Just Their Luck

Lu Xi'an had just been making an offhand remark. He hadn't expected Yao Wei to turn the wheel.

But when he thought about it, that made sense. In a world where everything seemed to have ground to a halt and fallen into decline, how could you drive without worrying about running out of gas?

If you didn't look for gas stations along the way and top off the tank whenever you could, you'd end up like Yao Wei had before, forced to leave the car somewhere hidden and carry a gas can to find fuel. That would become routine.

And with bad luck, even if you didn't go looking for gas stations everywhere, carrying a gas can would still become routine.

Lu Xi'an had thought range anxiety was something you only experienced when driving an electric car. He hadn't expected to feel it now, riding in a car that guzzled gas.

The process was the same as before: first, scout the area to make sure it was safe; then find the electrical box and try to restore power; finally, use the pump to fill the tank.

They were in luck. The gas station was still empty, though the station building had been picked clean, too. This time, even the toy motorcycle was gone.

Places like this had probably been stripped of anything useful, so people had no reason to come back.

Lu Xi'an didn't know if Fengcheng County still had supplies that no one had scavenged. As he lifted the Mechanical Dog to connect the circuit, he wondered whether they should search the countryside or head into the city.

Taking stock of his journey south from the north over the past year or so, along with what Yao Wei had said and the World Atlas Volume One, he had formed a rough picture of this world—

The farther north you went, the more desolate it became, and the less suitable it was for human habitation.

Maybe, like Earth, this world had different conditions on the other side of the planet's equator. But for now, that seemed to be the case.

So when he had been farther north, he had traveled south, searching everywhere he went, whether city or countryside, without running into anyone.

But when they entered Mo Zhou City, they had encountered the Wolf Gang and the Dog Gang.

He wasn't sure whether the people barely surviving here would set up in the countryside or the city—or somewhere else entirely.

What was the point of worrying about it?

There was a local right beside him. Why was he thinking so hard?

"Where should we look for supplies next?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

The Mechanical Dog connected the circuit, and the pumps began to hum.

They headed toward the pumps, and Yao Wei replied, "Depends on our luck."

Lu Xi'an asked again, "Are you more likely to run into people in a city or a village?"

Yao Wei gave the same answer. "Depends on our luck."

Lu Xi'an: "..."

All right.

There were four pumps at the gas station. Once the Mechanical Dog restored power, the screens on all four lit up.

Looks like they were in luck.

Yao Wei tried three pumps in a row, but none of them dispensed any gas. Their reserves had run dry.

By the time she reached the last one, both she and Lu Xi'an were getting nervous. But once she inserted the nozzle and started the pump, it hummed to life and kept filling the car's tank until the nozzle clicked off.

Out of four pumps, one still had gas.

So they really were lucky!

They set off again, and Lu Xi'an became something of a navigator, giving Yao Wei directions from the map.

About twenty minutes later, a village came into view. Lu Xi'an glanced at the map. It was called "Gao Family Village."

Yao Wei drove in and slowly made her way through the village, showing no sign of wanting to get out.

Lu Xi'an had seen how cautious she was, so he immediately understood what she had in mind—

She wanted to drive around the village first, make sure no one was there, and only then get out to look for supplies.

It was the safest, most cautious way to do things.

And it clearly paid off.

As they reached the middle of the village, gunshots suddenly rang out.

The shooter seemed to have poor aim, though. The shots hit nothing.

The gunfire came from Lu Xi'an's side. He turned toward the sound and saw someone aiming a gun from a second-floor window of a two-story house in the second row off the road, firing at them.

Heads were also popping up over the wall. It was hard to tell what they were planning.

"There are quite a few of them."

Lu Xi'an warned her as he picked up his Submachine Gun.

He always kept the gun close at hand. He no longer needed to guard against Yao Wei, but he still had to stay alert for dangers that could appear at any moment.

—Like this one.

Without hesitation, Yao Wei floored it and sped off.

Lu Xi'an didn't get the chance to waste any bullets. He looked back through the dusty rear window and saw shadowy figures chasing them onto the road before stopping in frustration.

Yao Wei drove straight out of Gao Family Village. She had no intention of stopping; she was abandoning the place altogether.

Lu Xi'an understood. Compared with staying alive, petty pride didn't matter.

His aim wasn't good, and there was no need to risk his life over a single ambush. Besides, if they let someone shoot out one of Yao Wei's tires, they'd be worse off for it.

"Keep going straight at the next stop and we'll reach Wanhu Village... another Wanhu Village."

Lu Xi'an gave Yao Wei the directions.

Wanhu Village was probably a fairly common name. It likely meant that long ago, a village had grown to ten thousand households and earned its name that way.

When he thought about how the village here and the one in Dongmen County to the north had both once borne the name "Wanhu," but were now deserted and abandoned, he couldn't help reflecting on how fragile human life was.

They continued straight ahead. After another twenty-odd minutes, they reached Wanhu Village in Fengcheng County.

As usual, Yao Wei drove around the village once, making sure no one was there before stopping to search.

They didn't plan to explore the whole village. Yao Wei had already surveyed it as they drove through. The houses were in poor shape, and the village was even more desolate than Gao Family Village.

No wonder those people had chosen Gao Family Village as their base instead of this one.

Only one house was still in good condition. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei figured someone had already checked it out, but they decided to take a look anyway.

Yao Wei found a corridor nearby where they could park the car out of sight. It also had entrances at both ends, so if anything happened, they wouldn't risk getting trapped.

Once they had parked, they gathered their gear, got out together, and went into the house.

As expected, the house had already been searched. The courtyard wall had collapsed, the gate stood open, and the first-floor door of the little house had been kicked down, smashing the floor tiles beneath it.

There was a television and a refrigerator inside. The fridge stood open and empty, and bullet holes pocked its door. A fight had apparently broken out here.

Seeing that, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei searched the house more quickly.

The place had clearly seen plenty of visitors, which meant quite a few people had already come through.

And if that many people had visited, there probably wouldn't be anything good left.

—It was even possible there'd be nothing left at all.

But as they checked the drawers, cabinets, and corners, the Mechanical Dog glided over a floor tile by the wall. Suddenly, its eyes lit up.