Head East

Zhou Yuan was forty-three years old when the virus broke out. My wife died in the first year. The son was separated on the way to escape. Accompanying him is the dog he has had for sixteen years. It is too old to walk and lies in its den every day waiting for him to come home. Later the dog also died. Later, he signed up for a mission: go east to the research institute in the center of the occupied area to find supplies, medicine, and anything else that could be used. There were four people traveling with us - one who was looking for his sister, one who was looking for a wife, one who said he was tired of living, and a half-grown boy with a few grains of dog food in his pocket. They go east. Through the ruins, through the town, past the giant mutant beast skeleton. On the road I meet people who are alive and people who are dying. Someone handed out a biscuit, and someone took off his coat. No one spoke, just walked forward. Zhou Yuan didn't know if he could find his son. I don't know if I can come back alive. I don't know what's on the east side. All he knew was to move forward. There were a few dog hairs in his pocket, which were hard and scratching his thighs. Go forward. --- This is a story about the end of the world. No powers, no evolution, no heroes to save the world. There were only a few ordinary people walking eastward with their dead people.