Several people worked together to carry Gordon into the house and placed him on the dining table. Gordon's belly was still rising and falling, but he remained unconscious. Feng Yusheng stayed beside Gordon, observing his condition.
This cottage in the woods had two floors in total. On the first floor, there was a fairly spacious living room, and various animal head specimens were hung on the fireplace. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a bar counter. Besides a pile of canned food on the bar counter, there were surprisingly quite a number of fresh fruits and meats. As for the second floor, Shao Ming couldn't see it, but usually, there were bedrooms and such upstairs.
"How's my place?" Asgi took off his assault rifle and put it on a nearby table, saying, "There's some food in the kitchen, and there are quite a few small animals in this forest."
Shao Ming walked closer with Asgi and then saw clearly that the meat on the table was a skinned rabbit and another equally cleaned squirrel.
"Aren't these animals infected?" Shao Ming asked.
"Your dog isn't infected either," Asgi said. "As far as we know, this virus is the same as the one in the pandemic half a year ago. It only infects humans."
"It sounds like some kind of biological weapon," Shao Ming said.
"That's what they said when I was still in the army," Asgi picked up the rabbit and threw it onto the cutting board, starting to deal with the carcass. "But it's just a rumor. Nobody has time to study the virus now."
Shao Ming asked, "What about your unit?"
"It was scattered," Asgi said. "When the mutation first happened, we were sent to the French-Belgian border to assist with the blockade, but later, the troops in the blockade themselves turned into monsters."
Asgi slit open the rabbit's belly with a knife and cleaned out its internal organs.
"On the way to retreat to Amiens, I met her," Asgi raised his chin and pointed at Ryō Yamada, who was chatting and gesturing animatedly in the living room with Lambert.
"At first, there were over two hundred people in the team, including civilians and soldiers. Later, the number of people in the team kept decreasing. Some mutated, and others were caught by the mutants."
Asgi scooped up a ladle of water from a bucket and washed the rabbit's body.
"Later, we learned that Amiens had also fallen. The troops there mutated even before the civilians."
Hearing this, Shao Ming sighed. It seemed that the situation in France was no better than that in the UK.
"About a week ago, I completely lost contact with the army. But before that, I got the news that Paris was still holding out. Some troops had cleared out nearly half of the urban area to take in survivors."
Asgi put the rabbit aside and started cleaning the squirrel.
"Squirrel meat doesn't taste good," Asgi said, glancing at Ryō Yamada in the living room.
"Sometimes she reminds me of my daughter."
"Where's your daughter?" Shao Ming asked.
"After I divorced her mother, she had been living in Paris. We used to live in Calais, so that's why I have this small house here."
When talking about his daughter, Asgi's movements slowed down.
"I don't know how she's doing in Paris."
Shao Ming asked puzzledly, "Why don't you go look for her?"
"Zombies are piled up outside Paris," Asgi said. "Although it's not far from here to Paris, there are countless villages and towns in between. Even if I could break through these layers of blockades, I wouldn't be able to get into Paris."
Then, Asgi stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Shao Ming, asking, "Your train looks very sturdy. Could it take me to Paris?"
"We're going to Germany and then all the way back to China," Shao Ming said. "We probably won't pass through Paris."
"Are you going back to China?" Ryō Yamada in the living room asked. "Can I come with you?"
"Of course, of course," Lambert answered without waiting for Shao Ming to speak.
Asgi pulled Shao Ming aside and whispered, "This is a request, or rather a deal. I believe that in the current situation, you definitely won't be able to get back to your train."
Asgi looked at the equipment of the several people. "If I'm not mistaken, all your stuff is on the train, right?"
Shao Ming asked straightforwardly, "So your bargaining chip is our train?"
"I can help you get the train back."
Shao Ming walked into the living room and called Feng Yusheng and Lambert over.
Shao Ming said, "This soldier hopes that we can take him to Paris to find his daughter. The condition is that he can help us get the train back."
Lambert said, "He looks very capable in a fight."
Feng Yusheng said, "Don't you remember two days ago? There was also a soldier who looked very resolute."
"Yes, he looks very capable in a fight," Shao Ming said. "We could get the train back without him, but what I'm thinking is that it would be good to have him join our team."
In fact, what Shao Ming was thinking in his heart was that if he didn't find another capable fighter to join the team soon, he would be exhausted. Especially if Ryō Yamada was also going to join the team.
"How do you want to tell him?" Feng Yusheng asked. "Will he come with us?"
Shao Ming thought for a moment and said, "If he can cover us to get the train, the initiative will be in our hands. We can run away or take them with us."
He paused for a moment and then continued, "There's no city wall in Paris. I don't think the chances of his daughter surviving inside are very high."
"I just heard your conversation," Feng Yusheng said. "He said that there are zombies all outside Paris. Otherwise, why wouldn't he go by himself?"
"And this will slow down our progress," Lambert said. "The best way is for us to break the deal and just take the train and leave."
"We can't do that," Shao Ming shook his head and said. "Just because we were abandoned doesn't mean we should abandon others."
"Either agree to his proposal and work with him," Shao Ming said, "or don't agree and just stay here for one night and then figure out a way on our own."
The three of them discussed for a while longer and finally decided to agree to Asgi's proposal.
"If you can help us get the train back, we'll take you to Paris," Shao Ming said. "But there are two additional conditions. First, if the number of zombies outside Paris is too large, we won't take you into the city."
Asgi nodded and said, "No problem."
"Second, whether you find your daughter or not after entering Paris, you have to come with us after leaving Paris."
Asgi was silent for a while and then asked, "If I find my daughter, can I bring her with me?"
"Then you'll have to add another carriage to the train," Shao Ming said. "The two driver's cabs won't be able to fit so many people."
"You can add it at the freight yard just now," Asgi said. "I can buy you at least two hours."
Shao Ming extended his hand and said, "Happy cooperation."