Chapter 37: Bai Yu
Qing Yi County
This is the next stop after Baiyin.
But this county is a bit far from where I am.
In between lies a long stretch of barren road.
Both sides of the road are covered with weeds, and every now and then, you can spot a couple of scrapped cars.
And occasionally, you can find the dried-up corpses of drivers inside the cars.
The journey is devoid of much excitement.
But Baiyin quite enjoys this feeling of wandering along the road with his dog, almost like a tourist.
Of course, it would be better without the scorching sun overhead.
To be honest, he's starting to feel the heat now.
---
"The weather is absolutely ghostly..."
Walking under the scorching sun is quite a torment.
By noon, he couldn't resist anymore and found a dried-up tree by the roadside to take a rest.
He poured some water for Blackie and prepared a bit of food.
As Blackie wagged his tail while drinking and eating,
Baiyin finished the water left in his bottle in one gulp, without much appetite.
The tree is a massive one with a large hollow in the middle, like a small house.
It reminded Baiyin of the tree hollow den of the two bears in the animated series "Boonie Bears".
Of course, it's nowhere near as big, but it's still quite spacious.
"Damn weather... so hot like a furnace...
What do you think, Blackie?"
"Woof woof!!!"
Blackie barked twice, eating and barking intermittently.
Baiyin found it amusing, pointing at the sky, saying,
"Come on, Blackie, curse with me!
Damn weather~ blinds people~ scorching sun~ deadly heat~"
"Woof woof woof, woof woof woof, woof woof woof woof woof!!!"
---
One man and his dog, two lunatics barking madly at the sky.
After about half a minute,
"Boom!!!"
Suddenly, thunder rumbled in the sky.
Startled, the two jumped.
"Patter patter..."
Then came the lightning and thunder, darkening the sky.
In the blink of an eye, torrential rain poured down as if it cost nothing.
The wind howled fiercely.
Like ghosts wailing in the night.
Forcing Baiyin and Blackie to seek shelter from the rain in the tree hollow.
---
Outside, the wind howled wildly.
Inside, it was relatively peaceful.
Due to the wind direction and higher ground,
Except for a little rain coming in through the entrance, the interior was mostly dry.
"It looks like this rain won't stop anytime soon..."
Baiyin sat in the left corner of the tree hollow, the most sheltered spot.
He took out a candle from his bag,
Lit it, and placed it on a nearby rock.
This instantly brightened up the suddenly dark world.
"Blackie, the heavens are really stingy, aren't they?"
While spreading out a mat on the ground, he talked to Blackie.
"Woof!!!"
Blackie responded as usual.
Sometimes Baiyin wondered if he truly understood or was just humoring him.
Anyway, he took out a blanket from his bag,
Covering himself and Blackie.
The next moment, he pulled out "Robinson Crusoe" from his bag.
Flipping through the pages, murmuring,
"Where were we last time?"
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"Boom boom!!!"
Thunder rumbled outside the tree hollow.
"Robinson turned the wheat into..."
Inside the hollow, lit by the warm candlelight, a young man read to his curious little dog.
---
The wall of the big tree separated two completely opposite worlds.
But this feeling of being safe in a narrow space while the outside world seemed to be crumbling,
Baiyin quite liked it.
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Some rejoice while others worry.
Some are content with the status quo, while others have to struggle hard to survive.
---
*Qing Yi County*
Qingyi County is a medium-sized county.
After the outbreak of zombies six months ago, it established its own shelter.
Of course, it was established by the survivors.
Currently, there are more than a hundred people in the shelter.
Unlike peacetime, it's not the government that rules here.
But a group of ruthless men.
The ruling class of the entire shelter is about a dozen people.
And everyone else below them can be considered laborers.
The rulers have established a relevant framework of rules.
To put it bluntly, it's like "weekly rent".
That is, every week, you have to submit certain supplies to the upper class.
And these supplies need to be found outside the shelter.
In those abandoned buildings where zombies roam.
It's like renting a house.
When you can't afford the "rent".
You will be forcibly expelled from the shelter by the ruling forces, without any humanitarian considerations.
Regardless of whether you're alive or dead.
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---
For people in peacetime, this practice is undoubtedly cruel.
But for the vast majority of survivors in the apocalypse, there's no alternative but to accept it.
Although the ugly faces of the rulers often draw criticism.
But here, they can really withstand the zombies.
Moreover, as long as you pay the "weekly rent", you can receive a meal from above every day.
Although it's hard to swallow, it can keep people alive.
---
Bai Yu!
A twelve-year-old girl.
She's short, only about 1.3 meters tall, petite, with malnourished, yellowing hair.
Dirty all over, dressed like a beggar.
But every time after washing her face, she reveals a cute little face.
Though quite listless...
---
Bai Yu is a cripple, her right foot was accidentally injured in a car accident during the early days of the zombie outbreak.
After that, she didn't have time to seek medical help.
Just followed her parents to escape for their lives, delaying the treatment, and her right foot became completely lame.
So now she limps when she walks.
---
After the outbreak of the zombies, Bai Yu followed her parents for more than three months.
Running around.
Finally, one night, half asleep and half awake, she heard the sound of helicopter wings in the sky.
And the voices of her parents talking to someone.
They seemed to be talking about something like "Northern Shelter City B" or something.
But Bai Yu was too tired at the time, so she didn't get up to see what was going on.
Just fell asleep again in a daze.
But when she woke up the next day.
She found that her parents were gone.
Not only that, but all their luggage had disappeared without a trace.
Bai Yu searched nearby for a long time but couldn't find any trace of her parents.
She was very scared, afraid that her parents had been taken away by the helicopter last night.
The only vague memory was "Northern Shelter City B".
Bai Yu thought her parents must have been taken there.
As long as she went to that B city, she would surely be reunited with her parents.
But...
Bai Yu didn't know where B city was.
She just wandered aimlessly, struggling to survive in the dangerous world of zombies.
Eventually, she wandered to Qingyi County.
And then stayed in this relatively safe city for a long time.
Always preparing to go to the distant B city.