Chapter 37: Hand in Hand
Kevin was about to sprint down the hillside when Chi Xiaoxian yanked him back by his arm.
“What is it?”
“Shh.”
Chi Xiaoxian concentrated on listening to the sounds carried by the wind. Though his vision had diminished, his hearing had grown exceptionally sharp.
The wind seemed to carry only the breathing sounds of the three of them, yet Chi Xiaoxian had just keenly sensed a shift in the tempo and frequency of a heartbeat—he was certain now that such frequency variations only occurred when encountering one of his own kind.
Despite feeling that something was amiss, looking down from the top of the mountain revealed nothing other than the slope road covered in dense wild grass and the straight, empty highway stretching into the distance.
Fang Yue hadn’t spotted anything unusual either, but he trusted Chi Xiaoxian’s instincts. Picking up a small stone from the ground, he tossed it toward the bushes below the slope. The pebble carved an arc through the air, disappearing into the undergrowth with a dull *thud*.
Scarcely half a second after the sound rang out, a black head poked up abruptly from a patch of grass not far from where the stone had landed. The head wobbled, seemingly searching for the source of the noise.
Only then did the three notice it. It appeared to be an extremely small zombie, lying in ambush among the undergrowth. As the wind whipped the grass blades into a sway, it had completely concealed its figure.
Fang Yue picked up another stone, aiming it dead-center at that zombie and hurling it once more, striking its head squarely.
Following a muffled *thud*, the zombie straightened up. Only then did the three notice that it was actually… merely a little girl.
Though her face was caked in filth and dried blood mixed with mud, and her pupils were hopelessly gray and dim, judging from her height and her tiny face, she appeared to be roughly six or seven years old, wearing a dress whose color had grown so filthy it blended into the hue of the wilderness.
Her weak and frail body even swayed slightly in the wind, her two slender arms resembling bamboo poles.
Kevin, still clinging to his human moral inertia, muttered under his breath, “Such a tiny zombie—I can’t even bring myself to hit her.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the little zombie suddenly raised her eyes, looking directly toward their direction, their gazes locking in mid-air in an instant.
Both Chi Xiaoxian and Fang Yue were utterly surprised.
Kevin’s voice just now had been extremely quiet, mixed into the howling wind to the point where even they hadn’t fully caught it. For such a microscopic sound to carry all the way to where the zombie stood, a full hundred meters away—they had practically never encountered a zombie with hearing this sharp back at the school.
Yet Fang Yue noticed one detail: the wind direction. They were standing upwind, while the little zombie was downwind, meaning their scent would drift right over…
While he was analyzing the situation, the three suddenly discovered that the little zombie had vanished.
The grass stalks swayed, the wilderness presented a monotonous withered yellow once more, and not a single trace of any other color remained.
Fang Yue had already drawn his crowbar, prompting Chi Xiaoxian to frantically search his backpack for the stun gun. Yet the moment his fingers brushed against the stun gun before he could even pull it out from the bag, a fleeting afterimage flashed across his peripheral vision in a fraction of a second, and the little zombie had already lunged right in front of them.
The three retreated hastily.
The moment they stepped back, the zombie sprang up into the air and lunged toward them once more.
Fang Yue swung his crowbar down. His initial strike was dodged cleanly by it. Just as he raised the crowbar for a second swing, the zombie pivoted abruptly, charging straight toward the unarmed Kevin with the agility of a small cheetah.
Kevin was tackled to the ground completely unprepared. As the zombie let out a low snarl and prepared to bite down, Fang Yue’s third strike was already hurtling toward the back of its head.
Yet twenty centimeters before the crowbar could connect with its skull, it abandoned its food in hand, pushing off Kevin’s chest without a moment’s hesitation to spring upward once more, dodging that blow yet again. Kevin took a vicious kick to the chest from it, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air from the pain.
Landing less than five meters away from the three, it dropped onto all fours, crouching low among the undergrowth while locking its savage gaze firmly onto the three of them.
They had run into a stubborn opponent.
No matter how effective a striking method was, it had to actually connect with the zombie; if it kept dodging like this, they would simply get worn down here indefinitely.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Chi Xiaoxian bit his wrist open once more. The scab over the wound ruptured, and blood seeped out rapidly. Raising his hand, he smeared it across Kevin’s and Fang Yue’s clothes.
By now, Chi Xiaoxian could catch the metallic stench of his own blood, and he was certain that the zombie opposite them smelled it too.
Sure enough, it hesitated, the arched tension of its spine relaxing slightly. Twitching its nostrils, it sorted through that somewhat complex scent riding the wind.
Before the thought could even form, a silver flash streaked through the air, striking the zombie squarely in the face and nearly flipping it backward.
—Instead of advancing with his crowbar, Fang Yue had hurled the tool directly.
Kevin reacted immediately, rushing forward alongside Fang Yue to pin the zombie firmly against the ground. Casually picking up a piece of discarded brick from the undergrowth, Kevin raised it high, preparing to bring it down just as he had dispatched those two muscular zombies by the river, only for his hand to start trembling inexplicably.
He noticed the zombie had a red cord hung around its neck, securing a tiny protective longevity lock. During the struggle, the lock had tumbled out from the collar of its dress, suspended in midair as its golden glow flickered on and off.
Fang Yue noticed his hesitation.
Looking toward Kevin’s hand gripping the brick, he said in a calm voice, “Give it to me.”
Yet Kevin shook his head. Clenching his jaw tight, he closed his eyes, then swung the brick down with force.
Once, twice…
“Damn it,” he cursed.
Ultimately, he collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily as he tossed the brick aside.
A smudge of black, dirty blood stained the brick, emitting a brilliant yet grimy luster beneath the sunlight.
Witnessing this scene, a wave of profound sorrow surged abruptly into Chi Xiaoxian’s heart.
Should a day ever arrive when his luck ran entirely dry, when God offered no further grace and abandoned him to sink into a zombie driven solely by aggressive instincts, he wondered if he would ever encounter a human who hesitated and felt soft-hearted toward him like that.
He dared not anticipate forgiveness or release.
Fang Yue and Kevin had already packed their belongings. Turning around, they caught sight of Chi Xiaoxian standing straight in place, staring blankly ahead, lost in thought.
“Shall we move?” Fang Yue asked.
Snapping out of his daze, Chi Xiaoxian nodded, then dragged his legs sluggishly to follow after them.
Fang Yue waited for him in place. When Chi Xiaoxian walked up beside him, however, Fang Yue knit his brows slightly, then reached out to take hold of Chi Xiaoxian’s wrist.
Chi Xiaoxian froze for a second, only then realizing his wrist was still dripping blood down. Red beads of blood slipped past his palm from his fingertips, seeping into the dark soil.
He seemed to have grown accustomed to the pain, slowly growing somewhat numb to it.
Watching Fang Yue retrieve a clean strip of gauze wrapped in a plastic bag from his backpack, he tore off a length to bandage the wound on his wrist.
As the gauze was wrapped around, his fingers were enclosed within his palm. Fang Yue’s palm felt somewhat dry, like autumn leaves, carrying the warmth of having baked under the sun through an entire summer.
A wondrous sense of reassurance flowed through the strings of his heart like a trickling stream. He couldn’t resist wrapping his hand back around Fang Yue’s, wishing to keep this warmth lingering in his palm a bit longer.
Fang Yue froze for a second, letting his hand be held by Chi Xiaoxian for two full seconds.
“Not moving? What are you two doing?”
Discovering he had been left behind as a single person, Kevin turned around and shouted toward the two of them.
As if only just snapping back to reality, Fang Yue pulled his right hand away gently.
Feeling the warmth withdraw instantly, Chi Xiaoxian stalled for a moment, an overwhelming wave of loss welling up in his heart. He felt like a tiny sugar glider, leaping forward in wild excitement, only to fail to be caught securely in a steady hand, plunging top-heavy toward the ground.
This sensation didn’t last long before his left hand was taken hold of by Fang Yue.
“That one’s injured; not good to touch,” Fang Yue lowered his eyelids, offering a low, patient explanation. “I’ll hold this one instead.”
He always completed his research with utmost seriousness, yet could explain such a minor matter with equal earnestness—
Chi Xiaoxian, this little sugar glider, was caught in the final second before hitting the ground.
Blinking lightly, he ultimately said nothing aloud. He merely hoped fervently that his momentary sense of loss hadn’t leaked out through his expression, as that would truly be somewhat humiliating.
The notion of a zombie feeling heartbroken because no human was willing to hold his hand sounded rather devoid of dignity.
Perhaps sensing the shift in Chi Xiaoxian’s mood, the small hairball in his pocket gave two gentle bounces, playfully bumping against his thigh.
Though Chi Xiaoxian’s wrist was wrapped in gauze, it remained mobile. He gave the small hairball a gentle pinch with his index finger. Though extremely curious about what this creature actually was, everything had to wait until they reached Fang Yue’s family laboratory in District Six to find out—unless something happened in between that even he couldn’t recall.
Yet he wasn’t particularly anxious to know, because being held by the hand by Fang Yue like this felt rather delightful.
They walked along the highway for nearly half a minute before spotting several towering, black military off-road vehicles in the distance.
They appeared even larger in model than the previous wave, parked on the road surface like oversized beetles, their roofs reflecting a black, oily sheen resembling insect shells.
Chi Xiaoxian sensed no presence of his own kind, allowing the three to temporarily ease their minds. Even so, they still stood roughly ten meters away from the convoy, observing quietly for a short while before approaching cautiously to inspect the situation.
Bullet grazes and dented craters could be seen everywhere on the car exteriors, alongside several pools of congealed, blackened blood on the road surface. Yet they discovered zero corpses; every single personnel member within this vehicle convoy had evaporated, in all likelihood turning into zombies.
The vehicles had transformed into empty tombs, saturated with the smell of gunpowder smoke after the battle and the aura of death.
The three split up to search for vehicles with keys while looting supplies from each car in turn. Following Fang Yue, Chi Xiaoxian opened the door of the first vehicle. Fortunately, the interior facilities remained relatively intact, and the windows were undamaged; yet scouring both front and rear seats failed to turn up any scattered keys, forcing them to abandon this one.
The two headed toward the next vehicle. Inside that car, they successfully scavenged a few cans, freeze-dried vegetables, and compressed biscuits. All the items were stored inside a plastic storage container, which Fang Yue lifted out directly and placed onto the road surface.
Chi Xiaoxian intended to lend a hand when his heart hammered suddenly like a heavy blow. Turning his head with immediate alertness, he scanned his surroundings.
The highway stretched endlessly to the horizon. Aside from the three of them and several vehicles, nothing else existed. Along the line lay bare barren land, with only gusts of wind whipping up yellow dust, devoid of any other moving objects.
Noticing Chi Xiaoxian’s anomaly, Fang Yue set the storage box down as well, drawing his crowbar with vigilant readiness.
Experience along this journey told him that Chi Xiaoxian’s instincts were invariably accurate.
“Where’s Kevin?” Chi Xiaoxian turned his head to look, asking out of nowhere.
Kevin’s figure was nowhere to be seen around any of the vehicles. Just moments earlier while looting supplies, Chi Xiaoxian had heard Kevin’s hurried footsteps and his joyful shouts upon discovering provisions.
*BANG!*
A deafening roar pierced the silent expanse, vibrating against both of their eardrums.
Startled, Chi Xiaoxian nearly jumped out of his skin, his soul practically leaving his body.
Only after that did the two realize it was a gunshot, originating from inside one of the off-road vehicles, turning their complexions instantly pale.
Following that came the second shot, the third shot…
Almost identical time intervals separated each shot, highly regular, exuding a chilling, cold-blooded frenzy.
Fang Yue pulled Chi Xiaoxian behind his back instinctively.
