On the road leading to the outskirts, many abandoned vehicles were piled up along both sides of the road.
The scattered buildings by the roadside all exuded a gray, lifeless silence. Every now and then, they could see rotting corpses lying in the road, with flies buzzing around them. It was impossible to tell whether they were human or zombies.
In the middle of the road was a narrow lane that had been barely cleared by someone. It was just wide enough for a single SUV to pass through. If a truck wanted to get out this way, it would have a difficult time.
A few zombies wandered aimlessly along the road. They all looked somewhat weak, probably because they had not had any fresh “food” in a long time.
Chu Tian drove the car through this extremely congested stretch of road. After traveling another three kilometers or so, the road gradually widened.
They had now reached the highway entrance leading out of the city. There had once been a toll station here, with a large area in front of it. It used to have twelve lanes. Although there were plenty of abandoned vehicles piled up now, the area was large enough that it still seemed quite spacious.
Chu Tian stopped the car in the middle of the road in front of the toll station. He chose a wide spot so that, if anything unexpected happened, they could turn around and escape at any time.
“Something’s not right!” Chu Tian said after parking the car, stroking his chin. His eyes constantly swept over the outside through the car window.
“Definitely.” Quan Xiaoyu pressed a hand against his chest. He felt a fluttering sensation there. That instinctive sense of danger had returned!
The only time it had ever failed him was when they had dealt with the mutated cats on the highway.
And it was also because of that one time that Chu Tian had…
Quan Xiaoyu shook his head, warning himself not to let his thoughts run wild at a time like this.
“Let’s get out and take a look,” Chu Tian said.
They had been watching from inside the car for quite some time, but he had not noticed anything unusual. However, he was a mental-type ability user. Although his intuition was not as strong as Quan Xiaoyu’s, it should not be wrong by that much.
What was more, Quan Xiaoyu had expressed the same feeling as him.
Their mission today was to investigate the conditions along the road and determine whether the route out of the city was safe.
Quan Xiaoyu nodded. The two of them got out of the car at the same time, standing back-to-back, one facing left and the other right, remaining highly vigilant.
They carefully moved forward. Only after getting out of the car did they understand where that strange sense of danger had come from.
In such a large area, with so many abandoned vehicles, there was only one thing missing—
Zombies.
They had not seen a single zombie!
The sun was not particularly strong today. Normally, zombies would not hide merely to avoid the sunlight.
After thinking it over, there could only be one explanation!
Quan Xiaoyu and Chu Tian exchanged a glance. Both of them simultaneously thought of the same possibility.
They remembered that there had also been no zombies on the highway before they reached the church, because they had entered the territory of the mutated cats!
Could this place be the same?
Quan Xiaoyu hesitated, then stopped moving forward.
“Chu Tian.” Quan Xiaoyu called his name softly.
Chu Tian immediately stopped when he heard him. He stepped back to Quan Xiaoyu’s side, still warily observing their surroundings, and asked in the same low voice, “What’s wrong?”
“My chest is pounding badly. We can’t go any farther. I’m afraid…” Quan Xiaoyu paused, then took a deep breath. “I’m afraid there’s something in there. Maybe something even more powerful than those five mutated cats.”
Chu Tian had complete faith in Quan Xiaoyu’s judgment, so he made the decision immediately.
“Let’s go back.”
With that, the two slowly retreated to the car. Only after getting inside did they finally relax slightly.
This was trouble.
This was the only road out of the city. If there really was something powerful guarding this place, the eleven of them would have a hard time forcing their way through.
Chu Tian frowned deeply. It seemed that, no matter what, they would have to discuss forming an alliance with those people.
Otherwise, when the time came, no one would be able to leave the city.
“It’s okay. There’ll always be a way. Let’s go back and discuss it with the doctor.”
Unexpectedly, it was Quan Xiaoyu who spoke first.
Even Chu Tian had not expected words meant to comfort someone to come from Quan Xiaoyu.
He froze for a second, then his brows relaxed and he smiled.
Was this guy trying to comfort him?
It seemed like a very good sign!
Quan Xiaoyu’s words had simply slipped out. Seeing Chu Tian’s tightly furrowed brows, he had unconsciously said them.
It was only after saying them that he realized that, actually, his mouth wasn’t really as stupid as he had thought.
“Okay.” Chu Tian gave Quan Xiaoyu a smile, then started the car.
Before he could successfully turn around, numerous black shadows suddenly emerged from inside the toll station, rushing toward them with whooshing speed.
“Damn it!” Quan Xiaoyu gave a low shout. “Get out of here!”
The moment the black shadows appeared, the two quickly recognized what they were.
Judging by their speed, they were all Level Two zombies.
Level Two zombies were not particularly frightening.
What was frightening was their number.
There were at least a hundred of them charging at the front, packed tightly together.
A hundred or so Level Two zombies, all rushing toward the same target at once—just imagining it was enough to make one’s scalp go numb.
Moreover, even more zombies seemed to be emerging behind them and giving chase.
Chu Tian swung the car around in a drift. He had no time to worry about anything else and slammed down on the accelerator, speeding away.
“Damn it, why are there so many of them? How come we didn’t see a single one just now?” Chu Tian smacked the steering wheel hard, speaking in frustration.
Quan Xiaoyu shook his head.
“The scariest part isn’t that. Although Level Two zombies have begun to understand how to avoid danger, they still don’t actually have intelligence. They don’t know how to deliberately hide themselves. And then there’s—”
“They’re all Level Two zombies. Judging from their appearance and speed, there isn’t even a single Level One zombie!” Chu Tian cut in. “Why did so many Level Two zombies suddenly appear all at once?”
“That’s exactly why it’s frightening.”
Inside the speeding SUV, Quan Xiaoyu looked back.
Through the rear window, the densely packed zombies chasing relentlessly after them kicked up clouds of dust from the road. Even after experiencing three years of the apocalypse, seeing this still made goosebumps rise all over his body.
“Chu Tian, go faster.”
Those things were running even faster now. It seemed they had not seen fresh flesh in a long time, and they were now howling excitedly.
The distance, which had originally been more than a thousand meters, had already been shortened to just a few hundred.
“I’m doing my best.”
Fine beads of sweat had also appeared on Chu Tian’s forehead.
If they were surrounded here, with only him and Quan Xiaoyu, they would definitely die here!
Soon, the car reached the narrow section of road they had passed through earlier.
They had only driven a little over two hundred meters into it when the roar of an engine came from ahead. Vaguely, they could see two vehicles speeding toward them at the same frantic pace.
With no choice, Chu Tian slammed on the brakes.
The road here was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass. There was nowhere to avoid each other. If neither side braked, with both vehicles moving at such high speed, a collision would certainly destroy both cars and kill everyone inside.
It really was one disaster after another!
The people driving toward them also noticed their vehicle. Although they began slowing down, they did not stop.
Not only did they not stop, they kept honking their horns, seemingly urging Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu to reverse and get out of the way.
“Fuck!” Chu Tian cursed angrily.
The sound of the horns only made the zombies behind them even more excited!
“There’s no other way. We’ll get out of the car.”
Quan Xiaoyu could also see that, with the situation caught between a rock and a hard place, it would be difficult to simply drive their way through.
Chu Tian quickly scanned their surroundings, then pointed at a building on the right.
“We’ll hide in there first, then figure something out!”
“Okay.”
Both of them were quick and decisive men of action. The moment they jumped out of the car, they began leaping and climbing over the abandoned vehicles by the roadside, clearing every obstacle in their path as they headed straight for the building Chu Tian had chosen.
As for the people in front of them—at a moment this dangerous, who would have the time to worry about the people blocking their path and nearly getting them killed?
The moment Quan Xiaoyu and Chu Tian abandoned their vehicle, the people in the two cars also sensed that something was wrong.
What could possibly have made the two of them abandon their car and flee rather than back up?
They finally brought their vehicles to a stop. Someone quickly rolled down the window and stuck his head out to look ahead.
What he saw immediately sent him into a terrified scream.
The zombies charging wildly toward them from not far away were enough to scare the life out of them.
They finally began jumping out of their cars as well, copying Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu and running toward the same building.
By then, Chu Tian and Quan Xiaoyu had already reached the building.
It was about five stories tall and occupied roughly a hundred square meters. It was obviously a privately owned building.
The first floor had been converted into a storefront—a car repair shop and car wash. It had long since been abandoned. The main doors stood open, with various automobile parts scattered everywhere. If one looked carefully, there were even dried, blackened traces of blood among them.
Quan Xiaoyu was faster than Chu Tian, so after climbing over the pile of abandoned cars, he grabbed Chu Tian’s hand and pulled him forward.
Once they entered the repair shop, they discovered that the main entrance could no longer be closed.
Fortunately, there was a small door at the back. Opening it revealed a staircase leading upstairs.
The two of them went inside and were about to lock the door behind them before heading upstairs when a voice suddenly called out to them.
“Wait! Brothers! Let us in too!”
A man dressed in black ran to the doorway. Seeing that they were about to close the door, he shouted anxiously.
Chu Tian recognized him. He was one of the mercenaries.
It seemed that one of the two vehicles belonged to their group, and this man was clearly a speed-type ability user. That was why he had been able to reach them so quickly.
Then could the other vehicle have been sent by Lei Shi’s team?
While Chu Tian was thinking, the man had already reached them.
In a situation like this, it was obviously impractical to insist on locking the door and leaving him outside.
So Chu Tian immediately said, “You’d better tell your companions to hurry. There are nothing but Level Two zombies behind us! If you’re too slow and the zombies make it over here, then sorry, but don’t blame us for forcing you out.”
The man nodded.
“I’ll lock this door before the zombies reach us, regardless of whether everyone has made it here yet. But I believe my teammates will be quick.”
Chu Tian nodded. They clearly had undergone proper training, so there was no need for him to say anything more.
He immediately turned around, grabbed Quan Xiaoyu’s hand, and the two of them ran upstairs.