Chapter 134 (1/2)
Chapter 134: Single Day
”Oh no, they don't have autism.” Chang turned around, stroking the clones' hair. ”Instead, I think they think we are foolish.”
”Really?” Yin Qin wrapped her arms around her own kid. ”Then we must be strange and foolish to them as well.”
”Maybe, they must have a different outlook on the world than us.” Chang tilted his head. The two-headed kid had both a girl's and boy's faces. They started whispering and giggling among themselves when they noticed that Chang was looking at them.
”Don't you think they are perfect? They are never lonely.” Chang forced a smile.
”They are, but they fight all the time.” Yin Qing sighed. ”My girl is bossy, and she gets to eat all the food while my boy... he is nice enough to take all her temper.”
”This isn't fair!” Chang rolled his eyes, he couldn't help thinking how the boy couldn't get to eat anything all the time even though they shared the same body. ”If I were the boy, I would fight for what I ought to get.”
”Therefore, you are not a gentleman.” Yin Qing chuckled. ”From when you refused to help a lady, I was aware that my boy is a better gentleman than you.”
”Well, I don't care if I am less than anyone.” Chang heaved a sigh. ”I can't be a gentleman for everyone on the street! I can only care for the people under my wing, and I am happy enough that they are safe.”
”Me too, actually.” Yin Qing wrapped her arms tighter around her two and a half kids. ”You guys must be tired.”
”A little,” the boy's head said.
”No, you are not!” The girl almost shouted. ”Mommy carries all the stuff, and we didn't even walk that much. How dare you say that you're tired?”
”So... sorry...” The boy lowered his head.
”You daughter is very considerate.” Chang laughed and resumed the march.
The group traveled through Zhengzhou. Before leaving, they picked up Dr. Huang, who still hadn't figured out what was happening in her community. She quickly agreed to come along once Chang explained the reason for the animal migration
Upon the reunion with Dr. Huang, the clique headed toward the north of Zhengzhou, where they entered the jungle.
”The G4 expressway is right ahead of us; it connects Beijing, Hong Kong, and Macau, meaning that it connects the major cities from the very south of the country up to Beijing. Let's walk along this expressway. By the way, where is your destination again?”
The expressway was shattered and almost hidden by the plants, the trace of it was barely distinguishable. Yin Qing stared at the paper map. ”If we march along this expressway toward the north, the next major city will be Xin Xiang. However, I'm concerned about the distance that we need to travel - it's impossible to finish the journey in one day, we must stay in the jungle for at least a night.”
”In fact, we haven't decided on a destination.” Chang looked back to Zhengzhou, and the birds flying overhead. ”Our idea is to keep traveling to the north; do you remember the reason I told you? There is an organism migrating to the north as well, and it is taking lives along its way. Our goal is to avoid it as much as we can. But our final destination is unclear.”
”I see. I had the same mentality as you when I witnessed the migration. Something atypical must be happening - I couldn't find any other reason behind the phenomenon with my knowledge.” Yin Qing kept patting her kids‘ back. ”I thought it must be a catastrophic disaster. But you just said it's because of a migrating gigantic organism. I wonder what it looks like exactly, how it managed to make billions of organisms flee?”
”Well, I can only say it's something that you've never seen, and its size must be greater than Zhengzhou now.” Chang lowered his head, reading the map in his hand. ”The only fact I know is that, if it arrives, we'll all die. Therefore, there is no point to discuss how big it is. We already known the one and only consequence of its arrival. I think this is a
very reasonable basis on which we should flee with the birds and insects.”
”Well, I guess we'll plan as we go. What do you think of Xin Xiang as our next destination?”
”Sounds good.” Chang rolled up the map, the unpredictable journey ahead worried him, but he had no choice but to accept the reality and what it may bring.
The clique was lucky, the jungle didn't give them too much trouble when they journeyed through it. The afternoon was well spent as they trotted for more than thirty kilometers. In time, the sun began hiding its face behind the horizon, and their shadows on the ground started growing longer and longer.
When the world lost its last beam of light, they stopped.
”Let's call it a day.” Yin Qing almost got dragged down by her bags on the back. ”Hiking with all this weight is tiring, you're outstanding in how much energy you've got.” She gasped for breath.
Chang carried most of the weight along the way. Besides his own luggage, he also took turns in carrying Zhizhi's portion as well, and he didn't show any sign of fatigue. Yin Qing found that amusingly impressive.