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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 221: Life and Death (Part One)
"You better understand the situation. The reason I don't want to kill you right now is not that I can't," Zhou Huai said with a mocking smile, his tone laced with a hint of threat. "Killing you would only take a flick of my finger; you have no room for choice."
Jiang He halted, his gaze fixated on the gun in Zhou Huai's hand, his mind racing to find any possible flaw. He knew Zhou Huai wouldn't just sit back and do nothing, but he hadn't expected him to have a gun. After a moment of thought, he realized it made sense; the port had originally been where Shaoshan's troops were stationed, and Zhou Huai had been around long enough to acquire a ship and several firearms without much trouble.
"That's right, now you're acting like a smart person," Zhou Huai remarked as he noticed Jiang He stop in his tracks. The gun's muzzle lowered slightly, but his finger remained on the trigger, indicating he wasn't entirely at ease.
At that moment, Jiang He felt somewhat bewildered. He couldn't grasp Zhou Huai's intentions. In terms of brute force, he was indeed no match for him. The deck was small, with no cover or obstacles; if Zhou Huai wanted him dead, it would be an easy task. Yet it seemed he truly had no intention of silencing him. From his earlier words to the recent threats, it all conveyed one message: Don't make any rash moves; I won't kill you.
"You don't need to overthink it. Your friends are probably trying to figure out how to track you down. As long as you don't have any funny ideas, you might still see them alive," Zhou Huai said, licking his lips as he opened a third can of beer and gulped it down, burping contentedly.
"Where is the ship headed?" Unable to find a way out of the predicament for now, Jiang He suppressed his urge to fight back and asked an unrelated question.
Zhou Huai seemed pleased with Jiang He's change in attitude and replied with a grin, "I don't really know; it's my first time sailing, and I haven't quite figured it out yet."
"No destination?" Jiang He glanced at the closed door of the cockpit, sunlight streaming through the glass and reflecting dazzlingly.
"There is one; it's just that I might not be able to find it," Zhou Huai casually pointed in a direction. "Once we get past the Bay, there are plenty of Reefs. I'm planning to find a place to hide from both Zombies and living people there."
"What about fresh water?"
"There are water pipelines near the Reefs close to land."
"The Water Company also relies on the Electric Water Pressure Machine for water supply; what's the use of pipes?"
"So what? Just because the water pipes aren't working, you're going to give up on this isolated island?" Zhou Huai scoffed at Jiang He's words, his eyes revealing unhidden disdain. "I really don't know whether to call you naive or foolish. If the resources in the city were completely stripped away, would you have no other way to survive?"
"Don't change the subject; I'm asking you." Jiang He sneered, his tone provocative. "Aren't you full of confidence?"
"You don't need to provoke me; that tactic won't work on me." Zhou Huai waved his hand, stopping that line of conversation. He asked, "What are you doing here? I see there are soldiers in your group; are you here to join the Garrison?"
"Do you know where those Garrison members went?" Jiang He didn't answer directly. His tone suggested he knew something, so he hinted, "I heard there used to be a safe living area here. How did it all get overrun by Zombies?"
"You've come to the right person; I witnessed it all." Zhou Huai said proudly, leaning against the ship's railing as he thought for a moment. "It's strange to say, but when I arrived here, there were no Zombies at all. At least half of Tianjin City was safe. Then about a month later, just two weeks ago, a Horde of Zombies suddenly appeared. The outer defense forces were quite strong—at least half a group army—but they couldn't hold out for even a week. In the middle of the night, they retreated with a bunch of refugees and left by boat. I’m not sure where they went; probably towards the Yellow Sea or East China Sea. I heard there are still stationed camps in the capital, but I don’t know which side; it’s all too chaotic."
"Two weeks ago?" Jiang He furrowed his brow, vaguely recalling something. That timing was peculiar; two weeks ago, their desperate mission in the Gobi Desert had just ended. Going back a month, he hadn't even left Shanxi yet. During that time, there had indeed been fewer sightings of Zombies. On the day when the large Horde appeared, he had encountered three graduate students; that night not only did the Horde of Zombies pass through but also an airplane flew across the sky.
"What’s wrong? Do you know something?" Zhou Huai asked sideways as he noticed Jiang He's unusual expression.
"Nothing..." Jiang He casually deflected but then recalled what that man with gold-rimmed glasses had said before leaving the Gobi Desert: "...the land no longer belongs to you; set sail." Could it be that all this was part of Kenny's plan? That didn’t quite add up. He knew it wasn’t surprising that the Establishment had a base here, but how could he have guessed that they would be driven out of the port? From what he saw and heard that night, it seemed like the large Horde moved with some purpose, but it was only an impression—could Kenny be controlling these Zombies from thousands of miles away?
Jiang He hadn’t participated in the night raid in the Gobi Desert and hadn’t witnessed Wu Wentao piloting his aircraft. The next day was pouring rain, and all attention was focused on the prisoner exchange ceremony; there was no time to observe the surroundings. Thus, he hadn’t been able to connect these events together but felt there might be some relation between them. He believed Shaoshan wouldn’t exaggerate; Zhou Huai’s words confirmed this point: there was a world of difference between residential areas and shelters or camps—the former were larger and could maintain normal living conditions while the latter merely struggled to survive without any semblance of life.
After thinking for a long time without coming up with any conclusions, Jiang He shook his head and pushed those chaotic thoughts aside to focus on the current situation. The circumstances were not optimistic; he was half hostage and half captive here, seemingly under Zhou Huai's control. Song Yao and Shaoshan would definitely come looking for him, but time was a significant issue. Jiang He had previously dropped a buoy at the stern of the boat; that rope wasn’t very long and had likely run out recently. If Song Yao and others could catch up quickly, that would be best; if not, how could they find such a small boat in this vast sea? The winds and waves were fierce at sea; firing a gun might not even help.
Moreover, the subtle atmosphere between Jiang He and Zhou Huai continued to ferment; neither had good intentions toward each other but were currently keeping their composure. Even if one wanted to trip up the other, at least it hadn’t shown outwardly yet.
Zhou Huai noticed him furrowing his brows in thought but chose not to pry. Instead, he stood up and leaned over the ship's railing, surveying the surroundings. This was his second time out at sea. The first time he had taken a boat, he was still an unestablished teacher. At that time, his girlfriend was far away on Gourd Island. Young lovers separated by distance naturally found it hard to endure their longing, so he picked a day to sneak over, intending to surprise her. However, what transpired was clearly contrary to his original intention. The young Zhou Huai arrived with excitement but returned disappointed, having spent the entire boat ride to Dalian feeling nauseous and dizzy. By the time he set foot on land, his stomach was empty, his wallet was empty, and his mind felt empty too.
To Zhou Huai, the surface of the sea seemed indistinguishable; looking out from the ship's railing, he saw the splashes of water being split by the bow of the boat. A little farther away, the cold blue sea churned, sending ripples spreading out in circles. The water was not clear, visibility was low, and with the ship moving at a decent speed, all he could see was a blur of white and blue—there was no charm or sentiment to be felt at all. The only thing that piqued his interest was the occasional glimpse of dorsal fins breaking through the surface like blades.
A smirk crept onto Zhou Huai's lips as he glanced sideways at the pensive Jiang He. He called out, "Hey! Have you ever seen a shark?"
"Huh?" Jiang He stood up upon hearing this and looked toward the sea from a few meters away. The surrounding waves were rolling, obscuring anything else.
"Over here." Zhou Huai gestured with his chin toward himself and said, "I did a lot of research before coming out here; the Bohai Strait isn't too—"
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