What is your name...
This sentence is most commonly used between complete strangers. However, that can only be said to someone who the opposite party had no idea about. Unfortunately, Huo Zaiyuan cannot be put in that category.
The opposite party is a soldier while he is a person with an arrest warrant on the military website. Before today, his face and name have been displayed on pop-up windows countless times until even a fool would recognise him. Anyone who doesn't must be blind.
Gaze akin to an X-ray, Huo Zaiyuan scans Long Zhanye once more as he tries to come up with a fake name. "Ziyuan. "Zi" as in "cumin" and "Yuan" as in "abyss"."
The name "Zi" is actually his mother's maiden surname. In this dire situation, he is borrowing it for the time being. After all, with Judgement Day here, no one's going to bother asking for identification.
Hearing his answer, Long Zhanye eyes him for a second. Noting that the cautious attitude is still there, he plasters on another easy smile.
"Little Yuan[1] is still a student, I assume?" Doing as he please, he immediately flips the name Huo Zaiyuan spent a lot of effort figuring out. Not only that, but he even pronounced his (HZY) fake name wrongly.
Instead of becoming angry, Huo Zaiyuan smiles, not contradicting the butchered name falling from Long Zhanye's lips. Nodding his head, he offers an ambiguous "Un".
"Do you currently have a place to stay?" The inquiry is delivered in a calm tone even as both eyes narrows and the car performs a flawless drift, knocking zombies blocking the way off their feet and into the air.
"My home is wherever I am." Huo Zaiyuan replies distractedly as he watches those few corpses flying into the air like so many basketballs. Unexpectedly, the car didn't shake even the slightest bit from the impact and instantly regains lost momentum, speeding down the road once more, engine humming away.
This guy is really something...his skills in driving is even better than most stuntmen.
Although he learned how to drive in the village, he is merely at a beginner level. If one were to ask him to drive this car like Long Zhanye does, treating it as though it is an armoured vehicle capable of competing with race cars, he truly cannot do so.
During the apocalypse, not only is having sufficient supplies necessary, it is best if one also has formidable driving skills.
Although this man is a soldier...but...
Huo Zaiyuan's eyes scrunch up slightly, evidently displaying on his face that he is internally warring with himself.
"If that's the case, why don't we travel together? How about that?" Originally, Long Zhanye is someone who likes to come and go alone. But for some reason, looking at the interesting kitten-like child sitting in the passenger seat, full of precautions, a feeling of wanting to hold onto him surfaces. (Author's note: Little Long gong is twenty-five while little Yuan shou is eighteen. So in little gong's eyes, his shou is still a child.)
Long Zhanye doesn't quite understand the emotions he is currently feeling, but if asked to express it in words, it can be said that Huo Zaiyuan is someone who interests him greatly, which is a rare occurrence.
Although the entire street is filled with zombies shambling to and fro, Long Zhanye is confident that his abilities are sufficient to protect one person.
'To walk a path together', these five words are enough to bring forth Huo Zaiyuan's desire to have a companion. Since the soldier said it first, then he will not need to rack his brains for a way to suggest sticking together and hooking himself a personal chauffeur.
"All right." Both his eyes curve, displaying Huo Zaiyuan's good mood.
"Then the first thing we need to do is go to Z City's military district and retrieve my car from the garage. This vehicle is too frail. It might fall apart if made to knock over a few more obstacles." Long Zhanye's hands tighten on the steering wheel, thinking in his heart: It also doesn't feel as good to drive as my favourite car.
"Un, then what sort of vehicle is your car?" Nodding his head in understanding, Huo Zaiyuan asks.
Since they have already agreed to form a team, then there is no need to keep up a distant face even if his heart is still cautious. Thus he takes the initiative to strike up a conversation with Long Zhanye.
"A military Hummer. Don't say knocking over a few measly zombies, it can even crash through a wall without sustaining much damage!" Regarding his beloved vehicle, Long Zhanye is full of praise and assurance in its performance.
Hearing his words, Huo Zaiyuan is pretty sure Long Zhanye's Hummer is like his own, modified to withstand the strongest of collisions. It seems this soldier is pretty well-prepared too.
Huo Zaiyuan dips his head once more and falls silent. The car continues its drag-racing speed and manoeuvring, occasionally drifting and swerving skilfully as it heads for Z City's military district.
Footnotes:
[1] In this case, LZY called HZY "渊子", the second word is something you label a kid with. It's like calling someone "kiddo/child". I'll just translate it as "Little Yuan" instead because writing "Yuan kid" just reads really awkwardly. Sounds rather strange too.