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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 206: The Flower Has a Light Fragrance, the Moon Has Shadows
For Ming Junwei and the others, emerging from the underground made the Zombies seem somewhat endearing. Their decayed and foul-smelling bodies were no longer repulsive; even their lingering presence was no longer terrifying. Compared to living humans, Zombies resembled untamed beasts—like lions or tigers, or perhaps cats and dogs. Though their appearance was certainly unappetizing, they were fundamentally similar. They were aggressive but not particularly intelligent; as long as one wasn't surrounded, there was always a way to evade them. The wisdom of the living was boundless. In a lawless city where order had collapsed, surviving was not particularly difficult; the challenge lay in figuring out how to live.
How long would this sudden upheaval last? When would the disaster pass? How many people were still alive in the world? Would there be food to find tomorrow? These seemingly weak and helpless questions might rarely be voiced, but it was undeniable that every person clinging to life pondered such matters.
If, hypothetically, this Cataclysm were irreversible and human civilization were to vanish, what should the survivors do? Should they hide day after day in dark basements, eating spoiled food and drinking foul water, waiting for disease to claim their lives? Or should they gather in the ruins of abandoned cities, unite to reclaim land, and begin anew amidst the wreckage?
A thousand Survivors would have a thousand answers for survival, provided they could gather those thousand people.
It was certain that a significant portion of these individuals still hoped for a miracle. Before the Cataclysm, these people had no faith; their will to survive did not stem from inner strength. When night fell, they could not sleep peacefully; when death approached, they could not face it calmly. These individuals wandered through an already unrealistic steel forest with impractical fantasies, lost and dazed, much like the Walking Dead.
Fortunately, there remained a small group who had awakened. At different moments, these individuals understood the value of life and found direction amidst confusion.
"It’s not about living for something; it’s because we are alive that we must do something," said the graduate student.
Yin Nuo listened with confusion, unsure of what the graduate student meant by saying this at such a time. For some time now, the three of them had been hiding in this city ravaged by Zombies, waiting for a faint promise. Over a thousand kilometers apart, what separated them could be distance or fate. The two girls held little hope that Jiang He would arrive as promised. They simply lacked a clear direction and couldn’t bring themselves to reject the graduate student, so they stayed with him for several days.
It started raining early this morning; the rooftop shelter where they took refuge began to leak. The heavy rain stirred restlessness among the Zombies in the empty city. Weiwei and Yin Nuo's patience was wearing thin; they decided that once the rain eased up, they would confront the graduate student—they could no longer continue waiting as their food and water supplies dwindled. This city was too dangerous for long-term habitation. The graduate student had yet to express any clear stance; he appeared calm as if he no longer cared about the outcome. For him, waiting seemed more like a habitual vigil.
The ventilation pipe protruding from the roof clanged incessantly. Weiwei felt irritated and took a short knife over to try to quiet whatever was inside. There was a Zombie trapped in the pipe; they had noticed it when they first climbed onto the roof but had no idea how it got in there. Perhaps it had crawled in after being bitten but failed to survive the virus and ultimately died within before reanimating here.
The section of pipe extending from the roof had a ninety-degree bend; it seemed that the Zombie lacked coordination and was stuck at that corner, unable to move. Initially, the graduate student intended to eliminate this potential threat, but the wire mesh at the pipe's opening was too sturdy. After prying for some time, he only managed to loosen two screws on either side. The distance from the opening to the bend was too great for him to stab with his knife or shoot without attracting more Horde; he had no choice but to give up in frustration. As long as the Zombie couldn't come up and they couldn't go down there, despite their mutual disdain for each other, they would have to make do.
Weiwei was feeling frustrated today, and the endless movements of the Zombie nearby provided an outlet for her pent-up anger. She walked over to the corner of the pipe and kicked it hard.
“Bang!”
The metal pipe echoed loudly, its sound swallowed by the thunder. The Zombie inside, agitated by the noise, became even more frantic, struggling and banging against the walls, its hoarse throat letting out desperate howls.
“Weiwei, just ignore it,” Yin Nuo said helplessly, getting up to pull her irritated sister back.
“Why won’t it just die? It’s so annoying!” Weiwei huffed in frustration and kicked the pipe again. The pipe shook violently, causing the Zombie to roar in outrage. A rusty screw fell silently from above, bouncing twice before rolling into a puddle.
The graduate student understood why Weiwei was upset. He sighed and braved the rain to carry what little food and clean water they had left to the car. Following Jiang He's advice, he had managed to gather some gasoline over the past few days—enough for them to leave the City. Deep down, however, he felt a stubborn pull that made it hard for him to choose to leave.
Today, Yellow Dog and Tabby Cat were also restless, perhaps due to the cooling weather. The two usually calm animals were bouncing around on the rooftop, their anxious demeanor resembling that of animals in heat.
After packing all their supplies, the graduate student considered how to say goodbye to the two girls. Weiwei quietly watched his movements, a hint of sadness flickering in her eyes. The sky rumbled with thunder as Yellow Dog hid in the car, burying its head under a pile of clothes and shivering. Yin Nuo stood nearby, heartbroken as she watched the graduate student and Weiwei occasionally sigh.
Another clap of thunder startled Weiwei. She suddenly turned around and noticed a plume of smoke rising through the rain curtain not far away.
“Brother Bear!” Weiwei rubbed her eyes to confirm she wasn’t hallucinating and quickly called out to the graduate student below, pointing towards the drifting smoke.
Yin Nuo also crawled out from the car trunk. The three of them stood in the rain for a moment, gazing at it. A smile blossomed on the graduate student's otherwise expressionless face, lighting up with joy.
“Go! Be careful,” Weiwei said, understanding what this somewhat goofy-looking young man’s smile implied. She called out loudly, “I’ll be here waiting for you… all of you.”
The graduate student flashed a grin, revealing a row of teeth, and charged into the curtain of rain with a Machete in hand. Yin Nuo called out to him repeatedly, jumping in place while holding the Rifle left for them by Jiang He.
“Yin Nuo, you go with him. This fool is too excited; I'm worried he might get into trouble,” Weiwei urged her younger sister, cupping her hands into a trumpet shape to hasten her along. The gauze pressed against her cheek was soaked by the rain, the adhesive peeling away and drifting off in the wind, revealing a pale face marred by a tender red scar.
“Don’t come down; just wait for us,” Yin Nuo said, unable to resist her hopeful gaze. She could only give a quick reminder before rushing after him.
Weiwei watched the two depart, sighing in self-pity before breaking into a self-deprecating smile, a glimmer of joy sparkling in her eyes. The silly boy’s dazed smile brought her comfort, no wonder Jiang He felt that Yin Nuo resembled an older sister more.
Thunder rolled ominously as the rain poured down, blue arcs of lightning weaving through the leaden clouds. Amidst the rumbling thunder, there seemed to be the mournful cry of iron. Grayish-blue dead branches reached out from white metal pipes, appearing even more eerie under the gloomy sky.
&&&&&&&
The graduate student and Yin Nuo arrived at the site of the explosion, but the culprit behind it was already gone, leaving the graduate student feeling somewhat disappointed. He leaned against a shelter and scanned the area, catching sight of a wisp of smoke rising through the misty rain.
“There!” The graduate student exclaimed with delight, pulling Yin Nuo along as they hurried toward it.
Yin Nuo struggled to keep up with his pace as he dragged her along. Unable to hold back any longer, she asked, “Brother Bear, can I ask you a question?”
“Hmm? Go ahead,” he replied without slowing down, his steps still brisk.
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