In an Instant,
Chu Yian grabbed the car bumper with both hands and slid beneath the vehicle.
All the zombies outside began charging in her direction.
She crawled under the car, watching as more and more zombies surrounded it, banging against it with terrifying force.
It was no longer safe to stay there.
She crawled towards the next car ahead. The vehicles had collided, leaving no gap between them, so she safely crawled underneath the second car.
Taking a deep breath, she boosted herself up and sprinted to the third car.
A loud roar from the zombies echoed behind her.
The sound of their footsteps felt like they were stepping on her heart.
Chu Yian's ears were ringing from the tension, and her back was drenched in sweat. She feared that any moment, one of the zombies might suddenly drop to the ground and meet her eyes beneath the car.
Wait.
Don't panic.
Her muscles tensed, but she kept reassuring herself as she crawled forward.
At that very moment, a loud ringtone came from behind the vehicle. A strong male voice blared through, singing the "Good Man's Song," a traditional folk tune:
"Great river flowing east,
Stars in the sky align with the Big Dipper…"
The sound was empowering.
Hearing that anthem, the zombies surrounding the car instantly went wild, crashing into the vehicle with frantic force.
It was Chu Yian's trick—she had set the ringtone to go off in two minutes, using the last 13% of her phone's battery.
She crawled out from beneath the car, bolting toward the service area, guided by the rousing melody of the song.
Cars!
High-clearance cars!
There was a row of vehicles in front of her, and her eyes darted around, overwhelmed by the choices. Finally, she picked the one with the highest clearance.
The doors were also higher than usual, making it a bit harder to climb.
Using the footstep brace, she managed to climb up and open the door, only to be met by a zombie charging at her from inside.
It was just two fists away. Chu Yian could even see the bloodstained remains of human tissue stuck to its teeth.
She had less than a second before it would bite her.
Her body reacted before her mind, and with a swift motion, she swung a golden, one-cubic-meter treasure box at the zombie.
The impact was deadly—its face was crushed, brains, blood, and pus splattered, filling the air with a horrible stench.
Chu Yian pinched her nose and dragged the dead zombie out of the car.
After her recent encounter, she held her handgun in one hand and the treasure box in the other, carefully inspecting the rest of the car.
Thankfully, there was only that one zombie.
The keys were still in the ignition.
In the back of the car were two spare tires.
She did a quick check of the car—it felt like a nearly brand-new, top-of-the-line vehicle, possibly a BMW. Compared to the old van, this was a game-changer.
Just as Chu Yian was satisfied with her find, urgent footsteps echoed from the service area.
Lu Qingyuan had returned, carrying two large barrels of gasoline, with a group of zombies hot on his heels.
He swung the gasoline cans, clearing out the zombies around him, and quickly vaulted over the nearby cars, leaving the zombie horde behind as he raced toward the vehicles they had agreed to meet at.
"Teacher Lu, I'm here!"
Chu Yian waved energetically from the windshield.
Lu Qingyuan spotted her. Even the man who had never flinched under the pressure of a zombie horde froze for a moment when he saw her.
She had been tasked with finding a high-clearance vehicle—but she had chosen… a massive truck.
A heavy-duty truck.
Even Lu Qingyuan, who had seen it all, was momentarily stunned.
"Teacher Lu, get in!"
Chu Yian reached out a hand, her eyes nervously scanning the approaching zombies.
No time to switch vehicles.
Lu Qingyuan grabbed her hand and leapt toward the truck.
They both jumped in, and the door slammed shut behind them.
This truck had tires that were over a meter high, leaving the zombies far beneath them, giving an immense sense of safety.
A heavy truck was different from a small van, but the basics were still the same. Chu Yian got the hang of it quickly, pressing the accelerator and watching as the zombies in their path were mowed down.
When she was driving the van, just bumping into a zombie had her worrying about tipping over.
But the heavy-duty truck? It was a road-clearing machine.
She plowed through zombies, cars, and debris, charging out of the service area, her wheels crushing zombies beneath them. The sensation was—invigorating!
"Teacher Lu, you were right all along!"
Chu Yian couldn't help but praise him, comparing the thrill of driving this truck to the van.
Lu Qingyuan: …
She was supposed to get an SUV, but she had gone straight for a big rig. Who had ever seen someone follow orders this literally?
"Are you tired? If you are, you can rest in the back," she offered.
She pulled back the curtain, revealing a small bed in the back of the truck. She had already inspected the vehicle, so she knew everything inside.
Lu Qingyuan: …
This was the second time he had been left speechless.
As for Chu Yian, who could resist a clean, soft bed?
After several invitations, the usually stoic Lu Qingyuan finally lay down on the bed.
"Teacher Lu, let's rest for three hours each," Chu Yian, the self-proclaimed "Autumn Mountain Car God," suggested.
Night
The truck sped down the eerily silent highway, its bright headlights cutting through the dark. Occasionally, a zombie would be drawn to the sound, only to quickly be left behind.
Without her phone, Chu Yian woke Lu Qingyuan by instinct and they swapped places in the back for rest.
Her sleep was restless. Even in her dreams, nightmare after nightmare haunted her.
She didn't know how much time had passed before the truck began to slow, its movements becoming sluggish.
Chu Yian jolted awake, the urgency of the situation wiping away her sleepiness.
"What's going on?" she asked quickly.
"We're almost at X City," Lu Qingyuan replied.
They had made it to X City!
Hearing this, Chu Yian's sleepiness vanished. She sat up in the passenger seat and saw that the area around the truck was surrounded by people.
Her breath caught. "There are so many zombies in X City!"
"It's not zombies. It's people," Lu Qingyuan replied.
It seemed that Chu Yian wasn't the only one who had heard the rescue radio.
Many others had learned about the rescue point in Fulong County through the radio or word of mouth.
X City was only about 40 minutes from Fulong County by car.
Most of the people who managed to get cars had already left. What was left were those who wanted to go but couldn't find a way out. Anyone who had managed to find a car was eager to cram onto it.
The fear of zombies and the desperation to survive had driven these people mad.
More and more of them surrounded the truck, shaking it, climbing onto the roof, and even throwing stones at the windows.
The truck was now surrounded, unable to move an inch.
Lu Qingyuan furrowed his brows. "How many rounds of ammo do you have left?"