Hai Baihe checked the condition of Mugeng and said, "She has a slight fever. We need to go to the hospital and have a look."
Ni Xuanxuan bit her lip and said, "But this place looks... creepy."
"I feel the same way, but maybe it's just a local custom to sleep when it gets dark," Hai Baihe said. "Even if it's a ghost town, we have to go in. The things we need are inside the city. And even if we want to leave, we can't rely on walking all the time."
Liang Xiao agreed, "Let's go in and take a look first."
Zhang Qihang and Ni Xuanxuan couldn't just stand by and watch Mugeng's condition worsen, so they reluctantly agreed to enter the city together.
The road was covered in thick dust, and the trees on the roadside had long withered, giving the entire city a sense of decay.
Ni Xuanxuan felt a chill. "What kind of place is this?"
"Hospitals should be in the city center," Hai Baihe said. "Let's go and see."
Ni Xuanxuan couldn't help but grab her and said, "Are we really going? This place... it's like something out of a horror movie!"
"If we don't go, then where should we go?" Hai Baihe replied. She didn't know why she remained so calm throughout, but this composure had its advantages. At least it infected others. "Mugeng needs treatment, going back is not realistic, and everyone's stamina won't hold up until then. Even though it looks abandoned here, there haven't been any monsters or ghosts, right?"
Zhang Qihang also said, "Throughout history, many cities have been abandoned due to various natural disasters. Even a volcanic eruption overseas forced residents to leave. Maybe we just took the wrong road."
Ni Xuanxuan still felt uneasy. "But they said there's only one road."
"At night, it's easy to make mistakes, or maybe the driver didn't take the usual route," Hai Baihe took a few steps forward. "Is that the hospital over there?"
Not far away, two gray-white buildings stood silently, with a sign in front that read "Huyang Township Hospital."
Ni Xuanxuan trembled. "H-Huyang Township."
Liang Xiao took a deep breath. "Let's go in first and find some medicine for your friend. If she doesn't get tetanus shots, she's likely to get infected."
Ni Xuanxuan hesitated, but Hai Baihe pulled her arm and they entered the hospital.
The whole place was pitch black, with only the faint light from their phones. Even if Ni Xuanxuan didn't like Hai Baihe, she put personal grudges aside at this moment and held onto her arm tightly.
In the silence, she heard faint sounds in the distance.
"Is someone there?" Ni Xuanxuan's face lit up with joy, but at a place like this, encountering someone was scarier than no one being there. She didn't dare to approach rashly.
Hai Baihe stopped in her tracks. She smelled blood, but a hospital without the smell of blood would be unusual. As for the sound... she tried to sound calm, "It's probably just rats."
Ni Xuanxuan tried to deceive herself. "Yeah, you're right."
Liang Xiao's heart sank. He had experienced extremely dire situations, and that sound was definitely not from rats. But now was not the time to explain the truth. "Which floor is the pharmacy on?"
Hai Baihe glanced at the sign next to the elevator. "The second floor."
As they climbed
the stairs, everyone unconsciously lightened their footsteps. They managed to reach the second floor safely. The area illuminated by their phone lights was covered in thick dust and various stains. The smell of blood. Hai Baihe thought to herself, stopping at the door of the pharmacy, "Shh."
There were footsteps inside.
Liang Xiao gently put Mugeng down, letting Ni Xuanxuan and Zhang Qihang support her. He reached behind his waist and pulled out a gun, saying to Hai Baihe, "I'll go in."
Hai Baihe crouched down, signaling for Liang Xiao to open the door quietly. As the door creaked open, she directed her phone's light downward, slowly illuminating the room.
A pair of decaying, pus-filled legs moved between the countertops.
Ni Xuanxuan covered her mouth, afraid of screaming out loud.
Hai Baihe turned off her phone, closed the door again, and asked, "What the hell was that? A zombie?"
"We should leave quickly," Ni Xuanxuan grabbed her arm, pleading, "This place is too terrifying."
"If you stay here, I'll go inside," she said. "Mugeng can't hold on much longer."
At that moment, as if sensing the smell of blood, the creature inside suddenly lunged towards the door. Hai Baihe blocked it and used her eyes to signal Liang Xiao, "Should I let go, and you go in?"
Liang Xiao nodded.
Hai Baihe waved to Ni Xuanxuan and Zhang Qihang, gesturing for them to move away. Zhang Qihang knew that it wasn't appropriate for a girl to go alone at this moment, but he couldn't find the words to say as he supported Mugeng.
Fortunately, Hai Baihe had no intention of replacing him. She used a hushed voice and said, "One, two, three!" On three, she kicked open the door, and the creature on the door fell backward. Liang Xiao swiftly grabbed its head and twisted, breaking its spine.
The zombie lay on the ground, its decapitated head hanging limply to the side. But it still struggled to crawl back up. Liang Xiao pressed it down again. In a world where zombie movies were so prevalent, almost everyone knew that they couldn't be bitten by zombies.
Hai Baihe had excellent night vision. She spotted a dusty fire axe nearby and quietly ran over to pick it up: "Step aside."
The moment Liang Xiao let go, she swung the axe, separating the monster's head from its body.
"Quick, come inside," Liang Xiao helped Mugeng up and quickly entered the pharmacy.
Hai Baihe made sure there were no hiding places in the room before locking the door. Liang Xiao searched the shelves, saying, "There are only a few medicines left here. Looks like someone has already ransacked it."
Ni Xuanxuan found a corner to sit in. Her legs were weak, and she didn't have the strength to stand anymore: "This place is like a scene from a major disaster."
Liang Xiao found bandages and antiseptic spray. He re-dressed Mugeng's wounds and gave her a tetanus shot. "Fortunately, these medicines are common. Giving her some antibiotics shouldn't be a problem."
Zhang Qihang watched him silently, observing his skilled bandaging movements. Then he suddenly asked, "Who exactly are you? And why do you have a gun?"
His words made Ni Xuanxuan instantly tense up.
Liang Xiao smiled bitterly and said, "Don't worry, I'm not a bad person. With the strict gun control in the country, I'm a police officer." He
showed them his identification.
"ICPO?" Zhang Qihang read the abbreviation on the ID.
Hai Baihe let out a small wow, "International Criminal Police Organization? Cool."
"I was tracking several cross-border drug dealers and ended up here, the same people who were in the car with us earlier," Liang Xiao said cautiously. "If you see them, it's better to stay away."
Zhang Qihang's heart tightened, "Do you think they're here too?"
Liang Xiao couldn't be certain, but nobody knew what happened during the car accident or why they suddenly ended up in this "Huyang Township." It's always better to be cautious.