This is apocalyptic

Chapter 64: The Path of the Forerunners

At night, Bai Xiao couldn't sleep, so he got up and lit a candle.

I looked at my notes and maps, thinking about what else could be improved.

Listening to the sound of the wind outside, he seemed to see Lin Duoduo's father writing furiously under the candlelight, and his back as he went out to look for help.

The path that our predecessors have walked before us will inevitably be walked again.

The quiet and lifeless little mountain village is not a solution. Twenty years ago, Lin Duoduo's father already knew this clearly and firmly believed that there would be help from afar.

Now Bai Xiao also firmly believes that there will be a shelter in the distance.

He was going to follow the direction the man had gone and set out again, but this time on the road, zombies were no longer dangerous. Twenty years of changes, similar yet different people.

The climate is getting warmer day by day.

On the day when Lin Duoduo took off her coat and put on a jacket, Bai Xiao was ready and took an axe to sharpen it by the well.

Lin Duoduo has been a little silent these days, talking much less, and sitting aside watching him sharpen the knife.

"are you ready?"

"Yeah." Bai Xiao looked at her expression, thought for a while and said, "Aunt Qian wanted me to take you with me and leave this village, but - I think it's better for you to be alone. You've gotten used to living here, so you may not be willing to leave."

This was something he had thought of a long time ago. He had thought about it a lot in the past winter. Although he had become half a zombie after being infected, he also had advantages that others could not match.

"Besides, I have a huge advantage as I am traveling alone. I don't have to worry about zombies. I can find any place to stay for the night. I don't need to find a particularly safe place. I can also resist other infections. The only thing I need to pay attention to is hiding the characteristics of zombies."

Bai Xiao rinsed the sharpened knife with water and continued, "For two people, we need double the food and water. And you also attract zombies. This is not like scavenging in the city. You don't need to be taken care of. Instead, you are a burden."

These are all true. He went into the city alone and didn't need to use a stick to hit the zombies like Lin Duoduo, find a safe rooftop, or take a detour when encountering a large group of zombies.

"After all, no one knows what the outside world is like now, or what it's like outside Linchuan City. Aunt Qian hasn't been out for 20 years, and you haven't been to places too far away either. I need to find out the situation."

Lin Duoduo was silent for a moment, then asked, "What else do you need to prepare?"

"Give me that bicycle." Bai Xiao said.

"You can ride it away tomorrow."

"You are quite generous, human."

Bai Xiao wiped the knife dry and put it aside. Lin Duoduo stood up with her hands on her knees and without watching him prepare, she made some dry food with batter and some stored food and packed them all for Bai Xiao.

Ever since she knew the zombies would leave in the spring, she had tried not to touch the flour she had ground last fall. Now there was still some left, which was durable, so she made it into dry food for the Zombie King to eat on the road.

By the afternoon, everything was almost ready, and the Zombie King didn't have anything worth taking.

Sitting under the shed, Bai Xiao looked at the human who was preparing dry food for him.

After the winter, Lin Duoduo looked a little thinner, and her messy hair was not cut and hung on her shoulders. Winter was the time when her hair grew longest.

The long hair makes her look more gentle, but it cannot hide the unique temperament of growing up in this environment.

She mixed dried locust flowers and elm seeds into the flour. It looked messy, but they were things she was reluctant to touch in the winter.

"Let's sing a song." Lin Duoduo said.

"What do you want to hear?" asked the Zombie King.

"New, never heard of it."

She had never heard many of the songs Bai Xiao sang, and the tone of that broken guitar was not correct, but it was already very good in this world.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the zombies gently plucked the strings.

"I heard that Snow White is running away
little red riding hood is worried about the wolf

I heard the Mad Hatter likes Alice

The ugly duckling will turn into a white swan

I heard that Peter Pan never grows up.
I heard there is a candy house in the forest

Cinderella lost her beloved glass slipper

……

Lin Duoduo felt familiar and unfamiliar. She seemed to have heard of some of the names, but not others.

"What's its name?" "It's called... the song that the Zombie King gave to the human before he left." Bai Xiao said.

Lin Duoduo glanced at him and said, "Change it to the song that the zombie king gave to humans before leaving."

She put the remaining dried locust flowers and elm seeds in a bag and gave it to Bai Xiao to take with him. When he had nothing to eat, he could just grab a handful and soak them in a kettle to get by.

She packed this bag.

As the sky gradually darkened, Lin Duoduo stopped and sat on the doorstep, looking at the zombie king under the shed.

Just like when we caught him last year.

"Do you have any wishes?"

"My wish is to bite you."

"That's a pity. I don't want to become a zombie." Lin Duoduo said.

"Yes."

"Is it hard to endure living with humans?"

"It's not bad. It's better than living with those stinky old zombies." Bai Xiao said, "Can you do some radio gymnastics for me?"

Lin Duoduo thought about it, then stood up and moved around.

The zombie king was shouting one, two, three, four under the shed, watching the humans jumping around.

"After I leave, remember to exercise."

Bai Xiao climbed over the wall and went back. He had to stay alert tonight.

The cold moonlight sprinkled in the yard, and Lin Duoduo sat in the yard for a long time.

Early the next morning.

The sun has not yet risen and the sky is dark.

The green mountains in the distance only appear as hazy shadows.

Bai Xiao did his last set of radio gymnastics in the yard, put on the old helmet, carried his backpack and hatchet, and gently pushed open the gate.

Uncle Cai and Erdan did not collapse this winter, but they became older and more staggering.

"Old boy."

He patted Friday and Uncle Cai on the shoulders and withdrew his hands when they subconsciously tried to bite anything that touched them.

I don’t know how long these old village guards can last.

Lin Duoduo was also outside.

"Remember to collect the fish basket and stay alive." Bai Xiao said, "I will find shelter and rescue."

"Okay." Lin Duoduo said, "You should live well too."

"Will do."

He walked away without looking back, heading towards the dawn light with firm steps.

The green mountains in the distance only appear as hazy shadows.

The Zombie King left, walked out of the small mountain village, walked onto the dirt road, and slowly disappeared at the end of the road.

The morning wind still carries the chill of winter, and the trees along the roadside have sprouted new buds.

The sun came out, Lin Duoduo returned to the yard, picked up a knife, went out to avoid Uncle Cai and the others, and wandered around, just like usual.

She went to see her father. He was still irrational, and he could not learn or communicate like Bai Xiao. His haggard face was no longer what he used to be. He would age quickly in a few years, just like Uncle Cai and the others.

When her father decayed, she would bury him next to her mother.

At that time, maybe I will just stay alive, or maybe, like the Zombie King, I will set out to find a distant shelter that may or may not exist.

After returning home, Lin Duoduo took a look at the much smaller shed built by the zombie king, and went over to tidy up the mat where he often sat, but saw the earth gun that she had secretly stuffed into Bai Xiao's bag yesterday afternoon appeared under the mat again.

(End of this chapter)