Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 96 Blood Plague Adaptors

The heavy rain pounded incessantly on the doors and windows of the library gathering area, making a "bang, bang, bang" sound.

The dozens of survivors gathered together, each wearing protective gear provided by the Emergency Management Agency. Although the protective gear was only of basic standard, it was better than nothing.

People had been silent for a long time after putting on their gas masks.

Moreover, unlike hotels or hospitals with many rooms where everyone can find their own space, here everyone is confined to the lobby on the first or second floor.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of books here. Everyone has a book in their hand or is scrolling through their phone to pass the time.

In a corner of the second-floor lobby, a young father and son were sitting together. The father was under forty, and the son looked to be only about ten years old. The two were reading together.

At this moment, the man suddenly felt unwell, with a sore throat and head, and his muscles also felt inexplicably achy.

"I am..."

The man muttered something nervously, feeling uneasy and fearful.

He knew perfectly well that he hadn't been sick recently and had always been in good health. Now, less than a day after the sixth rule was announced, his body was showing signs of illness, which was not a good sign.

"Dad, what's wrong?" his son asked.

Upon hearing this, the man glanced around, took his son to the bathroom, locked the door, and then squatted down with his back to the boy.

"Son, look at the back of Dad's neck. Are there any red spots?"

The first stage of infection with the blood plague is the appearance of red spots on the neck and shoulders. The second stage is internal and external bleeding. In the later stage of the second stage, bleeding occurs from all seven orifices. In the third stage, it is fatal, resulting in a burst of blood and death.

The boy looked closely, and what he said instantly chilled the man's heart.

"Dad, I think so."

Boom!

Amidst the rumble of thunder outside, the man collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The boy was startled and quickly went to help his father up: "Dad, why are you sitting on the ground! And why are you crying?"

Upon hearing this, the man wiped his face and immediately pushed the boy away: "Go away, stay away from me!"

"dad……"

“Dad has been infected with the virus. He might only have a few dozen hours left, or he might bleed out very soon… You can’t stay by Dad’s side, you…”

Before the man could finish speaking, the bathroom door was kicked open.

Several men stood at the door, looking at the man with a mixture of shock and anger.

The leader yelled, "I knew it was wrong of you to bring your child into the restroom, but I never imagined it was because you were infected! Get out of the library right now!"

"That's right, if you don't leave, we'll all get infected. There absolutely cannot be any infected people in the library!"

Seeing this, the man stood up and said, "I know, I know, I will leave, but my son is alright, he has to stay!"

After a moment of hesitation, the others at the gathering point heard the commotion and all gathered around.

After they learned what had happened, they were all so frightened that they retreated far away from the infected man.

"No, we can't let his son stay. They've been together all the time; if one gets infected, the other will definitely get infected too!"

"That's right, the two of them must leave together, there's no room for discussion."

"Get out of here! Do you want to get us all killed?!"

The crowd chattered and urged the father and son to leave the library.

The boy hid behind his father in fear. Facing the crowd's accusations, the man said fiercely, "I can leave, but my son has to stay! If you don't agree, I won't leave!"

"what?!"

"You dare! If you don't leave, we'll throw you out!"

"You dare to threaten people all by yourself?"

Seeing this, the man gritted his teeth, pulled a multi-tool knife from his pocket, and held the blade to his neck: "Who dares to throw me out? Who? Come here, I'll splatter you with blood!"

Everyone was startled and quickly took a few steps back.

The man has been confirmed to be infected with the blood plague virus. Who wants to get splattered with his blood? After all, everyone remembers that this virus can be transmitted through blood in addition to airborne transmission.

"You, don't mess around!"

"I said I could leave, but my son isn't infected. You can see his neck and shoulders are clean!" the man shouted. "Leave my son here, and I'll leave. Otherwise, I'll risk my life to splatter your blood!"

"..."

The group looked at each other, and after the two men checked the boy and confirmed that there were no red spots on his body, they compromised and agreed.

Seeing this, the man breathed a sigh of relief and said to the boy, "Son, you must stay inside and live well. Dad... Dad is leaving now!"

"Dad!" The boy rushed over and hugged his father's leg. "Dad, I want to go with you. Wherever you go, I'll go!"

"Stop fooling around, listen to me!"

"No, I won't listen! I want to go with you!"

"you……"

“Since your son has said that, you should take him with you,” someone in the crowd said. “Don’t hurt the child’s feelings.”

“Yes. We didn’t force him; he wanted to go with you himself.” Someone chimed in.

Upon hearing this, the man looked around at the crowd and his heart sank.

He knew that these people hated him because he had threatened to kill himself. Even if he forced his son to stay, his son would be bullied by these people once he left... and might even be thrown out again.

It's better to take him with me! Then, before the blood explodes, find my son a new, safe place...

With this thought in mind, the man didn't linger any longer and immediately picked up his son: "Let's go!"

The father and son quickly left the library. As soon as they left, the others immediately closed the door tightly, and someone even took out a bottle of disinfectant and sprayed it frantically around the area.

"Dad, where are we going?"

Shortly after leaving the library, the man looked bewildered when his son asked him questions.

He was about to speak when a mouthful of blood gushed out, staining the bottom of his mask completely red.

So fast? !

The man couldn't believe it. He thought he had more time. How could it have started the second stage of external bleeding so quickly?

"dad?"

"Son, quick, run into the street..." The man pushed his son away and said, enduring the pain.

"Go out on the street and see those black cars with the word 'Emergency' printed on them. Ask them for help... They'll help you... Pfft!"

After the man finished speaking with difficulty, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"dad!"

The man turned and ran in the opposite direction, hoping to get as far away from his son as possible. However, before he had run more than a few dozen meters, his whole body shuddered, and he died instantly from a burst of blood.

"dad!"

The boy caught up with his father and, seeing his father covered in blood, burst into tears of helplessness.

The torrential rain completely drowned out his cries, and even his father's last instruction to find an "emergency" vehicle on the highway was forgotten in his fear and grief...

It rained all night and didn't stop until the next morning.

Some people wearing protective suits passed by and were shocked to see what was happening.

As they approached, they first discovered the man who had died from a sudden burst of blood, and then saw a boy sleeping on top of him.

"The man undoubtedly died from a blood loss, and he must have died last night."

"The boy's chest is rising and falling; is he still alive?"

"Be careful! This child is covered in men's blood and may be infected as well!"

The boy seemed to hear voices and slowly opened his eyes to wake up.

He looked at his father's body and burst into tears again: "Dad..."

"Child, is he your father?" one person asked.

Another person went behind the boy, checked his neck and shoulders, and said to the others, "Clean, not infected."

"He's my dad, I, we..."

As the boy spoke, he suddenly looked at one of the young men in the group with a puzzled expression.

"Uncle, why do you have bugs on your shoulder?"

"Huh?" The man looked blankly at his shoulder. "What kind of bug? Where is it?"

"I clearly saw it, a red worm..."

The person who had questioned the boy earlier changed his expression upon hearing this, quickly walked to the young man's side, ripped open his protective suit, and looked at the skin on his shoulder.

A bright red spot was visible on it, a sign of infection with the blood plague!

"!!!"

The group was all shocked.

"Why?!" The young man cried out in despair and despair. "I was wearing protective gear the whole time!"

The team leader, however, disregarded everything else and suddenly focused on the boy, ordering the others: "Quick! This child is a 'blood plague adaptor,' he has antibodies and can identify infected individuals, take him back to the car immediately and send him to headquarters!"

Meanwhile, at the Limei Hotel, yesterday's harmony has vanished.

Everyone hid in their own rooms, and the only remaining things in the hall were the two bloodied corpses of residents.

The moment they witnessed their own deaths from bleeding profusely, the others' faith was shattered, and they began to wail and scream.

Everyone regretted not accepting the virus protection equipment given by the Emergency Management Bureau staff, and several people even kicked down the door of the mutual aid group's host, shouting insults and believing it was all his fault.

But the door remained closed, and there was no sound from inside. Everyone speculated that since the host had shown signs of bleeding so early yesterday morning, he had probably already bled to death in his room.

No one dared to force their way in, fearing that the enclosed room was full of viruses and that opening the door would spread them and infect them.

The same was true for the two corpses in the hall; no one had protective gear, so no one dared to clean them.

However, after a day, while every resident was huddled in their room praying not to get infected with the virus, they suddenly heard the voice of the mutual aid association's host coming through a loudspeaker.

"Friends, please come out."

Is that... the host's voice?
The people in each guest room looked incredulous upon hearing the sound, wondering if they were hallucinating.

"Come out, everyone," the host's voice rang out again. "I have already cleared the corpses from the hall, so you don't need to worry."

crunch--

As the guest room doors opened, people emerged from their rooms and ran to the lobby on the first floor, where they were greeted by the host standing in the center of the lobby with a smile on his face and his hands outstretched.

"My survival is the miracle you have witnessed."

"!!!!!!"

Everyone stared at the host in utter shock.

They clearly saw blood flowing from the host's eyes yesterday, a symptom of the late second stage of infection with the blood plague virus—the next step would be death from gushing blood! But…

"You are truly an expert!"

Suddenly, someone shouted. Then everyone else gathered around the host, surrounding him and looking at him, truly believing that he was a highly skilled master who even the rules of the fire-stealers couldn't kill.

The host was smiling, but suddenly the smile vanished.

He looked at one person in the crowd, raised his hand and pointed at that person: "Only those with impure hearts will be infected by the virus. You are one of them."

Everyone turned to look at the person being pointed at, who asked blankly, "What did you say? I... how could I?"

"Go to your room and face the test." As soon as the host finished speaking, under the intense gazes of everyone, the person had no choice but to return to his room and close the door.

Less than half an hour later, a scream of pain came from the room. The person rushed out, clutching their blood-covered face, startling the others who all backed away.

"Master... save me..."

The host was not afraid and stepped forward to shake the person's hand.

The man then burst into blood and died, his blood splattering all over the host. The crowd, who had retreated a distance, gasped in shock.

"I have a devout belief that I will not be infected by the virus." The host calmly wiped the blood splattered on his body with a tissue, and personally covered the deceased's body with a cloth and carried it into the room.

When he returned to the hall, everyone was prostrate on the ground, looking at him as if he were a god or a great master.

Reverence, submission, fanaticism.

　Day 6 of my daily 10,000-word writing challenge; 10266 words today. I'll keep striving tomorrow.

　　This rule will focus more on the impact and changes that the rule has on people and society. The protagonist Guan Tong's personal storyline will be slightly less than before. We ask for your understanding.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)