Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 180 180. Bicycle

In the morning, golden sunlight streams in through the glass windows, and magpies are chirping and singing on the maple branches outside the window.

The little girl at the dining table is pricking up her ears and inhaling a storm of pasta.

Hope and Dean, who had just returned from the police station, stood at the door to discuss,
"Dean, I'll leave it to you at 11 am. I have to go back to the police station to put on a show and cooperate with the state government's house search."

"So the situation in the laboratory was very serious last night?" Dean asked pretending to be ignorant,
Hope narrowed his eyes, "98 security personnel died, and 36 researchers were missing. Police cars and ambulances went there dozens of times."

"Isn't there still a riot in the town?"

"That's not true. The employees in the laboratory are all foreigners. They eat and live in the building on weekdays, and have no communication with the townspeople. This incident has little impact on the locals. At most, it will increase the conversation after dinner."

Dean asked, "Is Dr. Martin Brenner still here?"

"He and a group of researchers left in a helicopter, whereabouts are unknown." Hope shook his head solemnly, "Then the state government and Grissom Air Force Base came to block the laboratory and the surrounding area. The work they sent The personnel are all wearing anti-epidemic suits, and there must be some secrets hidden in the laboratory."

"Perhaps this is one of the purposes of the Sulian people's attack." Dean thought of the crack.

"Are you going out?" The eavesdropping little girl put down her fork and interrupted the discussion. She had a good rest last night, her fair face was full of energy, and her big eyes were dark and bright. Although her expression was still reserved, she was no longer Like yesterday, the whole person was so tense that he was about to faint.

"Hope is going out, I will stay with you at home in the morning."

"Then can you take me out for a walk later?" 11 clasped his hands in front of his chest,

"Your father is looking for you everywhere. It's too conspicuous during the day. Let's go out to look at the moon at night."

11 turned around and looked at the golden sun outside the window, poked the noodles on the plate with some reluctance, but nodded out of fear for his father,
"Don't worry, it won't be boring at home," Dean pointed to the TV in the living room, "You can watch as many cartoons as you want today."

"What are cartoons?" Eleven blinked innocently,

"Do the researchers in the lab have stones in their chests? How can they be so cruel that they forbid children to watch TV? This is a crime and abuse!" Hope cursed, then restrained his anger and stretched out his hand, "Come on, 11, have a look "Alice in Wonderland."

11 Looking at the rough, callused palm in front of him, which was three times his own size, hesitated for a second, didn't reach out, and jumped off the chair directly, walked to his side,
Hope smiled awkwardly, led her to the sofa opposite the TV, and taught her how to use the remote control.

Then pat her head and return to the town center police station.

And Dean looked at 11 who was intoxicated in the cartoon, thinking about how to further improve the progress of "The Bird in the Cage"——

Just hide 11 for a month, and the progress of the incident will be [-]% at most.

But he can't be satisfied with this anymore, he wants to achieve 11% completion like Joshua's incident last time-and then pick [-] powerful superpowers from the reward list!

"To make 11 happy, fulfill her wishes, and then train her, can I get extra event progress?"

"You can try."

11 watched the cartoon intently, keeping his eyes on the screen the whole time. Except for occasionally frowning to show a trace of doubt, his expression hardly changed, and he didn't even laugh when he saw the cartoon.

"11, if you don't understand anything, you can ask me."

Dean couldn't help but speak.

"kindness."

"You can laugh if you think it's funny."

"what."

"You want to grow your hair long, just like Alice, do you want to be a princess?"

"What is a princess?" 11 raised his head in doubt,

"It's quite similar to you, but the princess lives in the castle, and you used to live in the laboratory."

All morning Dean had been trying to get closer to the little girl, to open her heart, but progress was slow.

She has been hurt a lot, so she built a strong psychological defense line for herself.

But Dean wasn't in a hurry.

……

In the afternoon, Hope returned to his ancestral home to change shifts and happily became a part-time baby daddy.

Dean drove back to the town, and first went home to say hello to his uncle, announcing that he was busy with things recently and would not go home at night.

Paque was keenly aware of a problem, and looked at him suspiciously,

"What happened in the Hawkins laboratory last night has nothing to do with you, kid?"

"I don't even know where the laboratory is, what happened to it?" Dean asked innocently,
"I heard from my boss that I was attacked."

Dean said angrily, "Can you stop thinking of me as a terrorist!"

Paqui stared at him for a few seconds, seeing that his face remained unchanged, he sighed and lit a cigarette,

"It's fine if it's not you. Dean, in fact, I don't want you to take the risk to find Lena and Guangming now. I believe they are the same. You should live a healthy and happy life now, marry a wife as soon as possible, and help the family pass on the family line!"

"You're not even married to Teacher Kelly Chen, how dare I take the lead?" Dean snatched the cigarette from Paqui's hand and extinguished it, "Stop talking, let's go, get my aunt down earlier!"

Dean drove away, looking at Paqui's slightly worried back in the window, and secretly decided not to let him get involved in his parents' affairs.

It was too dangerous for him to involve the supernatural.

...

Small supermarket in town.

"Hi, Dean..." Joyce brushed her hair back. She still looked haggard and thin, wearing a slightly scruffy denim jacket, with thick dark circles on her face, and a faint smell of tobacco in her mouth.

"Hey, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, Dustin... what are you going to do?" Dean looked around, and several familiar figures were crowded in front of the counter, wearing colorful swimsuits and swimming trunks , with a swim ring.

"It's too hot, let's go to the river to cool off, come?" Jonathan put his arms around Dean's shoulders enthusiastically, and his expression was a little more cheerful than before. Obviously, the courageous shooting method that Dean taught him had some effect.

Dean smiled, but before answering, Dustin with rounder cheeks passed behind Will, looking at him with admiration and gratitude,

"Dude... Thanks to your help, I've started treatment again. The doctor said that the teeth will grow in about a year. Let's go swimming. I want to talk to you about 'psychic magic' again."

"Come on." Will and Mike clapped their shoulders together shyly,
"If you don't like swimming, we plan to go to the school's audio-visual club to listen to the FM radio, and then ride a bicycle around the lake..." Lucas showed a hearty smile like an athlete, and his teeth were so white that they glowed under the dark skin ,

"I can provide free bicycles here." Joyce assisted the group of children with a smile.
"I'm flattered by your enthusiasm, but unfortunately, I have a friend from out of town. I have to go shopping with her. Next time."

Dean refused again, touched his chin again,
Bikes are great for kids.

……

Dean bought a bunch of toffee, biscuits, drinks, fruit, and Four Seasons pizza... half the trunk filled with Joyce's [-]% off.

Then I drove to the next-door town hundreds of kilometers away and bought a children's version of the Lightning brand red bicycle.

In the evening, get off at the ancestral house.

Dean saw a ladder built outside the house, and Hope was standing on it, holding a hammer and knocking on the ceiling of the corridor.
"What are you doing?" Dean picked up the 20kg snack bag with his left hand, and put the children's bicycle in the corner of the yard with his right hand.

"In the past, there was a set of monitoring equipment in the house that I hadn't had time to install," Hope said. "Now that November is here, I just installed it today to add a little security to the home."

Dean nodded, he didn't expect this,
"What about 11?"

"Watching TV, she's completely hooked. No child can resist the temptation of TV."

Hope hammered the nail into the board with a bang.

When Dean entered the room, he saw 11 sitting on the sofa in the living room with his calves curled up, holding a bag of potato chips in his arms, stuffing potato chips into his mouth like an automatic feeding machine with his right hand, staring at the food without blinking. Animation of Alice in Wonderland.

A green caterpillar on the screen is uttering the phrase "Who are you" from a smoke ring, and she finally laughs.

Smiling and laughing, a pile of potato chips shattered in his hand, staining his jeans.

Dean, who was standing behind her and observing, sighed secretly, this little sloppy has the talent of a house girl,

"Does it look good?"

"It's nice to see... Ah, Dean, you're back."

"Sit still and keep looking at yours. I bought something."

While the little girl was stunned, Dean threw a large bag of assorted snacks at her feet,

"Eat whatever you want."

……

After the snacks were finished, Hope and Dean prepared a hearty barbecue in the evening.

11 I feel that these two days are so perfect that it is unreal. Not only did I leave the cage-like "home", but also bid farewell to the father who repeatedly lied to her, who kept saying that it was for her good and for her sake, but kept ordering her to participate in various painful experiments , bid farewell to the group of adults who looked at her with creepy eyes all day long.

Also saw the outside world, maple trees, grass, sun, moon.

She moved to a strange new home, where the air is full of freedom and sweetness, where there are Dean and Hope who never force her or order him.

Here are the funny cartoons that made her laugh out loud, more today than in the past nine years combined.

In addition, she also ate chocolate, pizza, pasta, barbecue... all kinds of delicacies that she had never tasted before.

A whole new, wonderful world unfolds before your eyes.

She couldn't restrain her joy, but she couldn't express it. She could only lie blankly on the chair on the terrace, blowing the cool night breeze, and stroking her chubby belly filled with barbecued meat.

The oily little face at the corner of the mouth was slightly reddened by the charcoal fire of the oven, and his expression was in a trance.

"11...Eat more. Girls your age are growing up and should eat more meat." With a wave of his hand, Hope took another half-palm-sized piece that was sizzling with oil, exuding honey, and chili peppers. Put the fragrant beef tenderloin, onion, etc. on the plate of 11.

"No," 11 shook his head, "I can't eat it."

"Eat more, you are too thin now, understand."

"Okay, Hope, you want her to be a chubby girl overnight?"

Dean thought of the puppy fed by grandma's house,
"Take your time, let's go, 11, go out for a walk to digest food...By the way, try the gift I prepared for you."

……

Hope picks up the mess after the BBQ.

Dean carried the bicycle and led the anxious and excited 11 to the backyard of the house.

The sun has set and night is falling.

The moonlight illuminates the wide green lawn and the maple trees like flowing water.

11 opened her hands, took a deep breath under the moonlight, and ran in small steps. The red T-shirt made her look like a flame swaying against the grass.

"Do you like it here?"

She nodded heavily.

"Then if you want to stay, remember, if an adult approaches you in the future, go home and hide immediately, and tell me or Hope." Dean sternly ordered,
"Is it because...they're sending me back to my father's house?"

"Yes, this hiding situation can only be improved when you grow up a little bit or have the ability to protect yourself."

11 rolled on the grass, buried his face in the grass, breathed the smell of the soil,

"Then when I meet...someone my age, I want to hide too?"

"The child you are referring to? It's best to hide away. If you can't hide, don't reveal your identity. Don't let people see this tattoo." Dean grabbed her left wrist, opened the sleeve and glanced at the serial number, "So I have a new name for you, Jane, J, A, N, E, Jane."

"Jane?" The little girl's faint eyebrows were tangled together, and she felt that the name sounded familiar, then nodded, knelt on the grass and looked up at him like a little rabbit, "I remember, I will be called Jane from now on ,simple…"

"Very well, 11, remember this name."

"My name is Jane..."

"Perfect, come here now, I will teach you how to ride a bicycle..."

……

Dean carried Jane onto the red children's bicycle, spread her feet apart,
"Grab the handle, put your feet on the ground, ride the bike and slide forward..."

"what!"

Just two steps out, Jane screamed and fell forward.

"Get up Jane, don't hold the handle tightly, just put it on it lightly, that's the brake, understand? If you squeeze it tightly, the wheels will stop turning, and you won't be able to slide. Continue."

"kindness."

Jane successfully slid for ten meters this time, then lost her balance, her eyes widened in horror, she forced her foot on the brakes, and then there was a thud.

Grass flying.

The body flew off the bike.

The little cheeks are in close contact with the big grass.

But this time without waiting for Dean to speak.

She gritted her teeth and got up by herself.

Dean was surprised and continued to guide.

Turn with both feet on the ground.

Then slide on one foot...

He gradually saw some of Jane's characteristics,
Because of being locked up in the laboratory for a long time, the body lacks exercise, the limbs are extremely uncoordinated, and the balance ability is poor.

But she also has advantages. At a young age, she has experienced small dark rooms, electric shocks, and sensory deprivation tank experiments. Her willpower is stronger than her peers, and she has a lot of stubbornness in her small body.

……

She kept pushing the bike, sliding, falling, and getting up again...

The cycle repeated, several bruises appeared on the cheeks and arms, the sound of panting became heavy, and sweat filled the forehead.

But he gritted his teeth and didn't complain the whole time.

Two and a half hours later.

at last,

One time, she slipped hard on the ground with her right foot, and then kicked the pedals with both feet regularly.

She has the balance!
Sliding a 20-meter straight line along the grass, then turned a corner, and rode in the opposite direction to the teacher who got his arms around his chest in the distance.

She was riding on the bicycle, feeling the coolness of the airflow passing over her skin, with excitement and a smile in her eyes.

A sense of exhilaration and excitement that has never been experienced arises spontaneously.

……

Dean noticed her smile and nodded in relief.

The event progress soared by 5.00% at this moment, jumping to 30.00% seven.

"It really works. If this goes on, the progress will definitely exceed [-]%."

This is a good start.

Taught her to ride a bicycle and made her feel happy.

Then it will be logical to train and study her superpowers in the future.

It won't be regarded as another father by her.

but now--

Dean took out the photo of Lena and Guangming from his pocket, and looked at it under the moonlight.

……

"Dean, I made it!"

Jane stopped the bicycle in front of him, shook off the crystal sweat on her forehead, and her face was full of joy,
"Nice job, you're smarter than I expected."

Jane nodded, followed his gaze curiously, "What are you looking at?"

"Pictures of my parents," Dean said with mock sentimentality. "That's how they taught me to ride a bike when I was a kid, so I think of them."

The dusty memories in Jane's mind surged for a moment, her expression was in a trance, "What's wrong with them?"

"They disappeared many years ago, and they only left me this photo." Dean looked at Jane, with an inexplicable look in his eyes, and said with emotion, "I wish I could find them, even if someone can give me some of them Good news, too."

Jane clenched and loosened her fists, lowered her face and said nothing, her eyes struggling.

Seeing this, Dean knew what was going on. She is currently quite resistant to using superpowers, so she patted the other person on the head,

"Hiss... it hurts."

"Don't hurt yourself recklessly in the future, stop and rest when you can't stand it," Dean carried her on the bicycle and pushed her away, "You have to express your feelings, don't hide everything ,Understand?"

"En." Jane nodded.

"Ahem..." On the other side, the sheriff who finished packing the tableware staggered over from the guardrail, rubbed his hands, glanced at the two of them, and said hesitantly, "Actually, I took the water around the lake in Hawkins Town. Is it the honor to be the teacher of 11, the champion of the cycling competition?"

Dean looked at the cautious expectation in his eyes, and generously pushed the bicycle carrying 11 to him.

Hope smiled with relief, and looked at the little girl expectantly, "Sit still, 11?"

"Well, my name is Jane now!"

"Let's go, Jane!" The sheriff pushed the little girl around the yard.

"Ha ha!"

Hope's long-lost laughter sounded under the moonlight, and he laughed like a child.

(End of this chapter)