After a drizzle in the early morning, the weather has improved somewhat, at least it is no longer foggy. After it was a little brighter, we walked out of the library. This time, I was able to see what my surroundings were like. There really wasn't any facilities in the square to deal with the pandemic, the floor was covered with rotting dead leaves, and the occasional mutant could be seen jumping over the wall but getting stuck in the wall.

The door to the library has been vandalized, probably by the same converts last night. The men last night were not much different from the converts I had met in the Dead City Forest, but they were more vicious than the ones I had seen before, and they didn't have the addiction-like weakness or outward power, but made me feel a strong sense of oppression. Especially the bald head in the lead, how did he know that I was with Xie Tao?

Walking back down the avenue, we encountered five or six mutants again, but none of them were threatening, and their legs and feet were not very sensitive. We didn't kill them, we just trotted away. The buildings on both sides of the road have been covered with a dense layer of impermeable foliage, and most of these plants are lianas similar to creepers, but the color is reddish-brown; I used to think that this was because these plants sucked human blood as nutrients, so they had a bloody color. But Liao told me that the color of these plants has little to do with human blood.

When I turned around, I couldn't see the library anymore, and the vegetation on both sides was more lush, but as long as I walked on the road, I could still barely get out of the way. On the side of the road, I saw the entrance to the subway station, but it was blocked. There is a wall made of composite glass at the entrance of the subway, and after wiping the dust on the glass, I dimly saw that there were still faint human heads in the dark corners inside.

"It's going to be miserable down there." Liao Zhuojun was behind me, also looking in, she patted me on the shoulder and motioned for me to follow Li Qin, who was walking in front, "It seems that even if the destruction of the source of the forest virus is over, we still have a lot to do." ”

"At least cleaning up the streets is a big deal." I smiled wryly, "But I'm afraid no one will want to take care of urban greening." ”

"That's right."

I followed Liao Zhuojun behind Li Qin, and if there were any people among the three of us who were vigilant around, it might be only Li Qin. I was carrying the only backpack that had been narrowly escaped from the converts last night, mostly with supplies, two cans and a homemade flashbang and dozens of bullets. Our most important plant vaccines have also been snatched away, and now we have to face not only to rescue our companions, but also to find a way to retrieve them.

Li Qin stopped suddenly, and Liao Zhuojun and I immediately became nervous. Although I didn't hear anything around me, Lichen was like a deer hunter in the forest, staring straight ahead, she lowered her body and led us behind a car that had been burned to the ground.

"There's movement behind the newsstand in front." Li Qin stared ahead and said to us, "It may be a zombie......

I stepped forward and looked through the window of the car that was long gone, and there was a head swaying from side to side behind a newsstand in front of me, and I could assume that it was a man with his back to us...... Or mutants. There were still a number of mutants who had not moved around the newsstand, and the ground was covered in splatters of blood and minced flesh. It seemed that this messy pool of flesh was still glowing with blood, perhaps a tragic scene left over from a bloody battle between mutants last night.

"Do you want to get around?" I asked Li Qindao, "I don't know if there are any mutants behind there." ”

"There's just this road around, and you can't get around." Li Qin checked the ammunition in the submachine gun, she was holding an old Type 79 submachine gun, that is, the kind of old gun that had no deterrent appearance in the hands of the police or bank armed escorts when she was a child, and the bullets in Li Qin's gun were estimated to be about ten rounds.

I also took off the insurance of my pistol, because the only backpack we had left was mostly 5.8mm bullets, and compared to the 7.62mm bullets used in Lichen's old gun, my pistol was just enough to replenish the ammunition, so I didn't have to worry about running out of ammunition for the time being.

"Let's keep our distance as much as possible, and you two follow me."

"What are you doing after you?" Before Li Qin's tactical arrangement was finished, I interrupted her and stood up in a dignified manner, although it was not as flamboyant as a loud noise, but Li Qin and Liao Zhuojun were surprised by my sudden words, "If it's a mutant, as long as there is no sarcoma monster, I don't think we have to worry." ”

Li Qin shook her head helplessly, but it didn't stop me. So I took the lead, Li Qin and Liao Zhuojun followed behind me, and we slowly walked forward. When my gaze was parallel to the newsstand, I saw that the dying man was actually a mutant who had been cut in two. Its stomach has been hollowed out, and its lower body is dragged to the ground with a intestine attached to it. When it saw us, it let out a hungry wail and waved its hands at us, one of which was only half cut off. Due to the amplitude of the sway, the upper body that had been leaning against the newsstand lost its center of gravity, but after falling to the ground, the mutant immediately crawled towards us with the intestine in tow, but after crawling for some distance, I unsurprisingly calmed down, staring up at me blankly.

"Are you going to do it yourself?" Li Qin pulled out the scimitar stuck in the waistband of her pants and handed it to me.

I shook my head and smiled, "No need...... It's better for you to come. ”

Without saying a word, Li Qin stepped forward and slashed it simply, and the mutant's head rolled off its shoulder, and then the scimitar was inserted into the door of the brain again, and with the sound of bones shattering, it took Li Qin less than three seconds to skillfully finish off the sad mutant.

Judging by the extent of the damage to the mutant's clothes, Li Qin thought that it should be a survivor in the forest, but the good fortune didn't last until last night. After we left the newsstand, we finally came to a relatively open space, and there was a pedestrian traffic light standing next to me, believing that we had reached a crossroads.

I stood at the traffic light, surrounded by devastated cities and rampaging mutant plants, the intersection on the right was filled with abandoned cars, the left was blocked by plants I couldn't name, and the road in front of the intersection had collapsed into a large sinkhole, and the roars of mutants could be heard from time to time. The two subway trains are like metal snakes rushing out of the ground, arching out of the ground and blocking the edge of the big pit, the uplifted road has cracked, and the cars that have been overturned by it are piled up on both sides, and many have fallen into the pit, I am afraid it is impossible to walk through, but we have the opportunity to bypass the collapse pit and find another way.

Across the road, the building in front of me should have been a high-end department store in my memory, but it seemed to have experienced a fire, the glass façade burned to the skeleton, the collapsed billboard blocked the door of the department store, and in the open space in front of the gate were still parked a few military jeeps and SWAT armored vehicles, but they were all covered with a layer of dense foliage, like a figurative plant sculpture.

"Hey, did you hear anything?" While Li Qin and I were discussing how to walk through this section of the street beyond recognition, Liao Zhuojun suddenly looked around and asked us mysteriously, "Did you hear that?" ”

"It's the mutant in the pit." I said a perfunctory word, and continued to plan with Li Qin, preparing to take the road on the right to cross another street, go directly around this intersection, and turn into the square.

Liao Zhuojun knew that Li Qin and I didn't take her words to heart, so she walked between us and interrupted the conversation between me and Li Qin. "Listen carefully!"

Li Qin and I had no choice but to shut up and listen carefully to the sounds around us with Liao Zhuojun. But apart from the wind and the sporadic sounds of the deserted city, all I heard was the echo of the roar of the mutants in the pit.

"Nothing else." As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly heard a different roar, it was in the street, and it was not far from us.

"It's a dog." As soon as Li Qin finished speaking, five or six bloody zombie dogs jumped up and appeared on the roof of the abandoned car that was congested on the road behind us.

The zombie dogs stood on the dragon, and a few slowly walked out of the dense grass. They purr viciously as they look at us, as if to warn us not to act rashly, and their rotten lips and butts tug upwards to reveal a row of fangs that could easily tear us apart. These are pets that were once raised by humans, but now they have mutated and regained their wolf nature, even outperforming wolves to become a ferocious beast.

"Run......" I whispered to Li Qin and Liao Zhuojun.

"Where are you going?" Before Liao Zhuojun finished asking, the zombie dog had insight into our intentions and rushed forward in an instant!

"Run, run, run!" I shouted and ran away.

Liao Zhuojun and Li Qin also followed closely behind me, and Li Qin fired two more shots back, but the mutant dogs were not afraid of the weak resistance of humans. We ran through the parking lot in front of the department store and past rows of old cars. I didn't dare to look backwards, and my legs were just running wild in the instinct of survival. Zombie dogs are not faster than ordinary dogs in terms of speed due to the festering of their bodies, but they are still enough to catch up with us.

"There's a door!" Li Qin shouted and pointed to the half-hidden door under the building in front of me.

I didn't care if there was any other danger behind the door, and the howl of the vicious dog was getting closer and closer to us, and I opened the door and rushed into the dark room. I turned around to see that Li Qin and Liao Zhuojun were also about to rush in, but they had already been chased by zombie dogs, and one of them was just about to pounce on Li Qin and was repelled by her with the butt of her gun. Liao Zhuojun also rushed into the room, and we all gave up our places to Li Qin, and she closed the door as she entered. With a bang, the zombie dogs slammed into the door. The door panel of the security door should be able to resist their impact, so the helpless zombie dog can only keep barking at us through the door. Having escaped death, we stood by the door breathlessly, listening to their calls, and couldn't help but laugh, and we were glad that we didn't become their mouths.

Li Qin took out a flashlight, which was our only source of light. Our location was actually an escape route, but we had escaped from outside. There was a map on the wall, and we followed the instructions to find the exit at the end of the square. Since we never went deep into this building, we didn't see too many mutants, and the few we encountered were naturally not a threat.

"Why can't you make those dogs like these guys?" Li Qin, who was walking in front, asked with his back to us.

"It seems that we can further determine that Du Yuheng affected the mutant zombies through smell." Liao Zhuojun, who was walking in the middle, nodded and said.

"What do you mean?"

"We previously judged that the reason why Du Yuheng was able to influence the activities of zombies was because zombies identified the virus in his body through Du Yuheng's scent, and because the original virus had the dominance of its subspecies, a situation like this would occur." Liao Zhuojun explained that Li Qin also happened to kill another mutant who stood in front of us.

"But dogs' sense of smell itself is sensitive enough, and they may be able to sense that Du Yuheng is not exactly a zombie," Liao Zhuojun said, looking back at me again, worried that his words would be offended, "That's why they will attack us." ”

"In other words, now as long as we don't encounter sarcoma zombies and dogs, we can all worry about it?" Listening to Liqin's tone, she was quite optimistic about our current situation, but after a slight pause, she added, "Oh, of course, there are still people. ”

Liao Zhuojun continued to explain: "The sarcoma zombie you mentioned, according to our judgment, also dominates the actions of the surrounding zombies by spraying gas containing a special smell, and its smell will mask Du Yuheng's smell, thus counteracting Du Yuheng's influence on the zombies, but it seems that the sarcoma zombies themselves cannot detect Du Yuheng's existence. ”

"To put it bluntly, boy, it's just that your taste isn't strong enough." Li Qin made a rare joke, but she didn't expect it to hurt people.

Unfortunately, I didn't find a chance to fight back, so we found an exit. The security door in front of us should not be difficult to open, but we couldn't push it open after unlocking.

"There's something behind the door." After kicking twice, Li Qin said to me, "Come and do me a favor." ”

Li Qin and I slammed into the door together, and under the impact, the security door finally revealed a gap. It turned out that the door was not blocked by something, but by the vine leaves attached to the outside. We bumped into it two more times, and the gap gradually opened. Li Qin cut the branches and leaves with a knife, and under my kicking, white light broke in and filled my sight.

When the pain in my eyes gradually subsided, and my vision returned, the world in front of me suddenly opened up. Under the gray sky, there is a long-lost clearing, and a large turquoise lawn is like an emerald embedded in the earth, imprisoned in the surrounding gray and green buildings. The soothing wind rustles through the grass, and the open lawn will not get tired no matter how noisy the wind is. The grass on the lawn is almost past the rescue tents that once stood in the square, and many vehicles can be seen sunken in the grass, and the only thing that is exposed is the roof. Behind the Great Lawn stands the City Hall, once an icon of the city, but now a scar that will never fade away.

The Great Hall is almost the same length as the square, and the part of the side facing us is still intact, but the other side has collapsed, leaving only the bricks and tiles. The wreckage of the two helicopters was stuck in the blackened ruins, and the pyramidal glass roof in the center of the synagogue was only half left. In front of the synagogue, there is a large pool, which was formed by the collapse of the ground and the accumulation of water, and some traces of human activity can still be seen around the pool; Not only in front of the synagogue, but also around the pasture, there seemed to be a few waterholes scattered around the pasture. The plants next to each waterhole are slightly more vigorous. It seems that several slender streams have formed between the waterholes and are buried in the grassy forest.

Suddenly there was a long whine in the distance, it was the long whistle of a train. We didn't expect the city to be so quiet after humanity almost disappeared, and the train station was still some distance away, but we could still hear the last whistle of the departing train here.

"It's the voice on the other end of the train station, I guess they're leaving." Li Qin looked up to trace the direction from which the whistle came, "Let's go quickly." ”

With that, Li Qin climbed over the guardrail, jumped down the steps, and beckoned to us to hurry up. Liao Zhuojun and I hurriedly caught up with Li Qin, and without much thought, we plunged into the grass higher than us with her. Li Qin wasn't very fast, and she would check back from time to time to make sure we were keeping up. In front of me, apart from the silhouette of her walking and stopping, there were towering blades of grass, as if I was in an endless cornfield, and when I looked up, I could only see a gray sky.

The soil beneath your feet turned from soft to muddy, and after walking some distance, you could already hear the sound of stepping on the water. Coming to a tent, Li Qin pulled out a scimitar and slowly opened the curtain with his hands and feet, and in the tent there were two headless corpses tied to the hospital bed except for a mess. Ignoring the presence of the corpse, we quickly jumped out of the tent again, and the view in front of us was slightly wider. A thin stream flows through it, and although the current is not large, it has formed a natural riverbed. As we walked up the stream, we saw the largest pool in the lawn, and the City Hall was close in front of us, just by following the edge of the pool.

The waterhole looks unpolluted, and in fact it is not an exaggeration to describe it as clear as a mirror. The entire waterhole is about half the size of a football field, and the broken floor structure can be clearly seen at the edge of the pool, and the bottom of the pool seems to be able to see a complex structure of water pipes buried in the soil silt and as if it is still bubbling.

"I remember that this square was a ground fountain a long time ago," Liao Zhuojun said, "and it must have been formed by the underground water pipe bursting unmanaged, causing the ground to collapse." ”

"Makes sense." Li Qin squatted down and was about to take out the kettle that had been emptied by us, wanting to hit someone, but was immediately stopped by Liao Zhuojun.

"The water is not as safe as you think." Liao Zhuojun grabbed Li Qin and pointed to a few clusters of bright green aquatic plants by the pool, "Do you see it?" I can't drink it anymore. ”

"Yes, the converts say it's linden, and when they drink it, they can temporarily slow down the mutants around them." Following the direction of Liao Zhuojun's finger, I saw several clusters of linden grass at the edge of the pond opposite, and quickly explained, "This grass is like a drug, and after drinking the water it has been soaked, you will become addicted." ”

"Okay......" Li Qin put away the kettle helplessly, and just sighed, someone screamed from the other side of the Great Hall, and the frightened cry finally turned into a helpless cry.

"That's not a good sign." I pulled out my gun and looked at the magnificent building in the bosom of the jungle, even if it was half unrecognizable, it was still a behemoth, like the last soldier on the battlefield who refused to fall for a long time, even if he was scarred all over his body, he would not accept the ominous end.

Li Qin and Liao Zhuojun also took out their weapons, and we hurried to climb the marble steps of the Great Hall. After the last flight of stairs is the gate, and there is no other entrance in front of us. There was no one guarding the gate, as if the people inside were not worried about anyone breaking in.

Entering the hall of the synagogue, we were greeted by the stench of burning, and we followed the screams all the way up to the second floor, where we bumped into three converts at the top of the stairs. After the encounter, the converts were startled at first, and then, without saying a word, drew their swords and axes and rushed towards us. Li Qin simply killed the two converts who were headless and brainless and rushed towards her, and I also shot the guy who was a little slower. Just as I hesitated a little after I dealt with the enemy, Liao Zhuojun suddenly pushed me away, and a bullet passed me by with a whoosh. Li Qin, who reacted, shot back, and the other party immediately hid behind the corner. We also took the opportunity to retreat and look for cover.

"Be careful!" Li Qin complained to me reproachfully.

"Got it!" I fired two more shots at the other end of the wall, and the head of a man who had just popped out of the wall quickly retracted.

"How many people?"

"Two." Liao Zhuojun, who was hiding behind the corner wall with me, replied.

Li Qin squatted behind the escalator, just in the blind spot of the other party's line of sight, but the converts decided that she could not be given a chance to raise her head and fight back, and almost all the bullets hit the wooden escalator on Li Qin's head, pressing her and not getting up at all. Liao Zhuojun suddenly pulled out a homemade flashbang from my backpack, and I understood what she meant at a glance.

Liao Zhuojun crouched down, seized the gap between the other party's shots, and threw flashbangs from my feet. I saw the people upstairs shouting "Grenade!" "There was a muffled thud, and the homemade flashbang emitted a blinding white light, which of course didn't have much effect on humans, but when the converts reacted, we stood in front of them and sent them off for the last time without hesitation.

The miserable screams were no longer audible, but I was sure it came from the end of the hallway in front of us. Behind that double door must be the destination we are looking for, but is it just rushing in? I hesitated for a moment, but Li Qin strode past me. She pulled out her magazine, checked the remaining ammunition, and stood against the door. I followed her, reloading my bullets and leaning against the other wall. Liao Zhuojun was on my side, although she also had a pistol in her hand, she seemed to have fired two or three shots from just now, and judging from her rapid breathing, she was not ordinary nervous now. Come to think of it, we're killing people, why am I so comfortable when I pull the trigger?

"They're all waiting for us inside." Li Qin said to us through the crack in the door, "Xie Tao, they are also ...... Oh no......"

"What's wrong?"

Before Liqin could answer me, a woman in the room confidently called out to us, "Listen, people outside, you have defiled this temple and offended the wrath of God. I advise you to come out and beg the God of Nature for forgiveness! ”

"It's the woman who calls herself a prophet, right?" I remember the voice, and it still sounds so crazy now.

Liao Zhuojun couldn't help but cover his mouth and laughed: "Is this woman crazy?" ”

"These people are cultists, so that's why they're more dangerous." Li Qin kept staring at the situation on the other side of the door, "Xie Tao, some of them have died......