06:08AM
The morning of the third day.
Zhou Rong was paralyzed on the eaves, and he let out a sigh of exhaustion at the moment when the eastern sky turned green.
There were the last twenty-one bullets left, four grenades, one tactical knife, one dagger, one assault rifle, and one pistol.
All water was used up.
Although he was at the end of the fight, he actually spent two long nights in the city of zombies. Even Zhou Rong felt that there was some kind of power protecting him.
But is Simon still alive
Looking at the vast sea of corpses, which crevice and corner of the city is he hiding in
Zhou Rong glanced at his watch, thirty-six hours had passed since Sinan disappeared.
—Has he been disheartened, given up hope, or even… dead
No, no - although there is no basis, Zhou Rong somehow thought that Sinan would not be killed so easily. The biggest possibility is that he is unarmed, unable to break through the encirclement, and gradually loses confidence in the 118 team returning to pick him up. He does not know where to hide in a corner to wipe his tears; heliport.
Holding on a little longer, Zhou Rong clenched his back molars and forced himself to sit up.
If there is no result after 48 hours of searching, take a gamble and go to the airport, and decide whether to wait for the rabbit or drive an armored vehicle back to the city to continue the search according to the actual situation.
"Hold on." He murmured, not knowing whether it was to himself or to Sinan who smiled and beckoned to him in the void.
"As long as you hold on, we'll see you all."
Zhou Rong tightened the bandage on his left thigh, and was chased and blocked by the zombie tide until he had no way to escape and could only jump off the tree. As a result, the wound that was pierced by the branch that was bigger than a slap was no longer bleeding. The dirty and yellow bandages left only dark coagulated bloodstains, which looked a little scary at first, but fortunately didn't affect the movement.
Zhou Rong jumped off the roof tile with the loudspeaker, ignoring the zombies that were gathering from a short distance away, and jumped from the treetops to the street, just as he was about to continue roaring, he suddenly stopped.
— On a street corner in the distance, a man turned his back to him, walked into a hardware store, and killed the zombies that came out of the store one by one.
The man was wearing a hoodie, and his back was extremely majestic. Zhou Rong looked at it and felt that he might be half a head taller than himself. Moreover, the man's Yao Ming-like height was matched with Tyson-like muscles, and from such a long distance, it made people feel like watching the rock and mountain moving on the flat ground.
Are there still people alive
Zhou Rong pondered for a moment, did not reveal himself, and followed silently.
·
"… what… !"
Romuel turned over and suppressed Sinan: "—Jane!"
The female Alpha hurried into the room, pressed Sinan's leg down, and pressed the whole body to the ground, with her left handcuffed on the edge of the bed. The whole series of movements was extremely skilled, as if it had been repeated many times in the past day and night.
Sinan's brows knitted together, trying his best to curl up, roaring in pain. Romuel motioned for the female Apha named Jane to go out, then straddled Simon, suppressing all his struggles, pinching his chin and shouting, "Noah! Look at me!"
Sinan turned a deaf ear.
"Noah!"
Romuel pressed against his ear and kept repeating orders, the volume was so loud that even the dead could be awakened. After several minutes, Sinan's inhuman hissing and panting gradually stopped, and he opened his eyes vaguely.
"Look at me!" Romuel shouted.
"… "
"What did you think of?" Romuel stared at his bloodshot eyes forcibly, and asked every word: "How did you connect with the C country's military when you were at the White Eagle Base? Where is the ultimate antibody? tell me!"
Sinan moved his lips. But for more than ten hours in a row he didn't have water and water, and the continuous high-intensity interrogation made him extremely tired, and it was difficult to even make a sound.
Romuel made a cup of sugar water with maple syrup, came back and knelt beside him, and said condescendingly, "Drink it."
Simon don't look too far.
"Drink!"
no answer.
"Like chocolate, isn't it?" Romuel finally gave up and asked coldly.
Sinan didn't care at all and closed his eyes.
This iron-clad, silent refusal left Romuel unable to do anything. He smashed the maple syrup water glass, and the glass slag splashed all over the floor.
The shabby room was very quiet for a while, and the cold wind whistled through the window. Other than that, only Romuel's anger was forced to suppress his breathing.
The suffocating stalemate lasted for several minutes.
"... Well, I admit it." Romuel said again, unexpectedly not very angry, and the end sound could even be called calm and restrained. He said: "OK, I admit, the chocolate thing was my fault."
- In Romuel's life, there were very few times when he said the words "I was wrong", and even his own father may not have heard it twice.
But Simon was indifferent.
"I shouldn't have given you an electric shock and used chocolate as an inducement to punish you when you were extremely weak."
"—But you know," Romuel paused, then said coldly: "Being bitten by a zombie in the experimental scene is inherently punishable. As specially trained warriors, you and I have both experienced it. While it's true that you're accepting a simulation of greater intensity than anyone in the White Eagles, and you consider it an insult to use food as an inducement…”
Simon didn't respond.
"Are you listening to me?"
"… "
Romuel took a deep breath to control his emotions: "Your childish insistence is pointless, Noah. Suppose if you are starving to death now, and there is only a piece of chocolate in front of you, you will die if you don't eat it, Will you still insist on this pale and ridiculous personality to me?"
What he didn't expect was that Sinan opened his eyes, turned around and smiled, "No."
- The short three words were so hoarse that it was almost inaudible, but the slightly curved arc of the corner of the mouth was real, and Romuel was stunned.
"I've been eating chocolate for a long time." Sinan said, with undisguised malice in his smile: "Someone gave it to me two days ago, and I ate a big piece."
Romuel didn't know what to say at all, and was stunned there.
Si Nan sat on the ground and rested his head and neck on the edge of the bed again, as if those two words had exhausted all his strength.
Noah's true personality has an extremely extreme and puzzling side, which Romuel has always known. If you have to compare him with normal people, he is actually very childlike in some aspects, and he is still very naive and vengeful.
He hates others and he hates himself.
When he was unbearably hungry, he was willing to accept Romuel's condition because he had an extremely strong need for the inducer—chocolate.
But he also developed a stress disorder later, and since then completely refused chocolate, and even conditioned reflex vomiting whenever he ate this kind of food.
Romuel had observed that his vomiting, like some anorexia disorders, was initially forced on him out of self-punishment and disgust. But it didn't take long for it to turn into a real stress response, and at one point couldn't even touch anything chocolatey at all.
- Paranoid, self-control, and razor-sharp. Once something is identified, it will continue to strengthen its self-awareness, which will be deeply branded into the mind and catalyzed as part of the instinct to act.
This personality usually does not change.
Romuel never imagined that his so-called younger brother would one day overthrow his self-consciousness—if he hadn't lied.
Romuel moved somewhere deep in his heart, as if he wanted to try something, but he stopped talking.
After a long while, he coughed in a complicated way, and pulled down the zipper of the jacket to reveal the corner of the inner scarf: "... Noah."
"Look at this, Noah." He squeezed Sinan's chin and made him look at himself, but this time his hand was much softer: "Do you remember?"
It was a very ordinary dark gray cashmere scarf, with no patterns and a very thin texture, because the edges of the old relationship had worn out burrs. In fact, it did not match Romuel's high-class social elite temperament.
Sinan glanced.
"The year my mother died, I flew from New York to Los Angeles to attend her funeral, and you were there at the time." Romuel said slowly: "I walked into the woods alone after the funeral, it was raining, and suddenly you came over. , gave me this scarf…”
"'Aren't you cold?' you asked me at the time. My response was to wave and toss the scarf away, yelling at you to get out. You didn't say anything, just looked at me for a while, then turned and walked out of the woods."
Many years later, Romuel can still clearly recall all the details of that scene, including his younger brother's pale face wrapped in a black coat, his eyelashes that were particularly wet from the fine rain, and when he turned away without saying a word, The arc of the corners of the clothes fluttered in the air.
It was impressive because it was the first time in Noah's life that he took the initiative to speak to him with such a soft attitude.
But that was the last time, so Romuel never had the chance to test the conjecture he repeated countless times later—if he responded with a completely different attitude at the time, wouldn’t many things have changed since then
"When I left L.A. the next day, I went back into the woods and picked up your scarf, which I have kept to this day."
Romuel took off the scarf from his neck and stared closely at Sinan's calm eyes: "I brought it on purpose before I went to China this time, because I know that an unprecedented disaster has begun, and human beings are likely to become extinct from now on. On Earth. So today, when you and I meet again in the last days, many things that have already ended before they can begin, is there a chance to go backwards and do it all over again?”
"—If you agree, tell me where the ultimate antibody is." Romuel whispered, his voice almost whispering: "After the vaccine is developed, human beings will build the ultimate security fortress, and you and I can both become access to security. The first people of the fort... I promise that all the painful past will be a memory forever, and I will give you a good life, a good life you could not even imagine before."
"Really," he said solemnly, "as long as you believe me."
After a long silence, Sinan said softly, "I never believed in you."
"I know." Romuel paused and asked back, "But like chocolate, the things you thought would stick to the end eventually changed, didn't they?"
Sinan raised his right hand that was not handcuffed, and touched the frayed edges of the scarf with two fingers.
Romuel looked at him, his eyes full of encouragement, and there was a faint hope that he hadn't even noticed himself.
"..." Sinan suddenly smiled.
Although the smile was weak, it had an unmistakable eccentricity, and he let go and shook his head.
"What?" Romuel couldn't help asking.
"I don't remember," Sinan said with a smile, "but I'm not someone who would do such a thing, especially to you. So either you're lying..."
"I do not have!"
"Really?" Sinan said lazily, "That should be because I wanted to strangle you with a scarf while you were single, but I was misunderstood."
Romuel stood up suddenly, his face mixed with blue and red; however, before he could say anything, Sinan's last words successfully became the lead that ignited his anger: "You are too self-motivated, 'brother'." Sinan sympathized, " Just like your father did to my mother... she didn't give him a straight look until she died."
There was a sudden roar in the room: "Jane!"
The female Alpha quickly pushed open the door, only to see her boss standing by the bed, turned around, and her pupils had completely turned into a terrifying dark gray.
"Confession agent." He gritted his teeth, and his anger made every word shudder: "... bring all the confession agents in!"
·
Abbas shot off a few half-rotted zombies in the alley, and walked into the courtyard with a cardboard box. He saw his female teammate standing under the locust tree with arms folded. From the closed door, the floor was hit. Loud noises, and the squeaking sound of things overturning.
"Come back?" Jane pulled out the cigarette from her mouth: "Is there any gain?"
Abbas put down the cardboard box in silence and took out the contents one by one.
Batteries, knives, hardware parts, half a bottle of motor oil, and a small half bottle of liquor.
Jane picked up the bottle of liquor, raised her head and took a sip, and said, "This place can't be done. The southern coastal areas are much richer. Have you seen any living people?"
Abbas shook his head.
Suddenly Jane glanced behind him and shouted sharply, "Who?"
Abbas turned back suddenly, and the two of them looked at the courtyard wall covered by the tree canopy at the same time.
There was no movement for a few seconds, then the bushes moved, and a dark shadow shrieked shrill, wind-swept across the wall—a bony grey cat.
"Gizmo," Jane scoffed, not sure if she meant the cat or the people in the house.
Abbas replied in a sullen voice: "When you first entered the White Eagle, you didn't say that when you were trained by him in the army."
Jane laughed: "So don't you think it would be nice to see such a person being abused?"
"… "
"Especially for a ruthless and high-ranking instructor like him, who never has to look at people in the face... Tortured such a person would really feel good."
Abbas thought for a while, but before he said anything, the door opened.
Romuel took a violent stride out, without looking at his two subordinates who stood upright: "North."
Jane didn't react: "what?"
"The plane crashed in the north." Romuel said coldly, "He must have left something there. Abbas, get him into the car and prepare to go."
The cast-steel subordinate replied yes, lowered his head and got into the room, and when he came out after a while, he carried a comatose and motionless figure on his shoulders.
In the corner of the courtyard wall, after the trees were hidden, Zhou Rong's pupils shrank silently.
—Although he had vaguely expected it along the way, when he saw it with his own eyes, the steel needle pierced his heart and lungs instantly, causing his internal organs to spasm bloodily.
That's Simon.
Sinan will not approach a strange Alpha, let alone be easily caught. Zhou Rong could almost imagine the scene at that time: Sinan, who was thirsty and hungry, heard the sound of a car in the distance. He thought that the 118 team came back to save him, so he ran out of the hiding place with extreme happiness and shouted at the car; He found out that it was too late when the comers were not good. The other party was not only three well-trained Alphas, but also armed with live ammunition...
Zhou Rong forcibly suppressed his hot breath and held onto the wall tightly.
His nails dig deep into the wall, leaving four clear white marks on the old masonry, and a trace of blood spilled out between the nails.
What should we do now
Zhou Rong landed silently and quickly moved to the corner of the courtyard gate. His entire body was hidden behind the wall, and he looked back at the three Alphas from behind the scope.
Two men and one woman, the man who gave the order somehow made him feel familiar, but it was too late to think about it at the moment.
Under the current shooting conditions, Zhou Rong was sure that with his own marksmanship, he could kill the man with one shot, or at least make the target incapacitated; but the opponent still had two mobile forces left, what if he used Sinan as a bunker
They have a car. Once they run away, it will be difficult to catch up. What will they do to Simon? !
The muzzle was slightly shifted, and the sight was replaced by the strong man who held Sinan hostage, and Zhou Rong narrowed his eyes.
If you snipe this person, Sinan will have a chance to break free and escape quickly; but from this point of view, Sinan is motionless and may have lost consciousness...
Calm down, Zhou Rong told himself, calm down.
He has worked in the places with the strictest political review and the highest security level in the country. He has personally protected the top leaders, and has also been responsible for the security of more than a dozen foreign guests at the head of state level.
He has experienced many dangerous situations and made many achievements; in terms of professional issues, Zhou Rong's official record error rate has always been zero.
- He has never felt a trace of uncontrollable anxiety and anger like now, crawling along the spine and covering the nerves of the whole body.
Zhou Rong moved his gun to the left, the crosshair was on Romuel's leg, and his index finger pulled the trigger.
- But at this moment, the female Alpha roared: "What's going on!"
Zhou Rong tilted his head.
Sinan suddenly convulsed in a coma, let out a terrifying whimper like a beast, and slammed to the ground!
He had been on a hunger strike for nearly forty-eight hours, and his functions were weakened to the extreme. However, the strength of this struggle made Abbas unable to stop him, so he fell to the ground by surprise, and hurriedly shouted: "Come and help! "
Romuel and Jane flew up, Abbas grabbed Sinan's arm, and the sound of his elbow dislocated came clearly.
However, Sinan seemed to have suddenly lost his sense of pain, and even this heart-piercing pain didn't slow down his movements even half; Si's back, the other elbow smashed into the opponent's cervical vertebra!
Abbas roared in pain, dodged and threw Sinanfei out—
At this moment, Zhou Rong pulled the trigger three times.
The first bullet hit Abbas' calf, and the strong man fell to his knees;
The second bullet hit the female Alpha on the shoulder, and the gun in her hand flew far away before the gun was pulled; the third bullet flew into the air, Romuel turned around like lightning, and sent a series of bursts to Zhou Rong's hiding place Shuttle bullet!
Zhou Rong evaded quickly, and the brick wall was beaten with ashes!
"There!" Romuel roared, while suppressing Zhou Rong with high firepower, he strode towards the brick wall!
"Sir!" Jane's deafening scream exploded on the ground: "Come back! He's out of control!"
I saw Sinan staggeringly stood up, his pupils were extremely dilated, his eyes were bloodshot, and his pale face was lined with a pale face, living like a mad zombie; he moved his elbow, which was twisted in a strange posture, "Kazha!" Reset it with a bang, staring straight at Abbas.
There was a slow growl in his chest—the sound was like the disorienting and frenzied whimper of some sort of trapped beast before it was about to die.
Kill them, a voice kept repeating in his head.
Everyone turned into zombies with blurred faces, and the hallucinations caused by excessive confession kept flashing in front of him, and he couldn't see the faces in front of him at all.
kill them.
All moving things are zombies, kill them.
In an instant, Abbas felt a chill in his heart, dragged his feet back two steps, and then saw Sinan rushing in with force, he didn't even have time to dodge, and a punch knocked him backwards!
The female Alpha cursed loudly, clutching her injured shoulder and rushing towards Sinan.
Zhou Rongfei climbed onto the wall, fell down in the air under the hail of bullets, and knocked Romuel down on the head. At that moment, all the bullets rubbed against his carotid artery. The two shot each other's guns at the same time. The AK47 poured bullets into the air. Circle the crater!
Zhou Rong put an elbow on Romuel's throat and shouted, "Sinan!"
Simon raised his head.
At the critical moment, Zhou Rong saw his eyes, and his heart sank fiercely.
Sinan's vision was slack, his blood vessels burst out, and he was so thin that he lost his shape.
-Si Nan can't recognize him anymore.
The way he looked at Zhou Rong was no different from looking at the other three Alphas, or even looking at zombies.