"...Heh."
Zhang Hongsheng gave a faint, bitter smile, then turned to me and asked, "So what are you planning to do?"
I glanced toward Uncle Gazi and the others not far away, watching them quietly for a while.
During that time, Chen Pu looked back in our direction — I smiled at him, then turned my head again to look at Zhang Hongsheng.
After thinking for a long moment, I said, "I'm not going to do anything. The ending's already decided. Looking at your condition now… shouldn't you be the one who understands that best?"
"Yeah, I know." Zhang Hongsheng was still smiling bitterly.
Slowly lifting his arm, he raised it slightly toward me and said, "Before I got bitten, I always wondered — what kind of virus could have such power? Just one bite, and it spreads. I used to think, if it ever happened to me, I'd definitely be able to hold on, that I'd never be infected as easily as they were. But…"
He lowered his head and looked at his arm.
"After being bitten, I realized how strong this virus really is. From last night until now, every minute, every second, I can feel my body changing bit by bit. I've been fighting it with everything I have, but there's no way to control it."
Hearing that, I didn't know how to respond.
Honestly, I was quite interested in Zhang Hongsheng's current state — we'd had people get infected before, but I'd never personally witnessed the full process of someone going from normal… to bitten… to turning.
I glanced at him a few more times, sighed softly, then patted him on the shoulder and stood up, walking back to where Uncle Gazi and the others were.
To be honest, ever since we left the village, I'd never felt much toward Zhang Hongsheng.
We hadn't spent much time together, so even after realizing he'd been bitten, I didn't feel much of anything — aside from a faint, hollow sadness at how fragile and powerless human life was against this unknown virus.
Afterward, I sent Chen Pu to bring some food to Shen Feng and the others, and the rest of us waited patiently in the van.
Taozi drove both vehicles a bit farther forward, but after Shen Feng warned us not to park too close to the landslide area, we stopped about several hundred meters — maybe less than a kilometer — away.
Zhang Hongsheng stayed alone in the vehicle, while I sat in the van with Uncle Gazi, Chen Pu, Taozi, Han Xue, and the two kids.
Tingyun and Xiao Hu must've been tired from playing — both were curled up under blankets, fast asleep.
Uncle Gazi finally had a moment to chat with me properly.
We deliberately avoided mentioning Zhang Hongsheng and instead talked casually about our guesses for the future and a few simple plans — until suddenly, Yangyang's excited voice crackled through the walkie-talkie: "Sis, come quick! Brother Suo Tian and the others are here!"
Hearing that, I perked up immediately and hurriedly called everyone to move.
Taozi picked up Xiao Hu, Chen Pu carried Tingyun, and Uncle Gazi quickly packed a few things.
Then we all got out of the van and started walking toward the others.
But as we passed the car ahead — the one with its doors tightly shut — I couldn't help but slow my steps.
The people in front didn't notice I'd fallen behind.
I looked at them for a moment, then decided to stop completely, turned back, and walked up to the car door, knocking on it gently.
After a long pause, the door finally opened from the inside.
Zhang Hongsheng's face had turned a sickly shade of purplish-blue.
He looked at me for a while, his lips trembling several times before he weakly asked, "What is it?"
I looked him up and down — we'd never been close, but seeing him like this still made me feel uneasy.
After a long silence, I pointed toward Uncle Gazi and the others, who were already far ahead, and said softly, "We… we're leaving."
At my words, Zhang Hongsheng's purplish-blue face froze for a moment.
Then, bracing himself, he lifted his head to glance toward the others in front.
His unfocused eyes lingered there for a long while before he suddenly turned back toward me and let out a hollow, broken laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" I asked.
Zhang Hongsheng shook his head weakly, leaning back against the seat as he struggled to breathe.
"You should go," he said quietly.
"I'll try to get some sleep. I can't fall asleep with someone here."
"You…" I hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Once we leave… we won't be coming back."
After I spoke, I stared hard at his face, trying to read any flicker of emotion there — but there was nothing.
His expression held only a faint, weary smile.
Maybe it was my imagination, but that smile seemed soaked in exhaustion and quiet despair.
I turned my face away; I couldn't keep looking at him.
That unnatural calm of his carried a kind of hopelessness that pressed heavily on my chest.
Zhang Hongsheng didn't respond.
He just slumped sideways in the seat and closed his eyes.
If not for the faint, quick rise and fall of his chest and the sickly color of his skin, I might have thought he was already dead.
I stood there watching him for a while, then let out a deep sigh and whispered, "Goodbye."
After that, I turned to leave.
Just as I turned, though, I heard him speak behind me — eyes still closed, his voice faint and drifting like a murmur in his sleep:
"I only wanted to ask them for help… I never thought it would end up like that."
I froze for a second, then shut the car door with a dull thud.
Turning away, I jogged to catch up with Uncle Gazi and the others, who were already nearing Shen Feng's group.
In my mind, a quiet voice echoed:
Zhang Hongsheng… goodbye.
His death was inevitable.
No one could change it, no one could save him.
That was his fate — just as Xiao Xue could only lie buried in the black earth before the shelter, Zhang Hongsheng, too, was destined to die alone in this desolate place.
When I caught up with Uncle Gazi and the others, Chen Pu suddenly seemed to remember Zhang Hongsheng and turned to ask me about him.
I thought for a moment, then said, "He's staying here. He can't go on."
"Why? What's he staying for?" Taozi asked in surprise.
Uncle Gazi frowned slightly, glancing back toward the car where Zhang Hongsheng was, and asked in a low voice, "Something happened?"
"Yeah." I nodded, taking a deep breath.
"Back at the ancient building — he was bitten. Thought he could fight it off, kept it from us."
At that, both Taozi and Uncle Gazi fell silent.
After a long moment, they each sighed deeply.
When we reached Shen Feng's group, I finally noticed Suo Tian up on the cliff top, leaning against a tree trunk.
Seeing me look his way, he waved faintly, and soon after, Yangyang and Jun Di began climbing up the rope, helped by those pulling from above.
Watching the two of them climb higher and higher, I couldn't help glancing back at the black Land Rover in the distance — the one where Zhang Hongsheng sat.
Was he asleep by now?
All of Suo Tian's convoy drove the same model of Land Rover — I didn't actually know the exact type; Yangyang had mentioned it once while chatting with me.
Yangyang and Jun Di made it to the top in just a few minutes.
With them leading the way, the rest of us grew bolder.
Taozi and Chen Pu went next; their movements weren't as quick or steady, and they took a bit longer, but they still managed to climb up safely.
Next, Shen Feng went up with Tingyun — the child was far too young to climb on her own.
Uncle Gazi was getting old and couldn't carry a kid up the cliff, so Xiao Hu and I stayed behind to bring up the rear.
Because I'd already had experience climbing vines back when we were trapped in the mountain rapids, this rocky cliff — though steep — was still manageable for me.
It took some effort, but it wasn't beyond what I could handle.
Climbing beside me was Han Xue; she wasn't as strong, and twice she nearly slipped right off the rope and into open air.
Luckily, Yangyang, Shen Feng, and the others who had gone up before us were pulling from above, taking on some of the weight and making it much easier for us to climb.
When I finally reached the top, I glanced down at the road below — and my legs immediately went weak.
It was so high…
Suo Tian looked me up and down several times, confirming that I was unhurt, then gave the order to move out.
Turning on his heel, he took the lead into the forested mountain behind us.
The others answered in unison, packed up the rope, and followed Suo Tian into the dense woods.
Jun Di had already taken Xiao Hu from me, so I took the opportunity to catch my breath.
The moment Taozi saw Zhou Wen, he practically glued himself to him like a piece of sticky candy.
Xu Shu came up beside me and began explaining what had happened after they reached the cliff top — how they had found Suo Tian and the others.
But for some reason, my mind was completely filled with the image of Zhang Hongsheng's purplish, smiling face before we left the cars.
At first, I managed to listen to Xu Shu's words, but soon my thoughts drifted away entirely.
I had no idea what she was saying anymore.
After we had walked for a while, Suo Tian — leading the group up front — suddenly seemed to notice something.
He turned, scanned us, and asked, "Are we missing someone?"
Uncle Gazi and the others, who knew the situation, all froze for a second.
Then, sighing heavily, they explained about Zhang Hongsheng.
Xu Shu turned to me and asked, "He was bitten? When did that happen?"
I gestured with my hand. "Last night. Remember I told you I got scared by a female walker when I went to the bathroom? Zhang Hongsheng was bitten by her."
Xu Shu looked back toward the distant, fog-shrouded road we'd left behind.
After a long, heavy sigh, she said quietly, "Everyone has their own fate. It's all Heaven's will."
"Yeah." I nodded but didn't respond further.
I kept my head down and walked on, my heart sinking with bitterness.
Wai Zui, that male student, Xiao Zheng, Xiao Xue, Zhang Hongsheng — none of them could have imagined they'd meet such cruel, senseless ends.
Caught off guard, powerless, their lives snuffed out without warning.
Zhang Hongsheng had followed us all this way, and I doubt he ever thought he'd fall to the bite of a single walker.
One accident after another — people kept dying.
So then… in the accidents yet to come, which one of them will be ours?
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