Chapter 137: Chapter 137: You Die First
Group Announcement: It’s still acid rain outside. Be sure to take protective measures if you go out.
The environment outside is now extremely hazardous. Residents without protective suits, face masks, or a vehicle, or those who haven’t finished packing, are advised not to rush. You can wait at home a while longer. In about five days, the West City Garrison’s 54385th Regiment is expected to arrive and evacuate everyone to the safe zone.
Xie Ning’s phone chimed repeatedly as several messages from Gu Chen arrived one after another.
Xie Ning just sat on the edge of the sofa in a daze, holding her mother’s hand, her head hanging slightly as she was lost in thought.
Xiao Huang Mao walked over, nudged Xie Ning gently, and handed her a freshly dampened washcloth.
Xie Ning took it, placing it on her mother’s forehead. The washcloth she replaced was dry and scorching hot.
Song Kexin rushed downstairs. "Big Sis, Brother Gu Chen and his group are about to pull out! They said we should go with them."
Xie Ning grunted in acknowledgment. She turned her head and saw her uncle, Song Youzhi, hastily pulling on a raincoat, a protective helmet, and a mask before rushing outside.
As the iron gate opened, several dead rats that had been hanging on it fell to the ground with a sickening PLOP. A few screams echoed in the distance.
Song Youzhi frowned. He saw a row of small pickup trucks and six large buses parked along the road, followed by an unending stream of smaller cars.
"Uncle Song, are you ready?"
Gu Chen stood at the door with Lu Wei, Zhai Ruobai, and a few others, asking anxiously the moment they met.
"What’s Ningning doing? Why isn’t there any response from her?"
Song Youzhi sighed. "Ah, something’s happened to Ningning’s mother. You guys should come in first."
Gu Chen and the others quickly followed Song Youzhi inside.
Upon entering the villa’s living room and removing their protective gear, they saw the young woman sitting lifelessly on a small stool beside the sofa. Her head was hanging low, and she was staring blankly while holding Aunt Song’s hand.
Gu Chen froze. It was the first time he had ever seen the cool yet vibrant young woman look so utterly lifeless.
He frowned, his gaze fixed on the hand hanging at her side. He quickly strode over and crouched beside her. "Ningning?"
"Ningning, don’t be afraid. Your aunt will be okay." Gu Chen took her other hand and gently pried her fingers open, one by one, from the fist she had clenched so tightly.
Her fingernails had dug a deep red mark into her palm.
Song Youzhi was startled. He hadn’t even noticed his niece was so tense she was hurting herself.
From the very beginning, Ningning’s voice had been level and her expression composed, so everyone had thought she was the calmest one in the family.
She was just an eighteen-year-old kid, after all. Song Youzhi blamed himself endlessly.
"Don’t be afraid, Ningning. Your aunt is such a good person; she’ll definitely make it through this." Gu Chen turned and glanced at Zhai Ruobai.
The baby-faced man understood the signal. He quickly put his protective suit and hood back on and ran outside.
A few moments later, he returned, dragging Yu Tianfeng and Wei Zhengtong along with him.
Fang Jiawen trailed far behind the three of them.
Wei Zhengtong had come along because he was worried Yu Tianfeng would say the wrong thing and get beaten again, so he was there to keep an eye on the troublemaker.
Fang Jiawen, however, had secretly tagged along to see what was happening.
「Meanwhile.」
Inside Bus Six, a large woman stood up and yelled, "Driver, why aren’t we moving? What are we stopped here for?!"
"Hey, young man, where’s your Director Gu? Are we heading to the safe zone now?"
"Do they hand out meal boxes at the base?"
"Will there be electricity?!"
"I haven’t showered in seven days. I just want to wash my hair."
The crowd chattered away with their questions, but the driver remained silent, sitting in his seat like a statue.
Shi Ailing struck up a conversation with the older woman next to her, asking if she wanted to get off the bus to relieve herself.
The woman shot her a look. "You’d have to put on a raincoat to get off, and then get completely disinfected to get back on. It’s too much trouble. Don’t you have any common sense when it comes to long bus rides? I’m wearing an adult diaper. Go by yourself."
Fuming, Shi Ailing reluctantly got off the bus. She walked over to Zhang Yang and whispered, "If I’m not back on board in time, you have to make them wait for me."
Zhang Yang rolled his eyes and ignored her.
Shi Ailing, now in her protective gear, got off the bus. A few middle-aged women from buses Three and Four also disembarked, and the group headed forward together.
Seeing the iron gate to Xie Ning’s house standing open, the women started to walk inside but were blocked by several soldiers at the entrance.
"We just want to borrow the bathroom. When nature calls, you know."
An older woman said with a smile, "That’s right, young man. We won’t make things difficult for you. We’ll go talk to the owner ourselves."
The young soldiers were no match for these thick-skinned, crafty old women and could only watch helplessly as they slipped inside.
Meanwhile, Wei Zhengtong saw Mrs. Xie Ning’s condition and couldn’t help but take a few steps closer.
"Oh my, what’s wrong with her?"
"Hurry, help bring her fever down. Quick!" Zhai Ruobai dragged Yu Tianfeng to the sofa, his eyes fixed on the white first-aid kit in his hands.
"What’s the use of cooling her down? She’s infected with the virus! There’s no saving her!" Fang Jiawen’s shrill voice rang out from behind them.
"Hurry up and kill her! She’s about to turn into a zombie!"
"What are you all staring for? This is no time to be sentimental!" The piercing voice went on and on.
Lu Wei cursed inwardly. ’This is bad.’
And just as he expected, the words seemed to ignite the lifeless young woman, who shot up from her stool...
"Who do you want to kill? Who?!" Xie Ning lunged from beside the sofa, pouncing on Fang Jiawen in an instant.
Before Fang Jiawen could react, the young woman had already tackled her to the ground. A vicious punch landed on her face, another on her nose, and then fists began to rain down.
"Ningning, let her go!" Gu Chen’s expression changed abruptly when he saw that Fang Jiawen was still wearing her raincoat.
"You die! You die first!" The young woman viciously ripped the raincoat off Fang Jiawen and slammed it into her face.
She savagely scrubbed the rain-soaked coat across the other woman’s face.
"Now you’re contaminated! You have the virus, too! Does that mean I can kill you first?"
Seeing Zhai Ruobai’s mouth drop open as he started to run over and pull them apart, Xie Ning roared, "Normal people, don’t touch us!"
Zhai Ruobai froze in his tracks, terrified.
Xie Ning grabbed Fang Jiawen by the hair, and ignoring her pained, terrified sobs, threw her out into the rain.
’Just now, holding my mother’s hand, I kept wondering how she could have gotten infected.’
’The only thing I could come up with was that time Li Dawei and his sister had Mom go to the backyard to cook.’
’Even though she was fully protected, it’s possible a stray droplet of rain landed on her.’
’My uncle went out too. He was in and out, opening and closing the door, and made more trips into the rain than my mother did.’
’Why was Uncle fine, but Mom got sick? Because Mom is just an ordinary person, while Uncle is a Superpower User.’
’This acid rain virus only affects ordinary people.’
"Die." she said, looking at Fang Jiawen with a cold, emotionless expression as she uttered the single word.
At the bottom of the villa’s steps, Shi Ailing and the other middle-aged women watched the scene, their faces a picture of shock.
Watching Fang Jiawen tumble down the steps and into the rainy, muddy ground, they couldn’t help but shudder.
