Blown Up
Jiang Ziyao’s steps were firm, yet it felt as if he were walking on clouds. He deliberately kept his seemingly casual gaze away from the arm on the ground. When the insect appeared, he’d thought everything would go smoothly. He knew the outcome, but who could say what they might lose along the way?
“I can see two of you now,” Liu Dong said. He leaned against the wall, his face white as paper. His voice came out faint and airy. He was weak, but as soon as Jiang Ziyao approached, Liu Dong grabbed his arm with surprising speed.
His palm was ice-cold, like a corpse’s, and his grip was as strong as a pair of pincers.
Jiang Ziyao lowered his head and glanced at Liu Dong’s injury. “Don’t talk for now. Save your strength.”
Liu Dong’s mouth opened. Blood seeped between his teeth. He bared them as he shook his head. “I don’t know if I’ll make it. If I don’t say this now, it’ll be too late. If I die, can you do me a favor?”
Jiang Ziyao sounded heartless. “No.”
“I’m begging you.”
“That won’t change anything. You can’t die right now. If you do, Huo Chi and I won’t go back to the camp.”
Liu Dong drew a ragged breath. “You have to go back. I know you two value loyalty. I can only swallow my pride and ask you again.”
“I can’t help you with Liu Xiaobei. I won’t take care of him for you.”
He made himself clear.
“I don’t want to talk this through with you now. We’ll buy you a little more time. You’ll have to hold on by yourself.”
Liu Dong shifted, doing his best to lift his head. “I’m not asking you to take care of him. I’m not shameless enough to saddle you with another burden.”
“Then what do you want?”
Liu Dong gave a bitter laugh. “Give Liu Xiaobei a quick death for me. Let him go with me. There’s still one bullet in my gun. Use it. Xiaobei knows the gun. He won’t fight you and cause trouble.”
Jiang Ziyao hadn’t expected that request. He was silent for a moment. “Liu Xiaobei will hate you.”
Pain contorted Liu Dong’s face. He hurt so much he wanted to scream. “Without me, being alive would be worse for him than being dead.”
“His mother died by my hand. She was bitten a year ago, so I locked her in the house, hoping she’d get better someday. But Xiaobei sneaked in to see her, and she tried to bite him. She’d completely forgotten he was her own son, so I put her down. I used that gun.”
“I put a bullet through her head. Xiaobei was terrified. He cried for a long time, then got angry at me. He should’ve hated me then.”
His cloudy eyes began to glaze over, but his voice remained calm. “Wang Xiaoshan’s father and I made a pact back then. If one of us died, the other would put his kid down. Now he’s dead, and his boy came to me, just like his father said. But I couldn’t do it. This world is fucked up, but people still want to live.”
Huo Chi stared at him, stunned. “You want your own son dead?”
Liu Dong’s eyes filled with tears. “If there were even the slightest chance he could live, I wouldn’t…”
He swallowed his tears and repeated, “But he’s too young. He’s so little. People and monsters will hurt him.”
“There’s a dark blue bag in the house. It has things you can use. After you take care of Xiaobei, leave. You’ll definitely live longer than I will.”
Liu Dong fixed his gaze on Jiang Ziyao. “Promise me…”
Jiang Ziyao furrowed his brow and said nothing. As long as he didn’t answer, Liu Dong wouldn’t let go. He’d rather turn into a dried-up corpse and die full of resentment than release him.
But Liu Dong’s body couldn’t keep up the struggle. Before long, his grip slackened. He passed out and lay still.
“He’s still breathing.” Jiang Ziyao made a point of checking his breath. “He’s not dead.”
Huo Chi was still pressing down on Liu Dong’s wound. “The bleeding’s stopped.”
Jiang Ziyao stood up. “Then he won’t die.”
He was sure of it. “He won’t die before I give him my answer.”
Jiang Ziyao found two more pieces of clothing and tore them into strips to bandage Liu Dong’s wound. He showed signs of dehydration.
“Move him to the kitchen and give him some water. We’ve got another problem to deal with.”
He turned away. The room was a mess. They’d actually been talking intently beside the insect’s corpse, putting up with the stench.
Violent pounding came from the windows and front door. The noise from earlier had drawn all the walkers in the neighborhood. They crowded around the house, like countless flies buzzing outside, their drone enough to set anyone on edge.
It wouldn’t be long before the house was overrun.
The walkers were trying to get inside. Jiang Ziyao could hear snarls coming from every direction. They were frantic beasts. Just standing there, he could almost see their rotting, putrid faces. Suffocation rolled over him in waves, like the tide.
Jiang Ziyao first shoved whatever heavy furniture he could move against the door, trying to buy them a little time.
Huo Chi had settled Liu Dong in place and came over to help. “Is there another way out? A back door or window?”
“The things outside are practically digging a tunnel to get in. There’s no way out.”
The second floor had already collapsed. As soon as Jiang Ziyao pulled back the curtain, the walkers outside the window pounded even harder. Fortunately, the glass was sturdy. But the wooden front door couldn’t hold much longer. Half a walker’s body had forced its way through.
Huo Chi stared at the doorway, gripped his axe, and went straight over to hack off the walker’s head. It rolled across the floor, its mouth still open. Through the crack in the door, he saw a sea of heads. He swallowed and stepped back.
Jiang Ziyao leaned against a clean patch of wall and let his strength drain away. His hair hung in disarray against his face. “We’re meat in a cage.”
“Are we going to fight our way out?” Huo Chi asked.
Jiang Ziyao silently picked up the guns. They had one bullet, enough to take out one head.
“We can’t.”
Jiang Ziyao tucked the handgun into the back of his waistband and handed the rifle to Huo Chi.
“Then let’s think of something else. I’ll see what we can use in the house.”
“There is another way,” Jiang Ziyao said. “We have two options right now.”
Huo Chi looked surprised. “Two?”
Jiang Ziyao nodded. “Walkers mainly track people by smell. We could smear ourselves from head to toe with the insect’s blood to cover our scent. When the house can’t hold out any longer, the walkers won’t be able to find us, and we can use the chance to escape. That’s the first option.”
Huo Chi glanced at the insect’s corpse and fought back his disgust. “It’s gross, but it might work?”
Jiang Ziyao looked at Liu Dong. “But we have a wounded man now. His wound can’t come into contact with the blood, unless we leave him here to fend for himself.”
“What’s the second option?” Huo Chi asked.
“That one’s simple. We blow this place up. It’s just pretty dangerous.”
Huo Chi nodded. “Then let’s do that. How?”
Jiang Ziyao went to the kitchen, picked up the gasoline, and met Huo Chi’s eyes.
“With that?” Huo Chi asked.
“It’ll work,” Jiang Ziyao assured him.
He’d paused just now when he saw the text:
[The noise outside had still drawn in a huge number of walkers. It was expected, but it was still infuriating.
The only workable solution was to use the gasoline in the house. Pour it into an open plastic barrel, then use friction to generate static electricity and set off an explosion. It was a practical method.
But Huo Chi worried the explosion wouldn’t be big enough, so he deliberately put the gasoline beside the insect’s corpse. Mutants were said to have a lot of methane in their bodies.
Fate decides life and death. How could we know the outcome without taking a chance? We tried, and it worked. The only problem was, the smell of roasted walkers wasn’t pleasant…
We had to leave immediately. Several dark shapes had appeared in the sky. The fire hadn’t only attracted the walkers. Danger in this city grew with each passing day.]
My old chemistry lessons hadn’t let me down. Jiang Ziyao deeply appreciated that he hadn’t wasted his time studying back then.
He called to Huo Chi, “Find some rope!”
Rope, plastic barrel. Jiang Ziyao also tore down the curtains. He still took a little of the insect’s blood. Huo Chi watched his movements tensely as Jiang Ziyao carefully tied the rope around the barrel. Then they both hid in the kitchen.
The walkers outside grew more and more agitated. But which side was being hunted depended on whether the gasoline worked.
The front door gave way, and the walkers surged inside as one. Jiang Ziyao yanked hard on the rope.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out.
Jiang Ziyao hoped it wasn’t big enough to hit the kitchen, but also hoped it wouldn’t be so small that it fizzled out. The blast was enormous, yet the kitchen door remained intact.
He saw Huo Chi bracing the door with both hands. Huo Chi turned and said his hands were burning hot.
Jiang Ziyao wanted to see his hands, but Huo Chi pulled away.
Jiang Ziyao frowned. “Did you get burned? Can you move your fingers?”
Huo Chi said he was fine again, then immediately hoisted Liu Dong onto his back.
The entire house had been blown away. Strangely, the kitchen was the only part untouched. It made no sense according to the laws of physics. Once the force of the blast had passed, the fire spread and began to burn.
Most of the walkers had been blown to bits. Some were crushed beneath the ruins. It was an overcast day, and the bright flames became the perfect lure for the walkers. Like moths, they flew into the fire.
Smoke rose. Jiang Ziyao bent low and draped the curtain over himself, then slipped out while he had the chance. Even with his vision obscured, his judgment wasn’t affected. Gene awakening had pushed the five senses beyond human limits.
Jiang Ziyao carried three large bags on his shoulders, while Huo Chi carried Liu Dong. They took a long detour before reaching the car.
Walkers and mutants swarmed around the house’s ruins. They only had to look up to see the smoke still rising.
Did mutants eat one another? Could a new food chain form among them, too? One thing was certain: humans were at the bottom.
Liu Dong opened his eyes once on the way back, but didn’t say anything.
Back at the camp, Jiang Ziyao and Huo Chi handed over their supplies. The haul earned them medicine and some peace of mind. They’d made sure to hide the canned meat beforehand. The people at the camp wouldn’t hesitate to take whatever they could. They’d had four cans in all. Jiang Ziyao hadn’t had the heart to eat Liu Dong’s share, so now two cans were left.
Fu Bin made a few snide remarks, then let them go. Liu Dong went to have his wound treated. His mind was hazy, and he only asked the two of them to look after his son. Jiang Ziyao and Huo Chi went ahead to see Liu Xiaobei.
The first thing Liu Xiaobei asked when he saw them was, “Where’s my dad?”
The boy wasn’t stupid. His face had tightened with worry when the person who should have arrived on time didn’t show. Jiang Ziyao didn’t hide it from him. “He’s hurt. They’re bandaging his wound. He’ll come by later.”
“Is he badly hurt?”
“A little, but he’ll be fine.”
Liu Xiaobei clutched the hem of his shirt. After a while, he finally spoke. “I want to see my dad. Where is he?”
Jiang Ziyao stopped him. “Don’t go over there and make things difficult for them. Once his wound’s bandaged and he’s awake, he’ll come back.”
Liu Xiaobei looked doubtful. He was scared. “Dad’s not dead, right?”
“No,” Jiang Ziyao assured him.
Only then did Liu Xiaobei quiet down. He crouched in a corner without making a sound, but his stomach growled with hunger.
Jiang Ziyao shut the door securely before letting Huo Chi take out the things they’d hidden.
“Eat,” Huo Chi said, handing Liu Xiaobei a can of meat. “I know you’re hungry. Finish it now. Don’t leave it around for someone to steal.”
“This…” Liu Xiaobei stared at the can in his hands, eyes wide. “For me?”
“Yes.” Jiang Ziyao nodded, then added, “Go get the other kid, too. There’s another can, so you can share it. Just don’t draw too much attention.”
“Really?” Liu Xiaobei cried out in delight. His sour expression finally disappeared. “Okay! Wait here. I’ll go get him!”
Liu Xiaobei ran out, calling Wang Xiaoshan’s name as soon as he was outside. He was excited as he brought him in, but Wang Xiaoshan seemed even more timid than the day before. He didn’t dare look at Jiang Ziyao, and his face was pale, as if he were sick.
“Do I look scary to you?” Jiang Ziyao asked.
Wang Xiaoshan met Jiang Ziyao’s eyes, then shrank back and shook his head. In a small voice, he said, “But I don’t have anything left to trade.”
Jiang Ziyao deliberately kept his distance from the two boys, so he wouldn’t seem as intimidating. “I don’t want anything from you. It’s a gift. But don’t cry. I hate kids who cry and have no backbone.”
His face was still cold. Wang Xiaoshan did his best to sniffle quietly.
Jiang Ziyao didn’t show the boy any more concern. He knew he couldn’t give Wang Xiaoshan any real hope. He wasn’t a particularly kind person, though he was a little more forgiving with children.
But if he’d known Wang Xiaoshan was about to die, he would have said something kind, to make sure the boy had one last happy night.
Wang Xiaoshan died the next morning.