Chapter 53

As night fell, no one continued to chat. Instead, they took clothes they had scavenged from somewhere and returned to the passenger car.

Having learned their lesson from the previous night, no one dared to sleep in the residential living room again just for the sake of temporary warmth. Compared to risking their lives, a little discomfort was perfectly acceptable.

However, considering the extremely low outside temperature, sleeping in the car posed a risk of catching a cold. So, all the soldiers began distributing the collected clothes and blankets to everyone, trying to reduce the risk of illness as much as possible.

"Alan, take these clothes. Cover yourself with them when you sleep in the car at night; otherwise, you'll freeze."

In the passenger car, Brian covered Sarah with an adult-sized down jacket, then picked up another piece of clothing from his seat and handed it to Alan in the front seat.

"No, thank you." Alan waved his hand quickly upon seeing Brian only had one piece of clothing. How could he accept it? He hurriedly said, "I'm not afraid of the cold. You should wear this."

With that, he pushed back the clothing Brian was trying to give him, indicating that Brian should wear it instead.

"Don't be stubborn; stop insisting on this," Tracy intervened as both of them wanted the other to wear the clothing. She approached with a down jacket and placed it between them, saying with a slight smirk, "We won't let you freeze. This way, both of you will have something."

"..."

Seeing another piece of clothing suddenly appear between them, they stopped speaking and simply thanked Tracy in unison.

"Uh, you're welcome." Tracy smiled at the three children in front of her and accepted their thanks gladly. Then, holding another piece of clothing, she walked towards the back seat where Sylvia was being taken care of by Anna.

Brian glanced back and saw that Anna and Wilfred had already changed seats with someone else, sitting in the last row for the convenience of taking care of Sylvia.

Then he looked at the guy named Ogden with a crestfallen look on his face. Brian knew very well why he wore that expression, as Anna had recently found Tracy and described her ordeal sincerely, hoping for help to get rid of that pervert.

Without much ado, Tracy, also a woman, agreed immediately upon hearing Anna's plea and promptly warned Ogden not to approach Anna for voyeurism again, threatening to take necessary actions if he did. She also arranged for Ogden to be transferred to another car. However, due to the late hour, he would have to wait until the next day to be reassigned.

Soon after, as the car lights were turned off, people began adjusting their seatbacks and wrapping themselves in coats, preparing to sleep.

Although some people weren't sleepy due to sleeping too much in the morning and chose to chat with those around them, they tried to keep their voices low so as not to disturb others sleeping.

The sound of the wind at night was eerie, penetrating through the crevices of the car, creating a terrifying sound that made everyone feel uneasy.

But apart from encountering a few lost infected individuals in the woods outside the town, nothing urgent happened during the night, which relieved the soldiers patrolling the perimeter.

As daylight broke, the inside of the car remained unusually dark. People opened their eyes with aching limbs and sat up from their seats, only to find that the windows were already covered with snow, completely blocking the view outside.

Once the doors were opened, people hurriedly got off the car, only to find that the entire passenger car was covered with thick snow.

Under the organization of the soldiers, all the men armed themselves with tools used the previous day and began clearing the snow on the streets and the passenger car.

Brian hadn't noticed while inside the car, but as soon as he got off, he realized that there were many people sneezing and coughing around him...

Indeed, sleeping in the icy-cold passenger car, even wrapped in thick clothes, couldn't prevent some people from falling ill.

This made Brian realize that things might be a bit troublesome. These were all early symptoms of a cold. Although common colds generally aren't contagious, prolonged stay in the same confined space could change that.

However, he hadn't heard anyone coughing or sneezing while in the car just now, meaning that no one in his car seemed to have caught a cold for the time being.

"Hey, I said, don't play around. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" Although he had checked Sarah and Alan's condition when they woke up and found nothing unusual, for caution's sake, he turned to the two playing behind him.

For some reason, even though they had known each other for less than ten hours, with eight of those hours spent sleeping, their current playful interaction didn't seem like they had just met. Perhaps children's interactions were just that simple...

Brian had no idea how Sarah was feeling at the moment. Since the outbreak of the Cordyceps fungus, she had always been the one being taken care of, which felt okay, but she also wished to take care of someone else for once.

At this moment, Alan's interruption provided her with someone to take care of, especially since he was younger and weaker. This perfect scenario inflated Sarah's sisterly heart. Finally, she wasn't the one who needed to be taken care of the most!

Of course, Alan was quite troubled. He was initially happy to have an older brother and sister, but he didn't expect this girl, who seemed only a few years older than him, to be so difficult to deal with. While it looked like they were playing to others, who knew he felt semi-forced?

But even Alan didn't notice that his previously troubled expression had disappeared long ago, replaced by a bright smile.

Upon hearing Brian's voice, both of them stopped their actions, checked their bodies, and shook their heads at him, saying, "We're fine, everything's okay."

"Alright."

Seeing that they both claimed to be fine, Brian nodded, feeling relieved and thinking that he might have been overthinking.

Seeing Brian seemingly having no further questions, Sarah glanced at Alan standing beside her, her face showing a mischievous smile. She bent down slowly, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, and formed it into a snowball. Taking aim at Alan while he wasn't paying attention, she threw it at him.

"Ouch!"

Unprepared, Alan didn't expect such an ambush. Hit by the snowball without any defense, he was splattered with snow all over his body. Some snow even got into his collar, making him shiver.

"Haha..."

He quickly shook his collar, shaking off the snow inside, and then turned to see Sarah laughing heartily. He couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed and retaliated by grabbing a handful of snow from the ground and throwing it back at her.

Seeing Alan suddenly start playing with Sarah again, Brian's lips twitched. He didn't pay attention to them anymore but looked at several soldiers approaching from a distance.

With so many people showing symptoms of a cold, the soldiers patrolling naturally noticed. They immediately reported the situation, and those soldiers came with bottles of medicine and a kettle of hot water, distributing them to those suspected of having a cold. Each person was given hot water and a pill, clearly aiming to nip the cold in the bud.

"In that case, everything should be fine now..."

Seeing this, Brian knew the authorities had

 considered the possibility of a cold outbreak. Discovering and solving the problem early was the best choice. Otherwise, if there were a spread, it wouldn't be good news.

As the snow on the car and the road was cleared, the military began to notify everyone to get back on the car and wait. Of course, they also distributed masks to those suspected of having a cold. Although some resisted, under the military's strict attitude, they reluctantly put on the masks.

Brian also noticed Ogden packing his things and, under the guidance of a soldier, heading towards another car. However, on the way, he kept turning his head frequently, peering at Anna who was taking care of Sylvia. But he was promptly scolded loudly by the soldier, which made him behave.

As the convoy slowly set off, they once again left the town and drove onto the highway.

But due to the thick snow on the road, to prevent any accidents, the driving speed was reduced to the minimum.

Thus, the convoy, moving at such a slow pace, formed a long line on the snow-covered road, heading towards the eastern region of the United States, disappearing at the end of the highway, leaving no trace behind.

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