Inside the SUV, Su Muying had somehow found two more USB drives loaded with rock music, making the long journey less tedious.
"Sister Ying, can you sing?" Wang Zhi asked while listening to the music.
"You want to hear it?" Su Muying raised an eyebrow and retorted.
"I want to..."
"Then just keep wanting it." Su Muying finished, turning back to look at the scenery outside the window.
...
Wang Zhi glanced around. They had traveled 20 kilometers, and the fuel gauge was nearly empty, yet they still couldn't find any gasoline nearby.
"It looks like we'll need to stock up on some gasoline in the future," Qin Sheng remarked, looking at the sparse number of cars around them.
"Even a rabbit won't eat the grass near its own burrow, but these people are thorough; they've scoured this whole area," Fatty commented.
"It seems safer to scavenge for supplies on the road now. Who wouldn't love a job that offers both supplies and safety?" Wang Zhi chuckled.
"Wang Zhi, we're out of gas."
As the group was chatting, Gray Wolf's voice came over the radio.
Wang Zhi looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the speed of the vehicle behind them was gradually decreasing, slowly falling behind.
Wang Zhi checked the fuel gauge and estimated they could drive about 5 more kilometers.
"You all get into our vehicle first. We'll drive ahead a bit more, and if we find gasoline, we'll come back for that one," Wang Zhi replied over the radio.
The five people got into the truck bed, and Wang Zhi started the vehicle again, driving forward.
Every time they passed a car, they had to get out and check if there was any spare gasoline inside.
wang zhi had driven less than 5 kilometers when the vehicle slowly lost power.
"We're done for. Do we have to walk now?" Fatty said as the vehicle slowly decelerated.
"Correct, but no prize," Su Muying replied, tossing the sniper rifle case to Fatty, who then handed it to Qin Sheng.
After the vehicle stopped, the ten people jumped out and began proceeding on foot.
At 8 AM, the sun slowly rose, and the temperature increased with it. Because they were wearing Bulletproof Vests and combat uniforms, sweat had already soaked through their clothes.
Although Wang Zhi and his team had prepared three days' worth of food, the majority of it was water.
In this kind of weather, they consumed significantly more water than usual, and they were uncertain if they could find other water sources outside.
"Captain Wang, is it okay if we just leave the vehicles there?" Fatty asked from behind, sounding somewhat worried.
"Fatty, instead of worrying about whether we can find gasoline, why are you concerned about two pieces of scrap metal that have no fuel?" Wang Zhi retorted.
"What scrap metal? I worked hard to repair those things!"
"Okay, relax. There aren't many Zombies around here, so who would bother touching your two precious hunks of junk?"
"That looks like a Chemical Plant?" You Luo said, pointing to several large smokestacks in the distance.
"Forget the Chemical Plant. Last time, Tang Glasses lost three men in there," Fatty waved his hand dismissively.
Wang Zhi looked at the several trucks parked on the roadside in the distance. There were no signs of collision on these trucks, indicating they had been parked there long before. Since trucks were parked here, there must be a highway entrance ahead, which meant a large source of vehicles. Perhaps they could find gasoline there. As for the trucks' fuel tanks, they wouldn't bother with those, as they all contained Diesel Fuel.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
When Wang Zhi and the others reached the first few trucks, the iron cages inside the truck beds suddenly shook violently, startling the group.
"Damn! You scared the life out of me! What's in here?" Fatty exclaimed, reaching out to pull down the tarp covering the truck.
Inside, dozens of pigs were confined in the truck beds. Each one had bloodshot eyes, constantly slamming against the iron cages toward Wang Zhi and the others.
"Good heavens, are these even pigs? If it weren't for that snout, I'd have thought it was a dog," Su Muying said, stepping closer. She poked one of the pigs in the nose through the bars with her Dagger.
"That's enough, that's enough. Let's hurry along. Be careful they don't break out of these cages soon," Wang Zhi said, frowning as he looked at the group of pigs on the truck.
Moving further ahead, the trucks were loaded with all sorts of things, but virtually all edible food had spoiled. Wang Zhi and his team navigated through the stench of decay until they finally reached the highway entrance.
The exit was blocked by various small cars and large trucks. It was clear that once the checkpoints ahead suffered an accident, subsequent vehicles could not pass and ended up jammed there.
However, this blockage was accompanied by a lingering horde of nearly a hundred small Zombies lingering near the checkpoint.
Seeing the Zombies, the group was not annoyed but rather quite pleased, because the presence of Zombies proved that no one else had been here yet, meaning the extra gasoline left in the vehicles would naturally still be there.
"Finally, I can stretch my legs a bit," Duan Qingtian said, drawing his Zi Wu Sword from his back and cracking his joints.
"Everyone, don't let your guard down," Wang Zhi reminded them.
"Don't worry about us. You should worry about yourself," You Luo replied, patting Wang Zhi's shoulder before stepping forward.
Su Muying approached a vehicle and suddenly kicked the door hard. The resulting crash alerted the zombies on the other side of the exit, who immediately stirred and began running toward her.
If Wang Zhi had been alone, seeing nearly a hundred zombies rushing toward him, he would have turned and fled without hesitation.
But now, with ten strikes at most, this large group of zombies would all be down.
In terms of melee combat, Duan Qingtian and Liuli's long swords and sabers gave them the clear advantage; the zombies fell dead before they could even graze their clothing.
After they took down all the zombies, Wang Zhi first went to a relatively intact minivan, opened the fuel cap, inserted the siphon hose to the bottom, and pulled it out. Seeing the hose saturated, a joy filled him. He immediately had Qin Sheng bring the fuel can over to slowly siphon the gas out of the van.
Soon, everyone filled two gas cans and headed back. They didn't need to siphon too much; they just needed enough fuel to reach this location.
The process of retrieving the fuel took them until 11:00 AM. The group ate a quick meal in the shade before returning to the vehicles and driving toward the signal source.
This time, Fatty was driving, while Wang Zhi sat in the passenger seat studying the map route. From here, they only needed to bypass the sole city on their path and return to the main route to reach the signal source area directly.
The city was situated midway along their route, about 50 kilometers from Dawn City. They had already driven over 40 kilometers. According to the road signs, they had reached the outskirts of the urban area, and at the next intersection, they were supposed to turn south to bypass it.
Even near the edge of the city, there were quite a few vehicles and Zombies on the road, a stark contrast to when they had just left Dawn City.
this quieted the usually talkative Fatty, who became completely focused on avoiding the vehicles and Zombies ahead. At times, he didn't even bother swerving, driving directly over the Zombies.
The windshield was splattered with thick blood, and the wipers only smeared the grime worse. The group was forced to stop the vehicle and reluctantly poured some drinking water into the washer fluid reservoir to clean off the stains.
however, Wang Zhi had to admire the performance of the SUV; even when traffic was blocked ahead, the vehicle could still drive onto the roadside or into the wasteland to continue moving forward, never troubled by the lack of paved roads.
'Captain Wang, when do we turn right? It feels like we've driven quite a distance already," Fatty said, looking at the gradually diminishing buildings around them.
'Not yet, keep going for another five kilometers," Wang Zhi said after considering for a moment.
'Huh? Another five kilometers? We've already been driving south for almost 20 kilometers, haven't we?" Fatty voiced his concern about getting lost.
'This area is too close to the city; it's still a bit unsafe. We're not short on fuel, so let's just keep driving," Wang Zhi said, unwilling to encounter any accidents on the road. They needed to conserve resources as much as possible.
by two in the afternoon, Wang Zhi and his group had bypassed the city and officially returned to their planned route. This relieved Fatty, who was driving; getting lost in this unfamiliar area was no fun.
'Wang Zhi, how much further?" Old He asked over the radio from the back.
'Almost there, another 20 kilometers," Wang Zhi replied.
the 20 kilometers Wang Zhi mentioned was to their planned location; the signal source itself would still require about 10 kilometers of walking.
that 10 kilometers was an error margin they set themselves because they didn't know the target's exact location. They could only discover the enemy camp by stealthily scouting around.
'Fatty, find a concealed place to park," Wang Zhi said to Fatty in the driver's seat as he looked around, sensing they were close.
'Got it."
finally, the group parked their vehicle behind a truck.
'Are you sure this is it?" Su Muying asked, looking around at the nothingness with confusion.
"it shouldn't be far. The map indicates the direction is northwest," Wang Zhi confirmed while looking at the map.
'Shall we wait until dark to move?" You Luo walked over from the other vehicle and asked.
'Let's move after dark. There isn't even a patch of woods here; if we go across now, we'll be too exposed," Old He observed ahead.
'But if they're all asleep at night, how can we observe them?" Fatty asked.
'Wait a moment, I need to confirm the location with Jie Xi," Wang Zhi interrupted their discussion and pressed the communicator.
'Calling Jie Xi, this is Sunset Glow. We have reached the vicinity of the target. Requesting confirmation."
'Static~ Please wait."
jie Xi's voice crackled through the communicator.
'Static~ The signal source is 8 kilometers to your northwest. Note, this is only the signal source location, not the camp location. Proceed with caution during reconnaissance." After a moment, Jie Xi's voice sounded again.
'Received."
'8 kilometers? So, are we moving at night or now?" Duan Qingtian asked.
'I lean towards moving at night. Even if most of the enemy are resting, we can just wait there until dawn," Wang Zhi stated.
'Mmm, there aren't many obstacles or cover ahead. If we go out now, and the enemy is alert, we will definitely be exposed," Old He said after putting down his binoculars.
'Alright, we'll move at night then. We'll take only half a day's worth of food, and leave the rest in the vehicle," Wang Zhi said, taking out the excess food and water from his backpack.
'Hold on! What if they are genuine survivors? How are we supposed to transport them back to Dawn City? We're not going to make them walk, are we?" White Crow remarked.
'Genuine survivors?"
white Crow's comment caught everyone off guard. Yes, although the opposing group could be real survivors, they had been operating under the assumption that they were dealing with members of the N Organization. If they were truly survivors, their two vehicles would not be enough for transport.
'This... we'll have to go on foot then," Fatty said helplessly.
'That many people-on the road, not to mention water, they might not even have enough food, plus all those Zombies. That's not feasible," Old He refused.
'Then they should at least have their own means of transportation, right? They can't rely on us for everything. For a camp that's survived this long, shouldn't they have everything they need? Isn't that a bit exaggerated?" Duan Qingtian remarked.
'Let's scout for one night first. It's still early; why waste time discussing useless things?" Su Muying said after checking the time.
'Fine, let's check the situation first." Wang Zhi finished, then leaned quietly against the car, waiting for nightfall.
at 8 PM, as darkness fully descended, everyone activated their night vision goggles and headed northwest.
the group paused every few dozen meters to raise their binoculars and scan the surroundings. They needed to spot the opposing camp from the greatest possible distance; that was their best protection.
wang Zhi and the others proceeded cautiously, covering not only the northwest but also the flanks meticulously.
'How far have we walked?" Fatty asked quietly.
'About four kilometers, Brother Pang." Seeing that no one else replied, Qin Sheng answered.
just then, You Luo, walking beside them, suddenly stopped. She raised one hand to signal the others to halt, while the other hand held the binoculars steady.
'I see the signal tower, it's about in the ten o'clock direction. By visual estimate, it's three kilometers away from the tower. Their camp might be nearby," You Luo said.
everyone looked toward the location You Luo indicated. Sure enough, they saw a small dark shadow in the distance, which upon closer inspection was indeed a signal tower.
'Don't be careless; advance cautiously," Old He said as he walked forward.
'Do you think there might be landmines?" Fatty asked after walking a few steps.
'Landmines? Their goal is to have us lead them to Dawn City. If they blow us up, how will they get there?" Wang Zhi replied.
'I'm just worried the other party might be crazy," Fatty remarked.
'That possibility can't be ruled out. Spread out a bit," Old He said seriously.
after walking a little further, Old He, who was leading the way, suddenly crouched down. The others immediately followed suit.
'Target sighted! Right ahead," Old He turned back and said to the group.
wang Zhi surveyed the surrounding terrain. This location was a slight reverse slope. Previously, there were only a few sparse trees ahead, with the rest being barren wasteland. Further ahead was a small path of unknown destination.
after making preparations, the group slowly stood up together.
in the distance, they saw a perimeter wall topped with several layers of barbed wire. A faint light emanated from inside the wall, and a Watchtower was established to the south of the wall.
'It looks like their entrance is to the south," Gray Wolf whispered.
'Should we circle around to the south to observe?" Wang Zhi asked.
'No, there's a Watchtower on the south side, we might get exposed. Let's circle around from the north," Su Muying said, and began moving slowly northward.
11