Jiang Liushi took a while to go from asleep to fully awake. He was weak, hungry, thirsty, hot, cold, dizzy and had a headache. He could tell he was lying in bed, and slowly recalled the events of the day before. He guessed it had something to do with why he was sick."Sta.r.s.eed, what is happening to me?"
[You are fighting a mild infection]
"Infection? Am I turning into a zombie?"
[No. You will be fine. Mutant beast bodies seem to contain elements that neutralise the zombification agents present in infected bodies. The procession of infected bodies most likely cleaned their limbs and the hive structure of the infection.]
"Thank the spirits for that... Then why am I ill?"
[These elements didn"t neutralise all possible harmfull substances in infected bodies. The mutant beasts body fluids have their own harmful substances as well. They entered your body when you were stabbed. You also lost some blood, reducing your healing speed. Your companion was infected as well, but received a lesser amount of toxins, and is already on her way to full recovery.]
"Huh... Ok... Your talking manner, is it changing?"
[Yes. I am adapting to human talking paterns.]
"I see... You said that Lu was infected but is recovering... Of course you would still perceive what is happening around me even if I"m unconscious. I completly forgot about that. What time is it and where is Xiaotian taking us?"
[It is 11:55. Xiaotian followed your wishes and left the town in the morning. We are currently en route to Nanjing.]
"Good girl. What else did she do?"
[She nursed you and her sister during the night. You would be in a more serious condition otherwise. You will have completly recovered from the infection the day after tomorrow. Your other wounds will take a few days to heal.]
"Good girl indeed..."
He wanted to relax, but he wasn"t feeling well enough for that. And there were some things to take care of.
"Xiaotian, Lu! I"m awake."
"Brother Liushi!" replied Lu as she got of the seat behind the driver c.o.c.kpit.
While she rushed to his side, Xiaotian stopped the Doomsday Ride to the side of the nearly empty road. Then she joined her sister at Liushi"s side.
"How are you doing?" asked Lu.
"I feel like c.r.a.p. But more importantly, I need help to go to the toilet. I don"t think I can walk on my own. I"m also both hungry and thirsty."
"Oh..." she blushed slightly. "Let me help you then."
"You should let Xiaotian take care of me" he said as she joined them. "Given my current state, I don"t think you"re feeling all that well either."
"That"s right. You both got sick in the night. You"re not well enough sister. Let me take care of him. Why don"t you prepare a drink for him and start working on our meal?"
"Fine. It"s good to see you awake brother Liushi" she said as she moved to the kitchen.
So, once more, Xiaotian played nurse for Liushi, helping him to the toilet, then back to bed, sponge and wet wipes bath, taking medecine. The most embbara.s.sing thing for both of them had been to search his wardrobe for clean underwear, wating for him to change under the cover and take the used ones to the landry basket. During that time, he explained how they got ill. After the meal, Liushi went back to business
"I want to reach Nanjing quickly, but before that we need to find a place where I can upgrade the truck. Don"t worry, my current condition won"t have any effect on how well I use my power, nor will the use of my power worsen my condition. Thank the spirits for small mercies. It must be a place big enough to park the truck and the trailer, but it must also have enough quality materials. Metals, plastics, polymers. Something similar to where we have been after the mutant boar attack. A place with expansive materials. Do you have any idea of where there might be such a place?"
"Don"t worry, brother Liushi. I though about it. We are going to a small industrial town on he way with a railway station. It deal mostly with the refinment of raw material and manufacture of industrial tools and parts."
"d.a.m.n good girl!!" Liushi praised in his mind.
"Ah... I forgot" Lu said, embarra.s.sed.
Xiaotian and Liushi smiled in response.
"Our father... Our father sometimes went there to transport materials. Anyway! We may have to gather materials from the differents wharehouses and small factories, but it won"t be hard to find a place safe enough to settle so you can do your modification."
"Good. Thanks a lot, Xiaotian. When do you think we will reach it?"
"In the afternoon. We will have to spend the night there..."
"What is it?" he asked, noticing her hesitation.
"You know, I had to avoid 2 roads because they were completly blocked by crashed cars and trucks. Seeing how things were when we left Jiangbei, and how cramped some of the roads are, entering Nanjing with the truck may be difficult. Especially with the trailer. You"ll have to do something to improve our mobiliy. Or we will have to leave the trailer out of the city."
"Ah... I"ll think of something."
After that, they resumed their trip. Liushi had his music player and headphones to distract himself while he recovered. Lu was entertaining herself with the tablet. Xiaotian was busy driving, occasionally crashing into abandonned vehicles. It translated to slight shaking for Liushi and Lu. The few zombies that happened to be nearby were either run over, or shot by the turrets.
Xiaotian tried to ignore the mutilated corpses of unlucky people, and if possible, drove around them. As they approached the small town, the sight got more and more sickening. There wasn"t any mutant beasts to do some clean up. Slaughter, carnage, bloodbath. Those were the terms that sprung to her mind as she saw the state of the streets. Some people had their entrails or brain matters spilling out of their bodies. She had trouble holding her lunch in her stomach.
"Sister, brother Liushi, I really envy right now. You don"t have to keep your eyes on the streets. The sight is nauseating."
Hearing no answer, she spared a look in the living module and saw her sister with headphones as she watched a video. She also remembered that Liushi had taken his music players. She sighted and turned her eyes back to the road, pouting. She envied them even more, and wanted some company. But she couldn"t inflict this on recovering people.
When she got close to the railway station, she abruptly stopped. It slightly disturbed Lu, who raised her head toward the driving c.o.c.kpit. She couldn"t see what her sister was seeing, and waited patiently. Xiaotian was looking at a bridge, where a high speed train was stopped. Some of the carriages were off the rails, hanging on the bridge. What really caught her attention were the tank and the military truck in 2 of the carriages. She realised that it was a military train.
She got out of the driver seat and rushed to the back of the living module, startling Lu.
"Brother Liushi!" she surprised him as she shook his shoulder. "Come. You have to see this!" she urged him while helping him stand.
The 3 people returned to the driving c.o.c.kpit, and she gestured toward the train. They all looked at the train with envy. Military train meant military weapons, and after dealing with the mutant bees, they really wanted proper weapons. Liushi was also interested in the tanks armor and machine-guns.
"This train is a treasure trove" Liushi said while daydreaming.
The girls next to him nodded, and Xiaotian resumed driving. At that time, a sound came out from one of the nearby carriages, and Xiaotian slowed down. The whole area around the train station was quiet, and since the Doomsday ride didn"t make a lot of noise, the sound was quite audible.
Bang!
The second tim, it was louder, and a face with red eyes appeared at the carriage"s window. It was a zombie in uniform staring at them.
"AAOOOOOOOO!"
Hearing it howl, the trio got suddenly anxious. A second later, a large amount of zombies busted out of the carriage"s door. The same happened to many other carriages. More zombies came out from the train station, the surrounding buildings, and others from the nearby streets. The security program was constantly beeping, warning them of the danger, and the turrets started to fire on the growing ma.s.s of infected. Xiaotian, Liushi and Lu were shocked, as the number of zombies quickly exceeded the hundred mark and kept rising.
"s.h.i.t. Get us out of here!"
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"Right!" replied a pale Xiaotian.
VROAMMMMMM!!
The ma.s.sive truck jerked forward as Xiaotian stepped on the gas. While he wasn"t worried about he body of the truck or the truck being overturned, the windows and the windshield had limited durability. Too much bodies in front of the truck and under the wheels would slow them down. They would be able to climb on the truck and strike the windows, if not throw themselves at it. It was better to get away, and reduce their numbers from afar with the turrets, or quick pa.s.ses to run them down. They needed room for manoeuvre, especially with the trailer.
It took half a minute to lose them, and they also attracted the attention of more zombies in the surroundings. They retreated to a less populated part of the small town, near the residencial area, and took a break. Xiaotian needed it.