When Lin Yuan woke up, he found himself in the house.
The other team members were not awake yet, only he sat up. They were all lying on straw and mats.
The sky outside had turned black, and the sound of fine rain could still be heard.
Looking around, he didn't see his parents.
Where did they go?
"Mom?"
"Mom?!"
"Mom!!!"
He ran out and shouted in the fields, but received no response, only the faint sound of rain in his ears.
Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the rain curtain, and then Lin Yuan felt a slap on his head. "What are you yelling about here! Aren't you afraid of attracting zombies? And aren't your teammates supposed to be sleeping?"
Turning back, he saw Lin Shouyi standing in front of him with a flashlight on his forehead.
The light hurt his eyes.
"You're awake, so call for Mom. You're still like this even at your age."
Listening to his father's lecture, he just scratched his head and gave a sheepish smile. "I was just afraid I was dreaming, that it would all disappear when I woke up. And I closed the door when I came out. They're all too tired; this noise won't wake them."
"Alright, put on your raincoat and go on patrol with me? I've already asked your uncle to watch your friends. When they wake up, I'll take them to eat," Lin Shouyi handed him a raincoat.
He then added, "They are sleeping in Yongzhi's house now. This place is a bit bigger. Oh, and I have a question to clarify."
Lin Yuan put on the raincoat and stretched. It was a bit tight. He was still wearing the combat suit he "rented" from Carol Anna.
"Yes, go ahead."
His only remaining weapon was his handgun; the rest were stored in a two-story house nearby.
Uncle Yongzhi's house was indeed well-built with ample space. In front of it was a pond, which still had many fish.
"Are the people you brought reliable?"
Lin Yuan hadn't expected Lin Shouyi to ask this question and was a little surprised. "Don't worry, they are people I've met over the past month. We've fought side-by-side. It's no different from sharing life and death, a bond forged in the face of death."
"Well, as long as you think there's no problem, just keep a little caution in your heart at all times," Lin Shouyi nodded. He knew his son might lie, but not about things like this camaraderie.
Well, except when he had a girlfriend, he would hide that from them.
"Okay, I'll introduce them to you properly after the patrol."
"No need. I've already gathered information this afternoon. We can talk as we walk," Lin Shouyi took off his headlamp, illuminating their path, and put his arm around his son's shoulder. Sometimes they didn't seem like father and son, but more like brothers.
"Mainly, I want to ask about that little girl, Jiang Ziqi. What's wrong with her hand?" Lin Shouyi still wanted to know the truth.
"Her palm was bitten by a zombie. I cut off her hand myself. She was about to mutate then. I saved her with the gel from a Tier 2 mutated creature, the Night Demon. Then she became like this. I don't know the principle behind it.
Speaking of which, she even saved my life. And her hearing is very good; she contributed a lot to us being able to get here..." Lin Yuan sighed often when describing Jiang Ziqi's situation.
Lin Shouyi could empathize. He had experienced quite a bit in the army. "It's really tough on this child. Her boyfriend is no good, and now she's lost her hand and become a semi-mutant. Sigh, you must treat her well from now on."
He nodded, and then recalling Carol Anna's words, Lin Yuan clenched his fist again.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you all."
"You brat, you think I need your protection?"
"Not necessarily anymore. How about we have a strength contest?"
"Alright."
"...Wow, you're incredible, aren't you?" Lin Shouyi gave up after trying once. He already knew he had lost. While marveling at his son getting older, he was also very confused. "Heck, Lin Yuan, where did you get this strength? How are you so strong?!"
"Heh, that's a long story."
"..."
Walking onto the somewhat muddy dirt road, childhood embarrassing memories were brought back. This time, Lin Shouyi helped Lin Yuan recall the details.
"Every time I see this road, I can't help but laugh. When you were little and wanted to go play at your cousin's after kindergarten, it was raining, and the road was slippery. You ran so fast and slid right into the paddy field, hahaha."
Lin Shouyi laughed uncontrollably thinking about the scene at that time. "Do you still remember your posture then, hahaha."
Pursing his lips, Lin Yuan covered his forehead. "I face-planted into the field."
"Indeed. It was your cousin who pulled you out of the field and brought you back. The funniest part was when you were afraid of the hot water while bathing, constantly dodging and crying. Your mother also laughed uncontrollably."
What do you mean I was afraid of the hot water? It was actually very hot! After I finished bathing, the gourd on the head of Fire娃 was like me.
Lin Yuan still remembered that terrible water temperature. As expected, the joys and sorrows of adults and children are not the same.
He could only force a laugh to cover up. "Alright Dad, don't talk about my embarrassing past anymore. It's all old history. Why do you remember it so clearly?"
"Hehehe, it left a deep impression, a deep impression." Lin Shouyi smiled very "sincerely."
Of course. Seeing his son half-upside-down stuck in a paddy field, first worried, and then happy when he realized the child was unharmed.
Such amusing stories could be remembered for a lifetime.
"By the way, Dad, what's the approximate range of our daily patrols?" Lin Yuan and his father were almost at his uncle's house.
Lin Shouyi stopped and used the light from the flashlight to indicate. "Draw a circle with our house and your uncle's house as the radius. It's roughly this area."
"Shouldn't we hide on the rooftop and keep watch at night? The radio also said that zombies are more dangerous at night," Lin Yuan was a little confused. He knew his father wouldn't make such a mistake.
Sighing, Lin Shouyi pointed towards the direction of Yaijiao Village. "It's all because we're afraid of the zombies from Yaijiao sneaking over. A few days ago, your uncle and I went to check again, and we roughly figured out how many zombies there are." He held up two fingers. "More than 200, not including those we didn't see. When we came back, we heard that Yaijiao was celebrating a centenarian's 108th birthday, which they said was auspicious, and many people went."
He sighed again at the end. "Sigh, you can't blame anyone. Who knew this damn zombie crisis would hit?"
"Indeed. Have you gone to 'sweep the autumn wind' (take advantage of a situation) and reduce the zombie numbers?"
"After the national airdrops, we also tried to harass them, but usually, a few shots would alert them. The echoes in this canyon are particularly severe. Even with silencers, they're not very useful. And if we're too far away, we can't hit them. We haven't cleared many so far."