ACT239: The Vast Land

The scorching sun, no wind, Lianhuo high-speed, depression and desolation.

The winding highway is paved with dust and sand, the mottled roadbed is soaked in time, it looks more and more old, and the cold concrete is silent, and the years have imprisoned it here, spring, summer, autumn and winter, the sun rises and the moon sets, and it almost forgets itself.

At the exit of the Zhangye toll booth, the withered walking corpse is described as staggering forward, and the broken body is knotted with the clothes of the past, and now it is almost integrated with the dead wood-like torso.

For a few years, they were the only friends of the highway, time was passing, and they were immortal, and despite their clumsy bodies, despite the thick and dry blood, they were still here, still staggering and persistently pursuing the breath of flesh and blood, the subtle sounds.

However, their attachment does not come from the heart, so the silent highway will not be grateful.

Over the years, there have been far fewer walking corpses on the road, and they have staggered along the endless long road, some have escaped into the barren mountains, some have traveled to the city, or in groups, or alone.

Today, another group of wandering walking corpses have returned, the toll booths have been abandoned for a long time, the barricades and structures have been covered with a dull earthy color, the road is very dusty, the debris and garbage are everywhere, the walking corpses swim and move, leaving chaotic footprints, and the throat is still roaring, but the sound is as old as the things around it.

There seemed to be movement inside the toll booth, and several walking corpses close to the barricade turned around and stumbled in, the bloodthirsty light still existed in the hollow sunken eye sockets, and the blue-gray arms trembled and raised, and the black and yellow nails were covered with dirt and blood, like blunt knives, exploring the void, trying to find food to feed their stomachs.

The light between the platform passages was dim, the figure of the walking corpse was faint, it was not real, four or five walking corpses gathered in one place, the 'ho-ho' hiss gradually rose, and the ground was quiet again, and faintly, there was a muffled sound of falling to the ground.

The walking corpses wandering around the toll booth did not seem to notice the strange noise, and still wandered around themselves, refusing to leave or stay.

A moment later, two lights suddenly lit up in the dim aisle, which soon went out again, and then, the engine roared, and the walking corpse suddenly turned around, and there was a sharp and sharp sound in the aisle, which was the movement of tires rubbing against the road.

An earthy yellow wrangler suddenly appeared, slammed through the artificially shelved barricades, and slammed straight at the walking corpses scattered on the road, with a 'bang' crash, metal and force tearing flesh and blood, breaking through the scattered corpses and flying away, leaving a puff of dust and smoke and fresh blood all over the ground.

The Wrangler was galloping, with a tarpaulin tied to the roof, tents and sleeping bags wrapped underneath, and a small triangular red flag planted on the side, the sound of a hunting in the strong wind. The passenger window rolled open a gap, and a puff of green smoke came out, and in the smoke, there was a black nose trying to rub between the gaps, and after several attempts to get out, the owner of the nose was annoyed and angry, and bared out two rows of white Sensen's fangs.

"Woo Woo Woo !!"

Angry protests always defended their rights, and the windows were lowered again, leaving a gap large enough for it to poke its head out.

The window on the driver's seat side was also lowered, and with a 'whoosh', the window threw objects and flew out, shattering the road hard, leaving broken glass residues all over the ground.

"You're driving drunk." The co-pilot's man pulled his hood, and the scrawny yellow dog sat on his lap, his thighs aching from the bones, and it still smelled of a bath that it hadn't taken in a long time.

"There's a kind of you going to call the police." The driver laughed, his face flushed a little, deliberately twisted the steering wheel, the body shook, and the messy items in the back seat fell one after another, crushing several cats and pups to wail.

"......" The co-pilot was speechless, snorted, and turned his head to look out the window.

The wind poured into the window, and the corner of the hood was lifted, revealing a face full of scars, the marks of the flames, ugly and terrifying.

The driver glanced at him, took out a cigarette with one hand and lit the fire, which was extremely smooth, and took a puff of smoke, and said, "The weather is still covering, it's not hot." ”

"It's not hot." The co-pilot's voice was a little hoarse, and there was no expression on his scarred face.

"Whatever you want, you still dislike yourself, that's really boring." The driver muttered a few words, took off the blindfold that was buckled on his face, and threw it on the bridge.

The co-pilot looked back, was silent for a while, and removed the scarf and hood covering his face.

"Two disabled people, this combination is not bad." The driver laughed again, as if he was drunk in his voice, and pressed down on the car stereo, and the vulgar songs sounded along with the noisy DJ. The co-pilot held the paw of the yellow dog, swaying to the rhythm of the music, two fingers glued together, curled up, unable to stretch out, but it did not prevent him from making a cameo appearance as a band conductor.

The Wrangler galloped along the depressed highway, a touch of earthy yellow on the road for a fleeting time, chasing the stars and the moon towards the vast Gobi.

……

In the afternoon, as the Wranglers drove into the country road, the surrounding scene became more and more desolate, and the wandering corpses gradually increased.

The off-road vehicle slowed down slowly, stopped in front of a row of tall poplars, the driver's door opened, Ming Junwei jumped down with a cigarette butt in his mouth, untied his belt as he ran, stood still by the tree and let out a long breath, the torrent went straight down, and the urine curbed the flying boat. The yellow dog leaped out of the passenger window, shook his head and looked left and right, ran to Ming Junwei's side with small broken steps, put his hind legs on the mottled old tree, shook his head, and the rough water column rushed in.

After a man and a dog finished releasing the water, they shivered at the same time, and their whole body was relaxed.

"How far is it?" Hou Xiong spread out the map and looked at it, and it didn't seem to mark this rural road on the tourist map, and he couldn't tell where he was at the moment.

"Don't rush, it's almost there." Ming Junwei put away the map and threw it to the back seat, leaned over and rummaged for a while, took out the plastic bag from the clutter pile, picked and picked, and took out two boxes of canned beef.

"You said it was fast last week." Hou Xiong teased, picked up the canning knife and cut the sealing iron sheet, covered it with a layer of condensed grease, sniffed his nose, and the aroma mixed with preservatives drilled into his nose.

Ming Junwei chewed on the dry beef, swallowed it with a stalk on his neck, and wondered: "You are in a hurry?" ”

"I've been on the road, and I'm a little annoyed." Hou Xiong sighed, fed the yellow dog first, and before he could eat it, the tanuki cat also smelled the smell, and dragged his family to rub the rice.

"Enjoy the journey, when you get to the destination, there is a time when you are annoyed." Ming Junwei had a deeply touched expression, ate the canned food in three or two bites, unscrewed the huge thermos cup like a fire hydrant at hand, poured two sips of warm water, and sighed: "If you arrive later, you can see more scenery along the way." ”

"What's so nice, it's all the same." Hou Xiong's ears have already worn out calluses, and every time he asks, Ming Junwei answers so perfunctorily.

Ming Junwei didn't speak, leaned on the saddle and rested for a while, looked at the sunlight between the canopies, and said, "Have you seen enough?" ”

Hou Xiong opened his mouth, swallowed the words in his throat, followed his gaze, and hesitated: "It's just, it's all the same..."

"You'll see something different, I promise." Ming Junwei exhaled slowly, the playful look on his face faded, and a light of unknown meaning flashed in his single eye, and said quietly: "Take a look, remember the way, don't go back to the fork." ”

Hou Xiong was stunned when he heard this, turned his head and stared at his side face for a long time, turned his head, and said, "Before leaving, you didn't say that I had to go back alone." ”

"Just in case." Ming Junwei smiled, lit a cigarette and handed it to him, and lit another one himself.

The two disabled people swallowed the clouds and spitted fog, and the cat and dog family followed the second-hand smoke, and the carriage was full of smoke, like a fairyland.

The yellow dog fluttered his ears twice, sniffed his nose, put his paws on the edge of the window, and snorted a few times outside.

Hou Xiong turned his head and looked over, on the edge of the woods where people and dogs peed just now, two walking corpses stepped on dead branches all over the ground, and there were still shaking figures in the forest behind him, there were many.

Hou Xiong touched the head of the yellow dog, and the probe picked up a nail gun from under the seat, and with two 'bangs', the thick cement nail broke through the air, accurately nailing the head of the walking corpse that came from the staggering side, and the walking corpse suffocated and fell crookedly in the urine.

"Let's go." Ming Junwei pulled up the seat, ignited the car, and the wheels rubbed against the asphalt road, leaving two marks, and walked away without looking back in the reluctant eyes of the walking corpse.

……

As the sun sets over the western mountains, the last rays of light fade away, the sky turns cold, and the stars leap onto the stage.

The Wrangler turned on the headlights, the mosquitoes chasing the glow hovered between the beams, only the dashboard in the car was lit up with a faint fluorescence, the cat and dog family slept peacefully, Hou Xiong rested against the window, his head was attached to the glass, and with the bump of the body, the rhythm of the drum was beaten.

Ming Junwei yawned, drove the vehicle into the winding mountain road, drove a distance, frowned slightly, stopped against the side of the mountain, took out the flashlight from the back seat and got out of the car. After a circle around the four wheels, I finally found the culprit in the suspension of the rear wheel, a piece of walking corpse stump, somehow rolled in, the excess part has been ground into minced meat, and the bones are stuck between the axles, and they have been relying on the nest all the time.

Ming Junwei dragged his hand, the plasma and oil were mixed together, the bone stubble was slippery and he didn't lose his hand, so he had no choice but to go to the car to get a Tibetan knife, and scraped the bones and flesh down.

There will always be a lot of gains on the journey, and this Tibetan knife is also one of them, originally he was not interested in this kind of waist knife, but when he saw the agate jade on the knife, he suddenly remembered that Yu'an carried the Ingisha with him. I didn't think much about it at the time, but I thought that Yu'an should like this kind of thing, so I brought it with me. There were many "gifts" on the car, such as the cigarettes and alcohol they brought to Song Jiu to eat and drink, but these consumables were basically consumed, except for the knives in half of the carriage, which could not be digested, and they were lucky to be retained.

After working for a while, I was blown by the night breeze, and my sleepiness dissipated a lot. Ming Junwei returned to the car door, but saw that Hou Xiong had woken up and was waiting for him in the driver's seat.

"You sleep for a while, I'll drive." Hou Xiong closed the car door and yelled at the co-pilot Nunu.

Ming Junwei grinned, climbed into the car with a Tibetan knife, and said, "I'm not sleepy anymore, look at the night scene, you drive slowly." ”

Hou Xiong was already accustomed to his special hobby, so he didn't say anything, anyway, there was only one way, just follow it.

The first half of the road has been uphill, this distance is very peaceful, the walking corpse still loves the city, there are also in the wilderness, but the number and scale are much smaller, especially in this kind of desolate area, basically there are not a few walking corpses. The second half of the journey began to descend, and the fog was very thick in the distance, and the crazy foliage on the edge of the cliff obscured the view, and it was difficult to see the scenery below.

Towards midnight, the Wrangler finally left the winding trail and climbed a large uphill road, slowly stopping at the highest point of the undulation.

The car was still starting, Hou Xiong stepped on the accelerator, grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, leaned forward, his hideous and terrifying face stiffened, and there was a look of extreme shock in his eyes under the scar.

Ming Junwei, the co-pilot, also sat up straight, licked his lips, and sighed: "How about it, I'm not wrong, you will definitely see a different scenery." ”

In the depths of the night, the towering launch tower and the vertical test plant are like two giant pillars of optimus, looming in the void.

At the end of the long road, a city of lights waits for passers-by.