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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Fifty-Four: An Unexpected Encounter
"Is that all there is?" Jiang He looked at the few remaining medicines on the shelf, his voice filled with disappointment.
Ming Junwei took the medicine bag and stuffed it into his backpack, patting him on the shoulder for comfort. "It's better than nothing. We can still try the pharmacy."
"I wonder when those Zombies outside will disperse," Jiang He said, feeling a bit defeated as he plopped down on the floor, glancing at the woman who was silently leaning against a chair.
This woman was the one who had driven them away earlier, but now neither side seemed inclined to provoke the other.
Earlier, when Jiang He and his group had blocked the door downstairs, Pan Luo, in a fit of anger, had grabbed a gun and stormed back up to the second floor. The woman clearly hadn't expected a half-grown girl to return with such ferocity; in fact, when she saw that it was a young girl coming upstairs, she stopped firing.
Ming Junwei and Cao Liang had followed closely behind but did not see the 'we' that the woman had mentioned—there was only her.
The woman cast a cold glance at the unexpected guests rushing in, smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt before walking over to a row of medicine shelves to rummage through them.
Jiang He and Song Yao arrived shortly after and were baffled by the scene.
Since neither side seemed interested in fighting for the moment, Jiang He's group decided not to linger and quickly entered the pharmacy to search for supplies. However, their haul turned out to be quite meager.
Song Yao shone her flashlight under the shelf and picked up a flat box containing two intact glucose packets. The short-haired girl emptied the glass shards from the paper box and carefully put the undamaged glucose back inside.
An Zheng's prescriptions were indeed quite common; they could gather all the necessary medicines just from the empty boxes scattered on the floor.
The woman dressed like an office secretary ignored them completely. She rummaged through every shelf and cardboard box in the pharmacy but seemed to find nothing she needed except for a bottle of drops she held in her hand.
Cao Liang observed the situation outside through the window. The Zombies were temporarily kept at bay by the iron gate, but more Zombies were beginning to appear from around the street corner, staggering toward them.
Neither group had managed to find what they needed, and after exhausting themselves with the earlier skirmish, they had no choice but to find a place to rest for a moment.
The woman emerged after rummaging around for quite some time, looking as though her haul was even less. She approached, holding a pair of high heels, and sat on a nearby cabinet, observing the group with keen interest.
"What happened to your people?" The woman asked, her expression weary, dark circles under her eyes. Her long hair was simply tied back in a ponytail. Her cool demeanor gave off an air of aloofness, but a delicate beauty mark on her forehead softened her icy appearance.
The three men seemed taken aback by her sudden question and momentarily at a loss for words.
Song Yao sighed in frustration and replied, "Gastroenteritis. Acute."
The woman tilted her head slightly, her lips pale. "That's not too serious. There's a pharmacy down that street; they should have what you need."
"And you?" Song Yao asked curiously, feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the young woman.
"Antibiotics," she shrugged, letting out a soft sigh. "My... companion was scratched."
"What?!"
Everyone was startled by her words and stood up, exchanging worried glances.
"That's useless! Where's your companion? You need to take care of this quickly!" Ming Junwei said as he stood up and looked around, suddenly recalling something. "Is your companion in the government yard?"
"Yes," the woman nodded. "Did you encounter them?"
"We saw them," Pan Luo interjected.
Jiang He sensed the conversation veering off course and quickly added, "If they were injured by a zombie and left untreated, it could lead to serious problems!"
The woman cast him a glance, her expression strange. "Who told you that?"
"Have you never seen someone who has been bitten?" Jiang He concluded that this woman was either an idiot or mentally unstable.
"I have, so what?" The woman turned her head away from him, thinking that this guy must be a fool.
Cao Liang, who had always been more gentle and whose tone was not as aggressive as the others, said, "Miss, being bitten by a Zombie really means there’s no hope. If it’s not dealt with quickly, they will turn into one."
The woman felt somewhat helpless. She stretched out her hand to adjust her stockings and walked a few steps in her high heels to the window, gazing distantly at the government building.
Cao Liang's kind reminder went ignored, leaving him feeling a bit hurt. He forced a smile at the others and chose not to engage further.
"Let’s go," Ming Junwei said, noticing the atmosphere had once again turned dull. He waved his hand to signal everyone to change locations.
"We can't go out the front door," Jiang He reminded them.
"Let’s use the back door; we’re short on time," Ming Junwei replied without looking back, grabbing his backpack and heading for the stairs.
The group exchanged silent glances, casting one last look at the Secretary before abandoning any thoughts of saying goodbye.
Song Yao turned back to the woman, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Excuse me, have we met before?"
"Hmm?" The woman turned back, studying her seriously for a moment before shaking her head. "You’ve mistaken me for someone else."
"Oh, sorry." Song Yao smiled apologetically and turned to catch up with the others.
The group hurried downstairs, found a hospital layout map in the lobby to orient themselves, and proceeded down the left corridor into the Inpatient Department.
The county hospital was not large; the so-called Inpatient Department was merely a three-story Small Building, leaning against one side of the Outpatient Building, forming an irregular angle. In the center of this angle stood a stone monument, with several large characters painted in red on its surface, accompanied by a row of smaller characters below. Directly opposite the monument was a straight road stretching a hundred meters, with fallen leaves carpeting the Green Belt on both sides, leaving only bare branches. At the end of the road stood an electric gate, currently closed, adjacent to a guardhouse that was next to a parking shed, both doors locked.
Five people hurriedly crossed the leaf-strewn path and crouched by the side of the electric gate to look outside for a while. Beyond the back gate was a small elementary school, separated by a barricade. On either side of the school were shops selling stationery and snacks; some had their roller shutters pulled down while others were wide open. The street was in disarray, littered with decaying corpses.
The flashlight that Luci had given them was a household model with a limited effective range. It seemed that there were no dangers nearby; it appeared that the Zombies had all gone hunting at the front gate, leaving behind a safe zone.
One by one, they climbed over the electric gate, only to turn around and find that Cao Liang was missing.
"Where is he?" Ming Junwei frowned and called out softly, "Old Cao?!"
"Hey!" Cao Liang suddenly emerged from behind the guardhouse, pushing a women's bicycle.
The four exchanged glances; without needing Cao Liang to call them, they all turned back into the yard and rushed into the parking shed.
"Smart move! This thing is eco-friendly and lightweight—better than a harvester!" Jiang He exclaimed as he hopped onto the bicycle, reaching down to squeeze the tire. Thankfully, it wasn't too flat.
"Why are you riding an antique?" Ming Junwei also rolled out on the women's bicycle, its front basket hanging crookedly due to a missing screw.
"This one isn't locked." Jiang He and the others lifted their bicycles and tossed them outside. Turning around, they saw Song Yao and Pan Luo coming out as well.
The two hadn’t taken bicycles but were riding an electric scooter instead. The handlebars were adorned with fluffy gloves. Song Yao slipped her slender arms into the gloves and placed one foot on the ground while Pan Luo sat on the back seat, looking just like a female driver ready for hire.
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