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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 30: The Squad is Separated
Yellow Dog returned to the tent with a piece of ham in its mouth, squatting beside it and chewing slowly. Inside the tent, two people were speaking in hushed tones, occasionally interrupted by the sound of quiet sobbing.
After a brief moment of shock, Song Yao hurried into the tent and cut the tape binding the little girl. She picked up a school uniform from one side and draped it over her. The little girl huddled in the corner of the tent like a frightened fawn, clutching the clothing tightly and burying her head in her knees.
Song Yao's mind was a jumbled mess; she didn't know what to say and could only sit back down, leaving some space for the girl.
Silence enveloped the tent for several minutes until the little girl finally lifted her head. Her eyes flickered as she glanced at Song Yao, and when their gazes met, she quickly turned away, trembling slightly.
Sighing softly, Song Yao spoke gently, “Don’t be afraid. Can you tell me… what happened?”
Suppressing her fear, the little girl asked in a quivering voice, “Are you… are you with him?”
“Who? Who are you talking about?” Song Yao inquired.
“That tall, skinny man.”
“I don’t know him. Is that man’s car outside?”
“Yes.”
Song Yao parted the inner curtain slightly; outside, apart from Yellow Dog keeping watch, there was no other movement.
“That car belongs to us; it was stolen a day ago. I haven’t seen the person you mentioned,” Song Yao said as she moved a bit closer to her, cautiously wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. She felt the little girl shudder at the moment of contact.
“Are you a student?” Song Yao asked, pointing to the school uniform on her.
"Well, I study in the city," the young girl nodded and added, "I'm in high school."
"My name is Song Yao. What's your name?" Song Yao looked around but couldn't find any of the girl's other clothes.
"Pan Luo," the young girl rubbed her eyes, her voice very soft.
More than ten minutes had passed since the gunfire, and Song Yao hadn't heard any other sounds. At this moment, she was still quite worried about Jiang He and the others; her patience was gradually wearing thin.
"Pan Luo, I have companions in the woods who might be in danger, so I can't stay here to watch over you all the time. If you can, please tell me what happened, and I'll try to help you, okay?" Song Yao said, a bit impatiently, her tone losing the gentleness it had earlier.
The girl named Pan Luo buried her head deeply, as if gathering courage, and whispered, "Our teacher brought three of us students out from the city. Last night we rested in a grove by the roadside. We heard a car passing by and went out to seek help, and that man got out."
Song Yao calculated the time; it seemed that the carjacker hadn't stopped for the night but had kept moving until they reached this place.
"The teacher is old and couldn't move fast. There were also two boys; one of them was bitten by a Zombie. The teacher asked that man for help, but when he heard someone had been bitten, he killed that classmate..." Pan Luo spoke quickly, her voice trembling as tears welled up in her eyes at the mention of her classmate's death.
Song Yao understood why that man had acted so ruthlessly; after all, if they didn't deal with a bitten person early on, it could endanger everyone.
Pan Luo continued to recall, "That man said being bitten by a Zombie would turn you into a Zombie too. The teacher didn't believe him, and then they argued."
"Your teacher... didn't believe? Haven't you seen what happens to someone who gets bitten while still alive?" Song Yao asked curiously.
"The teacher said it was just a surface injury and wouldn't be fatal," the young girl replied timidly.
Song Yao felt somewhat helpless and simply explained, "What that man said is correct. These Zombies didn't just appear out of nowhere; anyone who gets bitten or scratched will end up like that."
Pan Luo nodded calmly and said, "Both of those boys and I believe it. We've seen the movie, and it's just like that."
"What happened next? How did you..." Song Yao asked anxiously.
Pan grabbed her hair, distressed. "I don't know... I don't know what that man said to them. I was in the woods with Erguotou, watching the luggage, and I saw them talking about something. Then, then my classmate..."
"What kind of person is Erguotou?" Song Yao inquired.
"It," Pan Luo pointed to the Yellow Dog outside the tent, chasing its tail.
"Oh, oh, continue. What did your classmate do to the teacher?"
"They killed him."
Song Yao opened her mouth but couldn't say anything.
"I don't know how it happened. Then he brought that man over. I wanted to run, but I was too scared," Pan Luo choked up at this point and could no longer continue.
Song Yao vaguely guessed what happened next and cautiously asked, "Did they...?"
Pan Luo weakly nodded, finally unable to hold back any longer, she burst into tears.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, Song Yao hugged the crying girl tightly, gently patting her smooth back and whispering words of comfort. She knew that words would do little to help, but she didn't know what else she could do. Putting herself in Pan Luo's shoes, she feared she would react similarly if faced with such horrors.
After venting for a while, Pan Luo stopped crying and said, "They went out in the morning. Afraid I would escape, they tied me up. They haven't come back since, and I don't know what to do."
Song Yao took a deep breath and said, "Come with me. I have some companions on the way; I'll take you away." She stood up and rummaged through the cardboard boxes in the tent, finding only some spoiled food.
"What about your clothes?"
Pan Luo shook her head. "They took them."
After searching for a while without finding anything to cover herself, Song Yao realized that she was only wearing a tactical outfit. If she took it off for the girl, she would be left bare. With no other choice, she temporarily played the role of a costume designer, using her uniform to cover the girl, tying the sleeves behind her back.
"Just make do for now; we have clothes in our vehicle," Song Yao said as she lifted the girl up. Looking at the girl's youthful face and underdeveloped body, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you an adult yet?"
"Next year."
Song Yao initially planned to drive back, but the keys were not in the car, and she didn't have the skills to hotwire it. On one hand, she was worried about Jiang He and the others' safety; on the other hand, she had no choice but to take Pan Luo back on foot.
Without shoes, Pan Luo struggled to walk. Seeing that there was no immediate danger around, Song Yao picked up the little girl and quickly identified the direction to leave.
A yellow dog named Erguotou saw the two girls leaving and wagged its tail as it followed them.
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Jiang He had guessed the right direction and unexpectedly ran into Ming Junwei, who was fleeing for his life. Before he could say anything...
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