Flowers Blooming in the Wasteland

The Crimson Bar is a bar at least from its name, and the signboard with a circle of neon lights at the door does look like a bar, but in fact, most of the time it has no drinks to sell, but has long served as a town hall. The only restaurant, hotel and supermarket in the city.

As for why it insists on calling it a bar and trying to decorate it in the direction of a bar, it can only be said that all these are the personal feelings of the female shopkeeper Miriam Tucker.

Before the war, the strongest building at the crossroads was the largest bank in the town. Later, with the complete collapse of social order, all the money in the bank became waste paper. After several years of vacancy, the building It was rebuilt by the Tuke family into what it is today.

In order to prevent the desperate hungry people from looting, all food and valuables are placed behind the bulletproof glass of the bank counter, and the money must be paid before the things are handed out through the palm-sized window.

Although the bulletproof glass is an eyesore and the shelves are full of daily groceries, the female shopkeeper Miriam Tucker still tries to decorate this "bar" with the atmosphere of a bar-although the mix and match is a bit nondescript, but in the war It is already very rare to have the leisure to collect these useless decorations in the wasteland after that. The bar not only has intact crystal chandeliers, Chinese-style classical vases, decorative paintings all over the wall, and even an old The stereo played those few CDs repeatedly.

Because she was worried that Celeste might be carrying the radiation dust left over from the nuclear explosion, Miriam, the female shopkeeper, took Celeste for a brief shower and changed into clothes that didn't fit—this is why they The only way to deal with the fallout.

Then Miriam gave him a piece of food that was completely unpalatable like fodder to fill his hungry stomach for a long time. It was not that she was stingy and refused to bring out delicious food. These are all tasteless compressed biscuits.

Many people didn't get a reassuring answer from Fu Yunlan just now, and now they gathered around the bar to ask questions about Celeste, as if he could give an explanation for everything that was out of control.

"Why did Hummingbird Town encounter such a disaster for no reason, and what does it have to do with what happened in Merced? Is this what the True God Sect calls God's punishment?"

"Will the zombie virus infect us? And the pollution from the nuclear explosion, will it affect Hummingbird Town?"

"Why did the zombie virus suddenly break out? It's been more than ten years since it broke out! Has the virus mutated again?"

No matter what people asked, Thurliste always had one answer: "I don't know."

But these panicked people insisted: "You must know something, tell us, what the hell is going on with all this?"

The more they talked, the more excited Miriam finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Hey, don't scare him."

When Fu Yunlan came to look for Celeste, what he saw was that he was surrounded by a group of people.

Miriam was the first to notice Fu Yunlan. She excitedly brushed her chestnut hair and showed a sweet smile: "Lan, you are back! Everyone said you were dead before, but I Never thought that a strong man like you would not die so easily."

Fu Yunlan nodded to her as a greeting, and he pushed aside the crowd: "Cherister, come with me."

Under Miriam's reluctant eyes, they left the Crimson Bar. Fu Yunlan turned around after walking for a while, and Celeste followed obediently, just like the previous few days. Quietly silent.

Fu Yunlan didn't know how to say this unfortunate news for a moment, he paused, and told Celeste as calmly as possible: "Your father is dead."

"Hmm." Celeste said expressionlessly.

"You already know?" Fu Yunlan frowned.

"Everyone in the bar is talking about it." Thelister rubbed the toe of his boot on a lump of dirt under his foot, and the ill-fitting shoes made him uncomfortable.

Fu Yunlan looked at him wordlessly for a while, and finally sighed helplessly: "You can follow me from now on."

"...Okay." Celeste replied meekly.

Without anger, without collapse, or even questioning, Celeste accepted the reality that both his parents had died with a calmness that Fu Yunlan couldn't understand.

Fu Yunlan felt that there was something wrong with Celeste.

He took some time and took Celeste to the only remaining hospital in Hummingbird Town, or it should be more appropriate to say the clinic - the only doctor in the hospital, Coulson, was a man in his 30s, dressed in yellow washed clothes White coat, heavy dark circles under the eyes and sparse stubble make him look lazy and uninspired.

After Coulson performed several routine checks on Celeste, Fu Yunlan called Coulson aside alone and asked, "Is there anything unusual?"

"I don't know what you're referring to." Coulson's voice always carried a sense of fatigue as if he hadn't slept for three days. Symptoms of radiation sickness."

"But this is unreasonable." Fu Yunlan said with a frown, "We have detected much more serious radiation than before in Hummingbird Town and its surroundings, which means that the radiation dust from the nuclear explosion in Merced is indeed spreading towards this side Yes, and Celeste was exposed to the radiation area at close range without protection for at least half an hour, how could he have no symptoms at all?"

"This sounds a bit unbelievable, but I really didn't find anything abnormal. Maybe he has suffered internal organ damage or cell mutation, but at least there are no symptoms on the surface, and I have no way to do more tests. " Coulson compared to him the few crude instruments around, "You also saw that after the building of the Mercenary Corps was blown up, the only medical equipment left in Hummingbird Town was That's all, after all, I'm not a witch doctor who can see a doctor by divination and touching my wrist."

This is also a helpless fact. In the past, relatively good medical equipment was concentrated in the mercenary regiment. Coulson mainly provided treatment for other townspeople in need, and occasionally diverted them when the doctors of the mercenary regiment were too busy. There was only so much he could do to take care of the wounded.

Fu Yunlan frowned: "Apart from his physical symptoms, don't you think there is something strange about him?"

"what you mean?"

"I can't say well, his tone of voice, his behavior...it feels like a robot without emotions."

Coulson scratched his head: "I haven't studied psychology much, but I can probably guess that he had been living a peaceful life, and suddenly experienced zombie outbreaks, nuclear explosions, Both parents died, so many shocks and shocks, even an adult can't bear it, let alone a child like him who hasn't suffered much. If there is anything wrong with his behavior, I guess it is more caused by psychological problems , like a stress response or something, maybe you can find a way to enlighten him, or wait for time to heal his scars."

"You mean...just a psychological problem?" Fu Yunlan asked in disbelief.

"I can only think this way. If you are still worried about what is wrong with him, I suggest you observe for a few more days. Some injuries may take a while to show up." Coulson stood up and said, " Well, if you have no other questions for the time being, I still have a lot of patients waiting, so I have to excuse myself first."

---

Fu Yunlan was skeptical about the diagnosis, but there was really no other way but to continue to observe, so he had no choice but to take Celeste home first.

His previous residence and personal belongings have been destroyed along with the headquarters building of the mercenary regiment, but there is no need to worry about having nowhere to go. Hummingbird Town is full of old houses left before the war. If you live in a town, you can have your own residence, but some houses with better conditions need to have a certain status or have a harder fist so that they will not be snatched away by others.

The mayor, Li Jiesi, found Fu Yunlan a small two-story building in a good location. It was spacious, clean, and watertight, and even had intact glass on the windows.You must know that in the wasteland after the war, the manufacture and transportation of glass was very difficult, and it has almost become a luxury. If the glass of the house is broken, the average person can only seal the window with wooden strips or plastic film. It's over.

Fu Yunlan asked someone to clean up the small building, leaving the room on the second floor to Celeste, and Li Jiesi helped get some old furniture, so they settled in this small building temporarily Home.