Chapter 2: Little Lori in the treasure chest

A state of mind in which people lose their faith, have no understanding or comfort, and feel hopeless about the future in the face of extreme anxiety, extreme pain, and extreme helplessness, which is called the eschatological mentality in psychology.

Driven by this mentality, individuals tend to be paranoid, completely self-centered, and abandon the correct moral rules in favor of irrational and extreme behavior.

It's just that this mentality may now be a universal worldview.

Claude walked slowly through the bustling streets, at first, he hoped to find a fellow human like him, but after countless disappointments, he gave up, like a drop of water into the sea, into this group of zombies walking blindly.

As the sun set, the sun sprinkled its last rays on the lifeless land, and Claude suddenly stopped, was hit by a zombie behind him, and staggered to the door of a shop.

The collapsed shelves crushed a zombie, this guy was supposed to be a clerk, now half of his body was stuck in the shelf, and the other half of his body was a meter away.

The half-broken zombie, dragging its broken intestines and internal organs, crawled forward on the floor with difficulty, screaming incessantly, but it seemed that it didn't feel any pain, just for the blood not far in front of it. In that bloodstain, a corpse that had been eaten and only a skeleton was left lying there.

Looking at the zombie who had no stomach but still wanted to stuff something into his mouth, Claude pushed open the glass door of the store, and a crisp bell rang.

Looking up at the little bell on the door, the sound of which there was no other sound than a roar, gave Claude a pleasant feeling.

Roar! The half-body zombie on the ground roared at Claude.

Picking up a fire extinguisher on the side, Claude decisively ended the loss of life. Then he stood in the doorway, touched the little brass bell lightly with his hand, and listened to the pleasant sound again, and a smile gradually spread on his mouth.

Even if it's a zombie, I want to be like this little bell and live my own beauty.

Claude walked into the store, picked up the bottles of pure water, opened the lid, and poured it over his head.

One by one, the zombies walked through the department store blankly, and then saw a member of the same kind inside naked, not knowing what they were doing, of course, with their intelligence, it is estimated that they can no longer understand this action called bathing.

Drying himself and picking out all kinds of clothes from the shelves, Claude himself didn't know why he was doing it, but he did it anyway, as if it was better to dress up than to do nothing.

White shirt, a red tie, Claude gestured in the mirror, his hands are not very flexible now, but as long as he persists, there will always be results. Claude tried many times, and finally looked at the beautiful tie buckle with satisfaction, and grinned in the mirror.

He found a pair of suitable leather shoes, put on a thin trench coat, and reached for the old Shanghai watch on his wrist, which his grandfather had left him before he died.

Wound the clockwork, and in the silence, the sound of the hands beating was so obvious, as if to tell him that he was still alive.

Reaching out and picking up a narrow-brimmed gentleman's hat and putting it on his head, he felt that something was missing, and walked out the door, looking through the walking zombie herd to the jewelry store across the street.

Pushing aside the zombies in front of him and letting them roar inexplicably, Claude walked across the street and pushed open the glass door of the jewelry store.

Things here are relatively neat, and it doesn't seem to be affected by zombies or humans. It is estimated that in today's last days, these things are no longer as attractive as food.

Claude looked at the jewelry in these glass cases, and his gaze stopped in front of a necklace.

This is a custom-made model of Constantine, with a bright gold exterior in the shape of a cross, and the vertical inscription of the cross: C.S.S.M.L, [Let the holy cross light me]; Cross: N.D.S.M.D. [Don't let the wicked lead me].

Claude smiled self-deprecatingly, reached out and took it out of the cabinet, looked at the cross, which symbolized the sacredness, and smiled a little sarcastically.

Take off your hat, let the long gray hair of the shawl fall out, tie your hair into a ponytail with this necklace and hang it down behind you, and put the hat on again.

The cross shook behind his head, reflecting the golden glow of the last rays of the sun that shone into the jewelry store.

Claude sighed and was about to push open the glass door of the jewelry store, when suddenly he stopped, because he heard a different voice in the silence.

It was the sound of something colliding rapidly and incessantly, and if you felt it specifically, it would be the sound of the body shaking and the iron cabinet colliding.

Claude turned around, thinking that he might have found a human, because zombies don't fear, and they don't tremble.

Pushing open the glass counter and bypassing a billboard, Claude walked to a cabinet.

It is a metal safe, not large, only one meter high. There's no one to hide in this, it's probably a puppy or a pet cat.

Claude crouched down and reached out to pull the safe with a slight gap outward, and he felt a resistance, although not large, but it was obviously the resistance of someone on the other side.

Claude felt amused, hiding in such a small space, if it were an adult, he would have been unable to move because of his crampedness. If it's a child, it is estimated that it will also be difficult to breathe due to lack of oxygen, so it is no wonder that there is a slit.

After waiting for a while, Claude pulled the metal door of the safe again this time, perhaps thinking that the people outside were gone, or perhaps because he was caught off guard, this time there was no resistance.

The door of the safe opened, and what appeared in front of me was a little girl who was trembling all over, 5 or 6 years old, with a frightened face, a fruit knife in her hand pointed at Claude, tears had flowed silently, and two snow-white lines rushed out on her dark face.

Although Claude knew that his face was terrifying now, he tried to control his muscles and made a smiling face. He felt a glimmer of joy, a joy at finally finding someone to communicate with in this lonely world, even though the little girl in front of him was pointing a fruit knife at him.

Claude took a step back and squatted down, smiled and waved his hand at the little girl, indicating that he had no ill intentions. Then there was a long standoff between two people, or a person and a sane zombie.

Although she saw that Claude did not attack or eat her, the little girl did not come out of the safe, and the fruit knife in her hand was still trembling but firmly standing in front of her.

Finally, when the last light of the setting sun disappeared on the horizon, under the shroud of darkness, only two breaths remained, one slightly weak, one slow and long.

Bite!

A voice was heard, and Claude noticed that the fruit knife in the hand of the little girl in the safe had fallen to the ground. She herself, perhaps because of long-term tension or because of hunger, finally did not keep her guard anymore, and the whole person was limp in the safe and passed out.

Claude stepped forward, reached out and gently touched the little girl's pale face, and found that she did not react, so he stretched out his two hands and carried her out of the small space as gently as possible.

Claude stroked the little girl's forehead, although he couldn't feel the temperature, it seemed that the little girl's physical condition should not be very good now. After thinking about it, he gently put his ear to the little girl's chest, and listened to the faint but still rhythmic heartbeat, Claude seemed to hear the most beautiful voice in the world, this is the rhythm of life.

Knock, knock, knock...

As if listening to God's whispers, Claude took the little girl in his arms as if on a pilgrimage. This is the first life he has come into contact with in the last days, a life so fresh, and he has felt the warmth for the first time, the feeling that comes from his hands, it should be the temperature of human beings.

If you are not lonely, you are happy.