Chapter 355: Quite Troublesome
Chapter 355: Quite Troublesome
“They won’t be gone. They eat too much, and their skin is thick. The more you kill, the more they reproduce.” An Ran shakes her head. Her plants are the rats’ food source, so at best she can only wipe out one wave after another—it’s really frustrating. Frowning deeply, she throws a handful of white ash aside and asks Yun Tao, “How’s it out there?”
“Pretty troublesome. We have to retreat. Zhang Boxun says this county had a rat plague before the apocalypse.” As he speaks, Yun Tao bends down to pick up Little Mint from the hospital bed and casually takes down the IV drip from the stand. He says to An Ran, “You pack up Doll and supplies, get out the main gate first. Zhan Lian will find us a vehicle.”
“Okay.” An Ran hurriedly scoops up Doll, who is playing on the bed. There isn’t much to pack anyway—just a portable stove, a pot, and a box of supplies.
She thinks of Zhao Ru and Zhao Qianrong, then quickly carries Doll to the operating room and pushes the door open. She calls out to Zhao Ru inside,
“Zhao Ru, hurry up and get out. Are you done treating the patients here?”
“What’s going on?” Zhao Ru is finishing bandaging the man bitten by a rat and giving him a tetanus shot. Hearing An Ran’s words, she grips the syringe and rushes out of the operating room.
“Yun Tao says this county had a rat plague before the apocalypse. The rats outside are all bigger than cats. We need to leave now.”
“Alright.” Zhao Ru nods and turns to instruct Liang Ziyu and the others to carry the man bitten by the rat down from the operating table.
Seeing this, An Ran hesitates for a moment and asks, “A friend of mine was once bitten by a zombie and turned into one herself. Do you think people bitten by rats will also turn into zombies?”
“I don’t know.” Zhao Ru’s expression turns serious. She quickly leaves the operating room to get Zhao Qianrong. “But he’s still alive. We can’t just leave him like that.”
“That’s natural.” An Ran nods without saying more, holding Doll and the large plastic bag as she goes downstairs.
She sees Zhao Ru has Liang Ziyu and a few men helping. They form a small team, and An Ran can’t really help Zhao Ru. She focuses on taking care of the few people with her.
Once outside the gate, a wall of flames blazes so brightly An Ran can barely see the road. The temperature suddenly rises sharply, making her short hair stand on end. Doll in her arms seems fascinated by the strange sight, watching Zhan Lian jumping near the fire with a smile, her little head lifted high.
Zhan Lian hurriedly sets up a row of metal swords outside the firewall, then turns and grabs An Ran’s arm, taking the plastic bag from her hand and leading her toward a small truck parked by the gate. Yun Tao, Hengheng , and Little Mint are already on the truck.
Zhan Lian pulls An Ran to the truck’s side, lifts her and Doll into his arms, then after a moment, puts them down. He cups her face with both hands, looks into her eyes, and says, “Let’s go north. We’re heading to northern Hubei.”
“What about you? Aren’t you coming?” An Ran stares unwaveringly into Zhan Lian’s eyes, which sparkle like stars, causing her hopeless heart to flutter faintly.
“I’ll be right behind you.” He smiles in the firelight, his dark face flushed red from the heat, slick with sweat, smelling strongly of sweat. Holding An Ran’s hands, he kneads them firmly like kneading dough, then adds, “Take care of yourself and take care of Zhan Anxin. Leave everything else to me.”