Abandoned Village - Part 18

"However, Ebola was discovered in Africa. Africa is different from our country. High temperatures make bacteria more active, and the local sanitary conditions are inadequate. Clean water is scarce, let alone medical supplies. Despite these harsh conditions, the epidemic was still contained. Just think about ancient diseases like smallpox, the Black Death, and the plague."

Liang Xiao said, "Even with such severe diseases, although many lives were lost, they were eventually contained. But now, this Hu Yang Township has been completely abandoned, and the zombies have not been completely eliminated. This means that whatever caused the zombie outbreak is definitely more severe than anything humanity has faced before."

Muge said, "...Oh."

She thought it was a standard trope that getting bitten or scratched by a zombie would lead to infection, but now it seemed she had been too presumptuous. Agreeing with Liang Xiao's statement, Haibaihe added, "I think the key is not just leaving the hospital, but how to leave this place. It still looks like 1997 here, clearly disconnected from our reality. If such a situation happened in our real world, even if the government tried to conceal the information, they would send missiles to destroy the city. They wouldn't let it continue like this."

"Are you suggesting that we've traveled through time?" Muge earnestly listed her conjectures, "Maybe it's something like time travel or an apocalyptic scenario from a novel."

"If that's the case, how do we get out?" Nixuanxuan's temper rose rapidly, "It's already this desperate, can't you be more practical? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be trapped in this damn place!"

Muge felt extremely guilty; it was indeed because of her that everyone had ended up in this situation. She didn't even dare to complain.

Liang Xiao immediately intervened, "It's not anyone's fault. None of us did anything wrong. Let's not fight among ourselves, okay?"

Although Zhang Qihang didn't say anything, he had made up his mind to get them out of this place. He couldn't do anything about the deaths of Nie Han and Li Wenheng. As the leader of the intern group, he had to take responsibility, "Yes, it's not anyone's fault. If it were you, Xuanxuan, who got injured, we would make the same choice."

"So what do we do now?" Nixuanxuan, unlike Haibaihe's resilience or Muge's open-mindedness, was sensitive to danger and was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Haibaihe scratched her head, "If we really have traveled through time, we need to find a way to leave this place and look for survivors or a safe haven. If it's just an alternate dimension, then we should try to find our way back using the same route we came from. Maybe that road is still intact."

She made up a lie, "Have you heard of a news report where an Australian couple went on a trip, driving on the road and suddenly realized they never saw the end point? They kept driving, and suddenly they found people, and when they looked closer, they realized they had actually driven to the United States. Such incidents are not unprecedented. Maybe it's a spatial displacement?"

Her knowledge of chemistry was passable, but her physics wasn't great, so she just made things up.

Regardless of whether everyone believed her or not, they seemed to be convinced.

The question returned to the starting point: they had to leave the hospital.

Haibaihe threw her backpack on the ground, wrapped herself in a blanket, and lay down, saying, "I'm going to sleep. Let's save our energy for tonight

."

Muge pouted, "Can you really sleep in this situation?"

"You need strength to survive. Even if I can't sleep, I have to." She covered her face with the blanket and fell asleep in less than a minute.

The others exchanged glances and could only rest separately.

It was the whispers that woke Haibaihe from her sleep. She turned over, buried her face in her arms, but the buzzing sound grew louder, forcing her to open her eyes, "What are you guys talking about?"

Nixuanxuan looked a bit embarrassed, and Muge pinched her, exchanging a glance before speaking, "Baixi, do you want to go to the restroom?"

"Oh." Haibaihe understood and closed her eyes. "I don't want to."

Muge became annoyed, "We want to go to the restroom!"

Zhang Qihang tried to persuade them, "You can just go over there. We won't look."

"No!" Nixuanxuan, rarely united with Muge, said in unison, "You guys only need a plastic bottle, but we can't do that."

Just imagine, having to pee in front of two unfamiliar men who weren't even considered acquaintances. Both Muge and Nixuanxuan couldn't bear the thought.

A 2v2 situation.

They all looked at Haibaihe, "What do you think, Baixi?"

"There are zombies in the restroom." Haibaihe scared them, "What if a rat suddenly crawls out halfway through? Would you run with your pants down?"

Muge wanted to hit her, "Are you trying to disgust us?"

"I'm just kidding. When I went to Australia as a tourist, I was using the restroom and suddenly a snake crawled out of the toilet." Haibaihe said seriously.

"And then?"

"I stepped on its seven inches and finished using the restroom."

After scaring them like that, Muge and Nixuanxuan had no choice but to give up finding a restroom. They partitioned off a corner with an operating table and then instructed the two men, "Turn around and cover your ears."

To save face for the girls, Zhang Qihang and Liang Xiao complied.

The two girls struggled to use the restroom, while the two men took care of their business in a corner using plastic bottles.

In the silence, the sound of flowing water was particularly distinct.

The atmosphere was awkward.

After more than ten minutes, someone's stomach growled, breaking the silence.

"I'm so hungry."

"Is there anything to eat?"

They rummaged through their backpacks, but the only thing that could fill them up was glucose, and drinking glucose meant they had to use the restroom.

This vicious cycle continued until 4 o'clock in the afternoon when it was completely dark outside.

"The sky at noon is the same as it was at 7 or 8 in the morning." Haibaihe said, "There's something wrong with this place. Could there be dust or something in the sky blocking the sun?"

Liang Xiao said, "Regardless, the long nights are advantageous for us."

The zombies have poor visibility, and the prolonged darkness makes their movements more convenient.

Indeed, as they reached the ground floor again, Liang Xiao successfully diverted the attention of the zombies using a few coins. Just as everyone was stealthily preparing to head towards the door, Haibaihe suddenly heard footsteps.

In the darkness, she didn't dare to make a sound and could only gesture vigorously towards them.

But the others were busy bending down and hugging the walls to avoid the zombies, so no one saw her movements.

Muge and Nixuanxuan supported each other, remaining

motionless until the zombies passed by. The stench was overwhelming, and they held their breath, feeling like their lungs were about to explode.

Just at that moment, a lit match fell by their feet. The zombies that had already passed immediately turned their heads as the faint flame caught the attention of all the zombies. Zhang Qihang pulled one of them, "Quick, let's go!"

"You scoundrel!" Haibaihe was furious and threw all the coins she had in her hand towards those three figures.

The zombies were attracted to the noise, and Liu Ge couldn't handle such a large number of them with just a steel pipe. He pulled out his gun and fired several shots, attracting more and more zombies. Zombies flooded in from outside, completely blocking the door.

Liang Xiao didn't have time to think, "This way." He grabbed Muge, and Zhang Qihang supported Nixuanxuan. "Haibaihe!"

"I'll hold them off." Haibaihe swung an axe, hitting the approaching zombie's forehead, and then kicked its chest, sending it flying.

The zombies once again created a human flesh road, trying to grab Haibaihe on the staircase. She held onto the handrail and lifted her body, avoiding the zombie's grasp. When she landed, her boot heel stepped on the back of the zombie's hand.

"Scoundrels!" Haibaihe cursed at the three drug dealers, "Go love the zombies, you bastards!" She threw a roll of coins at them one by one, and the clattering sound as they hit the ground infuriated Liu Ge.

He aimed his gun at Haibaihe.

She ran as fast as she could, and the bullet landed on the staircase near her. The ejected bullet casing scraped her leg, leaving a scratch.

Once they reached the second floor, Liang Xiao pulled her into a ward, "Why did you provoke them? These people are ruthless, killing is nothing to them."

"They are despicable!" Haibaihe's anger hadn't subsided, "If we're all running away, what do they mean by targeting us? Are they using us as shields to protect themselves from harm?"

"That's assuming they're dead." Nixuanxuan screamed, "If they're not dead, they will definitely come back to cause trouble for us! They have guns! They will kill us."

Haibaihe looked at her, "What's gotten into you?"

Muge hesitantly said, "Senior... it seems you've been scratched."

"What?" Haibaihe quickly used her phone for illumination and indeed, Zhang Qihang had a scratch on his back, with blood oozing out. "Are you okay?"

Zhang Qihang's face turned pale, "Not good." He had been scratched by a zombie while protecting Nixuanxuan and Muge. At the time, he didn't feel any pain, but it was only after reaching the upper floor that he felt a stinging sensation in his back.

With great effort, he said, "I'm the leader of the group. I promised the professors to safely take you to the camp..."

His sense of responsibility seemed innate. Since kindergarten, he would voluntarily help the teachers distribute food. In primary school, he became the class monitor and later the team leader. It was the principal who personally tied the red scarf around his neck.

Such honors gave the young boy a sense of fulfillment. From then on, he was reelected as class monitor every year. There was no class teacher who didn't praise his obedience and maturity to his parents.

Of course, within the class, not everyone appreciated him. They felt he was too eager to please the teachers

, and he placed too much importance on being class monitor.

Unfortunately, although the teachers liked him very much, his classmates didn't have a very good opinion of him. They thought he was too eager to please the teachers and took the role of class monitor too seriously.

They didn't buy it.

But Zhang Qihang always believed that as the class monitor, he had a responsibility towards the students in his class. In junior high school, when they went on a spring outing and a boy went missing, the teachers wanted to send the students back to the bus before searching for him. Zhang Qihang told the teachers that he wanted to join in the search.

"I'm the class monitor. I didn't take good care of him. I have a responsibility to find him."

The homeroom teacher agreed, and he and the teachers searched the mountain for a long time. Eventually, they found the drowned student in a reservoir.

Everyone knew it wasn't his fault. How could he be responsible for where someone else went? But he felt tremendous guilt, thinking he hadn't fulfilled his duty as class monitor to take care of the student.

He felt deep regret.

But today, he didn't have to regret anymore. Liang Xiao was a stranger; he didn't have the responsibility to take care of everyone else. But Zhang Qihang did. He was the leader, he had promised the professors and advisors to safely take them to the camp. Even if he couldn't fully fulfill that, at least he protected them. He fulfilled his responsibility as a senior and as the group leader.