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墨書 Inktalez
Wu Wentao's complaints were not without reason. A team with too many non-combat personnel indeed showed significant issues in various aspects. At the beginning of their journey, they managed to hold it together; after all, they had just escaped from the gates of hell, and whether out of fear or caution, they at least remained vigilant and followed Song Yao and others' arrangements. However, by evening, the drawbacks of their mixed group began to surface one by one.
Although they had fled the previous night, they had taken refuge in the relatively safe Jinghui Temple. The temple's red brick walls provided a great sense of security, and inside, flickering candlelight illuminated the halls while the main hall sheltered them from wind and rain. With a dining area and a well for water, from the perspective of campsite selection, Jinghui Temple was no worse than Roundabout. Unfortunately, Jinghui Temple was merely a temporary stop; the team had to move on, no matter how good the temple was.
That night, Song Jiu heeded the suggestions of her sister and Chef Jia, deciding to avoid towns for the first leg of their journey. They would travel straight along National Highway 312, aiming to cover more ground early on so that when supplies ran low, they could freely search for resources in a new environment. The small towns surrounding the ancient city had already been swept through; when they returned to the ancient city, they passed many sites that were all scenes of devastation. Given the low population density, usable resources in those towns were scarce.
Choosing to avoid cities meant they would have to camp outdoors, which brought forth numerous challenges.
First was the selection of a camping site. According to Wu Wentao's extensive experience in Field Duty, a camping location must meet basic principles of retreat and defense. Currently, there were not many combat personnel in the team; it was unreasonable to have these safety-guaranteeing members keep watch all night since traveling required physical stamina. No matter how capable an individual was, rest was necessary for recovery; otherwise, encountering trouble on the road could lead to serious issues. However, it was difficult to find suitable locations near National Highway where these requirements could be met. The road stretched endlessly ahead with just enough abandoned vehicles to hinder their progress significantly. Additionally, both sides of the road were either steep cliffs difficult to climb or dense forests that seemed endless. Given their current level of armament, recklessly venturing into those areas was not a wise choice; their only option was to camp in the middle of the road while leaving personnel to monitor both ends.
Thus, the question returned: if they let the few remaining combat personnel keep watch at night, they would not get enough rest. If non-combat personnel took over night watch duties, safety could not be guaranteed. Luci suggested dispersing the team; for example, one combat member could lead several non-combat members in batches with shifts every two hours. This method seemed feasible as they had done this before without major issues.
Wu Wentao did not voice any opinions on this; he merely sighed and returned quietly to Dr. Zhong and Huihui's side, making it clear that how things were handled was up to them—he would ensure these two remained safe.
Song Jiu discussed with Jin Bo and decided to split Jin Bo's five young subordinates into groups where each would take three non-combat personnel for shift rotations; Luo Yu, Jiao Ziqian, and Yuan An would be responsible for scouting ahead and keeping watch behind while others rested up for potential situations on their return journey. As for Fang Fei and the graduate students, they could only serve as reserves because as Wu Wentao said, those rotating shifts could not get sufficient sleep; there needed to be fully rested individuals ready to take over during daytime travel.
Without managing one's own affairs, one cannot appreciate how precious resources are; there is indeed a significant difference between a mixed team and one built from scratch—both in mindset and execution capability—a gap that is hard to articulate.
By evening, the team passed through a two-kilometer-long mountain tunnel along National Highway. Due to dim lighting and Luo Yu's group being unfamiliar with the tunnel layout, they failed to notice zombies lurking in an emergency passageway in time. As the main group navigated around blocked vehicles, someone became overly anxious and accidentally knocked over a warning barrier left in the tunnel. The barrier was strung with caution tape; once one fell, it triggered a chain reaction that sent several barriers crashing down. The hollow metal pipes clanged against the asphalt floor with an incessant sharp sound that echoed eerily through the dark tunnel.
Song Yao and Luci led at the front while Song Jiu and Jin Bo brought up the rear; the entire team moved forward like a long snake. At that moment when noise erupted, those in between panicked despite Song Jiu having repeatedly warned them not to make unnecessary sounds before entering the tunnel. However, this momentary chaos led to startled cries rising among them. Chef Jia and others at the center tried lowering their voices to quell those panicking but found it ineffective; panic spreads easily—those who initially sensed nothing amiss became unsettled upon seeing their companions drawing weapons with alarmed expressions.
Thus, what began as a minor incident suddenly transformed into a cacophony—a symphony of chaos where wildly swinging blades failed to strike imagined enemies but instead clanged against vehicles blocking their path.
Now things escalated; zombies are creatures drawn by sound and movement. The long dark tunnel acted like a large amplifier—the clanging noises served as an unmistakable battle horn for zombies. Before Song Jiu could regain control over the panicked crowd, famished old friends surged out from within the emergency passageway at the center of the tunnel.
In their haste to leave under Song Yao's orders, they only took weapons and clean water with them while neglecting lighting equipment. Before entering the tunnel, Wu Wentao suggested crafting some simple torches but found no usable resources along either side of it—the nearest patch of wild forest lay hundreds of meters below along steep cliffs that posed significant risks for retrieval. Reluctantly settling for second best, Wu Wentao asked Chef Jia for help extracting some bedding cotton which he tightly bundled onto knife handles before dismantling a small car mailbox nearby. He soaked cotton in greasy residue before igniting it with a lighter after some effort—finally managing to create a makeshift torch. Others followed suit until two more dim lighting tools were produced: one for scouting ahead, one for use in the middle of their group, and another for those at the rear.
The appearance of the Zombies was sudden. Luo Yu and the others had not noticed the unusual situation in the emergency passage, so the three of them moved ahead, creating some distance from the main group. This meant that those at the front had limited visibility. Although Song Yao and Luci's Zombie vision could provide a warning, they were unable to accurately relay the positions they saw to the team behind them. As a result, while the two women shouted warnings, chaos erupted in the rear, leading to disarray among the fleeing crowd.
Jin Bo cursed loudly, calling for the young guards in the center of the group to rush toward the Zombies. He drew his long knife and jumped onto a vehicle, pushing forward into a combat position at the front lines.
Pockmarked Girl was panicking but did not abandon her team. She understood how crucial her torch was and held her breath as she tried to push forward to light up for Song Yao and the others. Unfortunately, amidst the chaos, her strength as a single girl was limited. After struggling for a while without making it to the front, she was tripped by the panicking crowd and fell to the ground. The torch slipped from her hand and was trampled out by the chaotic throng.
Song Jiu handed the torch to Ying Dou Dou and escorted her toward Wu Wentao. Wu Wentao appeared indifferent, completely ignoring the scattered crowd fleeing in all directions. He was focused on ensuring the safety of Huihui and Dr. Zhong alongside him and couldn't spare any attention for anything else.
"Take care of her," Song Jiu muttered under his breath as he pushed Ying Dou Dou toward Wu Wentao. With his injured hand still hanging from his neck, he could only wield his Steel Saw Blade with one hand and followed closely behind Jin Bo into the roaring Horde.
Lighting was a significant issue; the acoustics in the tunnel were too good, and combined with the chaotic crowd creating echoes, it was impossible to discern how many Zombies there were. Jin Bo and Song Yao had already engaged in close combat, and to avoid friendly fire, the armed Young Man maintained restraint, struggling to carve out a path with his sharp knife to allow the congested group to pass through. However, with their torches extinguished, shouting from the youths had no effect. The tunnel descended into chaos, filled with fleeing shadows, making it impossible to distinguish between Zombies and Living Persons.
Song Jiu jumped down from atop a vehicle and swung his knife to send two heads flying. He noticed Yuan An had lost sight of their surroundings; amidst fighting and retreating, she had inadvertently created distance between herself and Song Yao's group, heading deeper into the emergency passage. Alarmed, Song Jiu shouted out. Hearing his voice, Luci swiftly leaped onto a vehicle roof while wielding her machete, sending blood spraying as she advanced a few steps before leaping into action to tackle several Zombies reaching for Yuan An.
Yuan An was startled; amidst the chaos, she recognized Luci by her voice. With her Yingjisha dagger swinging fiercely, she knocked down several advancing Zombies while pulling Luci back urgently. "The emergency passage has barriers!"
Luci paused for a moment before realizing that Yuan An wasn't being dragged in by Zombies but intended to rush ahead to close off barriers and buy time for their team. While this idea was commendable, it was clearly unrealistic; no individual could withstand such force from a Horde. Fortunately, due to traffic congestion blocking their way forward, if Yuan An had truly approached the gate, escaping would have been nearly impossible.
At that moment, several thunderous gunshots rang out suddenly. A blinding flash erupted from above as gunfire swept through; immediately, a number of Zombies surrounding Luci and Yuan An fell dead, creating an opening for retreat.
Song Jiu looked toward the source of the sound and breathed a sigh of relief while chuckling softly—indeed, despite his words disregarding others, his body was quite honest.
Wu Wentao had climbed onto a large truck covered with canvas at some point without anyone noticing. The height of the truck gave him a natural advantage along with his Zombie vision and exceptional shooting skills; flashes from his gun would appear just in time to help clear obstacles for his struggling companions.
"Run!" Wu Wentao roared suddenly as he turned his gun toward the still-congested crowd without hesitation and unleashed a barrage of bullets. Instantly, chaos ensued as people fell over each other amidst screams of terror.
Song Yao's scalp tingled as he watched a third of the crowd collapse in panic, his anger rising even as he shouted for them to stop.
"Stop fucking around and run! If you don't, you'll die!" Wu Wentao had no intention of stopping once he had started. While the others were scrambling to escape, he had already pulled out Chef Jia and Fang Fei, taking advantage of Song Jiu and the others drawing the zombies' fire. He pushed several people onto the roof of a vehicle, firing to help Luci and the others break free before unhesitatingly pulling the trigger at the tightly packed group.
Song Jiu gritted his teeth and grabbed Song Yao, who was still trying to clear a path. "Let's go!"
Song Yao was taken aback. In the dim light, Song Jiu's expression looked particularly grim. Seeing the determination in his eyes, Song Yao could only sigh in resignation. He finally pulled a girl from the crowd and, under Song Jiu's cover, ran toward the side of the truck.
Luo Yu and Jiao Ziqian had already helped several people who had accidentally escaped the chaos. Seeing the gunfire erupt from the roof, they hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to rush over to help or lead these people away first. Just then, Luci and Yuan An, who had broken through the encirclement first, arrived.
"Get out! We need to leave now!" Luci was decisive; hearing the gunfire gave him an inkling of what was happening. Since the crowd behind them had decided to give up, there was no need to continue fighting in the tunnel. There should still be a few emergency exits within the two-kilometer tunnel, and if all the zombies were drawn over here, their own safety would be at risk.
"What about Brother Jiu?" Luo Yu's expression turned serious as he caught sight of swaying figures stumbling toward them from behind through his peripheral vision. Without hesitation, he called out and sprinted toward the tunnel exit.
"Don't worry; Wu Wentao is with him," Luci reassured him as he and Yuan An followed closely behind, running fast. When they glanced back, they saw that those on top of the vehicle were already gone.
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