Suwan kept running into the forest until she could no longer hear the disgusting noises behind her. Then she relaxed and slowed down her pace. The zombies' attention should be attracted by the members of the temporary base for a while. Suwan was safe at least for now.
The night in the forest was cold. Suwan was only wearing a thin shirt. Moreover, the shirt was torn by the strong airflow during the explosion and could not keep out the cold at all. The numbness of his wounds from the cold was not pleasant either. Suwan shivered and hugged himself tightly. He searched for some herbal leaves in the forest. Usually, the beasts in the forest would chew these leaves to apply to their wounds when they were injured. Suwan crushed the leaves and squeezed out the juice to apply on the wounds to reduce inflammation. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain of the irritation. All the wounds on his body, big and small, were coated with the anti-inflammatory juice. Suwan's forehead was also covered with cold sweat.
Looking up at the still dark sky, Suwan planned to find a sheltered place to stay for a while. The sun had not risen yet and her multi-function watch had been stolen. She could not tell the direction and might get lost if she went on. But everywhere in the forest was the same, cold and damp. While Suwan was walking in the forest looking for a place to shelter from the cold, she alertly heard some rustling noises coming from the nearby grass, which sounded like the roar of zombies.
If it was a zombie, it would be better to avoid it. Suwan had few bullets left in his assault rifle, and the combat supply pack was not on him. Suwan did not have enough bullets to squander, so it would be best to save bullets as much as possible. But then Suwan heard a few more whimpering sounds.
This is not a sound that a zombie could make, it sounds more like a cry for help.
Suwan came here to save people. Although she didn't want to encounter the zombies alone at this time, she couldn't just turn around and leave. She walked quietly towards the place where the sound came from. Then, in the dim morning light, she saw several figures surrounded by something and eating voraciously. They were several zombies, and the person surrounded by them on the ground was making a faint whimpering sound. Suwan was a little annoyed. If she had come earlier, she might have been able to save this person. Now this person could not be saved. Suwan decided to leave decisively. When she turned around, she inadvertently took another look and found that the person surrounded by the zombies was not a person, but a tiger.
It was the tiger that Suwan had seen before.
But no matter whether it was a dying tiger or a zombie, Suwan would better avoid it. Suwan thought so, but the tiger who could only vent his anger had obviously discovered Suwan. He stared at Suwan with his clear eyes, and when he saw that Suwan was about to leave, he let out a low roar. This roar was undoubtedly the last strength of the tiger.
Suwan then looked back again. The tiger was lying on the ground, its shiny fur in a horrible state, without any of its former majesty. It would not live for more than a few minutes. When Suwan turned around, the tiger showed its fangs which were sharp but had no deterrent effect, and whimpered twice for pleading. Suwan was surprised to find that the tiger was crying.
Suwan stared at the tiger blankly, then looked at the zombies that kept tearing the tiger apart without knowing when they were full, and then she raised her assault rifle and fired a few bursts, knocking down all the zombies. Then she walked towards the tiger with the gun in hand, pointing the muzzle at the tiger's head.
Suwan walked closer and found that the dead people on the ground were the al-Qaeda members he had met in the forest before. Suwan did not shoot them in the head again, so these al-Qaeda members became zombies. Suwan looked at the crying tiger in a miserable state and regretted deeply why he did not shoot these al-Qaeda members in the head again before.
But it was no use regretting. The tiger was already in this state and would die soon. All Suwan could do now was to shoot it in the head to end its suffering.
Seeing Suwan raising the gun, the tiger moved back a little, not hiding out of fear, but revealing three small lumps of flesh hidden under its belly.
They are three little tigers.
Suwan looked at it in surprise and finally understood why the tiger came to the edge of the forest where there were zombies. It was probably because there were too many wild beasts in the forest, so the tiger wanted to give birth to its cubs near the edge of the forest where there were no wild beasts. Unexpectedly, it would happen to be the ones who had mutated into zombies and were killed by Suwan. The tiger that had just given birth was unwilling to abandon its babies and escape, so it would rather hide the babies under its belly and be torn apart by zombies than move.
The big tiger tried to raise its paw to push the tiger cubs in front of it, but it was really out of strength, and its paw fell back as soon as it raised it. Suwan then slung the gun over his shoulder and gently moved the three cubs in front of the tiger. The tiger looked at its babies lovingly and licked them one by one with its tongue. The little balls of flesh trembled, and their limbs moved uncoordinatedly towards the tiger without opening their eyes. Their bodies were covered with sticky amniotic fluid. The tiger wanted to lick the amniotic fluid off them, but soon the tiger couldn't even do this. It opened its eyes, breathed heavily, and looked at Suwan with tears in its eyes.
Suwan had to raise the barrel of the gun and point it at the tiger's head, then closed his eyes and fired the shot.
Startled by the gunshot, the little tigers hid beside the tiger in fear, but they did not open their eyes and did not know that their mother's body was already cold. Then, whether because of the cold or fear, the little tigers stayed beside the tiger for a while and soon became motionless.
The whole forest returned to silence. Suwan stood among the dead bodies, looking at the zombies lying on the ground and the bloody tiger on the other side. He suddenly felt an indescribable sense of loneliness.
There are fewer and fewer lives in this world, and the death of this tiger was entirely Suwan's fault. If she had been more cautious and thought more carefully, the tiger would not have died.
Suwan had seen many people die because of zombies, and she had seen enough in Belster, but this tiger died in front of her because of her. It was the first life she could only watch and was unable to save.
Suwan stood there blankly for a while, shivering all over from the cold wind. Then she looked at the dead tiger on the ground, squatted down and lay down beside the tiger, using the tiger's fur to warm herself. Even if the tiger's dirty blood rubbed against her body, Suwan didn't care. She just didn't want to freeze to death. After lying beside the tiger for a while, her body did feel a little warmer. Suwan was very tired today. She looked at the sky where the sun was about to rise and closed her eyes.
Suwan woke up after only a short sleep. She had rested enough and it was already daybreak. She wanted to walk out of the forest to chase the members of the team. However, Suwan woke up because something hit her face. The movement was very light, but Suwan still opened her eyes and subconsciously tightened the gun in her hand. Then she realized that it was a little tiger that hit her face. Suwan was a little surprised. She stared in shock at the little tiger walking past her with uncoordinated limbs, then stumbled to the big tiger and opened its little mouth to suck the already cold blood from the tiger. The strong smell of blood made the little tiger dislike it, so it closed its eyes and ran around again.
Suwan sat up and found that the other two little tigers were still lying in their previous positions, motionless. Suwan reached out her hand and touched them blankly. The two little tigers were already cold. The cold feeling made Suwan panic for a moment. She quickly withdrew her hand and looked at the little tiger that was sucking the blood of the dead tiger hungry. She reached out and held the little tiger in her palm and observed it carefully. The little tiger's eyes were not open yet, and its toothless mouth made a faint movement. Suwan reached out to touch it, and the little tiger raised its head to find Suwan's fingers and then hugged Suwan's fingers and sucked them. Suwan looked down at the dead tiger lying on the ground, took out her paratrooper knife and cut a wound on the tiger's body that was not injured by the zombies, then dipped her finger in some blood and fed it into the little tiger's mouth. Seeing that the little tiger looked very energetic, she felt relieved. This tiger was so small and so fragile that she reached out and held it. She didn't dare to use force for fear of accidentally strangling the tiger to death, so she could only hold it clumsily and carefully.
Warm, fragile life.
New life has always symbolized hope.
"You are so lucky," Suwan said to himself as he looked at the little tiger in his palm, "You are still alive, and being alive is more important than anything else."
The little tiger didn't understand what she said and was just busy sucking the blood on Suwan's fingers. Then, it seemed a little sleepy after drinking enough. Suwan folded her arms and supported it with one arm, holding the gun in the other hand. She looked up at the direction of the sun and walked westward towards the highway. The rest of the journey was smooth and they didn't encounter any wild beasts or zombies. Suwan walked fast and steadily without saying a word. The little tiger had fallen asleep obediently. The air in the primeval forest was fresh, without the rotting smell of zombies. If Suwan hadn't been covered in blood, she would have been a little dazed. In fact, the world is now peaceful and zombies are just a nightmare.
The city of Cole was originally on the edge of the primeval forest. Suwan simply changed direction and entered the forest towards the highway. It took her a day to get out of the primeval forest. However, Suwan also knew that if the team members' rescue operation went smoothly, they should have taken the survivors to a safe city, and it would be difficult for her to catch up with them and reunite with them.
"You are the only one I have," Suwan smiled bitterly and touched the little tiger's head. The little tiger didn't know how difficult the situation was, and rubbed his head against Suwan's warm palm.
Then standing on the empty highway, Suwan suddenly felt that he was really pitiful for talking to a little tiger.
Suwan suddenly felt a little scared. She regretted that she should have looked for a notebook or something like that among the al-Qaeda members. She should have written something down, such as her name, and carried the note with her. Otherwise, if she died and became a zombie, who would know who she was? Who would be able to recognize her?
We believe that fallen leaves return to their roots, so who will bury her back in the soil of her hometown?