He blew out the candle next to him, and the surroundings fell into darkness. Only a brazier hanging at the entrance gave off some faint light. From time to time, he could hear the crackling sound of wood exploding and people whispering. Jack adjusted the pillow under his head to make himself more comfortable. Regardless of whether there was a woman moaning like a cat around him, he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.
I don't know how long it took, but a figure got into Jack's bed with a wisp of fragrance. With a "squeaky" sound, Jack's pants zipper was slowly opened by a trembling little hand. The little hand was a little cold, but it was very skillful to pull out a "flesh dragon" from the zipper. The figure lowered his head, took the "flesh dragon" into his mouth and swallowed it very skillfully.
"...Are you touching it?"
The figure's head was rising and falling violently, and the "flesh dragon" was getting bigger and bigger, gradually becoming like an angry "flesh dragon". At this time, a playful voice suddenly sounded in the figure's ears, and a cold metal object with a hint of gunpowder smoke squeezed away the "flesh dragon" and forcefully inserted into the figure's mouth.
"Um... um no..."
The figure shook her hands in fear, and the metal object in her mouth was inserted deep into her mouth without mercy, making her almost want to vomit, but she did not dare to struggle at all, because even if she couldn't see it, she could clearly feel that the cold object in her mouth was a gun, and the gun in her head could be blown to pieces with just a move of her fingers.
"Click"
A strong flashlight was turned on, and the dazzling light illuminated Cao Mei's bloodless pretty face even paler. She instinctively closed her eyes to block the light of the flashlight with her hands, but did not dare to turn her head and spit out the gun in her mouth. A large amount of saliva dripped down the corners of her thin and sexy lips, and a layer of fine goosebumps appeared on her bare skin due to the tightness.
"Boss Hu asked you to come?" Jack slowly released the hammer and took out the pistol inserted in Cao Mei's mouth. It was still stained with Cao Mei's saliva. Jack didn't pay attention. He wiped it on Cao Mei's underwear and inserted it back into the gun holster.
"No... no, I, I didn't..." Cao Mei suppressed her urge to vomit, shaking her head with a pale face. After calming down, she explained, "I... I just want to serve you!"
"Serve me? Serve me by sneaking around my gun?" Jack chuckled mockingly, waving his hand and said, "Forget it, I can't be bothered to guess your intentions. Don't disturb my sleep, or next time I'll choose to use my gun!"
"No... Master Lin, can you not drive me away?" Cao Mei suddenly grabbed Jack's leg, kneeling in front of him and pleading, "As long as you let me follow you, I'll do anything you want. I'll be very obedient, please, let me go with you. The food is almost gone, if I don't leave, I'll die!"
"Is it that serious?" Jack shrugged, stuffing his little brother into his pants and casually zipping up his fly, saying expressionlessly, "In this world, who doesn't die every day? Sorry, I can't help you!"
Cao Mei wanted to continue pleading with Jack, but her actions came to a halt under Jack's increasingly cold gaze. In the end, she could only hug her clothes and cry as she left.
Jack shook his head. It wasn't that he really couldn't take another person; it was just that this woman was a bit too scheming. She was definitely the type who would stab you in the back at a critical moment, so even if he had to take someone, he wouldn't take her.
Turning off the flashlight, the surroundings fell into darkness again. Michael was no longer by the bed. Listening to the awkward gasps from next door, Jack guessed that the lecherous dog had probably crawled into the beds of the three girls next door. He shook his head helplessly, just as sleepiness was washing over him again, he suddenly heard a loud "bang" at the entrance. Jack was taken aback; he knew someone had lifted the iron cover at the exit, and that person seemed a bit flustered. The iron plate fell heavily to the ground, making a startling noise in the middle of the night.
"What's going on? Who opened the lid?"
The huge thud woke everyone up. The people in the apocalypse were already on edge, and they couldn't stand such startling noises. At that moment, Boss Hu rushed out of the room with his bare arms, a black Type 54 gun tucked into his waist, standing at the door with a face full of anger. His subordinates quickly lit the fire pit, and the basement was bright again.
"Old Ma, go see what's going on?" Boss Hu frowned as he surveyed the surroundings. Until he saw Jack standing in the corner, the serious expression on his face relaxed slightly.
Old Ma hurriedly led Thomas and two others towards the exit, while beside Hu Laoda stood Cao Mei, who was only wearing a small vest. At this moment, Cao Mei no longer had the pitiful look from earlier; instead, her face was flushed. The glistening drool at the corner of her mouth and Hu Laoda's bulging pants indicated that this woman must have gone straight to Hu Laoda after leaving Jack, and it seemed that their good time had only just begun before being interrupted. Seeing Jack looking at her with a cold smile, Cao Mei lowered her head with a somewhat unpleasant expression.
"Boss, Qiangzi and his brother are back, but it's just the two of them!" Old Ma ran back holding his homemade iron spear, and behind him, a few people were helping two battered men inside.
"It's Qiangzi!" Boss Hu was initially delighted, but then suddenly frowned and shouted, "Wait, they're injured!"
Boss Hu's shout startled everyone around, causing them to scatter like flies, while those supporting Qiangzi and his brother quickly let go as if they had seen a ghost. Qiangzi had a long, gaping wound under his ribcage, oozing hot blood, and his brother was not much better off, with a gruesome wound on his left arm and a bloody hole in his right hand.
No wonder Boss Hu's men reacted this way; in this world, if you get hurt, it's a serious matter. Being injured means you could easily get infected and turn into one of those terrifying living corpses. If things go wrong, all three hundred people in this basement could be doomed.
"Boss, we weren't hurt by those monsters; we got cut by rebar while we were running away!" Qiangzi, who had no one to support him, immediately collapsed to the ground, struggling to speak to Boss Hu.
"Qiangzi, what happened? There were over twenty of you when you left this morning; how come it's just you two now?" Boss Hu stepped back calmly to maintain a safe distance from Qiangzi and his brother, then looked at them with a pained expression.
"Boss... we were trapped by a large group of living corpses at a construction site. There was something among them; as soon as a shadow flashed, a man would fall down, and his heart would be ripped out. We were terrified and hid in an unfinished building, but even then, men were still being killed and having their hearts taken out by that shadow. My brother and I only escaped by climbing onto the scaffolding on the eleventh floor. The wounds we have are from jumping to another building and getting cut by rebar!" Qiangzi cried out, lying on the ground, his face showing clear signs of shock and fear.
"Old Ma, go get something for Qiangzi and the others to eat!" Boss Hu turned to Old Ma, and after Old Ma nodded and walked away, Boss Hu apologetically said to Qiangzi, "Man, you've had a tough time. Eat something to fill your stomach first, but for everyone's sake, you'll have to endure a bit more and sleep in the iron cage. We'll let you out in the morning if everything is fine, and then you can take care of your injuries. I'll cover your meals for the next few days!"
"Okay, I understand!" Hearing Boss Hu's words, Qiangzi nodded helplessly. This was the usual practice; there were several large iron cages that Boss Hu had specially made in the factory upstairs, meant to confine people like them who got injured while searching for supplies.
People living in the apocalypse basically know that the virus has an incubation period of no more than three hours. If more than three hours pass without infection, it's generally considered safe. Therefore, to be cautious, whenever someone gets injured outside, Boss Hu orders them to stay in the cage for half a day. If nothing happens, everyone is happy. Even if they are infected, the strength of a typical living corpse cannot break the iron cage, and those outside can easily kill them with a spear.
Jiang nodded and consciously got up from the ground, supporting his younger brother as they walked outside. Behind them, Old Ma followed with two bowls of white rice and a thumb-thick iron chain, which was clearly meant for locking the cage.