The middle-aged woman's eyes were slightly red.
After placing a cold towel on the man's forehead, she saw that his lips were somewhat dry and pale. So she got up, poured a little water, and fed the middle-aged man bit by bit. But the middle-aged man remained unconscious, and the water just fed into his mouth flowed back out.
Seeing the water spill out, the middle-aged woman couldn't hold back anymore, and her tears suddenly streamed down.
She started crying, her cries somewhat suppressed and restrained. But in her sobbing, some of her words could be heard: "Ah... if only we had listened to Li Yu earlier and returned sooner. Who could have expected such a thing to happen after the heavy rain.
So many terrifying zombies, you insisted on coming back, but after such a long journey, my brother-in-law lost his life, and you got so seriously injured! ...
In this apocalyptic world, what are we few supposed to do? We were hoping to find Li Yu once you recovered, but who could anticipate your injuries getting more severe, and now you're continuously unconscious.
Director Zhang and the others here, they do take in people indeed. But who could've thought, their supplies would be so scarce and that we would need to barter, but we have nothing to trade...
Now with you lying unconscious, what should we do..."
Amidst her crying, the woman seemed to gradually calm down and continued to dip the towel into the cold water...
The room, although quite large, was severely dilapidated.
After being soaked by the rain, the wall's plaster had peeled off, and the floor tiles were uneven with some black spots on them, appearing to have been cleaned by someone.
But perhaps the spots had penetrated deep inside, making them hard to clean. As a result, irregular lines of black spots covered the floor, looking quite unsightly.
And within the room, other than a few blankets, some packs of biscuits, a pot, a small table, and a stool, there was not much else.
In the room, the woman murmured tearfully as she spoke. These past days, she hadn't cried at all, but just now, as she tried to give the man water and couldn't manage to get him to drink it, she couldn't help but break down.
However, this scene was not witnessed by Li Yu, as they hadn't entered Jiefang City, and thus he couldn't see it.
But, if he had come into this room, he would recognize that this woman was his Second Aunt.
And the man lying on the bed was none other than his Second Uncle from the north!
Li Yu climbed into the vehicle, ready to leave Jiefang City. He was planning to first head over to Yugu Platform as some items had not been retrieved. They had rushed chasing those four people, too hurried to load everything into the car, and had thus come here.
Zhao Dapao and the others promptly got into the vehicle.
On the Jiefang City side, Director Zhang and others still stood at the entrance watching them.
Li Yu withdrew his gaze, patted Li Tie, who was at the driving seat, and said, "To Yugu Platform!"
The vehicle slowly proceeded; not long after starting, just 500 meters away, a group of people approached them head-on. It was Director Zhang's team from the County that Li Yu and the others had just seen upon arriving, now out searching for supplies.
The sparse convoy, numbering around thirty, was led by a woman with short hair and glasses, who Li Yu didn't pay much attention to.
Among this group, because they were walking towards them on the road, they curiously glanced at Li Yu and the others' vehicle, appearing to recognize that Li Yu and his company had just come from the direction of Jiefang City.
Among them, a woman in her thirties, with a face showing the ravages of time, full of exhaustion, carrying a heavy pack on her back, didn't lift her head, looking instead at her feet, stepping forward one by one.
Beside her walked a boy in his teens, with a face too young to hold the maturity shown on it. His face seemed to have been bruised with redness and swelling.
But after all, he was still a young boy. Seeing the unfamiliar convoy, he looked up at Li Yu and the others. Some people in the group had also seen Li Yu near Glory Building while they were collecting supplies, but the boy had missed crossing paths with Li Yu and his company.
The boy looked up, saw the approaching vehicle, and the young man on the passenger side, his cousin Li Yu!
Cousin! It was as if the boy's mind was struck by lightning.
Weren't they returning specifically to find his cousin and the others?
The boy immediately became excited, tapped the woman beside him: "Aunt, there's cousin, Li Yu, our cousin!"
The woman, sweat-covered face and without the time to wipe it away, heard the youth's words and seemed not to comprehend for a moment.
Staring blankly at the car ahead.
And on the opposite side, as the vehicle slowly accelerated, Li Yu did not look at the crowd, but slowly cranked up the front passenger's side window, as he still needed to go to Yugu Platform later.
Li Yu's car whooshed past.
And that young man immediately ran out of the line, shouting at the convoy: "Cousin! Cousin! It's me, Xiao Chi!"
While flailing his arms, he called out loud.
The woman beside him seemed to realize only then, as she also chased after the car shouting: "Li Yu! Li Yu! I'm your Aunt!"
Li Yu's car was at the very front, having already zoomed by, but there were still a few cars behind him.
On one of those cars, Li Hang was in the passenger seat, seeing a young man and a woman burst out in front of him.
At a glance, they seemed familiar; he rolled down the window, and after clearly hearing what the two were shouting, he was overjoyed, but at the same time slightly uncertain.
He quickly told the driver, Yang Tianlong, to stop for a moment.
The Aunt watched Li Yu's car getting further away, feeling desperate, and at that moment, she knelt on the ground.
A sharp sound of a car braking suddenly from behind caught the attention of the young man and woman.
Both slowly turned their heads.
Li Hang got out of the car somewhat excitedly, rushing towards the two while taking out the walkie-talkie to tell Li Yu: "Big brother! Aunt and Xiao Chi are here! Come back quick!"
"What???" A storm of emotions surged in Li Yu's heart.
After the apocalypse broke out, Aunt and Second Uncle's family hadn't managed to return from the north, which made Li Yu very helpless. He had tried to persuade them many times, but they still didn't come back.
At home, his mother often mentioned Second Uncle and his family, especially Grandpa and Grandma, who longed for them greatly.
But there was really no way; one reason being the long distance and the unknown dangers that might occur on the road, and the second being who would stay and protect the base if Li Yu left?
This caused Li Yu much distress, still thinking how to find Second Uncle and Aunt, and now Li Hang says that Aunt and company have returned?
In the post-apocalyptic world, traveling long distances was extremely difficult. The possibility of Aunt and others returning was too low!
Li Yu told Li Tie to stop the car immediately, then turned the car around to run back.
After turning the car around, Li Yu saw Yang Tianlong's car up ahead, where Li Hang was embracing a young man and a woman.
Taking a closer look, the figures of the young man and woman seemed somewhat unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time.
The car soon arrived!
Stopping right in front of them!
Getting out of the car!
Li Yu restrained the excitement in his heart, looked towards his Aunt!
It had been many years since he had come back to life before he had seen his Aunt.
Looking at his Aunt's somewhat familiar face, he felt a bit sad. In his memory, Aunt was a bit plumper, younger, and in his impression, it seemed like Aunt was always smiling when speaking.
But now, the Aunt before him had her face so thin it was sunken inwards, from her dry hair sprung a lot of white hair, and her dirtied face was also smeared with some mud.
Li Yu felt a surge of sorrow; he looked up at the crowd of people nearby, then walked towards his Aunt.
And his Aunt, seeing both Li Hang and Li Yu get out of the car and stand beside her, these two big guys, over one meter eighty in height, holding firearms, exuded a fierce air, but she felt a full sense of safety.
Finally seeing her relatives, she burst into tears. This was only the second time she had cried in these several months.