Chapter 260: Seeing the World
Chapter 260: Seeing the World
Northern Hubei is a provincial capital city. Due to signal issues, the exact date of the broadcast isn’t clear, but everyone knows to get on the Beijing-Hong Kong Expressway and head north. People keep encountering one another along the way, causing traffic to pile up in the direction of Tiesi Village.
This checkpoint is likely the first one on the BJ Port Expressway heading north into Northern Hubei.
Zhan Lian doesn’t know much about the current situation. The street surveillance in Xiangcheng has long since stopped. The longer people survive in the apocalypse, the more blind they become to the world around them. Finding two people now is incredibly difficult.
However, after hearing the broadcast, Zhan Lian wonders if his ex-wife might have taken their daughter to Northern Hubei. So, he too heads north, hoping to find them along the way.
He has only been in Tiesi Village for about half a month when he realizes that the survivor group here is massive. Perhaps travelers heading north have stopped at Tiesi Village, found the environment favorable, and decided to stay. The leader of the survivor group seems reliable, which encourages more people to linger.
Over time, Tiesi Village steadily expands. Currently, there are likely several thousand people in the settlement.
The main reason Zhan Lian stays, however, is because Luo Feifan is also there. Luo Feifan has traveled from the northwest to the east but failed to find his parents. Instead, he finds Tang Siluo — the little girl who used to live next door — who is now the daughter of the survivor group's leader in Tiesi Village.
Tiesi Village happens to be Tang Siluo's father's hometown. Before the apocalypse, Tang Jianjun had returned home, and at Tang Siluo's request, Luo Feifan brings her to Tiesi Village to join her father.
In this chaotic world, the strong and resourceful manage to survive no matter where they end up. When Zhan Lian and Luo Feifan reunite, the two brothers quickly join forces. Now, they are among the influential figures who can get what they need in Tiesi Village.
Without even turning his head, Zhan Lian catches the peanut Luo Feifan tosses at him. He sets down his telescope, peels the peanut in his hand, looks at the nut still covered in its thin skin, sighs, and suddenly loses his appetite.
While Zhan Lian is peeling peanuts, Anran steps out of her car with the fussy baby in her arms.
Doll's head can now barely support itself, and an adult still has to hold it steady. Anran wraps Doll securely in a sling, supports the back of Doll's neck with one hand, and slowly walks around the car.
Doll has grown more restless lately. While black and white cards used to keep her entertained, they no longer work. Now, at three months old, she insists on being held upright and taken outside to see the world.
During the journey, Anran rarely has the chance to hold Doll this way. Most of the time, when the road is clear of zombies, she can strap Doll to her chest and take her along while clearing the area. But when there are too many zombies, even Yun Tao has to get out of the car to help. At those times, Doll has no choice but to stay inside the vehicle, playing with Little Mint and Hengheng.
Now that things seem “safe” for the moment, Anran takes the opportunity to show Doll some scenery. The previously fussy child quiets down, her big black eyes fixed intently on some distant sight as she stares in silence.