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墨書 Inktalez
The sky was just beginning to lighten, droplets of water clung to the window, leaving streaks of moisture. The desolate forest rushed past, revealing a dark indigo landscape that only added to the chill in the air.
Yuan An lay with her eyes open, staring blankly at the soft pillow. She hadn’t slept at all, counting her pulse as she watched the deep night slowly fade away. The train passed through tunnel after tunnel, and outside, the barren land transformed from dryness to mud, as if a long time had passed, but in reality, it had only been a single night.
Huihui slept soundly. In the latter half of the night, she instinctively woke up to keep watch. Seeing Yuan An's bright eyes in the darkness, she paused for a moment before remembering that they were already on the train. With a self-deprecating smile, she noticed that Yuan An showed no signs of wanting to sleep either, so she turned over and drifted back into slumber.
The first night passed peacefully. The "roommates" on either side of them did not show much enthusiasm; only one woman came by with a tray of square pastries, asking if they wanted to try some. Yuan An accepted with a smile and exchanged a few simple words with her.
The woman had boarded the train two months ago, all alone. She had been fleeing from a horde of zombies and stumbled upon this black beast of a train while crossing a platform. The conductor had led a group to eliminate the pursuing zombies, provided her with food and water, and even arranged for a doctor to bandage her wounds from her escape. Grateful, she pleaded to be allowed on board, and the conductor agreed without hesitation.
Yuan An asked her what happened after she boarded.
The woman replied that everything was fine; they were served two meals at set times each day. She wasn’t a combatant and usually helped out in the dining car or did laundry and mending at the rear of the train. The conductor was very kind, and the other passengers were friendly as well. Whenever the train stopped, they had time to disembark and stretch their legs. Combat personnel would go out to search for supplies while non-combatants cleaned the carriages; unless there was an emergency, they generally weren’t required to participate in combat.
As her initial anxiety about boarding the train faded away, Yuan An felt a spark of curiosity and asked how much the woman knew about the conductor. The woman simply smiled shyly and said that he rarely came into their carriage; whenever he did appear, he always presented himself as polite and refined. Yet somehow, he exuded a sense of safety—like a sword mounted on a wall, seemingly gentle but capable of unleashing its sharpness at any moment. The woman's praise for the conductor sent shivers down Yuan An's spine; whether he truly was as she described remained debatable, but it was clear that this woman had already developed feelings for him. After exchanging a few more trivial remarks, Yuan An feigned tiredness to dissuade the woman from continuing her admiration.
The steam-powered train didn’t match modern technology in speed; as the scenery outside changed rapidly, an hour later dawn broke through the gloom, flooding in bright light through the window. Yuan An glanced at her watch—it was exactly eight o'clock—and the entire carriage began to awaken. Voices rose around them as people moved about in the aisles, starting another day of life.
Chu Guangxu—the young man who had brought them onto the train—entered with a plastic basin adorned with red carp. Inside were towels, toothbrushes, and soap for both of them. He glanced at Yuan An’s faint dark circles under her eyes and smiled. “Didn’t sleep well last night?”
“Not very soundly,” Yuan An replied politely with a smile as she accepted the basin and thanked him.
“You’ll need to wait in line for water; come with me to see the conductor first and wash up afterward,” Chu Guangxu said. His voice was pleasant—deep and magnetic—like that of a late-night radio host from days gone by, contrasting sharply with his overly sunny appearance. It felt as if an old soul resided within his youthful body.
“Okay.” The two women had no objections; they quickly wiped their faces and followed Chu Guangxu out of their carriage.
Chu Guangxu first took the two of them to the dining car. At this hour, there were only a few middle-aged women responsible for distributing food. Chu Guangxu greeted them, and before long, a tray was brought over containing two cups of rich, creamy milk and two eggs.
"Have a little something to eat; the train attendant will be here soon," Chu Guangxu said with a grin, his gaze lingering on Yuan An.
The two of them didn’t hold back and simultaneously tapped their eggs together lightly, cracking the shells to reveal the glistening egg whites inside.
"What are you worried about?" Chu Guangxu raised an eyebrow, picked up a cup, and took a sip. "Not poisoned."
Huihui bit into her egg, nearly moved to tears. It had probably been a year since she last had an egg. She glanced at the large aluminum basin in front of the women, filled to the brim with cooked eggs.
"How many people are on the train?" Huihui asked.
"Counting you two, about seventy," Chu Guangxu replied.
"That’s a lot of food to consume every day," Huihui said in astonishment. Aside from the nightmares from her memories, she had never seen such a large group of survivors.
"You need to eat well to have the strength to work; it’s nothing unusual," Chu Guangxu shrugged and pointed at the milk. "There are three cows in the rear car, fat and healthy; drink as much as you want."
"Cows?" Huihui exclaimed in surprise. "What else is there?"
"There’s plenty more; I’ll tell you all about it later," Chu Guangxu said, pausing at just the right moment. He lifted his eyelids and added, "The train attendant is here; you can chat with him. I’ll take my leave now. Drink your milk; don’t waste it." With that, he stood up and left the dining car.
The two turned around to see Teacher Tian from yesterday. "I need to take some notes first. Could you two cooperate? What are your full names?"
“Dong Yuhan.”
“Bian Huihui.”
“What’s your age?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Twenty-four.”
“Oh.” Teacher Tian adjusted his glasses, quickly jotting down a few notes. After hesitating for a moment, he looked up and asked, “Have you given birth?”
The two women paused, exchanged glances, and shook their heads in unison.
“Don’t misunderstand. There are quite a few babies on the Us train, and we do have formula, but for the sake of the children, breastfeeding is still the best option,” Teacher Tian said with an awkward smile. He then proceeded to ask some trivial questions. After considering for a while, he led the two of them to Carriage Two, saying that he wanted to have the doctor conduct a check-up.
The two women cooperated throughout. On their way to Carriage Two, Huihui squeezed Yuan An’s palm and cast a worried glance.
Yuan An, feeling somewhat helpless towards her three-year-older companion, softly reassured her, “Just go with the flow; we’ll talk more in the carriage.”
Inside Carriage Two, all the seats had been dismantled and replaced with long benches and Bed Rest. White curtains divided the carriage into several sections. A man and two women in white coats were sitting by the window playing cards. Upon seeing Old Tian enter with the two women, they quickly stopped their game.
“So early?” The Male Doctor, in his thirties, had a stubbly chin.
"Last night, please do a check to see if there are any injuries," Old Tian subtly signaled to the Male Doctor, who understood and smiled as he welcomed the two women inside.
"I am the Chief Medical Officer of the Us Forward. Just relax; it's a routine check-up." The Male Doctor took out a stethoscope from the locker, turned, and walked behind the curtain. After a moment of activity, another female doctor brought Huihui through.
The Male Doctor lifted another side of the curtain and waved to Yuan An, "Come on in."
Yuan An glanced at Old Tian, who smiled warmly with his graying hair and said, "You two go ahead; I'll wait for you in the dining car." With that, he turned and left.
Behind the curtain was a confined space with a narrow bed and a metal workbench beside it, equipped with some common medical devices.
"How do we do the check?" Yuan An asked, feeling a bit lost in such a small area—should she stand or lie down?
"Have you been sick or injured recently?" The Male Doctor brought in a notebook from outside. Seeing Yuan An standing still, he smiled and said, "Lie down on the bed."
Yuan An frowned slightly and moved around to sit on the bed. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "I had a bit of a cold a few days ago, but I'm fine now."
"And any injuries?"
"No."
"Never been injured?"
"Not recently."
The Male Doctor nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What did you do before?"
"I was a staff member," Yuan An replied, feeling somewhat bewildered.
"Oh," the Male Doctor said, lowering his head to write a few notes. "Please take off your clothes and lie down."
"What?" Yuan An was taken aback, her brows furrowing as she squinted her eyes.
The Male Doctor offered an understanding smile and shook his head. "It's the same for everyone. There's no need to feel burdened; I am a doctor."
"Can I have someone else? Isn't there a female doctor outside?" Yuan An felt that something was off.
"She is an Intern; she just started a few days ago." The Male Doctor set down his notebook and put on a pair of PVC Gloves from the Workbench.
"I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with this. I'll wait for my friend to finish before I come over," Yuan An said, standing up and stepping back two paces, shaking her head resolutely.
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