Won't last until dawn

The convoy drove on through the darkness for another ten minutes or so, and Song Shiya's brow furrowed ever deeper.

"There's something else I need to tell you. The convoy's almost out of fuel."

Shen Ye sat up straight.

This was clearly a much more serious problem.

If vehicles were the bodies that carried them through the apocalypse, then fuel was undoubtedly the heart that kept those bodies moving.

"How much longer will the RV's tank last?"

"It won't last until dawn."

There was a hint of despair in Song Shiya's voice. She knew all too well what running out of fuel at night meant.

And refueling at a gas station at night was several times riskier than during the day.

"What about the other vehicles? Have whoever has more lend us some."

"I asked before we set off. They're not much better off."

Shen Ye rubbed his temples. He regretted putting all the fuel cans in the cargo compartment of Song Shiya's Huolala truck.

But the other vehicles had limited space at the time. Only Song Shiya's Huolala truck had enough room.

When they encountered the Man-Eating Tree Spirit, however, they had abandoned that Huolala truck in the deadly woods, fuel cans and all.

Song Shiya thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "Before we left, I saw a road sign saying there was a gas station up ahead."

"If we're lucky, we should reach it before the fuel runs out."

Shen Ye said nothing.

He knew exactly what this situation meant, too.

He turned his gaze toward the window.

Outside, everything was still pitch-black. He could make out nothing.

There was no moonlight, no stars, only the two beams from the RV's headlights illuminating a stretch of pale gray road ahead.

It was nighttime.

Even without the gray fog or eerie howls, the dangers of the night were no less severe.

And with An Ning asleep, they had no way to foresee danger.

But he had no choice.

If they failed to find a gas station before the fuel ran out, every vehicle in the convoy would become a heap of scrap metal.

Then he and the dozens of people in the convoy would become slowly moving bonfires in the darkness, drawing every Eldritch nearby to devour them all.

"Wake me when we get there."

He spoke softly, then leaned against the window and closed his eyes, trying to get a little more sleep.

Song Shiya glanced at him but said nothing.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, the RV's headlights swept across a red-roofed building.

The building stood beside the highway at the border between two provinces, starkly conspicuous in the ink-black night.

Song Shiya hit the brakes and nudged Shen Ye, whose eyes were closed beside her.

"We're here."

Shen Ye opened his eyes and looked in the direction she indicated.

The outline of a gas station emerged from the darkness.

Calling it a gas station was generous. It was really just two single-story buildings and a canopy, with four old-fashioned pumps beneath it. It looked like something built in the eighties or nineties.

Half the gas station's sign had long since fallen off. The remaining half hung crookedly, swaying slightly in the night breeze.

Not a single light shone anywhere in the station. It was unnervingly quiet.

But the pumps were still there.

As far as they were concerned, the lights didn't matter as long as there was fuel.

Shen Ye picked up the Ghost Head and pushed open the door.

In the side mirror, the headlights of the bus and the cars behind it were still on, their engines running.

Through their windshields, he could see tense faces watching him.

No one switched off their engine.

Not a single vehicle dared to.

It was as though, at the slightest sign of trouble, they would floor the accelerator and leave Shen Ye and Song Shiya behind.

Shen Ye didn't turn to look at those watching eyes.

He couldn't count on those ordinary people at all.

He dug a flashlight out from beneath the passenger seat and twisted it on. A brilliant white beam sliced through the night and landed on the gas station's concrete forecourt.

"I'm heading in."

He had barely taken a step when Song Shiya's voice came from behind him.

"Wait."

She pushed open her door and jumped down, reaching his side in a few strides.

"I'm coming with you."

Shen Ye glanced at her, instinctively wanting to refuse.

But he swallowed the words before they left his mouth.

He knew what Song Shiya could do.

Although her sequence wasn't suited to combat, having her watch his back meant he at least wouldn't have to worry about being left untreated if he got hurt. Her ability could also handle some unexpected situations.

And after awakening the butcher sequence, Shen Ye had found himself noticeably more confident, no longer second-guessing every move as he had before.

"Then stay close."

With that, he turned and headed toward the gas station.

Song Shiya hurried after him. One behind the other, they entered the cluster of buildings swallowed by darkness.

The flashlight's beam was like a long blade sweeping through the night, its brilliant white light painfully conspicuous in the darkness.

Everyone else in the convoy watched the scene with mounting tension.

"He, are we really not going in with them? What if there's something good inside and that Shen guy gets it first?"

Inside the bus, a middle-aged man with sunken eyes stood beside He Yumin and asked in a low voice.

He Yumin turned to glance at him and sneered. "Am I stopping you? Captain Shen has said plenty of times that whoever finds something gets to keep it. If you go, you don't have to worry about missing out on your share."

"But..." He drew the word out, his tone turning cold.

"Will you live long enough to bring it back?"

His words made the other passengers, each harboring their own thoughts, shudder as they abruptly remembered their current predicament.

Beneath the canopy, the four old-fashioned pumps stood silently in their places. Their nozzles still hung from their sides, the rubber hoses dangling limply.

Shards of broken glass and dried oil stains littered the ground.

Shen Ye instinctively reached into his trouser pocket for the Life Disk.

But when his fingertips touched its outline, he paused. After a moment's hesitation, he withdrew his hand.

Repeated use of this Weird Object had initially cost him his sense of smell only temporarily, but the more he used it afterward, the more severely he felt his sense of smell deteriorating.

In the early days of the apocalypse, he could disregard such things in order to survive.

But now he had strength of his own, and with every battle, he understood more clearly just how difficult the Eldritch in this world were to deal with.

Losing even one of his five senses could cost him dearly in some future battle.

Besides, in their current situation, even if he detected danger, he would still have to grit his teeth and face it.

The RV behind them was already running on empty. Retreating would only mean waiting to die.

"Go check whether there's a circuit breaker in that payment office." Shen Ye turned to Song Shiya.

She was looking around, ready at every moment to respond to a sudden threat.

Hearing Shen Ye's voice, Song Shiya gave a somewhat dazed acknowledgment.

She was about to head toward the payment office when Shen Ye caught her hand.

"Take this. I'll check whether the pumps still work first." As he spoke, Shen Ye passed her the flashlight with his other hand.

Song Shiya took the flashlight and hurried toward the two single-story buildings.

Shen Ye approached the nearest pump and pressed his fingers against its side, feeling a layer of sticky dust.

He walked around the pump and saw that its digital display was dark.

The power was out.

But that wasn't much of a problem.

The heart of the fueling system was the underground storage tank. As long as he could start the pump manually, he could still draw the fuel up.