Tian vigilantly glanced at the shaft while the others worked on getting their stuff. The grey rats were all peering at them. In the dark their dark red eyes glimmered. "They're really creepy,"
"Just keep waving the flame. They seem to get scared very easily," Yue mumbled. With difficulty, he pulled out a black duffle bag filled with bullets. His mum had lively packed it all for him. He shouldered.
"Got it, the water bottles are fine. Only two of them were smashed in the crash," Fan Xui mumbled, glancing at the cleanly packed bag of supplies.
"Give it here," Yue took it from him and handed him the weapons bag.
Fan Xui weighed it gently. "That one is heavier. Give it here."
"No I can carry it," Yue whispered softly.
Fan Xui came up behind him and removed the strap from his shoulders. He pulled down the collar of his t-shirt and gently caressed the blue bruise forming there. "Your shoulders are already bruising. You might be strong but your skin is still tender." He whispered.
Blushing, Yue covered himself up. "Nothing I can't deal with. Why are you fussing so much?"
Fan Xui frowned. "Because you are hurt... I'm scared you will get hurt. I don't even want to see a small scratch on your body," he mumbled, caressing his shoulder.
"aww, that's so romantic. But this is not the pace of romance. Bruises are common in the battle field and Yue is a warrior. Just get back to work," Hary mumbled softly whilst tying all the bags together. He threw them over his back.
Yue glanced up at Fan. His deep back eyes looked down at him with so much worry. He gently pulled him down by his collar and kissed his lips. "This... this is the new world... a new world where bruises and cuts don't matter. All that matters is survival."
Fan Xui gently caressed his cheeks.
Yue closed his eyes involuntarily feeling the rough fingertips. "we have to quickly adapt to survive Fan. Not just in the settlement. Out here as well. We must adapt and survive. I'm so worried for you..."
Fan Xui smirked widely. "Well, just teach me then. I'll learn very quickly,"
"Hmm," Yue kissed his palm.
Hary glanced at them with a dull look in his eyes. Suddenly a green thing swung in front of his face. He glanced to the side.
Prisitsky leaned closer. "You like him don't you?"
"Don't talk shit," he defensively whispered back. Suddenly his line of sight fell on his poufy coat. "Aren't you feeling hot wearing that coat?"
"This? I'll show you a secret," Prisitsky opened his coat. Inside there were vials and vials of plastic bottles with unknown liquid inside. Each was inserted in a small slot stitched to the coat. "Cool right? I can easily take as many samples as I want."
He cut a small piece of the burned meat he was carrying around and placed it carefully in a test tube.
"You're weird."
"You're weird too. You cut your arm without any second thought. Either you have low pain receptors or.. you were trained to tolerate that pain. Who are you Hary? What did you do before this? Let me guess, you are compliant like a soldier. You're more on the wild side. Your footsteps are always so silent and never leave a footprint intentionally….. so….either you were a secret agent or... an assassin," he smiled widely adjusting his glasses over his soot-covered nose.
For a second Hary was tinned. He peered at him wordlessly. ".. Get to work. We don't have all day."
He glanced up. The afternoon sun was shining right over their heads. The reservoir was at least a few kilometers upstream. The terrain will be rough and they will not be able to cross it during the night.
Prisitsky scoffed. "So defensive. My guess must be right." he stood up, patting his clothes.
"Come on, lest climb up," Yue first let Fan Xui climb up. surprisingly he was very good at it.
Yue then carried the heavy bags and Prisitsky on his back. Even for him, it was too much weight. Especially the bags put a strain on his muscles and back.
"Hey Yue, your friend likes you," the man on his back whispered.
"Of course he likes me. He's my boyfriend,"
"No not him. I meant that blond hunk Hary. He likes you,"
Yue paused a little. "What?"
"i said he.."
"I heard you right. Just don't bring it up again." Yue sternly whispered as he climbed over to the top.
Fan Xui pulled Prisitsky first and then helped Yue up.
Prisitsky gave him a weird gaze. "Why not?"
"Everyone has secrets for a reason. I hope you don't bring this up again.,"
Hary climbed out next and Tian followed after him. She was seen carrying two huge canisters on her back.
"Fuel? Good work Tian," he absolutely missed the fuel canisters his uncle had prepared on the back of the jeep. It would be of use later on.
With all their baggage in hand, Yue and the others followed the track left behind the two other cars.
One track seemed to have backtracked and one of it seemed like it had taken a right at the junction.
Yue carefully held his sword up high.
Fan Xui and the others were also not empty-handed. Everyone had a gun and a few grenades. The only person who roamed around without a weapon was Prisitsky who only carried his white bag with him preciously.
The cornstalks rustled slightly on the right side.
Yue removed the safety pin of a grenade and tossed it into the field.
"Boom!" the explosive went off loudly.
The rats that were stalking them scurried away.
Prisitsky slightly frowned. "Isn't it better that we let the rats be? The rats and the zombies are natural enemies. They can keep themselves in check. This will keep our base safe."
"Yeah, but they also prevent us from venturing out. I'm not outright killing them but scaring them from attacking living humans."
Those rats down there were very intelligent. They feared his right hand which held his sword. And they also feared Tian so much that they won't even get near her.
These rats were well capable of analyzing who's the dangerous predator and who is prey, and act accordingly.
"For now, let's leave their nest undisturbed," Yue glanced around the field.
This place did not exist when he returned from the s city. this whole place was a residential area near the second outer gate.
This is mostly where the poor people like him stayed.
Slowly they walked through the right path. Yue took the lead, slicing off the leaves. Some parts of the low-hanging leaves were torn and damaged indicating that the jeep did drive through here. A few torn parts of the tire were also scattered here and there.
Fan Xui and Hary cleared the cut leaves out of their path.
The saw-like edges really did a lot of damage to his skin. his clothes were torn in many places, thanks to climbing up one of the stalks.
"I see something," Prisitsky whispered with his eyes narrowed. "
Tian immediately took her binoculars and peer din. "the jeep. It's there. I think the soldiers are there,"
Excitedly, they moved closer.
The two surviving soldiers pointed their guns their way in panic.
"Whoa!!" Yue shouted.
"Team one, I repeat team one! is that you! is anyone hurt" Hary moved the leaves out of the way in a hurry and ran to them.
"Captain, team one reporting!" the two soldiers excitedly shouted back. "young nan... he got dragged away.. There's a huge pink creature here. It's terrifying. It looked like a rat with naked body and.. as big as in an elephant."
"Naked mole-rat, they are called naked mole-rat." Prisitsky said confidently.
Hary sighed. "Team two and three? Where are they?"
"Team three... got compromised and team two backtracked. They went to inform the base about this place."
Hary nodded. it was the logical decision they make. "the technicians?"
"One is with us," they glanced at the man who was cowering in the backseat.
"Good, at least one is with us. The tires, how damaged are they?"
"Badly sir. The front two tires are torn and the back tires are missing," the soldiers jumped out. "We only have two spares,"
"Fan Xui and I will bring the spares from the other jeep." Yue nudged Fan.
Fan Xui walked along with him in perfect silence.
"Were you offended when I said those words?"
"No, I'm thinking.... I thought I would easily adapt to the changes but... seeing a human-like figure coming at us with its gnarly mouth open is... hard to deal with."
Yue silently held his hand.
"It makes me wonder, what would i have done if i was blind as before?..... I would have been blind and vulnerable to this new world. I wouldn't have survived even a day,"
"no! you did not just survive you became the greatest warrior of g city. you were blind for the first two years of the apocalypse yet you achieved so much. You're powerful Fan. Not only in your body, but in your mind too. So I know... I know that you can become the same strong person as you once were,"
Fan Xui softly chuckled. "You're setting the bar too high. What if I became a layman with no powers? What will you do?"
"What else will I do? I'll have you as my househusband. You can cook and wait for me in a pink apron while I go out hunting and earning our dough. When I come back home you will greet me with a huge smile and say welcome home honey~ oh what a sight it will be."
Fan Xui suddenly grabbed his face and kissed him hard. his tongue plunders his mouth, stealing away his breath completely.
He let go, reluctantly biting his bottom lip.
"I think I like this idea too much. But sadly I don't know how to cook,"
"Just you in an apron is a tasty meal for me," Yue kissed him back with equal passion.
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