"Hurry up!" Jiang Lin pinned a zombie lying on the ground with his wooden spear.
"I'm already so—!!!" Wu Meng stepped into a void, one leg landing in the broken glass of the truck door, the other directly kneeling down.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Wu Meng. It hurt.
Jiang Lin, standing on a higher vantage point, was silent.
Jiang Lin: "You definitely don't exercise much."
Wu Meng: "Nonsense. Who has time for the gym these days, with a proper office job? If they have free time, they're working overtime." Wu Meng pulled his leg out. He tried to jump forward again but couldn't. He guessed he'd strained his hip, as any movement sent sharp pain through it.
"I can't do it anymore, I'm injured, I can't jump." Wu Meng gestured to the wall opposite, still more than half a meter away. He couldn't cross it in one step.
Jiang Lin scratched his head and pulled out his spear, a complex expression on his face.
Wu Meng's heart sank. Uh oh, looks like he was going to be abandoned.
Ha, men!
Gritting his teeth, Wu Meng endured the pain and leaped. However, he exerted too much force and misjudged the distance. His heel landed too far forward, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward.
The wall wasn't high, but Wu Meng still took a hard fall.
"This damn…" Wu Meng curled into a ball from the pain. His left elbow landed first, and he wasn't sure if it was broken.
Fortunately, there were no zombies around. Wu Meng lay on the ground for a while before getting up.
Without even looking up, he knew with his toes that that scoundrel Jiang Lin must have run off.
It made sense. Who would want to drag a burden around with them?
Wu Meng looked around. He needed to find a safe place first...
"Are you okay?" Jiang Lin jumped down from the wall and squeezed Wu Meng's arm.
"Ow! It hurts!" Wu Meng flung Jiang Lin's hand away, then paused in surprise. "Hey, why did you come down?"
"Nonsense. You took such a tumble, how could I not come down and check on you?" Jiang Lin looked at Wu Meng. "Can you walk?"
Wu Meng tried walking a couple of steps. He was limping badly; he'd definitely pulled something in his hip.
Jiang Lin stifled a laugh. "You're something else, always causing trouble."
Wu Meng felt a surge of annoyance and retorted ungraciously, "Well, I'm so sorry! This place and I just don't get along; things are always going wrong here."
"Tsk!" Jiang Lin tucked the spear under his arm, tossed his backpack to Wu Meng, then crouched down. "Get on."
"Huh?" Wu Meng didn't react immediately.
"Get on, I'll carry you," Jiang Lin said.
"This, this isn't good…" Wu Meng's face turned bright red. "It's too much trouble… Just leave me here. I'll find a safe place to hide later."
"This place isn't safe. Hurry up, don't waste time, zombies are already coming this way." Wu Meng shook his hands.
Wu Meng looked up. Indeed, two zombies were emerging from around the corner of a building.
This wasn't the time to be delicate. Wu Meng put on the backpack and placed a hand on Jiang Lin's shoulder.
"Hold on tight!" Jiang Lin stood up and headed in another direction, exiting the wall and continuing forward.
Carrying someone meant he couldn't scale walls or do parkour. Jiang Lin held the wooden shaft of the spear under his arm, gripped the spearhead with his left hand, and dragged Wu Meng's thigh with his right, breaking into a run.
Wu Meng looked at Jiang Lin's messy, bird's nest of hair, his mind a jumble.
He realized he hadn't been carried by anyone since he was ten years old.
When he was fourteen, he'd twisted his ankle in physical education class and hopped back on one foot. His mother had teased him, saying he looked like a one-legged frog.
It was a… strange feeling.
Jiang Lin ran for a while before slowing down, starting to pant.
Wu Meng wasn't idle either; he kept scanning their surroundings.
Before long, he spotted a ladder hanging in mid-air, with construction debris below it.
"Go over there!" Wu Meng pointed. "Right, to the right!"
Jiang Lin also saw the suspended ladder and moved towards it.
They piled up the construction debris, stood on the blocks, and climbed the ladder, which led to an external balcony on the second floor.
The apartment was a one-bedroom, one-living-room unit. It was a mess inside, but it had a bathroom, a bed, a wardrobe, and a gas stove.
Wu Meng and Jiang Lin exchanged glances.
Before Jiang Lin could speak, Wu Meng said, "Just leave me here, it's quite safe here."
Jiang Lin pursed his lips. He wanted to say no, but Wu Meng was injured and inconvenient to move around. It was indeed not suitable to take him everywhere.
So Jiang Lin nodded. "Okay, then this will be our temporary shelter. You stay put, I'll go find you some medicine."
"And food and water," Wu Meng added.
Jiang Lin bared his teeth, and after a while, nodded. "Alright."
Wu Meng rested for a while, then Jiang Lin descended the ladder.
Wu Meng tidied up the room. There was no food or water, but he found some daily necessities and clothes.
At sunset, Jiang Lin returned with a bulging travel bag.
And so, Wu Meng contentedly became a freeloader, living a life of eating, sleeping, resting, and exercising, while Jiang Lin went out to find side quests, returning with food and drink for Wu Meng every few days, sometimes a one or two-day trip, sometimes three to five days.
Ten days passed in a flash.
Day twenty-one of surviving on Death Island.
Around ten in the morning, Wu Meng was doing lunges when he heard a broadcast from outside: "Survivors, attention, survivors, attention. This is Galke. I have found a way to escape this place. Those who wish to escape, please gather at the town church. I repeat, I have found a way to escape this place. Those who wish to escape, please gather at the town church. We will be staying at the church for three days, starting now. Three days later, we will depart. Please note, you only have three days. No exceptions."
Wu Meng stopped his squat. Had they really found a way to escape? Was it true? But twenty days had already passed; it was about time.
But… Wu Meng walked to the window.
A choice. Should he go by himself, or wait for Jiang Lin to come back and take him?
Going alone meant untold dangers on the road. What if Jiang Lin heard the broadcast, rushed back to find him, only to discover he'd already left? That would be abandoning Jiang Lin and wasting his time.
But if he waited for Jiang Lin… there were only three days, and time was tight.
Wu Meng started packing his belongings and waited patiently until the next day.
By noon the next day, Jiang Lin still hadn't shown up.
He couldn't wait any longer; he was afraid he'd run out of time.
Wu Meng dissolved a piece of chocolate and used it as ink to write on a light-colored bedsheet: "See you at the church, Wu." He then hung the sheet on the balcony, so Jiang Lin would see it immediately if he returned.
Slinging on his backpack and grabbing the wooden spear he'd fashioned from a mop handle, he set off!
The town church was built on high ground, so he could see the general direction from any elevated spot.
After walking not too far, Wu Meng turned back.
He couldn't get out.
Zombies. They were everywhere in swarms, practically a horde every three to five meters. With such a dense crowd of zombies, you'd need to be able to fly over them.
Despite Wu Meng's generally placid expression, his heart sank to the bottom.
He had miscalculated again.
Zombie strengthening was a thing.
Zombie sieges were also a thing.
Clearly, the Main God didn't like reincarnators staying put. Driven by His almighty power, zombies would unknowingly gather in the direction of the reincarnator's location.
Since Jiang Lin had been here three days ago and hadn't mentioned this, it meant these zombies had basically gathered in these past three days.
Of course, it was also possible that Galke's broadcast—played morning, noon, and night, as if afraid no one would hear. Well, Wu Meng wasn't sure if survivors could find their way, but the zombies were certainly having a good time.
"What should I do? What should I do?" Wu Meng's mouth formed an 'O' shape.
Even though he was terrified inside, his expression remained strangely calm.
Perhaps it was because he knew that panicking wouldn't solve anything, which was why he was so composed.
What else could he do? Wait for rescue!
But idly waiting wouldn't work. Who the hell would know he was here? Wu Meng crawled back to the balcony, placed his iron pot at the corner of the balcony, picked up the spatula, and started banging.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
He banged it intermittently, hoping some kind passerby would hear and lend a hand.
Soon, no kind passerby appeared, but zombies did start gathering downstairs.
Watching the ever-increasing number of zombies below, Wu Meng sighed.
It was time to give up.