The soldier's smile was chilling, and the people kneeling on the ground trembled even more. Some had learned their lesson and remained silent, just nodding their heads vigorously in agreement.
Seeing this, the soldier nodded in satisfaction and began to clap. "Very well," he said, "let me explain your punishment."
He bent down, holding up two fingers, and continued, "Don't worry, your punishment won't be too severe. After all, this isn't a major issue. There are only two parts to your punishment."
"First, the current punishment. The road ahead is blocked by vehicles. You didn't help earlier, and it doesn't make a difference now whether you do or not. So you'll just stay kneeling here. When the road is clear, you can get up."
"Second, the future punishment. In the journey ahead, if anything happens to the convoy and we need civilians to help, you'll be the first ones we call on. Don't even think about escaping. We'll find you..."
After speaking, he straightened up, his smile unchanged, and said in a gentle tone, "How does that sound? Fair enough, right?"
The people on their knees looked at each other, their expressions filled with resentment. They felt this punishment was far too harsh, but no one dared to speak up.
Even Brian, standing on the outskirts with the onlookers, winced at the punishment. The first part was just a bit of suffering, something they could endure. But the second part was more serious. If the convoy was attacked by infected, and civilians were needed in combat, these people would be the first to be called upon.
"What, do you have any objections?" Seeing that no one responded, the soldier's smile faded, and his face darkened. He looked at them coldly and said, "Well, do you have any objections?"
The atmosphere grew even colder. Those who were resentful quickly changed their expressions and began nodding their heads vigorously, agreeing to the punishment. After all, it was better to agree for now.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Brian thought to himself that in this apocalypse, one had to use their brains all the time. Otherwise, they'd end up like these guys, learning the harshness of the world the hard way.
As he was thinking this, he felt a tug on his clothes. He turned around and saw Sarah, her face flushed and looking very anxious.
"What's wrong? Why are you so red?" Brian asked, puzzled.
Sarah glanced around nervously, then leaned close to Brian's ear and whispered, "I need to use the restroom..."
Brian looked at her, a bit at a loss. He pointed to the nearby woods and said, "You can go there."
But Sarah hesitated, then leaned closer again and whispered, "I mean, can you come with me?"
"Uh..." Brian scratched his head, not quite understanding why she needed him to go with her. But he hesitated for a moment, then took her hand and led her toward the woods.
They jogged to the edge of the woods, which had already been cleared by the soldiers. The soldiers were now guarding the perimeter and deeper inside to keep the area safe.
"I can't go in there," Brian said, letting go of Sarah's hand. "I'll wait for you out here."
"Okay," Sarah nodded and walked deeper into the woods, finding a secluded spot behind some bushes.
Brian found a spot where he could see the bushes and leaned against a nearby tree, waiting quietly.
As he waited, two soldiers walked by, chatting. They greeted Brian as they passed, then found a quiet spot and took out cigarettes, planning to take a break.
At first, Brian didn't pay much attention, but since he was close to them, he couldn't help but overhear their conversation.
One of the soldiers, with a hooked nose, lit his cigarette and complained, "Man, this weather is killing me. I'm freezing..."
The other soldier, with a full beard, scoffed, "You can't handle a little cold? If you've never been to Stanley, you'd be dead in seconds."
"Alright, let's not go there," the hooked-nose soldier said, knowing the other was from Idaho and not wanting to argue. Instead, he asked curiously, "Hey, you're from Houston, right? Didn't you tell me something amazing happened there? Come on, spill the beans."
The bearded soldier shook his head and sighed, "Now that place is completely overrun. What's amazing about that?"
But then he seemed to remember something and said, "Wait, now that you mention it, something was shocking."
"Come on, my memory's never wrong. Don't hold back, tell me," the hooked-nose soldier urged, nudging his friend.
The bearded soldier thought for a moment, then began, "I didn't see it myself. It was people I know who told me."
"It was just a couple of days after the Cordyceps outbreak. Two crazy people showed up in Houston, saying they were looking for their kids. They caused a huge scene in the quarantine camp. No matter how much people tried to reason with them, they wouldn't listen. In the end, they had no choice but to detain these two temporarily."
"But then, these two lunatics escaped from the holding camp and sneaked into the place where they kept the list of survivors. When they were discovered, they chose to resist arrest and flee. They had no choice but to shoot at these two..."
The hooked-nose soldier, who had been listening intently, looked at his friend impatiently and said, "Keep going, why did you stop?"
The bearded soldier took a deep breath and continued, "They fired their guns. These two lunatics naturally fought back. But can you imagine? It was like bullets couldn't hit them. No matter how much they shot, these two always found a way to take them down. The whole team of fifty people was reduced to less than ten in the end!"
The bearded soldier took a shaky drag on his cigarette, then crushed it underfoot.
The hooked-nose soldier was stunned, his mouth agape, looking completely incredulous. Two random civilians taking out a whole platoon of fifty trained soldiers, leaving less than ten? Was this a movie plot?
"Did they catch them in the end?" the hooked-nose soldier asked, curious about the fate of these two.
The bearded soldier shook his head and chuckled bitterly. "No, they disappeared after that. No one knows where they went. With the increasing number of infected, no one paid attention to this anymore."
"Do you at least know their names?" the hooked-nose soldier thought. Maybe he could get some information about these two lunatics, just in case.
The bearded soldier thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "They were brothers... but I can't remember their names..."
"Come on, you don't even know their names? I'm starting to doubt if your story is even true," the hooked-nose soldier rolled his eyes, threw his cigarette on the ground, and stood up. "Alright, I'd better get going before the captain catches me."
"Yeah, let's go," the bearded soldier agreed.
Brian, who had been leaning against the tree, watched the two soldiers walk away, thinking about the story he had just heard. Two brothers are causing a scene in the quarantine camp, getting detained, escaping, and then having a dramatic gunfight before disappearing into the night. It sounded a bit cliché.
For some reason, Brian thought of Joel and Tommy. They were brothers, too, and he figured they must have done something similar to find Sarah.
...And then it hit him. He and Sarah had always assumed that Joel and Tommy had been caught by the infected and were dead. But they had never actually seen their bodies. What if... they were still alive?