Chapter 152: Meeting Shuozi again
It takes them nine days to reach X City, which is a day earlier than expected. When the Hummer approaches the safe zone, a huge ruckus can be heard coming from the nearby Y City as a convoy of trucks and large vehicles make their way towards X"s safe zone. There are even men in military uniforms carrying loud horns to direct groups of people to different areas outside the safe zone"s gates.
"Tsk, tsk. Really noisy ah. The fact that a horde of zombies has yet to come due to the noise is a miracle," Long Zhanye sneers as he sweeps a glance over the disorderly ma.s.s before the large gates.
"They are spilling over the defensive trench dug around the safe zone too." Huo Zaiyuan observes as he leans out the car window, propping his head up with a hand. "I reckon we should depart as quickly as possible. Although we did say it would save time to have all the survivors in Y City gather in X City before moving out as one group, with such an enormous crowd, it will be hard to avoid attracting every undead here. If we are surrounded, then there"s no need to hope for a way out."
"I feel the same way. Let me find the military district leader first, then we can sort this disorderly ma.s.s out and leave."
Driving the Hummer to a stop before the safe zone"s gates, Long Zhanye can"t help twitching in irritation at the bustle of yells and the loud hum of numerous engines running in the background.
As soon as the vehicle stops, the driver door opens and Long Zhanye nimbly climbs onto the roof. Unholstering his pistol, he raises the firearm towards the sky and fires.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots ring out, causing silence to ripple through the large crowd as everyone turns towards him.
Nodding in satisfaction, the imposing male standing on the roof of the car offers the ma.s.s a sharp smile. "Hn, very good. You all know how to be quiet, at least."
Pushing open the pa.s.senger"s side door, Huo Zaiyuan unhurriedly steps out of the Hummer and eyes the man clad in his usual camouflage military uniform with fond exasperation. "You just love causing a scene."
"It"s more effective this way ah. See, they are all quiet now." Long Zhanye leaps off the roof and lands lightly beside Huo Zaiyuan.
"Who are you?" A soldier guarding the gates place a hand on his rifle and walks forward with a tensed expression.
Holstering his pistol, Long Zhanye removes a file from his coat"s inner pocket and holds it out to the soldier. "I am in charge of escorting these survivors back to A City."
As soon as he says this, the surrounding survivors start to converse amongst themselves once more…
"Heavens ah, only two guards. There are more than twenty thousand people when X and Y safe zones are added together ah!"
"That"s right ah. How can two people…"
"Look, one of them is even a child barely out of his mother"s womb. Aren"t they sending us to our deaths…"
"Correct ah, are we going to leave like this?"
Long Zhanye and Huo Zaiyuan can hear the various comments being made even if they were whispered but neither are angered. On the contrary, a bright grin appears on Long Zhanye"s face as he teases the youth by his side.
"Little Yuan, they seem to be belittling you."
Glancing at Long Zhanye, he replies blandly, "We are being belittled."
"Heheh…"
As Long Zhanye laughs lightly, the soldier finally finishes skimming through the details on the doc.u.ment and his expression changes abruptly. Clicking his heels together, he stands at attention and salutes.
"Greetings to senior officer Long. Our leader has been awaiting your arrival for a quite some time. Please allow this subordinate to lead the way."
"Little Yuan, let"s go."
"No, I"ll wait for you out here." Huo Zaiyuan shakes his head as he leans against the Hummer.
He is not going to subject himself to listening to the district leader flatter Long Zhanye and prattle on about useless things. He is better off sitting in the car and daydream.
"All right. I"ll blaze through all the formalities and return as soon as I can." Rubbing Huo Zaiyuan"s head, Long Zhanye gestures for the soldier to lead the way and leaves quickly.
Following Long Zhanye"s departure, the crowd erupts in another lively discussion.
"Heavens ah, that soldier called that youngster senior officer Long!"
"Don"t tell me he is the famous A City"s Long Zhanye!"
"A City only has one Long Zhanye who is a senior officer. Do you think there"s another?!"
"I heard that a mere two months ago, he brought a small squad of ten members and charge bravely into a bandit stronghold in J City, rescuing more than three thousand survivors."
"I heard about that too. Really incredible ah!"
"Blahblahblah…"
Leaning against the car"s door with arms crossed over his chest, Huo Zaiyuan can"t help c.o.c.king an eyebrow as he listens to the chatter, the corners of his mouth curving up.
He really didn"t know Long Zhanye was so bold and valiant. Bringing only ten over people into J City to rescue three thousand plus survivors. Really remarkable ah.
Just as he is lost in thought, a person slowly walks over, stopping when they are three meters away. Tilting their head to the side for a moment, the individual opens their mouth to speak, voice soft. "Excuse me, may I ask if you are little Yuan?"
Due to Long Zhanye occupying Huo Zaiyuan"s mind and adding on the fact that there are numerous people walking back and forth, he doesn"t sense anyone approaching until they spoke. Freezing for a split-second, he turns to regard the speaker.
As soon as the man gets a clear look at Huo Zaiyuan"s face, a cheerful smile surfaces. "Sure enough, it is little Yuan. You…do you still remember me? I am…"
"Older brother Shuozi!" Huo Zaiyuan exclaims in recognition, an equally happy smile curving his lips.
Never did he expect someone who is meant to be in V City to appear here.
"You recognised me ah. That"s great. Here I was thinking you would have long forgotten about me," Shuozi says joyfully, the smile on his face widening as he walks forward a few paces to stand before Huo Zaiyuan.
After nearly two years, Shuozi has grown taller and broader, but what hasn"t changed is his honest and friendly smile.
"Older brother Shuozi, how are you here? Is everyone in the village doing all right?"
As long as the protective array he set up around the village before he left doesn"t break, everyone within will not encounter any danger. However, Shuozi is here now, so does it mean something bad befell the small village? Or has the array collapsed?
"You left in the middle of the night without a word to anyone. The villagers were very worried. Afterwards, I recalled what you told me on the last day and informed the village chief. He said that you are our benefactor, and must have overheard about an incoming disaster, hence he told us to follow your instructions. In the months following, we raised enough funds to build a large gate along the small mountain road… Never did we imagine that a few months after you left, horrible monsters started to appear. Anyone who left the village returned as one of those creatures. At that time, we came to realise that this was what you warned us about… The villagers became very afraid and shut the gates, hiding in their houses for a long period of time. Half a year later, a large swarm of zombies came out of nowhere. The gates were torn down and our village was surrounded. But strangely, none could enter. We thought it is the benevolence of the mountain G.o.d who protected us… However, our luck didn"t last forever. A group of survivors came into our village to plunder it, injuring a lot of residents in the process. With no alternative, I left with the other surviving villagers… After wandering here and there, we eventually came here." Shuozi sighs lightly, then glances at Huo Zaiyuan. "Little Yuan, you"ve changed a lot. Became more attractive…grown your hair out…I thought I made a mistake at first…"
"Eh…I couldn"t be bothered to cut my hair, so I let it grow." Slender fingers running through his dark hair, Huo Zaiyuan smiles and shrugs.
He isn"t one to take special care of his hair, letting it be for the most part. Besides washing and drying it, he doesn"t bother combing. However, it doesn"t tangle or knot, remaining constantly smooth and straight. Since it doesn"t give him any trouble, he doesn"t care much about and slowly became used to having long hair.
Also, Long Zhanye seems to like his long hair…
"Little Yuan looks pretty with long hair," Shuozi admits, a faint blush staining his cheeks.
When the apocalypse came, a part of him constantly worries about Huo Zaiyuan, afraid that the youth will be met with danger. Every night, he prays that he (HZY) will be alive and well. Now, seeing this attractive young man again, his heartbeat increases, thudding heavily in his chest.
Huo Zaiyuan gives a faint smile at Shuozi"s compliment. "Who compliments a man by calling him pretty? That"s right, older brother Shuozi, why are you outside the gates? Didn"t you say you and the other villagers are already residents in the safe zone?"
"Eh? Oh, my bad. I forgot to tell you in my excitement. I"m now working for the army, so I am currently helping them organise this large-scale migration," Shuozi says happily. "That"s right, little Yuan, why are you here? Don"t tell me you were in Y City and came here in preparation to head towards A City?"
In the apocalypse, how many people dream about being admitted into the army for work? If it was not for his youth and strength, he would not have been selected.
Thus, when Huo Zaiyuan asked him that question, his manner becomes a lot more confident. At minimum, he has a bit of glory in front of the person he likes.
"No, I am here to escort the survivors of X and Y safe zones to A City as a member of the squad placed in charge of this mission," Huo Zaiyuan replies.
He doesn"t have a clue about what the simple and honest fellow is thinking in his heart, but his bland answer is like a thunderbolt that mercilessly hacks through Shuozi"s confidence.