Although she was definitely younger than me, let's go by appearance. Besides, if I called this middle-aged woman "little sister," there was no telling whether these people would look at me like I was a total idiot.
At that thought, I looked at the astonishment in the young man's eyes, then watched the despair in the eyes of the middle-aged woman sitting on the ground slowly regain a trace of color. Only then did I turn to look at Hu Lai, the big bald man.
"And you, big idiot, come here... Tell me your home address."
I spoke flatly, but that soft female voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
Hu Lai raised his head blankly, as if he hadn't reacted yet. The middle-aged woman, however, instantly came to her senses. She suddenly broke free from the soldier supporting her, staggered over to me, dropped to her knees, and grabbed the hem of my battle skirt.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you... Thank you..."
The woman kept repeating those three words, her eyes filled with hope. To be honest, the one thing I found hardest to refuse was that kind of look.
Especially when it came from people in a vulnerable position.
After all, I had been pretty vulnerable once too. Uh... before the apocalypse.
The young man stood there blankly for a long while. Then, suddenly, his knees buckled, and he dropped heavily to his knees in front of me, his head hitting the ground with a bang.
"Th... thank you..."
His voice sounded as though he were suppressing sobs, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
Hu Lai finally came to his senses as well. He suddenly stood up and rushed toward me, opening his arms as he ran and shouting as he came in for a hug.