Joe fell ill.
He was originally the second weakest guy in the gang, and since he was kidnapped, he has become the weakest one. There was no problem the night I came back from the square, but the next day Snake found Joe lying motionless on the hay, with a faint spit in his mouth, and his cheeks were terribly red.
"He was eroded by the cold epidemic," Kwai touched Qiao's forehead, "his head is very hot."
"Am I… going to die?"
He opened his half-squinted eyes and asked softly.
No one answered.
The cold plague is an extremely difficult disease. Once contracted, you can only rely on your body to resist it - but people who are in good health rarely get cold, and those who are generally sick are those who are weak and weak, so there are very few Some patients survive. For mice, contracting the cold is basically a death sentence.
"I'll go to Kanash," Snake Fang broke the silence.
"What do you want him to do?"
"I beg him to give Joe more food." He stood up suddenly, "I've heard people say that if you can fill your stomach and keep your body warm when you get cold, your chances of surviving will be much higher."
"He won't give it to you," Tiger Claw shook his head. "We all know what kind of person he is."
"That's right, maybe you'll be beaten up by him again," Kwai gathered the hay, "Rats never feed the crippled."
"Joe is not a waste," Snake retorted, "he can read!"
"It's just a few, and is it of any use to Kanash? He wants someone who can fight, steal, and steal."
"..." Snake gritted his teeth, turned and walked straight to the manager's room in Wuwei Alley. Even if he would be beaten out by the opponent with a stick, he wanted to give it a try.
But unexpectedly, Kanash did not come back.
"You're lucky," Tiger Claw grinned when he brought the news back to his companions, "otherwise we might have to take care of another one."
Kwai sighed, "When the bread is delivered, let's give Joe some more. Let him eat more."
However, Snake Teeth did not feel lucky, and he faintly felt something was wrong.
It took less than half an hour to report the news to the bloody hands. I didn’t come back last night and could be understood as discussing countermeasures, but it’s noon today, so why should the discussion be over? And he also took a peek inside when those men opened the door, and found that not only Kanash, but even his lover was gone.
It didn't take long for the gang to distribute food, and Sheya noticed that this time it was distributed by Kanash's cronies.
It was still half a loaf of brown bread.
…
After four days, Joe's condition not only did not improve, but aggravated a lot.
Yesterday he could still shout that it was so cold, but today he can't even speak. The bright red face began to turn white, and the sound of breathing became weaker and weaker.
"We tried our best." Kwai said listlessly, rubbing her belly.
They gave Joe half of the food these days, and if it weren't for that, he probably wouldn't have survived this time. Tiger Claw, who has always been full of energy, has a weak color.
These days, Kanash has not shown up.
The more than 100 mice gathered in the room began to talk about it, but it was just a discussion. After all, the food was still distributed as usual every day, but the noise was especially louder today.
Today is the day when the relief food is distributed in the preaching.
"I'm going to the square," Snake Teeth hesitated for a long time, and finally bit his lip. "There's simply not enough bread for us. If we can get a bowl of hot porridge, Joe may be able to survive."
"Are you crazy?" Kui glared at him, "Don't forget how Kanash warned us that you really want to be sewn into your mouth?"
"The premise is that he knows that I stole away, and now the Kanash people don't know where they are, maybe the city owner really wants to do something to them!"
"But his subordinates are still here. Do you think they will let you go if they are discovered?" Kwai looked at Hupao, "Don't stand there stupidly, and tell me about him too."
"I'll go with you," said the latter suddenly.
"you-"
"Maybe this food release has already been turned into yellow, or the nobles just want to pretend, if there is no food at all, it is not a violation of Kanash's warning, right?" Tiger Claw pouted, "And I With great strength, he can run back and forth with Joe on his back, and it won't take long along the way, Kanash is not here now, and those cronies are all huddled in his room to bake the fire, no one will notice us."
"This..." Aoi hesitated.
"You just stay here," Snake said, "if anyone asks, it's good to have an answer. Let's say that we have diarrhea and go to a sheltered place to squat. Don't worry, it will only take so long to get back from there. ."
"Okay then," she looked around, "you go back quickly."
…
Snake Tooth and Tiger Claw slipped out of the wooden house and ran all the way down the alley. The snowflakes raised under their feet soaked the trousers, and the cold wind blew on their faces like a knife, but even so, the two did not stop. Panting to the square, they found that there were nearly a thousand people on the edge of the wooden platform!
It's actually giving out porridge!
The two quickly ran over, but were stopped by two guards in brown uniforms, "Go from that side, don't push, don't intersperse, or you will be disqualified."
It was only then that Sheya noticed that a wooden fence had been erected around the podium in the center of the square. At intervals, guards with strange iron rods stood. They seemed to be the maintainers of order. From time to time, people were driven out of the ranks.
"My friend is sick... Can you help us, please!" Snake teeth fell to his knees in the snow.
"He's been hungry for several days and urgently needs food!" Tiger Claw knelt down with him.
"What disease?"
"It's... a cold plague."
One of them reached out and lifted the unconscious Joe, "Leave him to me, you all go to the queue."
"This-"
"He knows the way back, right?" another said. "Even if he doesn't know, you can come here to find him."
While speaking, the guard had already carried Joe away.
"What should I do?" The two looked at each other. No one expected the result to be like this. According to their ideas, the other party will either be indifferent, or let them bypass the fence and go first to collect the porridge.
"Let's go back first," Snake Ya decided after thinking for a moment.
"What, go back?" Tiger Claw was stunned, "Don't drink porridge?"
"It will take at least half an hour for us to wait in line. If it is too long, accidents may occur," he nodded. "We will sneak out to pick Joe up in the evening."
Tiger Claw reluctantly glanced at the wooden platform where the porridge was made, "Then... okay."
There is another sentence that Snake Ya did not say. Now that the distribution of relief food announced in the announcement has come true, what about the other two news, will it also come true one by one
He faintly felt that the Black Street might be about to usher in a big change.
Back in Wuwei Alley, the two slipped into the house lightly, but they were shocked.
I saw that Kui's face was blue and purple, hanging by the door, with her hands tied behind her back, and a rickety bench under her feet, while Kanash's men stood beside her, looking at the two with a sneer.
"Yo, are you back with enough food and drink?"