Outside the highway, inside an abandoned house.
The faint flame of the kerosene lamp illuminated the dark bedroom. Brian sat beside the bed and carefully examined Sarah's dislocated calf.
Not long ago, after learning that a large number of infected people would appear on the bridge, they knew that it must be extremely dangerous there.
So they looked for a high slope, hoping to find Joel and Tommy there, but except for the area illuminated by the street lights, it was dark all around.
Only the roar of gunfire coming from the direction of the bridge and the piercing screams of the infected echoed in the dark night.
After failing to find the person, Brian could only carry Sarah on his back and continue along the other direction of the bridge, and found the abandoned house by a lake next to the highway.
I plan to take a good rest tonight, and then go to the bridge to check the situation early tomorrow morning.
When they entered the room, it was already in a mess, with all kinds of things scattered all over the floor. It was obvious that the residents here knew the situation outside and left early.
For some reason, the electricity in the house was not working. There was a generator in the basement, but the lid was open and the gasoline inside had been drained out. I guess it was taken away when the family left.
Fortunately, Brian found a usable kerosene lamp in the utility room outside, which provided a glimmer of light in the darkness.
Looking at the redness and swelling that has begun to appear in Sarah's calf joints, one can imagine that if effective treatment is not received, the symptoms of redness and swelling will become more and more serious, and may even cause irreversible sequelae.
"This is trouble!"
Looking up at Sarah who was already a little drowsy, Brian sighed softly, stood up and supported her body, letting her lie flat on the bed.
Then he went downstairs to the living room, found a hardwood stick, took two scarves from the rack, and then returned to the bedroom on the second floor.
Coming to Sarah's side, Brian placed the stick next to her dislocated calf and wrapped the scarf tightly around it again and again.
He didn't know that the methods for treating fractures were ineffective for dislocations, but now he had no other options but to give it a try.
After finishing everything, Brian found a bed and bedding in the next room and spread them on the floor. He closed and locked the bedroom door, and then propped the door tightly with a chair. As the saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry. It is always better to be careful.
After turning off the kerosene lamp, Brian picked up the notebook on the table. There was a piece of letter inside, which seemed to be written by the departed resident to his relatives.
He didn't pay attention to the contents and threw it aside, then put the notebook under his head. A night of escape and running around had exhausted all his mental and physical strength. He felt the warmth brought by the quilt and felt extremely comfortable.
"Comfortable!"
As soon as he closed his eyes, boundless sleepiness surged into his heart like a tide, instantly controlling his body. His consciousness became increasingly blurred, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
....
"Deng..Deng…"
Brian didn't know how long he had slept, but a slight noise beside his ear woke him up and he opened his eyes suddenly.
It was already noon of the next day. The sunlight shone into the room from the window. He slowly stood up, picked up the pistol on the table, and stared at the door.
Brian was very familiar with the strange noise just now. It was the sound of something stepping on the stairs and squeezing them. Although the other party walked very carefully, he still recognized it at once.
Walking slowly to the bed, he gently patted Sarah who was still sleeping. When she woke up, he immediately pointed to the door and made a hushing gesture.
Sarah, who was a little dazed after just waking up, immediately woke up when she saw this. She nodded obediently, promising not to make any noise.
The room suddenly fell into deathly silence, and there was no unusual movement outside.
An unknown amount of time had passed, and just when Brian thought it might be his illusion, the bedroom door handle suddenly turned, making the two people who had originally relaxed suddenly nervous again.
"Is anyone in there?"
The bedroom door was locked, and the person outside immediately realized that there might be someone hiding in the bedroom, but he had no intention of hiding and asked directly.
Hearing an old voice coming from outside the door, Brian hesitated for a moment, but still answered:
"Who are you?"
"Huh!"
The person outside the door heard a child's voice coming out from inside and uttered a sigh. He was obviously a little surprised, but he continued:
"My name is Yarman, kid, this is where my daughter lives, don't worry I won't hurt you, open the door, okay?"
"....."
"Can you reset the bone?"
"What?"
The person outside the door didn't expect the child inside to ask such a question, but he immediately figured out the key point and said:
"Of course. I used to be a medic. If it's not too serious, I should be able to do it."
After getting a definite answer, Brian did not hesitate. He directly pulled away the chair against the door, gently unlocked the door, then quickly stepped back, still pointing the gun at the door, and said, "Come in."
Crunch..
As soon as he finished speaking, the bedroom door was gently pushed open, and an old man with white hair and a kind face stood at the door. He held a shotgun in his hand and glanced at the situation in the bedroom with some surprise.
"Are you two children the only ones here? Where are your parents?"
Brian did not answer the old man's question. Perhaps influenced by some of his works in his previous life, he was always highly wary of strangers after the outbreak of the plague. But when he didn't say anything, Sarah, who was lying on the bed, spoke.
"There are only two of us here. My father and uncle have been separated from us in order to lure away those monsters."
Then she said to Brian, who was still holding the pistol:
"Brian, put the gun down, we're not doing this right."
Looking at Sarah's eyes full of kindness, Brian felt something suddenly touched in his heart. He didn't say anything, but just silently put away the gun and said to the old man in front of him:
"My name is Brian and she is Sarah. I'm really sorry for what I did to you just now."
"It's okay. It's okay."
Seeing the boy opposite put down his gun, Yarman just waved his hand and didn't take it to heart. He walked to Sarah's side, saw her legs tightly wrapped in a scarf, and said to Brian next to him:
"You did this?"
Feeling the other person's strange gaze, Brian felt as if he had done something wrong, but still nodded in acknowledgement.
"Nonsense!"
Giving the boy in front of him a stern look, Yarman hurried to the bedside and quickly untied the scarf around his legs.
After one night, the red and swollen areas became more and more obvious, and the entire leg began to show varying degrees of swelling.
"Go, roll up your quilt and let her lean on it."
Seeing that the situation was not particularly serious, Yarman secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When he saw Sarah, he thought of his little granddaughter, so he did not want to see this kind little girl in front of him leave any lifelong regrets.
"...oh!"
Seeing Yarman so angry, Brian realized that he might have been doing more harm than good, and suddenly felt a little guilty. When he heard what the other party said, he did not refute and quickly started to do it.
"Kid, relax."
After Sarah leaned on the bedding, Yarman lifted her injured right leg and bent the knee to 90 degrees. Then he held her calf with one hand and pressed it down, and with the other hand he put his knee on it and pulled it up from the back.
He looked at Sarah, who was staring at his legs with a nervous look on her face, and asked with some concern:
"How does it feel, Sarah?"
"ah?"
Sarah, who was originally staring at her right leg, suddenly heard the old man's caring greeting and subconsciously raised her head to look at him.
At this moment, Yarman exerted force with both hands, and with a crisp "click" sound, the dislocated calf was instantly put back in place.
Sarah, who just raised her head with a confused look on her face, felt a piercing pain in her right leg, and her answer suddenly turned into a scream.
But after the pain passed, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her right leg, which had lost control, began to gradually regain consciousness, which immediately made her feel ecstatic.
All the experiences of last night kept circling in the girl's mind. Sarah understood that it was because of her leg injury that her father and Uncle Tommy went to lead away the infected people to ensure her safety, and Brian asked her to carry her on her back and travel through the rugged mountain road.
All this made her feel extremely depressed and she felt like she was a burden and a nuisance to everyone.
Looking at her right leg that was now under her control, Sarah suddenly clenched her fists and secretly made up her mind that she must not become a burden to others anymore. She must make herself stronger.
"Thank you, Grandpa Yarman."
Rubbing Sarah's little head and feeling the sincerity in the girl's tone, Yarman nodded with a smile to show that he accepted and thanked her.
Then he stopped smiling, looked at the two children in front of him, and asked the question he wanted to know:
"Did you meet anyone else when you got here?"
When Brian heard this, he remembered that this was the residence of the other party's daughter, and the other party came here obviously to look for relatives.
But when they arrived here, the place was already deserted. When he was about to shake his head to indicate that he didn't know, he suddenly remembered the piece of letter from last night.
Brian slapped the back of his head and quickly searched the ground, finally finding the letter in a corner under the bed.
"Look, this is it."