Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The Male Doctor looked somewhat helpless, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. "How about this: you can keep your personal clothing on, but I need to check your skin reactions."
Yuan An was even more confused. She sensed that the Male Doctor meant no harm, yet his words were becoming increasingly strange. "Skin reactions?"
Before the Male Doctor could respond, the entire carriage suddenly darkened. Glancing out the window, it seemed they had entered a tunnel. A rumbling echo filled the carriage, shadows flickered, and a constant buzzing filled her ears.
"Excuse me, what do you mean by skin reactions?" Yuan An asked.
"Uh, it's a medical term; there's nothing special about it," the Male Doctor replied, tilting his head in thought. "Let me call the Intern in; that should be fine, right?"
Yuan An nodded. It seemed things were going smoothly for Huihui; she hadn't heard any questions from that side.
The Male Doctor stepped out and said a few words. Before long, a Young Lady who appeared to be around Yuan An's age walked in. She glanced at Yuan An and smirked. "Just take it off." After turning away, she muttered under her breath, "It's just a pair of long legs; why be shy about it?"
Yuan An ignored her, turning her back to sit on the narrow bed. She glanced back slowly and began to take off her jeans, reaching down to pull out the dagger strapped between her legs.
"Can you hurry up?" the Nurse displayed what Yuan An felt was the most normal attitude so far, her tone dripping with impatience.
"Sorry," Yuan An replied with an apologetic smile. Taking advantage of the train still being in the tunnel, she quickly tucked the Yingjisha Dagger into her long sleeves and rolled up her shirt as she took it off, placing it alongside her pants.
The Nurse put on gloves and frowned disapprovingly. "You've taken everything off; why should a woman be shy?"
Yuan An felt a bit irritated. She glanced at the curtain by the door but couldn't see the Male Doctor's figure, so she proceeded to unhook her bra and sat on the edge of the bed.
As the train emerged from the tunnel, warm sunlight vanished from sight. Outside, the weather was gloomy; rain poured down heavily, splattering against the glass while accompanied by the rumbling sound of the train, creating an atmosphere of profound solitude.
The Nurse took out a piece of cotton wool and dipped it into a bottle of liquid. She instructed Yuan An to lie down and wiped her body from neck to armpit before asking, "Do you have any hereditary diseases?"
"No."
"What about congenital diseases?"
"No."
"Oh, just lie down for now. If you feel anything, call me," the Nurse said before preparing to leave.
"Wait a minute." Yuan An hurriedly called out to her, puzzled. "Can you explain what these tests are for and what I might feel?"
"Tiredness," the Nurse coldly replied, leaving the cubicle without looking back.
Yuan An raised her hand and sniffed the cool liquid on her skin; there was no unusual odor. Doubts filled her mind, and she increasingly felt that agreeing to get on this train was a mistake. The entire train was filled with oddities, and everyone seemed to be performing in some way. Although nothing had happened yet, it made her feel uneasy all over. Outside the curtain, there was no sound; she could hear the Male Doctor and Nurse chatting casually, seemingly uninterested in her, while there was silence on the other side.
After about ten minutes, footsteps approached, and the curtain was pulled aside. The Nurse walked in with a grim expression. Seeing Yuan An still wide awake, she paused for a moment before angrily saying, "Didn’t I tell you to call me if you had any reaction?"
"But I didn’t have any reaction," Yuan An replied, feeling confused. The last bit of curiosity she had vanished completely as she sat up to get dressed and leave.
"Hey, lie down! Who told you to get up?" The Nurse was flustered.
"The next stop for the train—where is it? I want to get off. No need to worry about me," Yuan An decided firmly; even if Huihui didn’t leave, she would.
"Nurse! Dr. Zhong! Dr. Zhong!" The Nurse hurriedly called out as she rushed outside.
The sound of running footsteps came closer, and the Male Doctor rushed in urgently. Yuan An's expression changed as she quickly lifted the curtain beside her to cover herself and shouted angrily, "Get out!"
"Don't be agitated; our examination won't cause you any harm," the Male Doctor said as his eyes quickly scanned the room. He waved his hand and added, "It will be over soon; please cooperate."
"I have already cooperated a lot. She even applied some strange substance on me, but I felt nothing," Yuan An said, while quickly putting on his clothes. He grabbed his underwear and darted out from behind the curtain, only to freeze in place when he turned around.
Behind the fabric curtain was another compartment. Huihui lay there completely naked on the bed, her eyes tightly shut, seemingly in a deep sleep. A catheter was inserted into her arm, and bright red blood was slowly flowing through it into a container, almost drop by drop. The female doctor sitting beside her stared at Yuan An with wide eyes in shock.
"What have you done to her?" Yuan An's mind buzzed with alarm as he cursed inwardly and rushed over, ready to pull out the catheter.
The female doctor let out a sharp scream, trying to stop him. "You can't pull it out!"
However, her shout came too late. Yuan An was panicked and acted without thinking, yanking out the catheter. To his surprise, a jet of blood shot out from the injection site, splattering the female doctor’s face. Yuan An was taken aback and grabbed some cotton to try to apply pressure to the wound, but the tiny hole seemed to unleash a torrent of blood that wouldn't stop. Several male doctors rushed over, their faces turning pale at the sight. They shouted as they hurried to stop Huihui's bleeding. The female doctor, covered in blood, stood frozen in shock for a moment.
"You'll kill her!" one of the male doctors glared at Yuan An while swiftly working to stem the flow of blood.
Yuan An's expression turned serious as he gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve tightly and trembled as he asked, "What happened to her? What are you doing?"
"This is a normal blood draw; it won't affect her health. It's your reckless action that is harming her!" The male doctor was furious and cursed under his breath before turning back to say, "Call the head nurse! I already said we need to administer medication forcibly; why do you insist on playing pretend?"
"What medication? What exactly have you done?" Yuan An circled around the bed and yanked the nurse aside, grabbing the male doctor by his collar angrily. "What did you give her?"
The male doctor showed no fear; instead, he narrowed his eyes at Yuan An and frowned. "Did you not drink your milk this morning?" Before Yuan An could respond, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside the compartment, accompanied by Old Tian's shouting.
Yuan An's heart sank as he suddenly recalled Chu Guangxu's reminder before leaving: "Remember to drink your milk." Without thinking twice, he drew his Yingjisha Dagger and pressed it against the male doctor's throat. "If anything happens to her, I will kill you."
The male doctor was taken aback for a moment and stammered, "W-where did you get that knife? Weapons aren't allowed on this train!"
Hearing voices approaching from outside the compartment, Yuan An reluctantly sheathed his dagger and hurriedly slipped out from behind the curtain. The door leading to Car One was locked. As Old Tian and others rushed into the compartment, Yuan An's mind raced. She lifted the curtain and slipped inside another compartment just as she heard angry shouts from across the way. Keeping her steps light, she peeked through a corner of the curtain and saw that the passageway was empty. She quickly dashed out but barely made it across when she heard the nurse scream, "She ran away!"
Yuan An turned back to close the passage door behind her and quickly locked it before diving into the restroom. Fortunately, the old steam car had windows that could open. Hearing loud knocks on the door outside, she didn't hesitate; she raised the window to take a look. The train wasn't going very fast, but jumping down would likely result in serious injury. In a moment of desperation, she hatched a bold idea. Clinging to the window ledge, she leaned out and stepped onto the worn body of the train before making a leap to grab hold of a horizontal bar on top of the car, struggling as she climbed up.
From escaping the medical vehicle to reaching the top, it took only three to five minutes. Yuan An felt her heart racing in her chest, gripping the railing to steady herself, unsure of what to do next. Huihui was still down below, and the train continued to speed along, surrounded by the desolate ruins of Ruined City. The ground was muddy and filled with puddles, and in the distance, the outline of a city could be seen. However, it seemed impossible for her to make it there alone without any supplies, especially since she couldn’t just leave Huihui behind.
The wind howled atop the train, and the pouring rain soaked the girl in her thin clothing, sending a chill deep into her body that jolted her mind awake. Although she and Huihui had been wandering for three years, their sense of vigilance and caution hadn’t been on constant alert. Indeed, their survival skills in the wild were not weak; they could manage against Zombies with some effort. However, dealing with Living Persons was an entirely different matter where they lacked experience. Reflecting on last night’s events, despite her hesitation at the conductor's invitation, she ultimately couldn’t resist. Deep down, they both truly longed to return to society.
Yuan An had no idea what kind of place this speeding train was. Although those people hadn’t shown any aggression, their behavior was completely bizarre and incomprehensible to her. It felt like impulsively applying for a job at a company she knew nothing about and then realizing how out of place she was once hired—a feeling she never wanted to experience again. Shaking off her wet hair from the rain, Yuan An carefully stood up and bent over as she slowly made her way from the roof toward the junction with the carriages. Her mind raced as she pondered how to rescue Huihui from this straight-line train.
While sounds from inside the carriage were inaudible on the roof, those inside could feel movements above them. The refined and composed conductor made a gesture for silence, squinting up at the roof before pulling out a handgun and slowly aiming it in one direction.
A hand pressed down on the gun. Teacher Tian shook his head and advised, “No, let her go; there’s no need.”
The conductor gritted his teeth in frustration and reluctantly retracted his weapon, sweeping his arm across the table and sending dishes crashing to the floor as he cursed, “I’ve had enough of this! Old Tian, from now on you and Xiao Chu handle getting people on board. I’m good at wielding guns and killing; don’t make me play the role of a scholar anymore. And as for testing drugs—let’s make it mandatory; if they don’t need them, they can get lost!”
Two young ladies in crew uniforms turned pale with fear as they stood trembling nearby, their eyes filled with confusion over how their model gentleman conductor had suddenly transformed into a bandit.
“ Wu Wentao,” he said sternly. “A person destined for greatness doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Remember, you’re no longer a soldier; you’re a leader now. You will become a leader in the future.” Old Tian adjusted his glasses and spoke earnestly: “Your previous style is only suitable for fighting; a qualified leader must learn to restrain their sharpness.”
“Bullshit!” The conductor threw his Big Hat far away in anger and shouted back: “This train was taken by me at gunpoint! Everything you eat and drink comes from my brothers risking their lives! Talking about civility is useless; go tell that to those warehouse folks—did they ever bring supplies willingly? If I hadn’t blown up that base station in time, those pursuers would have been right on our tails!”
Old Tian sighed and waved for the two startled girls to leave first while bending down to pick up a nearly empty teapot. “You’re just too impatient.”
“Stop talking nonsense, Old Tian! You saved my life once; I’ll remember that forever. These past two years with your guidance have been fruitful—what’s wrong with that? Why complicate things? Tell me what use are all those people in the back who can’t lift or carry anything? They waste food and cause endless chatter every day! You’re just asking for trouble with logistics—I understand that—but why keep those who sing and dance?” The conductor unbuttoned his shirt meticulously and slammed his gun onto the table. “To be honest with you, I never wanted to be any leader; I just want to guard my little piece of land where there’s meat to eat, wine to drink, and women to sleep with—what’s the point of all this effort?”
Old Tian listened with a wry smile until he felt it was time for him to speak again after letting out some steam. “We’ve talked about this before—you want that kind of life; that’s understandable. But don’t forget that it’s not just you and me surviving out here among Zombies; RCA and The Establishment are still around—they haven’t disappeared completely. You’ve seen what your old employer has done these past few years; do I really need to elaborate?”
Hearing those familiar yet strange terms made the furious conductor quiet down. He rubbed his face vigorously before falling silent for a while.
“If you want to live freely without restraint, it’s simple—go back to work under your old employer! There’s plenty of food and drink there; weapons are at hand; women are warm in bed—what could be better?” Old Tian still wore a smiling face as he teased him deliberately. “So why not go back?”
"I'm not saying anything more." The train conductor's expression darkened as he stood up and said, "In any case, from now on, you and Xiao Chu will be responsible for picking up passengers. You handle the logistics and internal affairs. Also, check with the medical room to see if there's any effect."
"Alright, you'll stay in command of the central unit from now on." Old Tian didn't push too hard and took a step back. After a moment of thought, he added, "We're still short on equipment. Xiao Zhong isn't a professional, and the medication is unstable; it's just not feasible for now."
"Sigh, forget it. You can figure this out. Those two haven't made any progress yet; relying on us is just wishful thinking."
"It's the same for us. Their original data comes from An Zheng, and you have not only An Zheng's but also Yang Liangduo's in your hands." Old Tian wiped his glasses and put them on, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry; just be patient."
The train conductor sighed, gazing out at the pouring rain, feeling a wave of frustration wash over him. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "Let's leave it at that."
As they were talking, the door to the driver's cabin opened, and a sturdy Black man stepped out, frowning as he said, "Wu, we need to turn back."
"What’s wrong?"
"The tracks are blocked."
Comment 0 Comment Count