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墨書 Inktalez
According to Wu Wentao's plan, the group would rest at the camp for a day, tally their supplies, and pack up, aiming to set off before sunset. The returning personnel mostly had minor injuries that didn't require long-term recovery. Moreover, with Dr. Zhong accompanying them and the vehicle issues resolved, along with ample fuel, food, and clean water, there seemed to be no reason for delay. However, reality often diverges from expectations; instead of departing before sunset, their stay was prolonged. The reason was simple: there were too many trivial matters to handle, and forcing everyone to maintain a consistent pace only led to chaos.
Whether they were Ordinary Survivors or Level Two Infected Zombies, they were all made of flesh. If one calculated the time accurately, they had only been away from the Roundabout for two days and three nights. It could be said they had been on the move without a break, not even having time to catch their breath. While professional Field Duty personnel might know how to manage their own states, the vast majority of team members were ordinary people who couldn't be held to Wu Wentao's standards. Despite their helplessness, they had to face reality.
Jin Bo and his group hadn’t even eaten lunch; Chef Jia had called them twice but only managed to rouse Jiao Ziqian. The others remained lost in sweet dreams, indifferent to the culinary delights or impending disasters awaiting them. Chef Jia felt a pang of sympathy; after a long journey and continuous battles, just thinking about it was exhausting—especially for those young men who had been on the front lines.
Thus, Chef Jia approached Song Jiu with a serious suggestion: they should rest for a few more days.
Song Jiu found this difficult. He internally agreed with Chef Jia's suggestion but hesitated to voice it immediately. After a series of changes, he felt his courage had diminished; the current team was not what it used to be. Every decision he made could lead to unpredictable consequences. The gruesome death of a graduate student served as a bloody lesson; even if he couldn't consider every possibility, he at least needed to consult Wu Wentao and the others.
As expected, Wu Wentao strongly opposed this idea.
A team of messengers had escaped from the Industrial Park; perhaps while they were eating and sleeping, the other side had already contacted their recent informants. It wouldn't be long before that Blonde Woman returned. Anyone with a semblance of rationality understood that wise men do not stand under dangerous walls. They had witnessed her cunning; despite their deep-seated blood feud, given the current situation, no one wanted to clash with her again—at least not in the short term.
"I understand everything you said," Song Jiu sighed as he rubbed his forehead. He picked up and set down his cigarette while watching those who had merely eaten lunch and returned to sleep—men and women alike—feeling a wave of helplessness wash over him.
"Alas," Wu Wentao lamented even more than him. He seemed to be the most spirited person in the camp. After pondering for a moment, he reluctantly said, "You've already made your decision."
"Sort of; I wanted to ask for your opinion," Song Jiu admitted without hiding anything. He nodded and explained, "Compromise—it’s true we can’t stay here for too long. We have a vehicle now; I plan to stay another night, pack up in batches this afternoon, and set off early tomorrow morning. We can rest on the way."
"That works." Wu Wentao calculated the time; resting for several days was definitely out of the question, but staying an extra night was acceptable.
Seeing him agree eased some pressure off Song Jiu's shoulders. He reassured him, "I'll help you transfer supplies first; you should also take some time to rest tonight so you can stay sharp tomorrow."
"Don't worry about me," Wu Wentao brushed aside that concern and shifted his gaze toward the storage warehouse for supplies. "Have you talked to them yet?"
"Not yet; I’ll go later," Song Jiu replied with a click of his tongue as he recalled this task that weighed heavily on him. He wasn't particularly skilled at persuading others. He understood why Cao Zheng and Yang Xiaomeng had acted decisively; it was due to Dr. Zhong's quick thinking and Huihui's sacrifice—not because these bandit leaders possessed any significant charisma. During lunch, Song Jiu had tried subtly probing Cao Zheng about leaving; however, Cao Zheng had firmly rejected his invitation without hesitation, expressing unwillingness to leave this place. Yang Xiaomeng and Qianqian remained silent but appeared aligned with Cao Zheng based on their expressions.
Originally, these individuals encountered along the way were inconsequential; parting peacefully would have been beneficial. The problem lay in Cao Zheng’s group possessing skills urgently needed by the team.
Wu Wentao was versatile but also limited; while he could manage cars and helicopters reasonably well, boats were another matter entirely—not everything could be handled interchangeably. Starting up boats and navigating at sea involved many nuances; finding someone knowledgeable was not easy and thus required earnest effort.
This was also why they decided after discussions that due to the upheaval at Industrial Park, Song Jiu and his companions felt it necessary to alter their itinerary. Continuing along their original route would conservatively take about a week—not including potential troubles along the way. Previously motivated by self-encouragement, now with new threats behind them, they felt compelled to race against time.
"Ultimately, it's still about time," Song Jiu yawned as he bit down on his cigarette filter until it took various shapes before lighting it up and taking a deep drag.
"Exactly," Wu Wentao said expressionlessly as he stared blankly at the abandoned shooting range and murmured softly: "If necessary, we might have to consider taking action."
Song Jiu was taken aback for a moment, then burst into a silent laugh, saying, "How do you tie someone up?"
"It's not impossible," Wu Wentao replied with a look of nonchalance. He turned his head to glance at the row of coffins and happened to see Qianqian and Yang Xiaomeng helping the injured Dai Wei out. They set up a chair at the door and helped him sit down, leisurely basking in the sun.
Song Jiu shook his head with a wry smile and walked towards the group enjoying the sunlight. "I'll go try again. Wish me luck."
Inside the bungalow, Luci lay on the bed while Dr. Zhong was sweating profusely as he removed shrapnel from her body. Song Yao and Luo Yu were nearby, helping to rinse towels and change the water.
Most of the other injured had only minor scrapes; the worst off was Pockmarked Girl, who hadn’t fired a single shot but ended up getting hit by a stray bullet. Fortunately, after the bullet shattered the car window, its momentum weakened, and Pockmarked Girl managed to dodge it just in time, suffering only a narrow scrape that didn’t leave any fragments behind.
Dr. Zhong had been busy from late night until dawn, finally managing to complete simple bandaging for the injured. Seeing his exhausted face, Luci decided to hold off on her questions and gave Dr. Zhong some time to rest before returning after lunch to retrieve the shrapnel.
During those final minutes of chaos, Luci and Song Yao charged through thanks to their Zombie resilience. Song Yao was fine since Luo Yu provided cover, miraculously avoiding any gunfire. Luci wasn’t as lucky; several Field Duty members targeted her, and while rushing forward, she was hit multiple times in both her chest and back. Thankfully, the bullets were not large caliber; otherwise, she would have been seriously injured.
This was Dr. Zhong's first time performing such an unusual surgery without anesthesia. The patient remained calm and even chatted with Luo Yu occasionally, displaying an air of nonchalance despite the situation. Dr. Zhong didn’t dare slack off; he rinsed her wounds with clean water, feeling regretful as he noted her smooth skin marred by injuries.
"You guys," Dr. Zhong said helplessly as he used surgical forceps to pry open flesh and carefully search for fragments. "Don't think that just because your bodies are different you can be reckless. After all, it's still a bullet; if the wound is too large, it could lead to serious problems."
"I’m used to it," Luci playfully stuck out her tongue with a bittersweet smile and said lightly, "I've taken my fair share of knives and bullets over the years—I'm immune to everything now."
"Don't be careless," Dr. Zhong disagreed with her sentiment. Wu Wentao was also a Zombie but didn’t actively seek out danger; one should still avoid it when possible—after all, human bodies have their limits. Liu Yan was a prime example.
Luci pouted but didn’t argue further; Dr. Zhong meant well and made valid points.
"By the way," Song Yao suddenly remembered something and asked, "What did that researcher tell you? Can Antibodies really spread like viruses?"
"If you ask me now, I can't answer that either," Dr. Zhong shook his head, pausing his work as he sighed. "If that's true, it would be monumental news; we wouldn’t even need to go out to sea."
Talking about Antibodies piqued everyone's interest. Dr. Zhong had explained viruses and Vaccines numerous times before, but many technical terms were difficult to translate into layman's terms. Song Yao and the others listened with only partial understanding; however, their curiosity remained unaffected.
Luci turned her head slightly to watch Dr. Zhong use a scalpel on her body; her beautiful eyes blinked as she asked, "Did you only find that Antibodies are effective against Infected Viruses? What about Zombie Viruses?"
Dr. Zhong raised his eyelids slightly; there seemed to be a smile behind his mask as he replied, "I hadn’t even compared them before Song Jiu caught me."
The three women chuckled at this memory and recalled the scene at the train station. Looking back now, despite all the chaos during that time, it was undeniably one of the rare lively moments in three years at Roundabout. Those who had been out often found themselves lost in past memories; as conversation waned, they suddenly lost interest in chatting altogether. Aside from Dr. Zhong remaining focused on his surgery, Luo Yu and Song Yao drifted off into their thoughts, staring blankly ahead.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Zhong completed the rudimentary surgery and insisted on applying medication to Luci's wounds before meticulously stitching them up. In truth, the last two steps were somewhat unnecessary since their self-healing abilities were quite strong; using medication for inflammation was reasonable but stitching wasn’t really needed. However, Luci didn’t refuse; she obediently lay on the bed while Dr. Zhong worked diligently on her injuries.
"Why is everyone so quiet?" Dr. Zhong cut the thread, rinsed the instruments with clean water, and neatly placed them back in the medical kit. Noticing the three women in silence, he smiled and asked, "Actually, I have a question that I'm quite curious about."
Song Yao thought he was just trying to fill the silence and smiled slightly, playing along: "What question?"
"Suppose," Dr. Zhong said as he put away his equipment, rolled up his sleeves, and sat at the edge of the bed. His gaze swept over the three women's faces before settling on Song Yao. He spoke seriously, "Suppose Antibody works against Zombie Virus; would you choose to become normal again?"
"Well..."
"Don't rush to answer; think carefully," Dr. Zhong interrupted Luci's eager response with a smile. "One dose of Vaccine, two identities—set aside other factors and consider it carefully."
Song Yao and Luci exchanged glances, both surprised. They had never seriously thought about this question before, but now, prompted by Dr. Zhong, an odd feeling surged within them. They fell silent, no longer in a hurry to respond, their brows furrowing as they began to contemplate the matter seriously.
"Well, I don't have a say in this," Luo Yu stretched her back and stood up, rubbing her slightly sore eyes. She smiled and said, "I'll listen to your answers later; I'm going out for a bit."
Song Yao nodded, her gaze following Luo Yu's somewhat delicate figure as she walked away, lost in thought.
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