The Walking Dead : Rules of Survival

The next day, just as the sky was barely starting to brighten, Suo Tian gave the order to pack up and leave.

While the others were busy gathering their things, I took advantage of a moment and slipped into the bathroom to tend to my wound.

This damn wound was getting more and more painful.

The moment I removed the gauze, I was almost shocked by the swollen, red wound.

What happened?

Yesterday, I had cleaned and disinfected it, so how could it have worsened like this?

I brought the wound closer to my nose and sniffed—it was filled with a foul, bloody odor that hit me all at once.

If I hadn't skipped breakfast, I would've definitely thrown up.

I rinsed the wound with iodine again, and looking at the nearly empty iodine bottle, I felt a bit helpless.

This was a real problem.

If the wound didn't heal, and with the inflammation continuing, a fever was inevitable.

"Chen Yang? What are you doing in there, taking so long? Hurry up, we're getting ready to leave," Shen Xue called from outside.

"I'm almost done." I replied, walking over to the door, cracking it open just a little to scan the area, confirming that only Shen Xue was outside.

"What are you doing?" Shen Xue peered at me through the crack in the door.

I pulled the door open a bit wider. "Come in first."

"What's with the mystery?" Shen Xue muttered as she stepped inside.

As soon as she entered, I locked the door behind her.

Before she could even ask, I instinctively rolled up my sleeve.

"Look."

"Oh my god!" Shen Xue gasped.

"Keep your voice down! Don't let anyone hear." I warned her.

"What happened to you? Didn't Shu Guang already gave you medicine?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"He did, but a lot of it I don't even know how to use. I could only rinse it with iodine. I thought as long as I kept it clean it'd be fine… who knew it would end up like this?"

"This isn't good at all. It's way too serious—your arm's swollen like a pig's foot. I'm going to ask Suo Tian if there's anyone on the team who knows how to treat this."

Shen Xue turned to leave, but I grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what kind of wound this is…? If they find out, do you really think they'll let me stay?"

Shen Xue glanced at my arm again, frowning.

"But doesn't Suo Tian care about you? Can't you just explain it to him?"

I shook my head. "This has nothing to do with whether he cares or not. The issue is the nature of the wound—it's a bite. Even if Suo Tian believes I'm fine, with that many people in his team, there's no way they'd agree to keep a 'ticking time bomb' like me around."

Shen Xue's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

"Then what should we do? You can't let this wound drag on any longer. Damn it, I completely forgot about your injury. You've been hacking at walkers so energetically these past couple of days, we all treated you like you were fine."

"It's alright. I'll find a chance later to ask Jun Di and Xu Shu, see if either of them knows anything about this. For now, I'll just do a quick treatment on it."

"Oh, come on, let me do it." Shen Xue snatched the first aid kit from me.

After rummaging through it for a bit, she suddenly let out a little "eh," pulled out a blister pack of pills, and said, "This 'amoxicillin'—I remember it's an antibiotic, right? What if we open the capsule and sprinkle the powder directly on the wound? Maybe it'll help."

I stared at the serious-looking Shen Xue in a bit of a daze and asked, "…That's a thing?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Who knows if it is or not, but it's worth a try. It might just work."

I didn't think Shen Xue was all that reliable… but watching her seriously pop open the capsules, I sighed.

Whatever.

Given the situation, I might as well let her treat me with a shot in the dark.

Yangyang called out to us from outside several times, urging us to hurry.

At last, Shen Xue finished treating the wound.

Looking down at the thick, bulky wrap on my arm, the corner of my mouth twitched slightly…

Wrapped like this, won't it be even easier for people to notice?

Ignoring Shen Xue's stern objections, I forcibly tore off half of the thick layers of tissue paper she'd used to wrap it.

I put on my cotton coat and looked at my arm, which now appeared much more normal than before.

Satisfied, I nodded to myself.

When we got downstairs, the bearded man scowled at us and grumbled, "What the hell were you two doing? You take forever!"

Suo Tian stood beside him, gave me a once-over from head to toe, then turned to open the car door and gave the command: "Let's move out!"

We didn't dare waste any more time and quickly ran back to the car.

Xu Shu was already in the driver's seat.

When she saw me, she asked, "Stomach trouble?"

I waved my hand. "Just a minor issue. No big deal."

"Mm." Xu Shu turned her face back.

"Take care of yourself. You look so thin."

"Yeah, sis, here, eat a few of these sausages. You're practically skin and bones," Yangyang in the backseat handed over a few sausages.

I took them with a smile. "I've always chased that skinny beauty look—guess I've finally made it."

"Oh please. I still think being a bit chubby is cuter. Right, Rongrong?"

Rongrong, who had been gnawing her sausage into pieces, was suddenly called out.

She gave us a confused look, paused for a few seconds, then turned back and kept chomping away.

I was amused by her silly expression, turned around and sat properly, then happily started munching on the sausages.

The convoy began moving again.

According to Suo Tian's travel routine, the only time we stopped was for bathroom breaks—meals were eaten individually while the vehicles were in motion.

Each car seemed to be stocked with food and water.

I wasn't sure if Shen Xue's makeshift remedy had really worked, but by noon, compared to yesterday, the pain in my arm had genuinely lessened quite a bit.

With the pain no longer bothering me—and having rested well the day before—I was in high spirits all afternoon.

I chatted endlessly with Xu Shu and Yangyang along the way.

Even Xu Shu, who usually didn't joke much, was influenced by my energy and cracked a few cold jokes.

Yangyang and I were both left shivering from how terribly bad her jokes were—each one more cringeworthy than the last.

Rongrong didn't quite follow our conversations but just laughed along with us, and not long after, she lay down in the back seat and fell asleep.

Jun Di had moved to Shen Feng's car to sit with Shen Xue, and from the rear window of their vehicle, we could occasionally catch glimpses of the two of them leaning in and talking quietly.

I smiled as I looked out the car window.

On both sides of the road were vast stretches of farmland.

The weather was lovely today, with the sun shining warmly through the car windows.

If I could just ignore the occasional walker shuffling past on the roadside, I might've thought we were simply on a cheerful road trip.

In the afternoon, the convoy came to a stop on a patch of open ground, part concrete, part dirt.

Suo Tian gathered all the drivers together in front of the vehicles, spread out a piece of paper, and began pointing at it and discussing something with those around him.

I took Rongrong behind one of the empty vehicles for a bathroom break.

A few wandering walkers that came near were easily taken care of by the black-clad guards.

After using the bathroom, Rongrong ran off playfully across the open space.

Before long, she started fussing with Chen Pu—I wasn't sure what he had done to provoke her.

After shouting a stream of gibberish that sounded like a random foreign language, she let out a scream and lunged at Chen Pu.

Some of the black-clad guards nearby who were stretching their legs turned their heads to look at her.

Not long after, a few of them returned to their vehicles to grab food and began teasing Rongrong with it.

I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head—they were treating our little girl like a playful puppy.

Rongrong, however, was totally unbothered and bold as ever.

She ran right up to anyone offering her food, accepting it without hesitation.

Whatever she said in return, it had those hardened guards laughing out loud.

I noticed that everyone who gave Rongrong food was relatively older.

The reason they were teasing her like that... was probably because she reminded them of their own children.

In no time, the little one had gathered a small armful of snacks and came running toward me, giggling, "Auntie, Auntie, look! So many yummy things!"

I crouched down with a smile and took the items from her. "Did you say thank you to them?"

Rongrong nodded with a bright smile. "Of course I did!"

"Good girl." I patted her head gently.

"Let Auntie pack these up for you. You can eat them when you're hungry later."

Rongrong shook her head. "No, I don't want them. They're for Auntie."

I was stunned. "For Auntie?"

"Yeah! Didn't Brother Yangyang say today that Auntie is too skinny and not pretty? If you eat all these, you'll be pretty!"

A child's innocent care always carries such pure and heartfelt sincerity, even in its childishness.

I was truly touched by this little one.

Suo Tian and the others seemed to have finalized the route, and the convoy was getting ready to move out again.

I sat in the front passenger seat, glancing back at Rongrong bickering noisily with Yangyang in the back.

It warmed my heart.

Setting aside everything that happened back then, I truly felt like I was living in a world filled with warmth.

After being energetic all morning, the afternoon sun made me a little drowsy.

I reclined the seat a bit, planning to take a short nap — it had been so long since I'd enjoyed a carefree midday rest.

Just as I was drifting off… the car suddenly jolted to a hard stop.

I slid forward in the seat from the inertia, instantly snapping out of my half-dreaming state.

"What's going on?" I sat up groggily.

Xu Shu shook her head. "No idea. The car in front slammed on the brakes."

While I was still dazed, people from the vehicles ahead started getting out, and Suo Tian also rushed up from behind.

Xu Shu and I exchanged glances, then signaled Yangyang and Chen Pu to look after Rongrong before getting out of the car too.

Just as we stepped out, Shen Feng turned and saw us, apologizing, "Sorry, I spaced out just now and didn't notice the car in front slowing down. Almost rear-ended it. That sudden brake must've given you quite a scare."

"What do you think?" I rolled my eyes at him, then joked, "I was sleeping so soundly — with that sudden slam on the brakes, I nearly slid straight out the windshield!"

"Let's go check out what's happening up ahead," Xu Shu said, glancing toward the front and urging us forward.

From a distance, we could see several cars messily strewn across the road.

It looked like there had been an accident here earlier, and the wrecked cars were now completely blocking the path.

The three of us walked forward.

Suo Tian was talking to a few people nearby.

I stepped up to stand beside him.

Suo Tian glanced at me, then turned to the others and said, "Move fast. Don't waste time."

"What's the plan?" I asked, watching the people starting to spread out.

"We just need to move the cars," Suo Tian said as he looked at me, offering no further explanation.

Shen Feng and Xu Shu, sensing the mood, tactfully stepped aside to see if there was anything they could help with.

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