Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 147: Before Dawn (Part 2)
On the loess-covered highway, nine heavy trucks, each weighing 15 tons, kicked up clouds of dust as they sped along.
In the cab of the leading red Foton Heavy Truck, two men sat in silence. Their eyes, shadowed by the brims of their hats, gazed through the large windshield at the winding road illuminated by the headlights. The nine heavy trucks formed a long line, their cold-toned containers appearing exceptionally heavy against the night backdrop.
"Over there," said the man in the passenger seat, tilting his hat brim and squinting towards the southeast. In the distance, a flickering orange glow stood out vividly. After a moment of contemplation, he added with a hint of nostalgia, "That was the same sight I saw that night when I returned."
"Do you want to take a look?" the driver asked softly.
"Stop for a moment; it’s just right to give Kenny some supplies."
"Alright."
The heavy truck maintained its speed as it roared down the highway, its armored wheels howling as they churned up dust. Before long, they approached the direction of the towering flames.
The driver eased back slightly and let out a breath. The headlights had a sufficient range; as they drove up a gentle slope, bright yellow beams shot out, illuminating the desolate and barren road ahead.
Hidden behind a sand ridge, Song Yao and his companions watched as the long line of heavy trucks slowly came to a stop by the roadside, their hearts filled with unease.
"No zombies attracted, but we’ve drawn a bunch of car people?" Song Yao quipped after spending so much time with Jiang He.
"Heavy trucks—where do they get the fuel to burn?" Xiaomi replied, clicking her tongue and dismissing any thoughts of investigating further.
The escape team had performed their assigned tasks flawlessly, except for Jin Bo who had temporarily fallen behind. They had traversed the pockmarked Loess Plateau without pause and quickly found themselves on this desolate stretch of highway.
To be honest, Xiaomi felt quite disappointed. The road was too clean; there were no abandoned vehicles or even the most common sight of rotting corpses.
After discussing among themselves, Song Yao and the others decided to wait here for the arson team. They had run far enough away that they weren't worried about any pursuing locals. After all, they could see the towering flames from quite a distance; surely those people wouldn’t have time to come looking for trouble with them.
A group of people made a frantic escape in the dead of night, their nerves tinged with a hint of excitement. They huddled behind the sand dunes, sheltered from the wind, rummaging through the supplies they had scavenged from Old Shepherd's home to replenish their energy.
Before long, Xiaomi, who had been on lookout atop the dune, hurried back, stammering that he had spotted a convoy. Xiaomi was not one to joke around, and although the others found it hard to believe, they followed him up the dune. There, they saw nine heavy trucks racing towards them along the distant road, their bright lights cutting through the darkness.
Panic set in among the group. In this changed world, if a horde of zombies had appeared, they probably wouldn’t have batted an eye. But the sudden emergence of these massive trucks was too absurd to comprehend. Had zombies started a freight company? If it were just one truck, they might have considered ambushing it, but these nine armored behemoths were intimidating enough to make them hesitate.
An Zheng and Su Lan exchanged worried glances, silently communicating their concerns before shaking their heads with a wry smile.
"Establishment."
"RCA."
Each of them mentioned a name that left the others confused.
"We should keep our distance; these people are scarier than those villagers," Su Lan decisively suggested, feeling instinctively that there was something sinister about the cargo in those nine trucks.
An Zheng hesitated for a moment and whispered, "If it's the Establishment, then we—"
"Impossible. Trust me, it’s definitely not the Establishment," Su Lan said firmly, her gaze fixed on An Zheng. "I know more about the internal situation than you do; don’t take any risks."
"Alright." An Zheng nodded in concession as he and the others crouched low and began to retreat as quietly as possible from the area where the nine trucks were likely to stop.
"Wait! Brother Ming and the others haven’t arrived yet!" Xiaomi suddenly slapped his forehead. "You guys stay back; I’ll go get them."
"Be careful," Su Lan warned as she watched several truck doors swing open and a few burly men in dark clothing jump down. "Make sure to pay attention; they have specialized night equipment!"
Xiaomi shot her a suspicious glance and asked, "Aso, you seem familiar with this..."
"Go now!" Zeng Yadong urged him with a shove. "Don’t stray too far; we’ll head that way."
"Understood." Xiaomi grinned, crouched down, and quickly left.
Luci looked up at the gradually brightening sky of Ink Black, feeling an intense sense of unease settle in her heart for some unknown reason.
Nine Heavy Trucks kept their engines running as five or six burly men jumped down from the cabins. One of the trucks opened its Container, and more people dressed in the same attire poured out.
The leader raised his hand and fired a signal flare, which exploded in the air with a brilliant light, dazzling like fireworks.
The road to Rooftop Cave Dwelling was quite a distance away. However, after Ming Junwei and the others caused a commotion, many Zombies and remaining villagers fled down the hillside in a desperate rush toward the road. The sudden brightness of the signal flare startled many of the villagers on the brink of collapse. The sounds of screams and cries grew closer as several people approached the area being searched by the men in black.
The Leader took out a loudspeaker commonly used by market vendors from the vehicle and brought it to his mouth, shouting, "Fellow Villagers, don't panic! We are the Government Relief Team! If you hear this, come this way! We are the Government Relief Team!" His voice echoed from the loudspeaker, spreading out into the chaotic night and growing fainter with distance.
"Relief Team?" Luci peered out from behind a sand dune, puzzled. "Sister An, Sister Su, are they your people?"
"Right now, we are the only ones we can trust," Su Lan said quietly as she brushed her hair back. "The Establishment can't be trusted either!"
An Zheng did not argue with Su Lan; instead, he held tightly onto his sister Wheat's hand, his frail body trembling slightly.
"Are you cold?" Wheat asked softly.
Comment 0 Comment Count