This is apocalyptic

Chapter 145 144: Consideration
"You don't trust the shelter." Bai Xiao said.

“It’s not a question of whether or not you trust me.”

"What do you think about the safe zone?" Bai Xiao hesitated.

"That's the best option." The old lady said, "This is actually a deal. They provide shelter and a stable life, and you provide labor." She said, "I thought you could take Lin Duoduo into the safe zone, but now it seems... you have to be careful of them."

"Will they harm us?"

Aunt Qian looked at him without saying anything. Bai Xiao was silent for a moment. "What if she goes by herself?"

"Then it's better to stay here. If the safe zone gets into chaos, people like her will be the first to die. If she stays here, at least she has you." The old lady spoke calmly, "Someone will die sooner or later. She has no parents and doesn't know anyone. Won't she be bullied if she goes there? It's fine if everything is fine, but if conditions are not so good, she will definitely have the hardest and most tiring work, and you as well. You... you'd better stay away. It's definitely best to be able to survive. That's the best choice. But now... it doesn't seem like it." She looked at the sunset in the distance and said softly.

"People have to live with other people." Bai Xiao said in a deep voice, "Humans are social animals."

"Yes, but that was in the past. Now the end is coming." Aunt Qian said, "I don't know how many years I can live, so just be happy. The safe zone is not absolutely safe either. At least the shelter in Linchuan was destroyed."

"Is it because the last time I came back I told you that the safe zone still hadn't been resolved?"

“That’s part of the reason.”

"What if it is solved? Under this hypothetical premise, what choice will you make?" Bai Xiao asked.

"What if..."

Aunt Qian was leaning on a crutch, looking down at the ground. The land had become a little dry and cracked due to the sunny weather for many days, and the yellow soil turned into powder when poked.

She was deep in thought.

As a person who has been trapped in a small mountain village for more than 20 years after a disaster, she has been silent and thinking for so long. Regardless of whether it is useful or not, Bai Xiao wants to hear her opinion.

"I still suggest the same thing." Qian Jin looked up and looked directly at Bai Xiao.

"why?"

"The world outside is falling apart. Some people are living in corners and waiting to die. Some people are preaching about the end of the world and looking forward to the day of destruction. They are like this as human beings, why do you want to join in the fun?" She had a smile on her face. "I watched Duoduo grow up. I just want her to be well. Everything else has nothing to do with me or her. Since she has made a decision, now is the best time."

"You haven't seen the safe zone, but you are very resistant to them." Bai Xiao frowned.

"I told you, this is a deal. As a human being, the safe zone provides shelter and you provide labor - but they will see this as charity." Aunt Qian raised her head and smiled. "Even if I'm trapped here for 20 years, I know they will never change. They will see the safe zone providing you with shelter as a charity, and everyone should be grateful."

Bai Xiao was stunned for a moment.

"But life is never given by anyone, but earned by the survivors with their own blood and sweat. Without the construction of the survivors, they would have no safe zone."

Bai Xiao looked at her old face, and at a certain moment, he saw the shadow of Zhang Tan in this woman.

Bai Xiao remembered that she was not Aunt Qian, but Qian Jin. She was once a young girl and had a child with Uncle Cai.

"For an orphan without a father or a mother to go to the safe zone when chaos is imminent, he is risking his life. Not only is his life on this journey, but also his future." She shook her head and said, "Whether the safe zone can survive has nothing to do with you. As a human being, I want to see them die, and you still want them to live?"

"Without Duoduo, are you also a member of Chenjiabao?" Bai Xiao suddenly asked.

"No, without her, I would have died long ago," said Aunt Qian.

Bai Xiao didn't speak for a long time. He leaned on the shovel and looked at the sky in the distance which was illuminated red by the setting sun.

"I didn't expect you to change your attitude."

"I told you at the beginning that it was the best option," she said, "but now there seems to be a better one."

"I'll seriously consider it," he said.

"Live well and be happy. In fact, nothing else matters." The old lady looked at the new grave and said, "It doesn't matter whether it is a zombie or not." She went back to the house with a hunched body. Bai Xiao discovered that her legs were no longer flexible. One leg was dragging on the ground as she moved slowly.

When they got home, Lin Duoduo asked him how many holes he had dug.

"One."

Bai Xiao was not in a good mood to talk, and Lin Duoduo had no idea what he was thinking.

"Aunt Qian saw you tied up with chains," he said.

"......Yeah." Lin Duoduo responded.

"She seems to have misunderstood something."

"I explained it clearly to her." Lin Duoduo said.

"No, she seems to have misunderstood that you were about to be infected by me. The chain was put on you to prevent you from running around after you turn into a zombie." Bai Xiao pondered.

Lin Duoduo was stunned for a moment, looked into the distance, was silent for a long time, and said: "It is possible."

She suddenly remembered the deep look Aunt Qian gave her that day.

"But she doesn't know that this is an agreement between you and me. When I can't live anymore, I will let you take a bite to taste it." Lin Duoduo said.

Bai Xiao shook his head. In fact, he had vaguely thought about the safe zone that the old lady mentioned, but he had never pointed it out like Aunt Qian did.

"What do you think Aunt Qian is waiting for?" he suddenly asked.

"Wait...you know?"

"She is waiting until the day when she becomes unable to move and can no longer live on her own. Then it will be time for her to leave," said Bai Xiao.

"She said that? What did you guess?"

"That's my guess." Bai Xiao said, that woman must be waiting for that day. While she can still live alone, she will just live like this. When the day comes when she can no longer take care of herself and has difficulty moving, she will not drag anyone down.

He didn't know where this feeling came from, but he just felt that it was like this.

Just like Uncle Cai, he took the initiative to break his leg before taking the chance of being infected. These two people are actually the same in some ways. Birds of a feather flock together, and similar people will always tend to gather together.

Before that, she still wanted to live and see the world, no matter how difficult it was.

Lin Duoduo didn't say anything for a long time. She looked at the coffee on the windowsill.

"Give her whatever she wants." Bai Xiao said, "I can't use so much by myself. You didn't eat much because you were reluctant to touch it."

"You only dug a hole, and she won't leave." Lin Duoduo said.

"But my guess is very likely right." Bai Xiao said.

"is it?"

"That's most likely the case."

Bai Xiao felt that she would not be able to survive this winter, at the latest.

If there was no Lin Duoduo, would Qian Jin be... a person like Chen Jiabao? Or maybe a person like Yu Ming. He believed in his feelings. It was Lin Duoduo who changed her, making her not want to die, and not want to see Lin Duoduo die.

Perhaps people in ruins are always more or less the same.

(End of this chapter)