A small convoy of three vehicles slowly moved forward through the vast Marcus sand. Since they were running on the riverbed, they occasionally spotted cargo ships capsized in the Marcus sand. The girls, seeing this for the first time, excitedly shouted, wanting to board the ships to see if they could find any supplies. However, Thomas Xu, lacking energy, leaned out of the window and said that it was impossible to find even a grain of rice in the ships within thirty kilometers of the river; they had already been searched repeatedly by people from nearby gathering places looking for food, and there was no chance left for them.
"Brother Lin, the only place nearby where vehicles can go is up ahead. It used to be a ferry, which is why there's such a large slope!" Thomas Xu and Jack stood side by side on the roof of the Cheetah car, holding binoculars. However, Jack's binoculars were military-grade and compact, while Thomas Xu's large binoculars, though covered in camouflage and looking impressive, were nothing more than authentic park stall goods, costing twenty yuan a pair.
"There don't seem to be many zombies!" Jack kept adjusting the focus of his binoculars, murmuring to himself.
"It's not that there aren't many; it's that we can't see them from here. Behind that ferry are several villages and dozens of large factories. A few days ago, I even thought about taking the risk to go up and take a look, but as soon as I peeked out, I was targeted by hundreds of zombies. I ran for a whole hour before I managed to shake them off!" Thomas Xu put away the binoculars, sat down on the hot roof of the car, and smiled wryly at Jack.
"Brother Lin, I have an idea. What do you think?" Gao Chujian stood by the car, leaning against the door of the Cheetah. Without binoculars, he placed his hand on his forehead to look ahead at Thomas, then pointed to a faintly visible half-bridge in the distance and said, "That's the expressway connecting Jiangcheng to Guizhou. It was originally scheduled to open at the end of last year. I've been to that construction site before; as long as we get to the shore and rush forward for about four or five kilometers, we can reach there. Although our car can't go on that elevated road, we can climb up. The fact that there's no traffic up there means there are no living corpses. Following that elevated road, we can get to quite a few places!"
"Can we get around to the entrance of the big bridge we need to go to? The nearest military garrison is right there!" Thomas Xu pushed up the sunglasses on his face and turned to Gao Chujiang. The temperature at noon had reached over forty degrees, and the intense sunlight made it hard to keep his eyes open. Without sunglasses, it wouldn't be long before his eyes would be blinded by the glare.
"That definitely won't work. The elevated road and the bridge are in two different directions. But aren't we just looking for a gun? I estimate there are definitely two places: one is the cross-river tunnel not far from here, and the other is the thermal power plant in Xipan Village. Both of these places would need to be heavily protected in case of an emergency, and there's an eighty to ninety percent chance that armed police will be stationed there!" Gao Chujiang looked up at Thomas Xu and Jack, and his analysis made a lot of sense.
"You're not wrong, but the key is how we're going to charge through those four or five kilometers?" Thomas Xu took out his cigarettes, handed one to Jack and Gao Chujing, and then put one in his mouth as he said, "Just on this road alone, there are at least ten thousand zombies. If we rush in like this and get surrounded by them, even if we're driving, it'll be a dead end!"
"Hehe~ So I said this is just a suggestion. If it doesn't work, we'll think of another way!" Gao Chujiang said with a smile, shrugging his shoulders. He also knew that this path wouldn't be easy; otherwise, the people gathered in the settlement would have long since gone to Jiangcheng to look for food.
"It's not impossible to give it a try!" Jack put down the telescope in his hand and smiled slightly at Michael, who was running around on the ground carrying Axue...
Half an hour later, three cars lined up facing the ferry terminal. The women inside the cars all looked tense, staring ahead. After a while, they saw a large group of living corpses suddenly surge from the riverbank, which was over ten to twenty meters high. The scene was so overwhelming that it almost rivaled the most terrifying tide of corpses. However, this group of living corpses seemed to be excitedly chasing something. Sitting in the Cheetah car, A Xue's sharp eyes quickly spotted a red shadow running for its life at the front. She let out a scream, her small fists clenched tightly.
As the shadow rushed out from behind an office room, it charged all the way to the edge of the riverbank without any sign of stopping. Behind him, thousands of howling zombies were in pursuit. Seeing that red figure leap high at the riverbank, the nearly sun-dried zombies didn't even think twice and jumped up high alongside him, then fell back down...
"Fools, jump down quickly! Lord Michael is waiting for you to break your necks down here!" The red figure was naturally Michael, who jumped down from nearly twenty meters high on the riverbank without any injury. He turned around, looking quite pleased as he watched the living corpses jumping down one after another. Michael happily wagged his tail, and in the blink of an eye, the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground began to echo continuously.
The scene of thousands of living corpses jumping off a cliff is undoubtedly spectacular. However, because there are so many of them, some of those in the front may die instantly from the fall. Yet, thanks to their sacrifice, the living corpses behind, despite being disoriented and injured, still staggered forward with their broken arms and legs, shouting at Michael as they charged ahead.
"Damn, I only fell and got hurt this little, what a waste of effort!" Michael, feeling frustrated, lifted his butt off the ground and dashed towards Jack and the others, moving like a red lightning bolt rising from the ground, incredibly fast!
Although a few thousand living corpses could only manage to kill four or five hundred at most, their stacked bodies created a rather grand sight. However, they all cooperatively jumped down together. On the spacious riverbed, these sluggish living corpses couldn't even smell the exhaust of the cars. Jack and the others deliberately led them in circles to a farther place, and then the three cars turned around and headed straight for the ferry terminal, where only a few living corpses could still be seen.
"Wow, dog demon, you're really amazing! I'm totally impressed!" Thomas Xu, driving the pickup truck, leaned out of the window and excitedly gave a thumbs-up to Michael in the Cheetah.
"Hmph, do I need the admiration of a little security guard like you? They're just a bunch of silly living corpses, easy peasy!" Michael arrogantly lifted his head, feeling quite pleased with himself.
"Clang..."
The Cheetah crashed through a blue corrugated steel wall, bouncing into a chaotic construction site. There weren't many living corpses on the site; judging by their attire, they seemed to be the original workers here. They were still wearing the Marcus-colored safety helmets and blue work uniforms, aimlessly wandering among piles of rebar and concrete. When they saw a car suddenly intrude, their reaction seemed minimal; they all tilted their heads in a daze to watch until someone jumped down, at which point they seemed to remember to roar and rush forward.
"Da da da…"
White Ru and Hu Laoda's automatic rifles fired simultaneously, and dozens of living corpses on the construction site fell to the ground without showing any of their supposed ferocity.
"Everyone get out of the car! Don't bring too much; two days' worth of water and food is enough!" Jack stood on a scaffold, surveyed the terrain, and after confirming there was no threat, turned to shout at the people in the car.
The flight attendant girls had long since gotten used to all this. They got out of the Cheetah and the Pusang with a bit of ease, quickly packing their bags. However, Jiang Yan and William Fang, who had just joined them, were much slower. Having been trapped in the service area for over a year, they seemed unaccustomed to the outside environment, hesitantly helping the heavily pregnant Lu Jia get out of the car, standing by the vehicle in a daze as they looked around. They appeared quite reserved.
"Sister-in-law, have some water first!" Thomas Xu walked up to Lu Jia, took a bottle of mineral water from his backpack, opened it, and handed it to her, saying with concern, "We'll be walking soon, so you don't need to carry anything. Just leave everything to me. If you feel uncomfortable at all, please tell me right away. Don't push yourself, okay?"
"It's fine, Thomas Xu. My body isn't as weak as you think; I can handle this little hardship!" Lu Jia took the water and took a small sip, forcing a smile on her haggard face. She was wearing a loose white men's shirt and a mismatched pair of plaid pajama pants. Her slightly swollen eyes made Lu Jia look quite pitiful, but whenever she glanced at her prominently rounded belly, a glow of great maternal love radiated from her face.