the forest was likely too dense for the large Coach to navigate, if any trouble arose, they would have to retrace their steps and look for a new route. The two smaller cars positioned themselves on either side of the large vehicle, ready to drive away at a moment's notice.
Once everyone had organized their luggage and supplies, Little Gold distributed some compressed biscuits and sausages to stave off hunger. Ming Junwei remained vigilant on top of the vehicle while the others inside the Coach feasted. There were many bags left behind by previous passengers, with food and drinks taking up most of the space, along with several suitcases and woven bags. Time was limited, so they didn't have a chance to check everything thoroughly. There were also quite a few electronic devices left behind, including several smartphones with decent battery life that could still turn on, but all showed no signal bars, rendering them useless for making calls. After wandering through the fallen city for months, encountering these modern gadgets again brought a sense of reassurance.
They rested until noon before Jiang He and the others sorted through their gear in preparation for exploring the forest.
With limited personnel, not everyone could go out. An Zheng stayed behind to look after the children, while Jinhua's combat ability was negligible, so she remained as well. Although Chao Yifan wanted to enter the forest, leaving three women alone didn't seem safe. Therefore, he switched roles with Song Yao to stay behind and protect the camp. Before leaving town, they had scavenged several walkie-talkies from an electronics store but only had three that worked properly left. Jiang He intended to leave one for Chao Yifan just in case, but Chao Yifan insisted it wouldn't be useful since those entering the forest wouldn't go too deep; walkie-talkies had poor signal in wooded areas anyway and would be practically useless far from the road. It was better for those going in to take them along.
The last remaining 81 Rifle was naturally slung over Ming Junwei's shoulder, while three handguns were left at the camp. Jiang He's Fire Axe had been left at a service area, so he picked up an Entrenching Tool instead. For safety reasons, Jinhua retrieved three smartphones with battery life from the vehicle, synchronized their clocks, and distributed them among three people.
"Don't take too long," Jinhua advised. "The phone batteries won't last long."
"Yeah, don't worry," Jiang He replied as he checked his watch; it read 12:45. He tucked his phone into his pocket and said, "We'll be back by three o'clock at the latest; let's not stray too far since walkie-talkies have limited range in these woods."
The other two nodded in agreement without further discussion as they each grabbed their weapons and crossed over the guardrail into the forest.
Once all three figures disappeared deep into the woods, Chao Yifan reluctantly withdrew his gaze and began climbing onto the roof of the vehicle while lamenting, "Song Yao is getting stronger; it seems my position as second male lead is in jeopardy!"
Little Gold stifled a laugh and said, "You're responsible for rear security; you're like a general stationed at base."
"Still giving me face, huh?" Chao Yifan teased as he sat on top of the vehicle and blew a playful kiss at Jinhua, whose cheeks flushed red as she hurried back into the Coach.
An Zheng sat in a seat near the door fiddling with his handgun when he saw Jinhua get back in and quickly called out, "Little Gold, take out your gun; let me see it."
"Oh." Little Gold changed out of her soiled long skirt in the Service Area and put on the tactical jacket they had brought back from the mall, losing a bit of sweetness but gaining a touch of vitality.
She pulled a handgun from her pocket and handed it to An Zheng, then sat quietly beside him, watching. The two children in the backseat were napping, soft snores occasionally breaking the silence.
"Sister An, what's wrong?" Jinhua asked.
"Look," An Zheng said as he handed over a Type 54 pistol, pointing to a scratch next to the black star. "Is this a 'Zhao' character?"
"Huh?" Jinhua took the handgun and examined it for a moment. "It really is. I didn't notice that until you mentioned it."
"I just discovered it by chance. This should be the name of the gun's owner," An Zheng said thoughtfully. "I heard the leaders in the courtyard chatting before; they mentioned that military police weapons can't be casually marked or engraved. Only those with higher ranks are allowed to make such markings on their personal firearms."
"Is that so? I'm not very clear about that."
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