#241 - Chapter 241 Spring Warms and Insects Come
Mid to late March.
The weather had completely warmed up, and the temperature in the south had reached around twenty degrees Celsius.
Under this comfortable temperature, the growth of all things accelerated, and humans also had richer sources of food.
For half a year since the end of the world, most of the food in the original society had either been scavenged by survivors or had expired and rotted.
Only a few sealed and vacuum-packed foods might still be hidden in some corners, waiting for lucky people to find them.
The north had also finished melting snow, and many survivors began to migrate to the countryside using various means of transportation.
Compared to cities, there were more types of plants in the countryside, and the sources of food that could be obtained were also more extensive.
They could also grow their own food.
Of course, the survivors who could live to this day would not sit still and wait for death.
They led their families and followed teams, beginning to slowly migrate away from the city, towards the countryside and the south.
They didn't expect to immediately find a paradise that zombies couldn't reach, they just needed to find some relatively open areas with low zombie density, where they could find some food and have the conditions for planting.
(Most survivors have not yet realized the problems of soil and water sources)
The rural countryside had become highly sought after.
Everyone had already realized that this apocalypse had just begun, and the end time was far away.
It might last for several generations or even until the extinction of mankind.
So finding a new and better place to live had become the first choice.
However.
In places that not many people had noticed, in various mountains, rivers, and rural ponds, a series of changes had already begun in these water sources.
Since the acid rain last year, aquatic life had become extinct on a large scale. Those acidic rain not only destroyed the soil, but also affected the water sources.
Countless fish and other aquatic animals died, and their dead bodies became new breeding grounds, nourishing other microorganisms.
After the winter thaw, a new disaster came again!
South.
A remote countryside somewhere.
There were originally not many people here, and the zombie density was very low after the apocalypse.
In one of the dilapidated old houses, there were currently five or six survivors living.
They were humans who had fled here before last winter, and relied on some of the food they found in the early stages, and survived to this day without any surprises.
Now it was time for spring sowing and planting.
Outside the building, several people could be seen working with hoes and other tools in the nearby land.
"Damn, why is the land so hard now! My hands are blistered from digging!"
One of the middle-aged men stopped hoeing, looking at his red hands and complaining incessantly.
He grew up in the countryside when he was a child, and it wasn't like he hadn't done farm work, but he had never seen this situation before. He didn't know why this field was much harder than before!
It was like the hard soil formed after a pond was drained and the bottom mud dried up, making it difficult to loosen.
"Keep working hard, our field is considered good, I looked at other places and it seems even worse!"
"After we loosen this soil, we'll go and burn some plant ash to increase the fertility of this land, hopefully we can grow some food."
Another stubble-faced man said.
He was also digging the land, and when he saw his companion complaining, he could only comfort him.
Compared to facing the threat of zombies in the city, he felt that it was good for them to escape back to the countryside, at least they could still find a small amount of edible plants.
Now that winter was over, they were preparing to grow their own food.
Around the house where they lived, a circle of hemp ropes was arranged, and things that would make noise, like bells and bottles, were hung.
He felt that he was quite smart, and the method he saw in the movie was now being used by him.
This way, if zombies came during the day, they could be warned in advance.
"Wang Meng and the others went to the pond to fish and fetch water, hopefully they can catch some, so we can satisfy our cravings!"
Thinking of this, he also sighed slightly.
When he first arrived, he thought he could easily find all kinds of fish as food at the water sources in the countryside, but when he went fishing, he realized that something was wrong.
They searched many water sources in the countryside, and except for occasionally seeing a few fry, they didn't know where the other larger fish had died.
Their wish to eat fish was dashed.
"Man from the Xu family! Your son is cramping in pain! Something is wrong! Hurry home and take a look!"
Just as they were working, a woman in her thirties emerged from the house not far away and shouted anxiously at the stubble-faced man who had just fantasized about eating fish.
What!?
The stubble-faced man threw down his hoe, turned around and ran towards the house!
This was a common rural brick and tile house, with several pieces of transparent glass in the ceiling to let light in, so that the interior was not too dark.
The stubble-faced man ran back into the house and soon came to the edge of a blackened wooden plank bed in the corner.
Lying on it was his 9-year-old son who had fled with him!
His son had been saying that his stomach was uncomfortable since yesterday, and he didn't even eat much of the cassava paste for dinner and went to bed early.
Today, he saw that his son hadn't woken up yet, so he went out to do some farm work first, but he didn't expect something to happen again.
"Xiaoshun! What's wrong with you!? Where do you feel uncomfortable? Don't scare Dad!"
The stubble-faced man anxiously asked the little boy on the bed.
The son, who was still lively a few days ago, was now pale and without a trace of blood, curled up into a ball in the quilt, and was still trembling slightly.
Perhaps hearing his father's call, the boy raised his head, tried to open his eyes to look at his father, and said with difficulty:
"Dad... my body hurts so much... it feels like something is biting me.... Save... save me..."
The weak voice came from his mouth, and if the stubble-faced man hadn't been close, it would have been difficult to hear.
Hearing this, the man anxiously lifted the quilt and rolled up the child's clothes, wanting to see if there were bedbugs or other bad things harming the child.
This was a very common situation in rural areas, especially in beds that had not been washed or sunned for a long time, there were various small creatures.
With the help of the sunlight cast down by the tiles above, he carefully checked.
This is!?
As a result!
His face quickly changed drastically, and he opened his eyes in horror, looking at the child's body...
There were indeed small creatures...
But it seemed to be inside the child's skin...
On Xiaoshun's arms and belly, some slightly bulging small spots were slowly wriggling...
"Xiaoshun! You'll be alright! I'll go get you medicine right away! It'll be fine after you drink it! Wait for me, I'll think of a way right away!"
The stubble-faced man no longer had the calm he had when comforting others before, and stomped his feet anxiously like an ant.
His son seemed to be infected with parasites!
Suddenly.
Xiaoshun, who was originally lying on the bed, suddenly sat up, his eyes widened, his mouth bulging, and with a "wah" sound, he spat out a large mouthful of blood onto the floor by the bed!
Then he fell to the edge of the bed and lost his breath...
"Xiaoshun!!!?"
The stubble-faced man painfully picked up the child, but no matter how he cried, he couldn't bring back this lifeless body.
The other onlookers in the house couldn't bear to see this scene, and many people turned their heads away.
Even though everyone had become accustomed to death recently, they still felt uncomfortable when their companions left.
"My God! What are those!?"
One of the women pointed in horror at the blood Xiaoshun had just spit out.
The others looked in the direction of the sound and saw some small wriggling figures on the floor...
"Worms!!!??"
(End of this chapter)
