MMB Chapter 359 The Brat
Chapter 359 The Brat
The United States, formerly known as the United States, was a country with vast land and sparse population.
Now, after undergoing changes, it has become even more sparsely populated.
It could even be said that living people have become a rarity across the entire North American continent.
Southern Oregon.
About 180 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant where Lin Fan was located, on the other side of the forest where Lin Fan had entered during the day, there was a small valley surrounded by mountains.
The valley is not large, only two or three kilometers in circumference.
There is a stream at the bottom of the valley, and next to the stream is an abandoned farm from long ago.
Wooden barns, tin fences, and a few crooked wooden houses.
Before the apocalypse, this place was probably only worth tens of thousands of US dollars.
But now, this place has become the home of twenty-three people.
Kenny's Survival Team.
Although they are called a team, they are more like a group of refugees brought together by fate.
The entire team consisted of survivors from a nearby town.
The team included retired veterans, a cashier at a small town supermarket, a high school math teacher, and three families with children.
The reason they chose this place when they fled the town was very simple.
That means... there are no mutated animals nearby.
At least, for several weeks since they moved here, no mutated creatures have set foot in this valley.
As for the reason?
no one knows.
But everyone tacitly attributed this to the forest to the north of the valley.
That black forest.
Calling it black is not an adjective.
It's black in the literal sense.
Every tree inside, from its trunk to its branches, was pure black.
From a distance, it looks as if someone has soaked the entire forest in ink.
Although the forest is terrifying, it doesn't harm people, nor does it spawn monsters. Even mutated animals avoid the vicinity.
That is why everyone chose this place and ignored the forest.
In their view, as long as they don't set foot there, they are absolutely safe.
Over time, people got used to it and completely ignored it.
It has to be said that the logic of these Westerners is truly astonishing.
It was precisely by relying on this amazing logic that everyone managed to live peacefully for several weeks in this valley.
However, although life was peaceful, everyone was struggling to make ends meet due to lack of food and clothing.
Until tonight.
……
Night falls.
It gets dark earlier in the valley than outside. With the surrounding mountains blocking the sun, the valley floor is already dark before the sun has completely set.
A campfire was burning in the center of Kenny's team's camp.
A dozen or so people were gathered around the fire; some were eating, some were chatting, and some were just spacing out.
Linda was adding water to the pot, muttering to herself:
"We need to go out and find food tomorrow; the canned food is almost gone."
"We've taken all the food we could get in town; the rest that we can't take are in the danger zone..."
Jackson, standing next to him, said without even looking up.
"What about to the west? I remember there's a small town there not far from us, right?"
"We can't get through at all. Don't forget, there are those damn mutant dogs over there. You can go if you want."
"..."
Linda rolled her eyes and remained silent.
The adults were worried about food.
Nearby, around a campfire, several children were having a great time playing together.
There are five children in this group, the oldest is twelve years old and the youngest is seven years old.
After the apocalypse, with no schools, no television, and no cell phones, these kids' daily entertainment consisted of torturing each other.
One of the little girls, with a ponytail, sat at the edge of the crowd, not playing with the other children. She was about eight or nine years old and her name was Amy.
At this moment, she was looking up at the sky to the north of the valley.
To be precise, it was staring at the sky above the Black Forest.
Her brows were furrowed and her lips were pressed tightly together.
She noticed it starting this afternoon.
The sky above that dark forest seemed different than before.
She couldn't explain what was different.
It just felt like that patch of sky was "darker" than the surrounding sky.
It wasn't the kind of darkness of night, but a different kind of darkness.
It was as if something was slowly approaching from the sky.
Getting closer.
Amy stared at the sky for a long time, then suddenly stood up and ran towards the adults by the campfire.
"Uncle Kenny!"
The veteran, who was sharpening his knife, looked up.
Kenny, in his forties, had a full beard and tattoos on his arms.
"What's wrong, little one?"
"Something's not right over there in the forest!" Amy pointed north. "Something's getting closer!"
Kenny glanced in the direction she was pointing.
The sky was pitch black; nothing could be seen.
"What is there?" he chuckled. "It's dark, you must be seeing things."
"No! There really is something!"
Amy got anxious.
"I saw it in the afternoon; that area of sky was much darker than other places, and it was getting darker and darker!"
Linda walked over, knelt down, and patted Amy on the shoulder:
"Honey, that forest is naturally dark, so it's normal for the sky to look a little dark."
"no the same!"
"Okay, it's different."
Linda smiled and coaxed her.
"But it's dark now, and we can't see anything. How about we go look together tomorrow during the day?"
"But--"
"Shh, sweetie, go play with your friends. We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Amy opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.
She knew all too well that the adults wouldn't believe her.
From the time of the apocalypse until now, adults have always dismissed her words as the ramblings of a frightened child.
She turned around and walked back to the children, dejected.
"They don't believe you anymore?"
A chubby boy came over.
Amy shook her head.
"I knew it!"
Tommy pouted.
"Adults always think we're talking nonsense. Last time I said there was an earthworm as thick as a snake by the stream, Uncle Jackson immediately said I was dreaming."
"You were definitely dreaming that time," a tall, thin girl next to her said.
"No, that's not true!"
"You said it yourself, you had just woken up."
"That...that doesn't necessarily mean it was a dream!"
"Okay, it's not a dream." The tall, thin girl was too lazy to argue with him, and turned to Amy. "What did you see?"
Amy recounted what she had seen that afternoon.
The sky above the Black Forest grew even darker. Something was up there. Slowly pressing down.
After hearing this, all the children looked north.
It was pitch black. I couldn't see anything.
"I can't see," Tommy said.
"You can see it during the day."
Amy said,
"The sky there was noticeably darker than other places during the day. And it's even darker now than it was in the afternoon."
"What...what is that?"
The youngest boy spoke up.
His name is Pete, and he speaks in a slightly childish voice.
"have no idea."
The children quieted down for a moment, somewhat uneasy.
Then, a voice broke the silence.
"Tch, what's there to be afraid of?"
Everyone turned around.
It was Modi who spoke.
At twelve years old, he was the oldest kid in the whole squad. He always had a smug, "I'm the best in the world" expression on his face.
He was leaning against a tree, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, arms crossed, looking like he was watching a show.
"What's wrong with the Black Forest? Have we ever had anything happen to us while we've lived here for so long?"
"But Amy said there's something there..."
Tommy was interrupted before he could finish speaking.
"You believe what an eight-year-old girl like Amy says?"
Modi snorted.
"She said she saw a fish's face in the creek last week, but what happened? There wasn't a single fish in the water."
"That time it was just a reflection on the water..." Amy retorted softly.
"You can see a fish face in a reflection? Your eyesight is terrible."
Amy pursed her lips and remained silent.
Modi straightened up from the tree, walked among the children, and glanced at the dark area to the north.
"You guys are just too cowardly. What's so scary about that lousy forest? The trees are just a bit dark, they won't bite you."
"But the adults said we can't go near that side..." Pete said timidly.
"Adults say, adults say, adults even say Santa Claus is fake, and you believe them?"
"Santa Claus is fake, isn't he..." Sophie said.
"That's not the point!" Modi waved his hand. "The point is, you're all so afraid of this and that, like a bunch of little chicks."
As he spoke, he took two steps to the north and looked back at the others.
"How about... we go take a look?"