This is apocalyptic

Chapter 39: The person who left everything behind

The new shed is one-third smaller than the original one. Although it is new, the materials used are all old, and it does not look out of place with the yard.

We poured a few basins of water on it to test it and found no leakage, so the work was declared completed.

Bai Xiao wanted to try pull-ups again, but thinking of the hardships of the past few days, he finally gave up. If he collapsed again, Lin Duoduo would probably be furious.

Seeing that Lin Duoduo was a little dissatisfied with the size of the newly built shed, Bai Xiao thought about it, picked up a stick and went out for a walk. Maybe Lin Duoduo would have forgotten about it when he came back.

The reason why I carried a stick was that the village was so deserted that the animals were not afraid of people at all. Whether it was a mouse or a hedgehog, they would just pounce on people.

And holding a stick can also prevent Uncle Cai and Erdan and others from getting close.

Bai Xiao was learning from Lin Duoduo's life experience. When Lin Duoduo went out, he followed her and learned secretly. When Lin Duoduo didn't go out, he tried to stroll outside the village by himself.

Yesterday he found some dandelions, also known as motherwort. This thing can be used as both medicine and food, and can help with urination and reduce internal heat. It is one of the few things he knows about. He even bought dandelion tea online while at work.

I never expected that I would have the opportunity to pick it myself at this time.

After walking for a while, Uncle Cai in the distance was gently knocking on a house's door. Bai Xiao came over but did not disturb him. The lame zombie ignored the zombie king with contempt.

"There's no one in this house, let's take a rest." Bai Xiao said.

Sensing the noise, the lame zombie stopped moving and turned around to look for the source of the sound.

Bai Xiao had already walked far away, along the deserted road in the village all the way to the wilderness.

Life must go on.

A long time ago, there were farmlands and wild wheat here, and maybe other crops like corn, which were left in the fields and took root and sprouted. Maybe after so many years, they have become weeds and the seeds are not so good, but as long as they can be found, we can always find a way.

Farming is very tiring and hard work. Women are afraid of confinement after childbirth and men are afraid of harvesting wheat. When there were no machines, harvesting wheat manually was more like a punishment and it was difficult to sustain it.

Lin Duoduo tried to plant it, but farming is not just about throwing seeds into the soil. There is a lot to do, such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, and pest control. It is very hard work, and it is difficult to grow the plants. They are even worse than if they grew freely. She finally gave up and stopped caring about it. She just waited until it turned slightly yellow, took it home to dry it in the sun, and processed it bit by bit slowly.

If there are too few, just put them aside and keep them. When it snows in winter, clear out a piece of open space and catch some birds. There is always a way to make use of it.

The fields were covered with lush weeds and looked vast and boundless. Standing here, it seemed as if there was only one person left in the world. Bai Xiao suddenly felt what it was like that the people before the disaster that Lin Duoduo talked about were different from people like her who grew up later.

The insects and grasshoppers in the ground were startled by him, flew up and landed not far away. Bai Xiao heard the movement in the grass and hit it hard with a stick. The gray fluffy fur scared him.

After looking carefully, I realized that it was not a mouse, but a hare that had run away.

After wandering around for a while, he saw a small river at the foot of the mountain in the distance. He walked over to take a look. He was not sure whether the fish in the river were infected. Standing by the river, he could see vague shadows in the water.

Bai Xiao wanted to remember the structure of the ground traps that people made in the past, to see if he could catch some small fish and shrimps. He went back and mentioned it to Lin Duoduo. As expected, Lin Duoduo had forgotten that the shed had become smaller, and she stood there thinking for a while.

"Ground trap? Sure, someone has made it before and caught fish with it." Lin Duoduo said.

She carefully recalled where she had seen it before, and took Bai Xiao out, wandering around in the quiet village, and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated courtyard.

After knocking off the lock and pushing open the door, the long-abandoned yard creaked as someone stepped into it again. Lin Duoduo swept the weeds in the yard with a stick, slowly walked to the front of the house, and said, "Let's look for it. The old man who lived here used to catch fish with a fishing rod and a cage. Later, a dead zombie floated down from upstream, and he didn't catch any for a long time."

The wall of the broken house was peeling off, and it was cold and creepy, like an old house in a mountain village in a horror movie, as if a vengeful spirit would rush out at any time. Bai Xiao glanced at Lin Duoduo. Without being baptized by horror stories and works, Lin Duoduo probably wouldn't have such a jumpy mind like him.

Before I had searched all five rooms of the old house, I found old fishing rods and traps. Unfortunately, the nets of the traps had rotted away, leaving only some frames. The fishing rods also looked rotten, and I wondered if they could still be used.

While dragging it out with regret, Bai Xiao suddenly heard a sound in his ear, which made him startled.

He quickly turned his head and looked to the side. The sound came from the yard next door.

Lin Duoduo looked over there and said nothing.

"Zombies?" Bai Xiao asked.

"Ah."

"That is..." Bai Xiao suddenly had a guess. In this village, besides Erdan and Uncle Cai, there was only one zombie left.

"My father."

Lin Duoduo was very calm. She saw Bai Xiao pick up the fishing rod and the broken trap and go out.

Next door, Bai Xiao saw Lin Duoduo's father who had turned into a zombie and was locked up in the yard. He was skinny and had sunken eye sockets. There was nothing special about him. If he had to say something, he was not as old as Uncle Cai and Erdan. He seemed to have some strength and his movements were not unsteady.

This is a man who escaped the initial outbreak of the disaster with a pregnant woman and a child, but in the past few years, he has also become the monster he once fought against.

This is undoubtedly a tragedy.

"How...did he get infected?"

"The zombies' blood splashed into my eyes." Lin Duoduo said.

Her father was one of the last few people left in the village. He survived the initial horror of the disaster, but many years later when the zombies became less dangerous, he had an accident. Not long after that, her mother also fell ill.

She had always been looking forward to the day her father would come back, but a long time ago, at some unknown moment, she suddenly realized that her father would never come back, he had left forever, and what was left here was just a body.

But later when she met Bai Xiao again, she rekindled a little hope.

"I thought you would put him next door..." Bai Xiao didn't expect it to be in such a far corner. He hadn't seen it in the past few days. It was on the other side of the diagonal where Lin Duoduo lived.

This is a safe place, which can ensure that he is isolated and will not run around, while also giving him some space to move around.

"That's what I originally thought, but my mother disagreed. She said the dead should not disturb the peace of the living."

Lin Duoduo took out a piece of dry food from her pocket and tried to throw it into the yard.

However, it was of no use. He was not like Bai Xiao, who could eat, communicate, and learn.

Bai Xiao saw some traces of rotten food on the ground.

(End of this chapter)