"Everyone, wait a minute." Dunn couldn't help but call out to everyone after the team walked out for another hour.
Lily and everyone turned back to look at Dunn, who was walking at the back of the team, with some confusion on his face.
"When you look at these cars, these billboards, these street lights, and the walls of these buildings on the roadside, don't you think there's something strange about it?" Dunn asked everyone.
Lily immediately looked around. The silent fog was still rolling 24 meters away. The ground, street lamps, walls, and billboards that could be seen all around had become dull because they had not been maintained or repaired for a long time. Corroded, peeling, paint peeling, and rusty.
"What did you find, Dunn?" Lily really didn't see any big problem, so she asked Dunn.
"Oh God, I mean, it has only been three months since we first went out to explore the 'Wall'. In just three months, can the things around us become so outdated?" Dunn spoke quickly. He explained quickly.
"Maybe... maybe it's the fog." Stephenson tried to raise a possibility.
"Then why are the fences and outer walls of our orphanage in good condition? We all saw it when we went out. The newness of the fence was completely different from what we can see now."
Dunn hates the fact that iron cannot become steel.
"There is... a problem." Aiden gave his opinion.
You must know that when the exploration team was first established in the orphanage, although there were no pedestrians on the street, both the shops facing the street and the vehicles on the street were still in a state of being abandoned. Although there were some There is dust accumulation, but there is no major damage, and there are no signs of corrosion or polishing by the years.
Now that Lily was told this by Dunn, she noticed the problem when she looked at the store billboards on both sides of the street, the wall coating, and the vehicles on the road that had not been driven for a long time.
It doesn’t look like it could be formed in just four or five months!
While thinking, Lily suddenly remembered the shocking news that John brought back after his first contact with the exploration team outside the "wall" - 10 years have passed since the world outside the "wall".
Although the things in front of me don't look like they have been corroded for ten years...
Lily immediately told everyone what she thought, but Dunn just shook his head, and he couldn't judge the reason.
"We...should...start...making...marks." Aiden broke the silence and took out the bag from the side pocket of his backpack. Use chalk and oil-based pens to go to a corner or shop by the roadside and leave marks one by one.
He also observed some traces nearby to determine whether anyone outside the orphanage exploration team existed or had been here.
After walking out for another ten minutes, Camille, who had been silent all the time, suddenly pointed to a bakery at the corner of the intersection in front of him with half of the brand name left and said: "I like their milk very much. Not only does their milk have no fat, The protein content is quite high.”
Stephenson turned his head and glanced at Camille with a blank look on his face, thinking to himself, sister, no, brother, what are you trying to express?
Aiden nodded with deep understanding, and also popularized a term: "skim...milk."
He's also a big fan of the bakery.
Lily listened to the chats of several companions around her, but she did not relax her vigilance. It was already the third day since John disappeared. If it were more serious, John had an accident not long after setting off, that would be five days. Every day, almost a week.
Controllable variables? It's probably just that he has gained some abilities.
Suddenly, Lily felt a sting on the right side of her cheek, which made her turn her head subconsciously, and then she saw a group of black shadows quickly passing in front of her eyes. After landing, it jumped back and forth quickly and disappeared into the mist. deep.
It took less than 1 second from the time Lily suddenly felt the sting on her cheek to when the mysterious black shadow disappeared. So much so that Sandra next to Lily didn't notice what was happening on Lily's side at all. He only happened to be in the distance. Aiden, who was looking here, noticed something, and he immediately trotted back to Lily and asked what happened.
Lily touched her right cheek, feeling very frightened. To be honest, if he hadn't turned his head subconsciously because of the sudden sting, then the black shadow would have hit his face, and no one knew what would happen next.
"I don't know either. It's just that something black seemed to fly past just now. I didn't see clearly what it was." Lily replied with a hint of fear.
"Black...thing..." Aiden repeated Lily's words, his expression gradually becoming serious.
Lily probably thought of something and glanced at Dunn. Dunn considered it and said:
"Whether it was our initial exploration or John's subsequent 'screening', there was one thing we forgot to consider over the past few months."
Lily nodded and added appropriately: "Animals."
"Animal?" Sandra repeated the word, slightly confused.
There are no large animals in London in the British Empire, oh, no, except for the London Zoo.
"What I want to express is that although everyone else in the city except our orphanage has disappeared, there are still stray animals and smaller rodents wandering around in the city." Lily. Explaining to Sandra.
"We... don't know the harm... of the fog." After saying this, Aiden glanced at Lily.
Lily immediately followed and said:
"But whether the fog has any impact on animals is what we must consider next."
"If these animals become more aggressive due to the influence of fog, or even mutate in size or part, it will bring considerable danger and hidden dangers to our subsequent search for John."
"I have some bad premonitions. Stephenson, Dunn, from now on, you go to the middle of the team. Aiden, you and Camille are on the left and right of the team. I will go to the back and front of the team. I leave it to you." , Sandra." Lily quickly formed a formation.
"Okay." The others responded in unison.
"Always be alert to the surroundings. I think this search operation is already above the level of hell. In Ender's words, it's just an abyss." Dunn put away his usual smile and took the lead to laugh at himself.
