Outside the highway, inside an abandoned house.
The faint flame of a kerosene lamp illuminated the dark bedroom, where Brian sat by the bed, carefully examining the condition of Sarah’s dislocated lower leg.
Not long ago, after learning that a large number of Infected would appear on the bridge, they knew it must be extremely dangerous there.
So they looked for a high slope, hoping to spot Joel and Tommy from above, but except for the areas illuminated by streetlights, everything around was pitch black.
Only the roar of gunfire from the direction of the bridge and the shrill, piercing screeches of the Infected echoed continuously through the dark night.
With no luck in finding anyone, Brian had no choice but to carry Sarah on his back and continue moving in the opposite direction of the bridge, eventually finding this abandoned house by a lake next to the highway.
He planned to rest well tonight and sneak over to the bridge first thing in the morning to check on the situation once it was light.
When they entered the house, it was already in a mess, with various things scattered all over the floor; clearly, the residents here had known about the situation outside and had left early.
For some reason, the house’s electricity was not working.
There was a generator in the basement, but its cover was open, and all the gasoline inside had been drained—presumably taken by the family when they left.
Fortunately, Brian found a working kerosene lamp in the utility room outside, which allowed them to have a glimmer of light in the darkness.
Looking at the swelling that had already begun to appear on the joint of Sarah’s lower leg, he could imagine that if it did not receive effective treatment, the swelling would become increasingly severe and could even lead to irreversible complications.
“This is trouble!” Looking up at the drowsy Sarah, Brian sighed softly, stood up, supported her body, and laid her flat on the bed.
Afterward, he went downstairs to the living room to find a sturdy wooden stick and took two scarves from a rack before returning to the second-floor bedroom.
Coming to Sarah’s side, Brian placed the wooden stick next to her dislocated lower leg and wrapped it tightly with the scarves, layer after layer.
He didn’t know if the method for treating a fracture would work for a dislocation, but he had no other options now and could only try anything as a last resort.
After finishing everything, Brian found some bedding in the next room, spread it on the floor, closed and locked the bedroom door, and then wedged it shut with a chair.
As the saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry; being careful was always right.
Turning off the kerosene lamp, Brian casually picked up a notebook on the table.
Inside was tucked a letter, seemingly written by the departed residents to their relatives.
Ignoring the contents, he tossed it aside and used the notebook as a pillow.
The night of fleeing and rushing had exhausted all his mental and physical strength.
Feeling the warmth of the bedding, he felt incredibly comfortable.
“Comfortable!” As soon as he closed his eyes, an boundless wave of sleepiness surged into his heart, instantly taking control of his body.
His consciousness became increasingly blurry, and before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
…
“Thump…
thump…” Brian didn’t know how long he had slept, but a faint, unusual sound by his ear jolted him awake from his slumber, and he snapped his eyes open.
It was now noon the next day, with sunlight streaming into the room from outside.
He slowly stood up, picked up the pistol from the table, and stared intently at the doorway.
Brian was very familiar with that unusual sound just now; it was the creaking sound of something stepping on the stairs.
Although the person was walking very carefully, he recognized it immediately.
Walking slowly to the bed, he gently patted Sarah, who was still fast asleep.
Once she was awake, he immediately pointed to the door and made a shushing gesture.
Sarah, who had been a bit groggy from just waking up, immediately sobered up upon seeing this.
She nodded obediently, promising not to make a single sound.
The room instantly fell into dead silence, but there was no further abnormal movement outside.
After some time, just when Brian thought it might have been his imagination, the bedroom doorknob suddenly turned, instantly making the two, who had already relaxed, tense up again.
“Is anyone inside?” The bedroom door was locked, and the person outside immediately realized that someone might be hiding in the room, but he had no intention of hiding his presence and asked directly.
Hearing an elderly voice from outside the door, Brian hesitated for a moment before answering: “Who are you?” “Huh!” The person outside, hearing a child’s voice coming from inside, let out a soft exclamation of surprise, clearly feeling a bit astonished, but he continued: “My name is Arman, child.
This is where my daughter lives.
Rest assured, I won’t hurt you.
Could you open the door, please?” “…” “Can you set a bone?” “What?” The person outside hadn’t expected the child inside to ask such a question, but he understood the key point in an instant and said: “Of course.
I used to be a medic.
If it’s not too serious, I should be able to.” Having received a definite answer, Brian didn’t hesitate.
He pulled away the chair wedging the door, gently unlocked it, and then quickly stepped back, keeping the muzzle pointed at the doorway as he said: “Come in.” Creak…
As soon as he finished speaking, the bedroom door was pushed open gently.
An elderly man with white hair and a kind face stood at the doorway, holding a shotgun, and scanned the situation inside the bedroom with some surprise.
“Are there just you two children here?
Where are the adults?” Brian did not answer the old man’s question.
Perhaps influenced by certain works from his previous life, he always harbored a high degree of vigilance toward strangers after the plague broke out.
But although he didn’t speak, Sarah, who was lying on the bed, spoke up.
“It’s just the two of us here.
My dad and uncle got separated from us while trying to lure away those monsters.” Then she said to Brian, who was still holding the pistol on the side: “Brian, put the gun down.
It’s not good for us to do this.” Looking at Sarah’s eyes, which were filled with kindness, Brian felt something in his heart suddenly touched.
He didn’t say anything else, just silently put away the pistol and said to the old man in front of him: “My name is Brian, and she is Sarah.
I’m really sorry for how I treated you just now.” “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Seeing the boy opposite put down the gun, Arman just waved his hand and didn’t take the matter to heart.
He walked to Sarah’s side, saw the leg tightly wrapped with scarves, and said to Brian next to him: “Did you do this?” Sensing the other person’s strange look, Brian felt as if he had done something wrong, but he still nodded and admitted it.
“Nonsense!” Glaring at the boy in front of him with annoyance, Arman hurriedly sat on the edge of the bed and quickly unwrapped the scarves around the leg.
A night had passed, and the swollen area had become increasingly obvious, with the entire leg beginning to show varying degrees of swelling.
“Go, roll up your quilt and let her lean against it.” Seeing that the situation wasn’t particularly serious, Arman breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
Whenever he saw Sarah, he was reminded of his own granddaughter, so he didn’t want to see this kind-hearted little girl suffer any lifelong regrets.
“…Oh!” Seeing Arman so angry, Brian realized he must have done more harm than good and felt a bit guilty.
Hearing the other person’s words, he didn’t argue and immediately began to follow instructions.
“Child, relax.” Once Sarah was leaning against the quilt, Arman lifted her injured right leg, flexed the knee joint to 90 degrees, and then used one hand to hold her lower leg and press down, while his other hand hooked behind the knee to pull upward.
He looked at Sarah, who was tense and staring fixedly at her own leg, and asked with some concern: “How does it feel, Sarah?” “Huh?” Sarah, who had been staring at her right leg, suddenly heard the old man’s caring greeting and subconsciously looked up at him.
In that very instant, Arman applied force with both hands.
With a sharp “crack,” the dislocated lower leg was instantly reset.
And Sarah, who had just looked up with a blank expression, only felt a piercing pain in her right leg; her intended reply instantly turned into a scream.
But after the pain subsided, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her right leg, which had lost control, was gradually regaining sensation, which immediately made her feel overjoyed.
All the experiences of last night kept circling in the girl’s mind.
Sarah understood that it was precisely because of her leg injury that her dad and Uncle Tommy went to lure away those Infected to ensure her safety, and that Brian had to carry her on his back as they trudged through the rugged mountain roads.
All of this made her feel incredibly frustrated, feeling that she was just a burden and an encumbrance to everyone.
Looking at her right leg that had returned to her control, Sarah suddenly clenched her fists, secretly resolving that she must never become a burden to others again; she must make herself stronger.
“Thank you, Grandpa Arman.” Rubbing Sarah’s little head, Arman felt the sincerity in the girl’s tone.
He nodded with a smile, indicating that he accepted her thanks.
Afterward, he wiped the smile from his face.
Looking at the two children in front of him, he asked the question he was urgently wanting to know: “When you arrived here, did you meet anyone else?” Upon hearing this, Brian remembered that this was the residence of the man’s daughter; clearly, the man had come here to find his family.
But when they arrived, the place was already empty.
Just as he was about to shake his head to indicate he didn’t know, he suddenly remembered the letter from last night.
Slapping the back of his head, Brian hurriedly searched the floor and finally found the letter in a corner under the bed.
“Take a look, is this it?”