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墨書 Inktalez
As the three of them observed their surroundings, the guard on the Watchtower remained motionless. Perhaps all his attention was drawn to the Zombies outside the wall, leaving him oblivious to the four mice that had slipped past him from behind.
The Pockmarked Girl finally crawled over slowly, her face smeared with sweat and dirt, her hair tangled with blades of grass, looking quite disheveled. Song Jiu pulled her beside him and asked, "Does the guard have a gun?"
"It seems like he doesn't," the Pockmarked Girl replied uncertainly. She had managed to escape during her transport and had little knowledge about the guard's strength here.
"Seems like it," Song Jiu shook his head with a wry smile. The Railway Guerrillas had mentioned that there were powerful arms here, but the guards likely only had makeshift shotguns at most, hardly enough to match the caliber of Gunfire. If Gunfire were present, relying solely on their three bone knives would be reckless.
Suddenly, Song Jiu paused as a thought struck him. He quickly asked the Pockmarked Girl, "How many guns have you seen with the guards at the camp?"
"Ah, right. Generally, shotguns aren't needed; across the river are wild mountains, and gunshots can easily attract Zombies," she pondered for a moment, unsure of why he was asking. "Those Zombies transporting supplies and Survivors do have quite a few guns; they look just like in the movies—very cool."
Song Jiu felt relieved. If the guards were armed with a lot of Gunfire, dealing with Zombies would be child's play. According to Chef Jia's hidden attributes, he certainly wouldn't just endure or compromise. This meant that when the Railway Guerrillas came to exchange supplies, they must have coincidentally encountered the Zombie Supply Team returning.
However, this was merely speculation. Song Jiu didn't want to take any chances. After some thought, he decided to play it safe and gather more information about their numbers and armament first. If necessary, they could wait until Chef Jia had everything sorted out before launching a larger assault.
So far, Song Jiu had only seen a Zombie once and had little understanding of this new species that suddenly stood between humans and Zombies. The Zombie he encountered that night in the county town was quite impressive; it seemed unfazed by gunfire—one fellow even took a bullet and acted as if nothing happened. Although Song Jiu often joked about whether stabbing someone in the head would kill them, he truly didn't know if it would work.
At this point, overthinking wouldn't help; as the Pockmarked Girl said, they would know once they tried.
With a serious expression, Song Jiu briefed A Hai and the others, especially emphasizing that they must not act recklessly. A Hai and his group had known Song Jiu for some time; their usual approach was to rush in blindly even against strong enemies. This time against unfamiliar Zombies required more composure; they needed to know when to back down and absolutely could not force things.
Crouching low to disappear from the guard's line of sight on the other side of the Rusty Door, he tucked his bone knife into his sleeve, rubbed his face to appear harmless, and sidled up to knock on the door.
"Bang bang bang."
The Red Gate wasn't solid; the sound it produced was rather thin. To avoid attracting attention from the Watchtower, Song Jiu deliberately softened his movements but found that the thin metal still made quite a noise.
Leaning against the corner, A Hai peeked at the Watchtower and turned back to give a thumbs-up, indicating that there was no response from above. His Zombie friend was still firmly capturing the guard's attention.
There was no movement at the Watchtower, nor was there any sound from inside the warehouse.
Song Jiu's forced smile was beginning to stiffen, and still, there was no reply from within.
"Bang bang bang."
This time he put a bit more force into it, causing the rust on the door to shake off in flakes. Still no response.
Song Jiu glanced back at Pockmarked Girl with a puzzled expression, mouthing, "What's going on?"
Pockmarked Girl shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she was just as clueless.
"Could they have gone out for a stroll?" Song Jiu relaxed slightly, looking up at the ventilation shaft. It was too high; he couldn't climb up there.
"Should we go back and ask Sister Jia?" Pockmarked Girl was also confused. They had transformed into nervous little mice for a surprise attack, only to find Garfield wasn't home.
As Song Jiu hesitated over what to do next, he suddenly heard some movement from inside. He quickly pulled Pockmarked Girl behind him and pressed his ear against the door to listen closely.
There were faint rustling sounds from behind the door, somewhat chaotic, as if a client had just undressed a prostitute only for the police to arrive at the door in a hurry. However, the noise lasted only a moment before returning to silence. Then came slow footsteps, dragging along as if someone were reluctant to move.
Feeling tense, Song Jiu touched the bone knife hidden in his sleeve and forced himself to calm down. He leaned closer to the tightly sealed doorframe and called out softly, "Is anyone there?"
After a long pause, a deep male voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
Song Jiu glanced back at Pockmarked Girl, who was making exaggerated facial expressions, urging him to respond quickly.
"Oh, Sister Jia sent me to get some flour; the cafeteria is out," Song Jiu fabricated a story effortlessly, his heart racing as he awaited a reply.
"How much do you need?" came the male voice in response.
Song Jiu exchanged glances with Pockmarked Girl, both surprised by the unexpected question. Hadn't they agreed on strict precautions?
"Two... two bags," Pockmarked Girl quickly chimed in, shooting Song Jiu a glare, reminding him to stay in character; it wouldn't do for them to mess up halfway through their act.
"Wait."
After the male voice spoke, there was silence. Song Jiu leaned in to listen, hearing rustling sounds from within, accompanied by indistinct noises, as if someone was searching for something.
"You guys usually get supplies like this?" Song Jiu found it amusing; had he known Zombie was this shy, they wouldn't have been so nervous.
"I've never done this before," Pockmarked Girl replied, pressing her head against the door. Whether it was excitement or anxiety, her face was flushed with a hint of red.
After a while, footsteps approached the door again. The male voice instructed, "Step back."
Song Jiu remained still; there were no vents or peepholes in the iron door. How could he see through the wall? Although he didn't move his body, he replied, "Oh, I'm stepping back."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a soft click, and the iron door opened just enough for a person to squeeze through. A taut iron chain held it in place while a gun barrel glowing with a bluish light emerged first.
Startled, Song Jiu quickly stepped back two paces. Before he could say anything, a bag of flour was shoved through the narrow opening. Due to the tight space, the twenty-pound bag got stuck halfway. The person behind the door seemed to be pushing hard against it, causing a cloud of flour to puff out into the air.
A Hai and his companion were stunned by the situation at the door. Was this Zombie an idiot?
Song Jiu shook his sleeves, gripping the bone knife tightly in his hand. He stepped forward and asked, "Let me handle this. Can I pull him out?"
"Uh, cough, cough." The man cleared his throat and raised the gun slightly.
Bending down, Song Jiu moved closer, grabbing a corner of the flour bag with his empty hand, pretending to exert force while actually glancing over. In an instant, he realized something was off. He quickly reached for the gun barrel and yanked it outward. At the same time, his knife-hand plunged through the door gap, piercing straight into the eye socket of the person leaning against the door frame.
His attack was so sudden that by the time A Hai and his companion reacted, Song Jiu had already pulled the wounded man out through the door crack. The quiet inside suddenly erupted into chaos as someone inside exerted force, trying to close the iron door. However, the deadly flour bag was still wedged in the gap, rendering their efforts futile.
Song Jiu withdrew the slender blade and ignored the iron door desperately trying to crush the flour. He crouched down and lifted the corpse's chin.
It was a male body with grayish-yellow facial hair, broad shoulders, and a tight-fitting Jungle Combat Suit. He was very hairy and stood at least six feet tall. Most importantly, this guy wasn't Chinese. Additionally, the stab that Song Jiu had delivered to his eye socket wasn't a fatal blow; in other words, this Foreigner had likely been dead before being stabbed.
There was a deep cut below his neck, clearly a result of a sharp weapon slashing his throat. The blood splattered on his chest had already turned black, and there was another wound on his left temple—how it got there was unclear, leaving only a gaping hole.
Song Jiu looked up at Pockmarked Girl, who wore a bewildered expression; she clearly had no idea why there was a dead International Friend here.
"Do you have any idea who is guarding this place?" Song Jiu asked.
"Uh, I... I'm not really sure."
Song Jiu nodded thoughtfully; he had an inkling of what was going on. The iron door no longer attempted to close as it seemed those inside had given up. He made a shushing gesture and listened carefully. Behind the wall opposite him came hurried breaths that were desperately trying to conceal themselves. Song Jiu bent down to prop up the Foreigner's body against the wall steadily and slowly brought its head close to the door crack. After waiting a few seconds, he suddenly shoved the corpse back inside.
Sure enough, at that moment when the body fell back in, a sharp knife thrust through from behind the wall, piercing into the Foreigner's chest as if it were stuck between bones. Without hesitation, Song Jiu grabbed one of the corpse's legs and tossed it into the chain while he himself crouched down and squeezed through the gap. A Hai and his companion followed closely behind, shouting angrily as sounds of metal hitting flesh echoed along with chaotic footsteps. Then came a woman's piercing scream that cut through the air.
The girl with pockmarked skin outside the door widened her eyes in shock and exclaimed as she hurriedly squeezed through the gap, shouting loudly, "Effie, I'm here!"
The scream abruptly stopped, and the chaotic sounds behind the door fell silent.
The Pockmarked Girl stumbled to her feet, stunned.
Beside the door lay two bodies—one a Foreigner, and the other an unfamiliar middle-aged man. The man's trousers were covered in flour dust, a three-edged razor was embedded in his forehead, and his eyes were bulging, pupils already dilated. Against the wall, supplies were neatly stacked—food, clothing, daily necessities, medicines, farming tools—everything lined up in order.
Three individuals stood in a triangular formation facing a passage made of piled supplies, where four or five anxious-looking men were confronting them.
On either side of the passage were stacks of food: flour and rice on the left, while sacks filled with potatoes were on the right. The earlier scuffle had torn one of the bags open, causing potatoes to spill out and roll across the floor with a thud, coming to rest at the Pockmarked Girl's feet.
Suddenly, a pretty girl with long hair squeezed out from behind the men. She looked at the dazed Pockmarked Girl at the door and joyfully shouted, "Guli!"
"Effie," the Pockmarked Girl responded affectionately.
Then, the two girls pushed past the men blocking their way and rushed toward each other, crying tears of joy as they embraced tightly.
From further down the passage came the sound of hurried footsteps. Two men were pushed aside as a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl darted out, cheering as she leaped into Song Jiu's arms. "Brother Jiu, I missed you so much!"
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