Automobile Overturns

Faced with Zhao Tianlei's furious cursing, the teacher didn't dare say much. He stepped on the accelerator, and the car immediately roared away. Zhao Tianlei didn't dare linger either. He pulled Cheng Yao along and started running, though fortunately, the zombies were slow. They were also still some distance away, so as long as the two of them didn't stop, the zombies couldn't catch them.

Actually, if Zhao Tianlei had resorted to violence just now, the students in the car wouldn't have dared say much. After all, Zhao Tianlei was the one who had saved them this time. But Zhao Tianlei hadn't done that. Even though some people's humanity had been worn away, a trace of conscience still remained within him.

Besides, Zhao Tianlei knew that letting those students stay behind would be no different from sending them to their deaths, while he was different. What disappointed and saddened him was that not a single person had dared to give up their seat for him. Even if someone really had offered him a seat, he might not have taken it, but at least he would have felt a little better.

The apocalypse had only erupted two days ago, yet one heartless incident after another had already appeared, leaving Zhao Tianlei deeply saddened. In that moment, he actually felt somewhat regretful for going back to rescue those ungrateful wretches. These events had also given him a deeper understanding of the apocalypse's cruelty.

"Tianlei, what should we do now?" If Zhao Tianlei had been alone, he could have run at full speed. After becoming a Second Class Soldier, he felt that his stamina was more than ten times what it had been before. Even if he ran at full speed, he could keep going for half an hour in one breath, or even longer.

But with Cheng Yao beside him, Zhao Tianlei had to take care of her. He maintained a jogging pace as he led her onward. Fortunately, Cheng Yao had trained in dancing, so her stamina was clearly much better than that of ordinary students. The two of them ran all the way to the entrance, where they suddenly spotted a very familiar car crashed into the guardrail at the school gate.

"Tianlei, look! Isn't that one of the cars from before? How did it end up crashing here?" Cheng Yao recognized it immediately and pointed at the car.

"Hmph, what else could it be? They must have been panicking and driving too fast to escape. When they reached the turn at the school gate, they couldn't brake or turn in time and crashed straight into it. If you ask me, they brought it on themselves. Don't bother with them. Let's go." As he spoke, Zhao Tianlei pulled Cheng Yao away from the side and continued on.

The people in the car were actually not seriously hurt. It was just that the violent impact had left all of them in a daze. Only one or two still retained a little awareness. Seeing Zhao Tianlei and Cheng Yao pass by, they couldn't help crying out for help. But Zhao Tianlei had already lost all hope in these people, and he ignored their pleas completely.

However, after passing them, Zhao Tianlei suddenly gritted his teeth, swung his axe into the car door, and then yanked it open. Looking at the people inside, he said, "I've saved you as much as I can. Zombies are already coming after you. Escape on your own. Don't expect me to do anything else for you. Take care of yourselves."

After saying that, Zhao Tianlei pulled Cheng Yao along and continued running, leaving the campus behind. The area outside the school was just as bleak, but fortunately, since it was a university with a relatively large campus, it had been built near the outskirts. Relatively speaking, there were very few people around the school. Because of that, there weren't many zombies nearby either.

Seeing the scene outside, Cheng Yao moved closer to Zhao Tianlei and asked, "Tianlei, where should we go? Should we enter the city or follow the outskirts?"

"Although following the outskirts would be safer because there are fewer zombies, there aren't many buildings there. We can't keep walking like this forever. Especially after nightfall, being exposed outside will be dangerous. We have to find a safe place to hide and rest. So I think it would be better to head toward the urban district. We might encounter more zombies, but as long as we carefully avoid them and use the buildings for shelter, we should be fine. What do you think?"

As he spoke, Zhao Tianlei turned his gaze toward Cheng Yao. Unexpectedly, she immediately shook her head like a rattle drum and said, "I don't have any plans. I only know that following you is the safest thing to do. I'll do whatever you say."

Hearing Cheng Yao's words, Zhao Tianlei's lips curved upward, and he gave her an encouraging smile. "All right. Then let's get moving. Our destination is the urban district."

In truth, when Zhao Tianlei said they were heading toward the urban district, he didn't mean they would run straight into the city. Instead, they would travel toward its outskirts. Zhao Tianlei knew that the urban district had a much higher population, and once an outbreak occurred, it would be even more dangerous. But there were no places to hide outside the outskirts, and the pursuing zombies never seemed to tire. By nightfall, the two of them had to find somewhere to take shelter.

After walking only a short distance, Zhao Tianlei suddenly spotted a row of storefronts ahead. Some nearby residents had built these shops after noticing the business opportunities beside the school. None of them were very large. Most were restaurants, stationery shops, and convenience stores, along with several Internet cafés and a small hotel.

Although these shops were small—even the larger Internet cafés had only a hundred or so computers—students came and went constantly every day. As for the small hotel, Zhao Tianlei didn't know what its business was like, but he could guess that it wouldn't have any vacant rooms either.

Feeling his stomach growl, Zhao Tianlei said to Cheng Yao, "Cheng Yao, it's already afternoon, and we haven't eaten anything. Why don't we search these small shops for something to eat and rest for a while before moving on?"

The two of them nodded, and Cheng Yao followed Zhao Tianlei toward the shops. When the apocalypse broke out, it had been class time. Aside from a few students who had come to play on the computers, there weren't many people in the other shops. As for the restaurants, Zhao Tianlei wasn't interested in them at all. Before noon, they wouldn't have started cooking yet.

Rather than going to a restaurant, they would gain more by visiting a convenience store. Even if the snacks couldn't compare to a restaurant's proper meals, as long as they could fill their stomachs, nothing else mattered. More importantly, Zhao Tianlei had chosen the convenience store because he wanted to put more things into his upgraded Storage Space.

Previously, the Storage Space had been only one cubic meter, so Zhao Tianlei could choose only things that were easy to use to fill his stomach. Now that he had leveled up, it had expanded to three cubic meters, giving Zhao Tianlei many more options. Although there weren't many people or zombies here, Zhao Tianlei still wouldn't swagger over openly. He understood perfectly well that caution was the best guarantee of safety.