Since it was a night watch, Jack certainly wouldn't enter the room. He held the flashlight and checked each of the two rows of adjacent rooms one by one until he confirmed that there were no hidden dangers inside. Then, he dragged a Thomas single sofa out of the room, lit a candle, and sat with his back against the wall in the corridor.
Keeping watch is definitely boring and lonely, and Jack naturally had his own way to pass the time. He first lit a cigarette, then pulled out the magazines from the holster at his waist one by one, using his thumb to press against the clear Marcus-colored bullets, dropping them into his palm one by one. Finally, he carefully wiped each bullet with a towel he had picked up.
Jack's actions had almost become a habit during his night watch, and it wasn't entirely due to boredom. On one hand, it relieved the pressure on the magazine spring, allowing it to maintain elasticity and preventing it from jamming at critical moments. On the other hand, it helped to identify any obvious dud rounds, and of course, it cleaned the dirt off the bullets, further ensuring the high efficiency of the gun's firing.
It was probably when Jack finished wiping all the bullets and was about to disassemble the gun that a faint, intermittent singing unexpectedly drifted from deep within the corridor. If it had been any ordinary person, hearing a woman singing in such a corpse-laden environment in the dead of night would have sent chills down their spine and left their calves cramping. However, Jack was no ordinary person. After a brief moment of surprise, he quickly tidied up the scattered items on his legs and began to pay close attention to the sounds coming from the end of the corridor.
Jack was sitting at the end of the corridor. About twenty meters ahead, there was another corridor branching off to the right, and the intermittent singing was coming from that corridor. After listening for a moment, Jack realized that the person was not simply bored and singing for fun; the voice was clearly filled with tremors. The intermittent nature of the singing was the result of teeth chattering from fear. Jack quickly understood the woman's intent—she was singing to bolster her courage because she was afraid of walking alone at night!
Many people have whistled to bolster their courage while walking alone at night, and even Jack did the same when he was a child. However, it often led to an increasing urge to urinate and growing fear, just like this woman. By the end of her song, Jack couldn't even tell what she was singing; it was all heavy nasal sounds of "mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
"Don't be afraid, I'm here!" Jack had already recognized who it was. With a "click," he turned on the flashlight in his hand and called out to her before she appeared.
"Lin... Jack, is that you?"
First, a beam of light from the flashlight swept around the corner, followed by a delicate figure timidly peeking out. Once she confirmed it was Jack standing there, the woman let out a long sigh of relief, holding the flashlight and walking over with her head down. She said somewhat awkwardly, "I... I came to see how you all were resting. I was worried that Old Ryan wasn't being attentive!"
Ding Jie had completely lost her earlier composure, standing there with her head down like a little girl who had made a big mistake. She was wearing a pair of transparent slippers and had changed into a more comfortable white silk nightgown that showcased her graceful figure. Her chest, not lacking in size, presented a proud bamboo shoot shape, and perhaps due to the overly tight fit, two prominent points were clearly visible on her alluring curves. Two strands of long, dark hair gently swept across as Ding Jie moved her body.
Ding Jie wasn't wearing a bra!
In an instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Jack's mind. He could almost guess with his toes what Ding Jie was there for. Yes, she was just like Liu Fei, coming to offer herself voluntarily in the dead of night!
A slight bitterness welled up inside him. He had always believed that the unique Ding Jie would be different, that she wouldn't lower herself to please him. Yet, he had underestimated the pressure that the apocalypse had placed on people. Even someone as proud as Ding Jie, a high-ranking woman, ultimately couldn't withstand the pressure of survival and had chosen to humble herself to please him.
"Sit down!" Jack slightly turned his body to let Ding Jie sit on the sofa, while he moved a Thomas chair from an empty room and sat facing Ding Jie. Then, he silently took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed it to Ding Jie, and said, "Have one, it will help you relax a bit!"
"Thank... you!" Ding Jie slightly raised herself to take the cigarette. She didn't smoke and had once been very opposed to it, but what did that matter now? At this moment, Ding Jie was like a helpless little girl, her eyes filled with confusion and uncertainty, not daring to make eye contact with Jack. The moment their eyes met, she trembled all over.
Ding Jie nervously placed the cigarette on her bloodless lips, then bent over, trying to recall how men smoked as she brought the cigarette closer to the candle. However, after just one puff, she began to cough violently. Jack quickly reached out to pat her back, but Ding Jie, as if stung by a scorpion, panicked and dodged, even whispering, "Don't touch me!"
"Uh... I just wanted to tell you, it's best not to inhale through your nose the first time you smoke!" Jack helplessly withdrew his hand, plopped back into his seat, and spread his hands, saying, "I think you should just stop smoking; the more you smoke, the tighter it gets, Thomas!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Ding Jie wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, looking apologetically at Jack. However, she didn't give up the cigarette in her hand and placed it back between her lips, gently taking another puff.
"Huh..." Ding Jie exhaled a long breath mixed with white smoke, seemingly releasing the tension and frustration from her heart. She looked at the burning Zhonghua cigarette between her fingers with a complex expression, then sighed and said, "I finally understand why you men are so addicted to cigarettes; they really can relieve a lot of stress!"
"Yeah, if it were in the past, I definitely wouldn't support you smoking, but now... who knows if we'll be alive tomorrow? Even if you become addicted from now on, it's not a big deal!" Jack straightened his body, his eyes fixed on the gradually calming Ding Jie across from him.
"I actually hope I could get addicted now!" Ding Jie slowly twirled the cigarette between her fingers, her eyes showing a hint of longing and intoxication. She then tried to take a few more gentle puffs without coughing again. Afterward, holding half a cigarette, she looked up seriously and asked, "Can you tell me the truth about how much chance we have of getting out?"
"Fifty-fifty, I guess!" Jack also lit a cigarette at this point and answered seriously, "Actually, our chances of escape are exactly the same as yours. We also don't have any guarantee of leaving here safely. All I can tell you is six words: do your best, know your fate!"
"Do your best, know your fate..." Ding Jie slowly lowered her head, murmuring this phrase. After a long while, she raised her head and said, "Then why can't you take us with you?"
"I already answered this question to Yue Yunfei this afternoon!" Jack gently shook his head, his eyes flickering as he said, "It's not that I don't want to take you, but that I don't have the ability to take you. The probability of escape for four people is simply worlds apart from that of fourteen. I hope you can understand my predicament!"
"Jack..." Ding Jie suddenly laughed, a sly smile on her face. She looked at Jack with a hint of playfulness and said, "Have you ever been told that your eyelids blink faster when you lie? Hehe~ Don't deny it. Have you forgotten my identity? The political arena is like a battlefield; understanding people is a fundamental course for every official!"
"No one has ever told me that!" Jack forced a smile. Although he wasn't exactly lying in this matter, he had avoided the key issue. He couldn't straightforwardly tell Ding Jie that it was because of Yue Yunfei that he was unwilling to take them on, and there was really no need to tell her.
"It's because of Yue Yunfei, right?" Ding Jie suddenly hit the nail on the head, a mysterious smile appearing on her face. Jack looked at her in astonishment, then shook his head in resignation and said with a bitter smile, "Fortunately, I haven't entered the officialdom. You people are really good at reading minds!"
"You're afraid that Yue Yunfei will eventually take over and replace your leading position in the team, aren't you?" Ding Jie slowly extinguished her cigarette on the armrest of the sofa and asked seriously, "If I can guarantee that after you take us away from here, we will part ways immediately and never entangle with you again, would you agree to take us with you?"
"You underestimate my Jack's demeanor!" Jack shook his head expressionlessly and said, "Yue Yunfei is indeed outstanding; in terms of leadership ability, he is stronger than I am. But the reason I won't take you with me is not because I'm afraid he will replace me, but because Yue Yunfei would never be content to remain under someone else. Once a team has two different voices, it becomes very dangerous; it either leads to infighting or self-destruction. I also have to be responsible for my people. And most importantly, if there's an ambitious schemer in the team, that's also very frightening!"
"Jack, it's a pity you're not in politics!" Ding Jie shook her head with a look of disappointment, letting out a long sigh. After that, the two suddenly fell silent together. Ding Jie bit her lower lip, staring blankly at the ground as if making a significant decision, while Jack, smoking a cigarette, looked at Ding Jie's beautiful figure with pure admiration. Her white legs were as beautiful as a piece of art.