Crisis

Yang Cong spat out another curse. "Isn't he just throwing his weight around because he has powers? Pah! If I had powers too, would he still get to act so tough?"

Wu Zijie felt embarrassed at that, but he had been Yang Cong's lackey for so long that he didn't dare argue. "Didn't Wang give us the Doomsday Survival Manual? From what I read, awakening powers isn't that easy."

It was unfamiliar territory, after all. Who knew whether having powers might come with side effects?

The other girls had been scared nearly out of their minds these past few days. Hearing the two of them still in the mood to discuss this, they urged them along. "Can we get on the bus already?" "Yeah, Uncle Zhao's about to drive off."

Yang Cong cursed at them. "Got a death wish? You bitches think you can boss me around?"

He kept swearing, but he still had to board the bus. The girls' eyes reddened at his abuse.

Chen Xiaofei took attendance on the bus. Yang Cong's group consisted of six people: Yang Cong himself, Wu Zijie, another young man surnamed He, and three girls.

There were Zhao Gang, Liu Chunhui, and their daughter, along with two migrant workers, close friends from the same village who were in their forties.

There was also a young couple and a trio of female friends, bringing the total number of survivors to sixteen.

Once Chen Xiaofei confirmed everyone was there, he signaled Zhao Gang to close the doors and drive. "Please stay completely focused while you're driving. Whatever you see, don't panic. Can you do that?"

Zhao Gang swallowed nervously, looked at his wife and daughter beside him, then nodded firmly. "Don't worry, young man. I'll drive carefully."

Chen Xiaofei found a seat near the front and sat down. "Good. Go ahead, then. Just follow our captain!"

The vehicles set off immediately.

Meanwhile.

With nothing else to do, Xu Duoduo was still sneakily opening packages in the middle row.

The rustling never stopped.

Qin Luo was driving, while Bai Shu checked the road conditions and browsed the forums for the latest news. The little mouse-like sounds behind them amused them both. Having a little zombie along certainly made things more entertaining.

Xu Duoduo wasn't particularly pleased when she unwrapped electronics. Ordinary electronics weren't worth much in the apocalypse. Phones that had cost nearly ten thousand before the apocalypse were now scrap. She could only wait and see whether they might fetch a decent price someday.

But finding food excited her, especially a whole big box of snacks.

After a while, even opening packages became boring.

Xu Duoduo went back to looking out the window. It wasn't raining, but the weather here was terrible. The thick, dark clouds overhead refused to disperse.

Farther down the road, they even ran into dense fog.

"It's hard to change routes. If we leave the expressway and take the other road, it's completely jammed with cars. Let's stay on the expressway and take things as they come."

Bai Shu offered his assessment as he studied the tablet. The forum had a live map.

Other combat teams posted updates about congested roads, so the base's other teams could all check the road conditions in the area.

Qin Luo drove fast and aggressively, but even he had to be careful in the thick fog.

Xu Duoduo had just been thinking that, despite the bad road conditions, their journey had at least gone fairly smoothly. She glanced at the tablet. They were now less than two hundred kilometers from City C.

Just as she was feeling relieved, a herd of wild boars burst out of the fog ahead. Qin Luo plowed straight into them, sending them flying.

The bus behind them got a fright too, but fortunately, Zhao Gang held his nerve. The bus swerved for only a few seconds before he regained control and kept driving.

Qin Luo glanced behind him and offered a word of praise. "Zhao Gang and his wife are pretty capable."

They would be suited to combat missions outside the base.

Most importantly, they had strong nerves. It was a shame they hadn't awakened powers; otherwise, they would definitely have been good.

The whole world had been turned upside down, and survival was truly difficult for ordinary people. Yet there were too few people with powers, and they were desperately short-handed. One more comrade would be a good thing.

Bai Shu adjusted his glasses. "They certainly have potential. If the base develops an Evolution Serum down the line, they might actually become members of a combat squad."

Qin Luo smiled. "Let's hope so."

Xu Duoduo watched the road. Apart from the occasional mutant animal charging out of the mountains, the expressway was quiet.

It wasn't a reassuring kind of quiet. Instead, it gave her an ominous feeling.

Or perhaps her instincts had been triggered?

Despite being a zombie, Xu Duoduo felt no hostility toward humans. When she encountered mutant beasts, however, she felt afraid, even as her whole body tensed and shifted into combat mode.

Because in her mind, she was human, even if she was a zombie now.

Almost instantly, a powerful danger warning blared through her mind. She whipped her head around and saw an enormous figure approaching from her lower left, at eight o'clock! It was that snake person!!

Xu Duoduo immediately grabbed the wooden whistle against her chest and blew it once, putting the two men in front on alert. Qin Luo instinctively checked the road.

Bai Shu turned back as well. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Xu Duoduo nodded repeatedly.

Qin Luo also spotted the scene in his rearview mirror. Some distance behind them, the snake person had appeared again, and this time, it was coming straight for them. "Shit, that thing's coming after us!"

Bai Shu saw it too-that thick, powerful snake body. Who knew where it had gone or how much it had swallowed? They hadn't seen it for just one night, and it had already grown bigger.

Keeping his eyes ahead, Qin Luo said, "Tell Wang to take over driving. We'll speed up and see if we can lose it. If we can't, we'll have to fight."

A mutated creature this troublesome wouldn't be easy to take down.

They would need at least several squads.

Yet there wasn't a single other combat squad anywhere near their route.

Though Bai Shu looked grim, he quickly contacted Wang Weihu and the others. As soon as the call connected, Wang Weihu agreed.

At the same time, the survivors began screaming again, unable to control themselves.

Yang Cong was even the loudest, wailing in despair. "I told you not to follow them, but you just had to! Happy now? A monster's after us! It's going to eat us all! We're going to die!"

Chen Xiaofei cut off whatever he said next. All they could hear from Yang Cong was a muffled "Mmph, mmph" as his mouth was covered. "Don't worry, Qin. Just keep driving. We'll catch up right away!"

Their teammates really were the dependable ones.

Qin Luo laughed. "All right. Make it quick."

Chen Xiaofei answered just as promptly. "Will do!"

Wang Weihu told Zhao Gang to stop the bus, then quickly swapped places with him. In less than ten seconds, the bus started up again and shot forward.

Both vehicles began racing ahead.

Leading the way put more pressure on Qin Luo. He had to keep accelerating despite the poor road conditions.

Even Xu Duoduo thought it looked difficult.

Yet despite his aggressive driving, he remained steady-until they reached the winding mountain road and he began taking sharp turns.

Xu Duoduo swayed as she was flung from side to side, clinging tightly to her seat. Eventually, she simply went to the back row, hugged a rear seat, and watched to see where the snake-human monster was.

She hadn't realized until she looked, and the sight gave her a fright. It was getting closer and closer.

The tension made her scalp prickle.