Chapter 114: The Little Boy Appears
Even the nearby Oak pitched in, lashing the zombie’s backside and limbs with its thick branches completely of its own accord.
The zombie was bound tight, with no part of its body left free. Even its mouth, normally used for biting, was stuffed with weeds as it tried to gnaw through the icy mist.
The thick branches lashed it again and again, only stopping once it was a bloody pulp with no signs of life.
Frost Shaw stopped in his tracks, incredulous. He then quickly ran forward to check. ’A Sixth-Rank zombie, and Lily Hart took care of it that easily?’
He resignedly dug out the three Crystal Cores and gave them all to Lily Hart. Then he pulled out a tissue and offered it to her. "Want to rest? Get something to eat?"
"Uh-huh!"
This was definitely the most exertion Lily Hart had put in since the apocalypse began. It was even more tiring than selling tickets at the lottery shop. ’This is mental and physical torture...’
Just as Lily Hart agreed, she noticed Frost Shaw was covered in wounds. His complexion was fine, though, and he looked as if nothing was wrong.
She couldn’t help but wonder, ’Is he a real person? He couldn’t be a robot built to take over the world, could he?’
"Your wounds..." Lily Hart couldn’t hold back from asking. At the same time, she purchased a first-aid kit from the store; the medical supplies inside were quite comprehensive.
The two found a relatively clean and quiet spot, where Lily Hart planned to bandage Frost Shaw’s wounds.
But as she looked at the contents of the first-aid kit, she grew worried. ’How am I supposed to use this stuff? I don’t know how!’
Based on her experience from watching TV shows and reading novels... ’That’s it! I can just find a tutorial on my Light Brain!’
In recent years, the Central Command has been very concerned about everyone’s safety, so a special department was put in charge of this sort of thing.
They film tutorials on bandaging wounds, treating injuries, wilderness survival, identifying flora and fauna, how to deal with zombies, and so on...
But with medicine so scarce these days, the videos aren’t much use. Still, they’re good enough to get the general idea.
Lily Hart did a quick search for "wound treatment," clicked on the first result—the most popular video—and started watching.
Frost Shaw was stunned. ’Good grief,’ he thought, ’she’s learning this as she goes...’
What she didn’t know, however, was that for a Seventh-rank Superpower User like Frost Shaw, superficial wounds could practically heal on their own.
Then again, Frost Shaw was happy. Happy that Boss Hart seemed to care about him. So, he put all that out of his mind.
Frost Shaw remained silent, watching her work. Her movements were clumsy and uncertain. First, she picked up a pair of scissors and cut his pant leg open at the thigh.
Then, without warning, she poured alcohol on the wound to disinfect it. The sudden pain made Frost Shaw grimace and suck in a sharp breath.
"Hiss..."
The moment he opened his mouth, Lily Hart stuffed a wad of clean gauze into it and offered a perfunctory assurance. "There, there, it doesn’t hurt. It’ll be all better in a jiffy."
After pouring the alcohol, she used cotton balls to wipe the area around the wound clean before finally wrapping it in gauze.
The process left them both beaded with sweat—Frost Shaw from the pain, and Lily Hart purely from nerves.
After finishing his thigh, she moved on to his arm and abdomen. With a few decisive motions, Lily Hart’s scissors went SNIP, SNIP, cutting his clothes to shreds.
She left him with just enough fabric for modesty, her gaze focused as she treated the wound on Frost Shaw’s abdomen.
’Have to admit, he’s got a nice set of abs,’ she thought. ’Not ridiculously ripped, but not scrawny either. They’re just right.’
But now wasn’t the time for admiring abs; it was time to bandage Frost Shaw’s wound. Lily Hart frowned and dabbed at the blood with a cotton ball.
Being stared at so intently—and on his stomach, no less—by Boss Hart of all people made Frost Shaw’s ears burn. He turned his head away, unable to watch.
Time seemed to slow down. A large bead of sweat rolled down Frost Shaw’s forehead, tracing a path along his cheek to his chin.
With a barely audible sound, the droplet landed on the back of Lily Hart’s hand. Frost Shaw held his breath.
"Phew..." Lily Hart straightened up, stretched her back, and let out a breath. "Finally, all done!"
She closed her eyes for a moment and rolled her neck to ease her fatigue, then asked, "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
’Aside from the alcohol, which stung a little... the rest didn’t actually hurt at all...’ But Frost Shaw didn’t say that. He just nodded. "Much better."
"Should we have some self-heating hot pot, then? It’s pretty convenient," Lily Hart suggested.
"Okay." Frost Shaw wasn’t picky.
Lily Hart ordered two large self-heating hot pot meals. The portions were huge and came with a lot of meat. Eating outside with no table or chairs was a miserable experience.
But Lily Hart never settled for discomfort. She immediately ordered a small, low table, which made things much more pleasant.
After they ate, the two of them continued onward. One after another, Frost Shaw dispatched another five or six waves of zombies.
Every single one of them acted like it was on drugs, ignoring everything else to charge straight for Lily Hart.
Lily Hart had gone from initial shock to her current numbness. She found it bizarre. "Why do these zombies flock to me like I’m their long-lost mother?"
Frost Shaw found it strange, too. Logically speaking, zombies liked to eat human flesh, and it was normal for them to pounce on any person they saw.
But the two of them had just run an experiment. When he and Lily Hart stood apart, all three or four zombies had thrown themselves at Lily Hart as if their lives depended on it.
They wouldn’t even spare a glance for Frost Shaw standing right beside her. This left Frost Shaw, a human being, feeling deeply insulted.
Lily Hart summarized, "Could it be because I have Type O blood? Am I tastier than other people?"
Frost Shaw glumly checked his own blood type. "I’m Type O, too..."
"Then it must be because I’m a girl. Girls just smell nicer, while guys are..." She didn’t have to finish the sentence; the implication was obvious.
Frost Shaw grew even glummer.
This little interlude almost made Lily Hart forget why she had come to the industrial district in the first place!
After another wave of zombies passed, Lily Hart was happily digging out Crystal Cores when she suddenly heard a RUSTLING sound from the weeds nearby.
She instinctively got to her feet, her face wary as she stared at the patch of weeds. ’It’s not another zombie, is it?’
Frost Shaw, who was digging out Crystal Cores nearby, heard her and immediately walked over, looking tense. "What’s wrong?"
Lily Hart arched an eyebrow at the patch of weeds, gesturing for him to look. Frost Shaw didn’t want to waste time guessing what was in there.
It was either a person or a zombie. He simply used an ice blade to part the weeds. This time, it wasn’t a cat, or a Little Red Flower, or a zombie.
It was a human.
And it was the very same little boy Lily Hart had been searching for!
The little boy was all skin and bones, his face sallow and gaunt. His clothes were far too big for him, making him seem even more fragile, as if a gust of wind could carry him away.
Despite being so thin, one could still see that his features were... righteous. It was a very strange feeling.
Lily Hart’s eyes lit up. She quietly poked Frost Shaw in the side, blinked at him, then looked back at the little boy.
Frost Shaw frowned in confusion. He whispered, "Hm? You want him? To take him back with us?"
"Uh-huh!" Lily Hart nodded vigorously, like a scientist obsessed with her research who had just found a beloved little lab rat.
She desperately wanted to take this little boy back and study him. ’Why is he an exception to the system?’
"Why?" Frost Shaw asked, confused.
"Don’t worry about it." It was an urgent situation, and Lily Hart couldn’t be bothered to explain.
Lily Hart looked back toward the little boy, only to discover with a start, "Crap, he’s gone! Quick, find him!"
Frost Shaw and Lily Hart immediately split up to search, each taking one side.