Chapter 17: A Sudden Clue
It's a weird scene, it's very.
In Andy's eyes, Stephen was still coughing, and the skin of his neck was covered with blue blisters due to the violent movements, and it didn't need to be explained that this was very unusual, at least not in any of Andy's own memories of having a similar condition.
In fact, it is a common occurrence to survive and get sick in the wasteland, even for a guy like Andy, who is extremely strong and stamina, and those experiences have helped him eliminate some bad habits, such as eating casually or easily wading into dirty places.
Pain is always a better textbook, and if you don't understand it, they will generously give you enthusiastic teaching again.
Then again, Stephen's state is clearly not right.
Andy knew that there were many people who were weak in the struggling crowd, but this guy was almost on the verge of death, and his face was already thin.
Stephen was still coughing violently, unable to speak, Andy walked back to the previous tin box and pulled out some bottles from inside, he looked at the words on the package.
"Supervised by the Arizonsang government, emergency water reserves."
Seems to be clean water.
Andy quickly pulled out a bottle, opened the lid and drank it all.
"Hahβthat's cool."
However, after drinking it, Andy was a little unsatisfied, and he always felt that the water was clean, but it was not as good as the dirty water he used to drink..... It's like cooking without salt.
A hard cough sounded from behind him again, and Andy looked back, took a bottle of water, and handed it to Stephen.
"Ahem, ahem..... Grunt..... Yes...... Thank you. β
Stephen, who had drunk half a bottle of water, seemed to have improved a little, his wrinkled face stretched a little, but he still couldn't stand up straight.
"You're welcome..... Let's move on to the previous topic. β
Andy looked at the hole in the carriage, it was almost dark outside, the last food in the beep-boy had been eaten before, and if he couldn't find food in other boxes for a while, he would be hungry tonight.
"Stephen, how did you end up in jail?"
Stephen dragged his legs step by step to a wooden box next to him and then sat on it, listening to Andy's inquiry, he raised his head slightly, with a confused expression on his face, and waited for a while before slowly reacting.
"I ..... I was a member of the caravan before .... We are travelling from Liberia to ..... Head northeast..... I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I was attacked by a group of natives on the way, and the leader and most of the guards died..... I was held captive by them and locked up in a room .... There were people who had been captured by them just like me, and I had heard that they would use them as slaves for forced labor or sell them..... I.... I ran away while they weren't looking, and the next night was inexplicable.... β
Stephen stopped his mouth and relaxed, two more abnormal blush on his face, and sweat on his forehead.
Andy rummaged through the boxes, some of which were already a pile of rotten and dried debris, and I couldn't figure out what they were, most likely fresh vegetables and fruits, and some useless items, such as some pots and clothes racks.....
"Don't you have anything to eat?"
Andy's face was a little ugly, he had a lot of appetite, he hadn't eaten for a day, and now his stomach was very upset and he was starting to growl.
"Hmm..... Behind you.... There is a cardboard box on the back right, the one with a red oval logo on it, in the shape of a small nuclear bomb. β
Andy turned his head, and sure enough, in an inconspicuous place, he saw a cardboard box, which indeed had a red oval logo on it, as Stephen said, and the pattern on it was a small nuclear bomb outlined by white lines.
Throw out the knife and cut the carton open, it is full of things similar to the carton packaging of the previous laundry detergent, and when I pull it out, I see that the text on it is well preserved, and it reads: Sugar-coated bomb cereal.
"Interesting, how do you know this box is food?"
Andy tore open the package, and there were pieces of yellow objects inside, which smelled quite good, and there was no sign of decay..... One can't help but wonder what additives were added to this thing when it was processed. But now is not the time to think too much, Andy gulped a box of cereal directly into his mouth, and the taste was not bad.
Stephen reached out and asked for a box.
"Ah..... After all, I'm a caravan, and I'm the trademark of Brando.... Of course acquaintance.... Ahem....... That's one, the trademark of a pre-war food processing plant, very famous .... This packaged sugar-coated bomb cereal is well preserved..... Selling 20 caps a box outside...."
He staggered and tore open the package, and then ate something, but it couldn't compare to Andy's whale-swallowing style.
Andy turned around, and he noticed the key word that Stephen had unconsciously said just now, what does "pre-war" mean? Was there a pre-war and a post-war? Is it post-war now?
"Stephen, what is pre-war? What is war? β
Stephen looked up at Andy in some surprise, as if he had suddenly heard someone ask him what shape the sun was, but soon he seemed to think of something, and the expression on his face calmed down again.
"Oh..... I thought everyone knew about it, but in fact, I thought about it too much, not everyone knows these common sense, after all, it's not as convenient as it used to be..... Some have been.... Forehead.... Not very well-informed....."
Stephen picked up the sugar-coated bomb cereal in his hand and pointed to the nuclear bomb logo on it.
"It's probably a long time ago.... Almost 170 years ago..... Or one hundred and eighty years? Anyway, it's almost this number.... Ahem.... The people of that time created what surrounds us...... But..... They broke out a war with an unknown enemy, the so-called Great War..... There are a lot of bombs that look like this have fallen, and finally turned this world into .... Now this wasteland. β
Andy thought to himself, sure enough, the history inscribed on the buried roads and these scrapped cars must be very old, and the general education information in Tibbetts Prison is normal as of 2077, because that year is likely to be the time of the outbreak of the war.
"So, so that's the truth of the world? The things of the old world are from the people before the war, and we are.... Survivor of the war? β
Stephen nodded.
"I don't know what the world was like before..... I've met zombies who don't know how old they are, and their words are always full of nostalgia for the old world.... It's like a place like heaven .... But what we're stepping on is .... Reality. β
Andy opened another box of cereal and was munching on it, when he heard that question marks began to pop up in his head again.
"What do you call a zombie? Is that the green-skinned rotten guy out of the graveyard in the horror comics?