Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Four

With the gun in my left hand and the antitoxin syringe ready in my right, I started door-to-door looking for people in my neighborhood.This is the old town of Jefferson City, almost full of slums, apartment buildings were built fifty years ago.I've had twenty-four injections, and I still have thirty-six injections to go.After that I had to go to the State Capitol to make the appointment, and now I'm tired of it. I know why I'm here, not just out of curiosity, but to see the slugs die!I want to watch them die, to see them die, to relieve my hatred.I have long since grown impatient to wait, and this desire outweighs all my other desires.But now that my wish has come true, I don't want to watch it anymore.I just want to go home, take a good shower and forget about it.

The task isn't difficult, it's just tedious and disgusting.I saw many dead slugs and not a single one alive.I've shot down a dog that's skulking and its back bulges like it had a slug lurking on it, but I'm not sure because the streetlight is broken.We shot around before sunset and now it's all dark. The most terrible thing is the bad smell.Whoever compares this filthy smell of sick people with the smell of sheep is insulting the decency of sheep. I went out into the street after checking all the rooms in the apartment building and yelling to make sure no one needed medical attention.

The streets were deserted, because everyone was sick with fever, and almost no one went to the streets.The only exception was a man with blank eyes who wobbled toward me. I yelled, "Hey!" he stops. I said, "You are sick, I have a cure for you, come, stretch out your arms." He gave a feeble blow, and I gave him a careful blow with the butt of the pistol, and he fell face down.There was a large red rash left by slugs on his back. I avoided the rash and found a clean and healthy part of his kidney, pierced it with a needle, and folded it.done.This is a gas injection and does not require the needle to be withdrawn.

There were seven people on the first floor of the next building, and most of them were already unconscious. I didn't even have to talk. I just gave them an injection and continued on my way without any trouble.The situation on the second floor is similar to the first floor. There were three unoccupied apartments on the top floor, and I opened the lock with a gun and went into one of them, only to find it was empty. The fourth apartment lets say someone, a woman, lay dead on the kitchen floor, sunk in from a blow to the head.The slug was still on her shoulder, also dead, and started to stink.I left them and looked around.

A middle-aged man sat in an old-fashioned bathtub in the bathroom.His head was drooping on his chest, and the veins in his wrists were slit several times.I thought he was dead, but when I bent down, he looked up.Inarticulately said: "You came too late, I killed my wife." I thought to myself that maybe I was early, judging from his pale face and the situation at the bottom of the bathtub, it might be better if I was five minutes late.I looked at him, wondering if I should waste the shot. He added: "My little daughter—" "You have a daughter?" I asked aloud. "Where is she?"

His eyes flickered, but he was speechless, and his head drooped again.I snorted at him, then cupped his chin and felt his neck with my thumb, but couldn't find a pulse.Before leaving, I carefully shot him in the back of the head to free him early. The child was on a bed in one room, a girl of about eight years old.If she hadn't been ill, she would have looked beautiful.She woke up and called me Daddy, crying. "Okay, okay," I comforted her, "Daddy is here to take care of you." While she was not paying attention, I stuck a needle in her leg. I turned to leave, but she yelled again: "I'm thirsty and want a drink."

I had to go back to the bathroom. I was about to give her the water, but my phone rang sharply, and I spilled water all over the place. "Son! Did you hear me?" I reached to my waist and turned on the phone, "I heard, what's the matter?" "I'm in the little park north of you, can you come? I'm in trouble." "Come on!" I put down my glass and was about to leave, but hesitated a little.I turned back again.Can't I leave my new little friend alone in a house like a tomb where she can see both parents dead?I held her in my arms, stumbled to the second floor, entered the first door, and put her on the sofa.There were people in that apartment, and maybe they were too sick to bother with her, but I did the best I could.

"Hurry up, kid!" "Already on the road!" I rushed out and accelerated.Dad's area of ​​responsibility is just to the north of me, and in front of it is a small park in the downtown area.When I got to the block, I didn't see him at first and ran past him. "Here, boy, here—in the car!" This time I could hear his voice both on the phone and directly in my ear.I turned around and saw the car, which looked a lot like the fancy Cadillac used by headquarters.There was someone inside, but the light was so dim that I couldn't tell if it was the old man or not.I approached cautiously and heard a voice: "Thank God! I thought you would never come." Only then did I recognize it was the old man.

I had to bend down to get in the car through the door, when he pulled me tightly into his arms. After regaining consciousness, I found that my hands and feet were bound.I'm in the passenger seat and the old man is driving at the console.I just felt the wheel on my side leave the ground, and then suddenly realized that the car was in the air. He turned to me with a smile and asked, "Feeling better?" I saw the slug bulge on his shoulder. "Better." I replied. "I'm sorry I have to hit you," he added, "but there's nothing else I can do." "I think so."

"I still have to tie you up now, you know, we will make better arrangements later." After finishing speaking, he showed his usual sly smile.The most amazing thing is that his own personality can be seen in every word the slug says. I didn't ask what "better arrangements" they would do, I neither need nor want to know.I concentrated on researching my passenger seat belt, but it was a waste of effort.The old man took a lot of thought on how to tie me up, and I couldn't find a loophole. "Where are we going?" I asked. "South." He fiddled with the steering wheel, "on the way to the south. Give me a little time for me to drive the car, and I will tell you what to do in the future." After a few seconds of work, he said, "Okay— —After 30,000 feet, it will automatically enter the level flight state.”

It was only at this height that I glanced quickly at the control panel.This car is not just a headquarters car, it is one of the most attractive cars we have there. "Where did you get the car?" I asked. "Headquarters keeps it secret in Jefferson City, and I'm sure no one will ever find it. Lucky, isn't it?" The question could have been looked at another way, but I'm not arguing.I'm still looking for opportunities, even the slightest possibility!Judging from the sense of pressure, my gun is not on me.His gun might be on the other side, at least I can't see it. "But it wasn't the luckiest thing," he went on, "I was lucky enough to be caught by the only healthy owner in all of Jefferson City—it was unbelievable luck. So in the end we won .” He smiled softly, “It’s really like playing a difficult game of chess with yourself.” "You haven't told me where this is going?" I continued to ask.I don't know if it's useful to ask, but I can't do anything for a while, and talking is the only thing I can do. He thought for a while and said: "Of course not in the United States. The only person on the entire American continent that is not affected by nine-day fever may be my master. I dare not take such a risk. I think the Acatan Peninsula is very suitable. The car setting Our destination is there. We can stand there first, and then come back from the south when we grow stronger, and then we will definitely not repeat the same mistakes!" I said, "Daddy, can't you untie me? I'm all tied up. You know, you can count on me." "Be patient for a while, be patient for a while-don't be busy, wait until I adjust the car to a fully automatic driving state." The car is still climbing, no matter how much configuration is added, this car is designed as a family car after all.Thirty thousand feet was a long climb for him. I said, "You don't forget, I have dealt with the master for a long time. I understand the situation, and I promise to listen to you." He grinned, "Don't play tricks in front of the elders. If you let go now, either you will kill me or I will kill you. I don't want you to die. We will make it—you and me, boy. We're quick, quick-witted, and you and I have all the qualities." I didn't answer.He went on: "Also—if you know the situation, why don't you tell me, boy? Why keep it from me?" "what?" "You didn't tell me about it, kid. I never knew I could feel this peaceful, content, and hearty. It's been the happiest I've been in years, since—" He suddenly looked Dazed, then added, "—since your mother died. But never mind, it's better this way. You should have told me it felt so good." I suddenly felt nauseous and forgot to be cautious and outwit him. "Maybe I don't see it that way. And, if you weren't possessed by a filthy slug talking nonsense through your mouth and thinking with your brain--you wouldn't see it that way, you crazy stupid old fellow!" "Don't get excited, boy," he said softly, which helped me because his voice really comforted me. "It won't be long before you realize you were wrong before. Believe me, it's our The purpose is also our destiny. Humanity has killed each other to the point of fragmentation, and the master will reunite mankind." I thought to myself, maybe there is such a fool who will be deceived by such sweet words, and will willingly entrust his soul to the slug for the promise of peace and safety.But I didn't say it, I kept my mouth shut so I wouldn't throw up. "But you don't have to wait that long," he said suddenly, glancing at the control panel, "wait until I get the car stable." He adjusted the control panel, checked it again, and finally set the control command, "this time Done, the next stop is: Yacatan. Now it's time to work." After finishing speaking, he got up from his seat, squatted next to me, and squeezed into the small space together, "You will be fine." As he spoke, he tied me around the waist with a seat belt. I put my knee into his face. He straightened up and looked at me, not angry at all. "You're naughty. I should have resented, but master doesn't like resentment. Be good." He continued to tie, checking my wrists and feet at the same time.He had a nosebleed, but he didn't wipe it. "It'll be fine soon," he said. "Just be patient, it won't be long." He went back to the other seat and sat down, elbows on his knees, leaning forward so I could see his master directly. For several minutes, nothing happened.I can't think of what to do other than tug on the restraints on my body.From his expression, the old man seemed to be asleep, but I don't believe he was really asleep. A thin line forms in the very center of the slug's brown horny shell. I watched and it widened.Now I can see the hideous lumpy milky substance beneath the fine lines.The gap between the two halves of the shell widened, and that's when I realized the slug was splitting, sucking the life and matter out of my father to create two. I was also horrified to realize that I had less than five minutes left in my personal life.My new master is being born and will soon be attached to me. If the shackles on me could be broken with human flesh and bones, I would have broken them long ago.But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't help.The old man paid no attention to my struggle.I doubt he's conscious yet, because while the slug is busy fissioning it must loosen its hold on its host and just keep him still.Perhaps that was why the old man remained motionless. When I was exhausted from struggling and knew that there was no way I could break free, I gave up trying, and I saw a ciliated silver thread running down the center of the slug's body, which meant that the fission was about to be completed.It was this scene that changed my line of reasoning, if there was any line of thought in my overwhelmed head. My hands were tied behind my back, my ankles were also tied, and I was tied up to the waist to a chair.But although my legs were bound together, they were flexible from the waist down, and there were no knee straps in the seat. I sat down abruptly to make room for more strength, then raised my bound legs high, and slammed into the control panel, smashing all the control switches on the control panel open. The acceleration of gravity increased sharply.I can't say how much it has increased since I don't know what the car's maximum horsepower is.Anyway, the force was great, and we both fell on the seat suddenly.I was fine because I was strapped to the chair, but Dad was miserable.He was thrown against the seat back, and the slug on his back was unsuspecting and burst open. Dad himself went into a terrible fit.I've seen this happen three times before, every muscle twitching.He fell forward on the steering wheel again, his face disfigured and his fingers crooked. The air car descended sharply. I sat there - if you call being strapped in a seat "sitting" - and watched the car swoop.Maybe there's something I can do if Dad's body doesn't wreck the console completely.For example, using my bound feet to make the car fly upwards again.I actually tried it, it didn't work at all.The console was most likely crushed. The altimeter was clicking and clicking, and by the time I had time to take a look, we were down to 10,000 feet.Then nine thousand, seven thousand, six thousand—then into the lowest flight altitude. At fifteen hundred feet, the radar interlock with the altimeter engaged, and bursts of brake rockets began.Every time I squirt, the belt on my body chokes my stomach and I throw up.I thought I was saved and the car would change from a dive to a level flight - which was actually impossible because Dad's body was stuck firmly on the steering wheel. Until the plane hit the ground, I thought we had finally escaped the disaster. When I woke up, I felt a slight swaying around me, which irritated me so much that I wanted the swaying to stop.I tried to open one eye, but I couldn't open the other one. I was looking dully for what was shaking, which made me unhappy. The floor of the car was above my head, but I stared at it for a long time before I could tell.It wasn't until I figured out what was going on that I became more or less aware of where I was and what had happened.I thought about diving and falling, and realized we must have been in the water, not the ground.This should be the Gulf of Mexico.But wherever it is, I don't care. My heart sank suddenly, and I thought of my father sadly. The strap on my seat was broken and was dangling on me without restraint.My hands and feet were still bound, one arm seemed to be broken, and one eye was knocked shut. The pain made it very difficult for me to even breathe.I stopped looking at the wounds on my body. Dad wasn't stuck on the steering wheel like before, wondering where he was.Enduring the pain, I turned my head with difficulty and used my uninjured eye to check the situation in the car.He was lying not far from me, with our heads about three feet apart.He was cold and bloody.I'm sure he's dead.I feel like it took me half an hour to climb that short three feet. I lay face to face with him, cheeks almost touching.It seemed to me that he was lifeless, and from the strange position in which he lay contorted there was no way he was alive. "Dad," I yelled hoarsely, and then screamed, "Dad!" His eyelids are moving.But failed to open. "How are you, son," he said softly, "Thank you, son, thanks—" He fell silent. I tried to shake him awake, but all I could do was yell. "Dad, wake up—are you all right?" He began to speak again, as if each word was uttered with great effort. "Your mother—let me tell you...she's—proud of you." His voice trailed off.Breathing became weaker and weaker, making an ominous hissing sound. "Daddy," I whimpered. "You can't die! I can't live without you." He opened his eyes wide, "You can do it, kid." He paused, and after gathering his strength, he said, "I'm hurt, kid," and he closed his eyes again. He was still alive, but no matter how much I shouted, I couldn't wake him up.I can only stick to his face tightly, letting the tears intertwine with dust and blood.