Chapter 140: Mission accomplished
There are a total of fifteen survivors within the unit. Four of them are children, one infant, with the other ten being adults. One of them is a seventy-year-old man, the very person who became an Ability User and crushed the heads of the zombies in this building. He is the one who rescued the other survivors and scavenged as much food as possible, enabling the fifteen of them to survive until now.
"There"s no rush, eat a little slower. After starving for this long, your stomach wouldn"t be able to handle the sudden influx of food." A trace of anguish emerges in his eyes as he takes in the thin and sickly appearance of the survivors currently wolfing down the food given to them.
These survivors relied on the gathered food to survive this long, but three days ago, the last of their food and water ran out, leaving only a small bottle of milk for the two-month-old infant.
"Thank you very much, youngsters. If not for you, we would have starved to death here." The elder says gratefully to Huo Zaiyuan as the latter continues distributing food and water. After eating two pieces of bread and guzzling down half a bottle of water, the seventy-year-old man finally feels alive again.
"Grandfather, you are the real hero here. You"ve protected everyone here," Huo Zaiyuan replies with a smile.
Having finished making sure everyone is given food and water, Long Zhanye returns to Huo Zaiyuan"s side and studies the grey-haired elderly Ability User.
Knowing that the survivors relied all this while on this elderly to survive these couple of months, he speculates that this old grandfather gained his ability through the desire to continue protecting.
"Grandfather, you cannot linger in this place any longer. Are you willing to bring this group of survivors and head for B City"s safe zone?"
As soon as Huo Zaiyuan told him there are living humans in this building, Long Zhanye has already thought of ways to bring them out of here. However, if he suggests they make for A City"s safe zone, the journey is too far, the group too big and looking for transport would be too inconvenient. Thus, he proposes that they head for B"s safe zone as it is relatively near.
"I don"t know if my son and daughter-in-law are still alive or not. On the night these monsters appeared, almost everyone in this building was turned. Even my wife…" The Ability User chokes on the last word, eyes reddening with grief. Lifting his arm to display the healed bite there, he continues. "After my wife bit me, I had a high fever that continued for several nights. It was my granddaughter who took care of me. After I recuperated, I discovered my strength increased. I think this is ability is due to my wife"s strong desire to continue protecting me and our granddaughter even after becoming a monster… Therefore, I decided to kill those creatures and rescue all the survivors in this building… Originally, we wanted to escape from this place, but there are a lot more creatures outside, so we could only hide here… Youngster, outside is really…there are really still living humans?"
"There are. Although a lot of humans have transformed into monsters, there are still quite many survivors. We will send you to the safe zone. It"s a very secure place." Long Zhanye pats the elderly"s shoulder in comfort. "You still have your granddaughter, but it"s possible your son and daughter-in-law are already in the safe zone."
He is not someone who knows how to comfort others, but under this sort of circ.u.mstances, the least he can do is keep this old man"s spirit up.
"I understand, that we will be troubling you." The elder nods.
"Little Yuan." Turning to look at the person beside him, Long Zhanye"s heart hurts at the beaten and tired look of his beloved. After expanding quite a bit of energy controlling his cranes and walking up eight floors, Huo Zaiyuan is clearly exhausted. But if one wishes to rest comfortably, they have to depart from here first. "I need to make another trip to B base and inform Hongjian to send over sufficient transport for these survivors. Here…"
"While I did use quite a bit of power earlier, setting up a barrier will not take a lot out of me. Not to mention, I have this Ability User grandfather. Go on, I will bring them down to wait in the lobby for you. Be careful when on the road."
After Long Zhanye leaves, Huo Zaiyuan waits for everyone to finish eating their fill and resting before leading them to the stairs. Floor by floor they descend, with the majority of them sniffling as they catch sight of the headless bodies scattered along the corridors.
These corpses…used to be their neighbours ah…every household within this building is familiar and friendly with each other. Now, they are nothing more than lifeless bodies.
"Your bodies are very weak right now, so it would be best to stay away from these corpses. It would be troublesome if the evil energy invades your system." Seeing two of the children break down into loud sobs after they spot the bodies of their parents, Huo Zaiyuan softly reminds the survivors to ensure none get too close.
When they reach the ground floor, Huo Zaiyuan sets up a protective array around the place in order to fully safeguard everyone. That done, he leans against a wall and sits cross-legged to meditate.
Cradling her infant close, a woman with dishevelled hair timidly approaches Huo Zaiyuan, face full of hope and antic.i.p.ation.
"Umm…excuse me. I overheard you and your friend talking about a person called Mr w.a.n.g, who enlisted your help to find someone. May I ask if this Mr w.a.n.g"s full name is w.a.n.g Minghui?"
Opening his eyes, Huo Zaiyuan glances up at the timid woman. Now giving a verbal answer, he merely retrieves a card from within his inner jacket pocket and hands it over. On that business card is a man"s name, contact number and address.
Clutching the card, the woman"s eyes redden, tears streaming down her cheeks. "That"s great…that"s great. He is fine…"
Watching her cry tears of joy, Huo Zaiyuan recalls that man who posted this mission and his anxious plea to know if his family is dead or alive. A sense of accomplishment fills him.
Very good.
"He is in A City. Wait for my friend to return. We will escort the rest of them to B City"s safe zone, then head back to A City. You will be able to see him very soon." Huo Zaiyuan comforts, gaze landing on the infant in the woman"s bosom, currently wrapped in an old cotton shirt.
The baby is probably around two months old. Perhaps due to a shortage of food and water immediately after birth leading to malnutrition, it is incredibly tiny. But Huo Zaiyuan feels that such a small child being able to survive this long into the apocalypse means it has great vitality.
A tiny infant like it will be part of humanity"s hope for the future…
The fingers of his left hand move slightly and a coin talisman appears. Stretching an arm up, he offers it to the woman.
"Let your child wear this. It"s a charm for protection so that he may grow up peacefully."
Taking the offered talisman, the woman gratefully thank Huo Zaiyuan.
Two hours later, Long Zhanye returns. Following behind the Hummer is a thirty-seat coach and the person driving it is none other B military district"s Lord Commander - Long Hongjian.
After thanking Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan once more, the survivors get on the bus while the woman and her baby enters the back seat of the Hummer. Escorting the coach back to the safe zone, they wait until the vehicle fully enters the gates before departing. At last, the Hummer exits the main street and enters the highway leading back to A City.
Long Zhanye"s driving speed this time is even faster than before. Fortunately, the car remains steady throughout the journey, or else the pale-faced woman clutching her baby would have puked in fright.
In a record-breaking time of four and a half hours, the Hummer slows to a stop before the safe zone"s gates. As this is the woman"s first time arriving in the safe zone, she needs to line up for inspection before being led into the separate housing for observation.
Handing over their ident.i.ty card, Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan go through a full-body checkup in order to ensure they have no injuries or wounds. After changing into clean clothes, they are permitted to enter.
Returning to the Missions Hall, they inform Mr w.a.n.g of their success, then lead him to the separate housing so that he may see his wife and child. Like this, their mission has been successfully completed.
The woman and her infant cannot be let out of the separate housing before the time is up, and Mr w.a.n.g cannot be allowed to enter. However, the couple gazes tenderly at each other through the gla.s.s barrier, tears of happiness shimmering in their eyes.
Staring at them from afar, Huo Zaiyuan can"t help a small smile forming when the woman joyfully holds the infant out for her husband to see.
"Being able to see such joyful smiles during the apocalypse is a blessing," Long Zhanye says, wrapping an arm around Huo Zaiyuan"s shoulders.
"Un, let"s go. We have to inform grandfather and Elder priest grandfather about the "Sorcerer"s cult"," Taking Long Zhanye"s hand, Huo Zaiyuan mumbles.
His mother pa.s.sed away and his father remarried. At that time, he felt as though the entire world has abandoned him. In his previous life, after his stepmother kicked him into a swarm of flesh-eating ants, he became very hesitant in trusting anyone. But now, he has someone he can fully entrust his life to.
This man who is tightly holding him…it is he who pulled Huo Zaiyuan back from the crumbling precipice, he who accompanied him on the long road from Z to A City and he who always showers him with gentle smiles and words of concern.
"Leave the reporting to me. You"ve expanded so much spiritual energy…" Long Zhanye frowns. He doesn"t wish to see Huo Zaiyuan shouldering so much burden, for it makes his heart ache whenever his lover"s face becomes strained.
"I"ll be fine. I"m only meeting grandfather and Elder priest grandfather. It"s not as if I"ll be fighting with them." Huo Zaiyuan smiles brightly, tightening his hold on Long Zhanye"s hand. "I also want to accompany you…"
Long Zhanye"s heart throbs at Huo Zaiyuan"s dazzling smile. Nodding in consent, he kisses the top of his head. "Okay, let"s go together."
They can worry about crucial matters later. For the future unfolding before their eyes, however, all they desire is to grasp their partner"s hand firmly, never letting go.