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墨書 Inktalez
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Shen Yuan instructed everyone to gather their belongings and prepare to leave, heading along National Route 104 towards Suicheng.
The ground rift caused by the earthquake generally ran east-west and should not split Suicheng in half. Regardless, they needed to take a look. Pengcheng was already finished, and now the nearest city was Suicheng; perhaps it was still intact, still orderly, still civilized.
Interestingly, some people who had already received news or sensed something amiss began to gather around, wanting to accompany Shen Yuan and his group to Suicheng, including a few women.
"Shen Ge, those women want to come with us. They seem quite pitiful; should we take them along?" Zhang Huanxue whispered.
Shen Yuan looked up and noticed that one of them was Zhou Wen, who had come to find him the previous night. He still couldn't figure out what that girl had been thinking.
The young girl kept her head down, her face slightly flushed, looking quite shy.
"Our vehicle has limited space; we can't take anyone else. The loader and excavator don't have passenger seats either," Shen Yuan said.
Seeing the disappointment on the faces of the women, he shook his head and added, "I won't stop anyone from following us if you can keep up. However, I believe the road will be more dangerous than Zhangjia Town. Think carefully about it. We'll wait for another hour before leaving."
Others wanted to say something more, but Shen Yuan had already entered the driver's seat, ignoring them completely.
Zhang Huanxue looked at Zhou Wen and the others with a troubled expression. She couldn't go against Shen Yuan's decision, and besides, the Box Truck really couldn't fit more people; it was already packed with supplies.
"Sister Hanyue, it's okay; I have a plan. Could you and Luohe Sister come with me for a moment?" Ling Jie said as she looked at Zhang Huanxue. Seeing her nod, she quickly added, "Xiaowen and the rest of you, come with me."
She soon arrived next to a police car and surprisingly pulled out a key from under the chassis before opening the door.
"Ling Jie, you actually have a key?" Zhou Wen exclaimed before realizing it was inappropriate and quickly covered her mouth.
Ling Jie nodded and said, "I found it on a police officer's body. I was afraid those beasts would discover it, so I hid it under the chassis. I originally planned to use it to help you all escape when the opportunity arose; now it's coming in handy. With this vehicle, we can follow Han Xue and the others. But Shen Ge is right; this journey will be dangerous. Are you really willing to take that risk?"
Zhou Wen nodded vigorously and replied earnestly, "Of course! Staying here might be safe for others, but if we stay here..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood.
A few women were unwilling to leave; their future outcomes could be imagined.
"Damn it, this car has a key? Brothers, let's drive this car and follow them... Alright, we'll go find other vehicles; you all keep busy as if I didn't say anything," one person intended to come over to seize the car but immediately backed off upon seeing Wei Luhe raise his gun.
Zhou Wen finally understood why Ling Jie insisted on bringing Zhang Huanxue and Wei Luhe along; her eyes were filled with admiration.
Some people were clever and had already found vehicles that could still run, managing to get the keys as well. But others either didn't think of it or couldn't find the keys, and now they were anxiously searching everywhere or trying to persuade others to team up with them.
An hour later, a bulldozer cleared the way, followed by an excavator, with a Box Truck trailing behind. There was also a police car, two sedans, and a van following closely, as a large group headed towards Suicheng.
The road from Zhangjia Town to National Highway 104 had been cleared, and this segment of the journey went smoothly.
Humans feared Mutant Beasts, and Mutant Beasts feared humans too.
As several vehicles moved forward, ordinary Mutant Beasts dared not approach; the roar of the engines frightened them, making the area temporarily safe.
Temporarily.
They got onto National Highway 104 and headed east.
National Highway 104 had also suffered damage from the earthquake; at intervals, the road surface became uneven, and in some places, it even collapsed. They had no choice but to send in the excavator and bulldozer to level the road before proceeding. The truck had a high chassis and faced no issues, but the van had more trouble. As for the sedans…
There were various instances of scraping undercarriages and stalling; they barely made any progress over an hour.
They didn’t dare leave National Highway 104 because the smaller roads were even worse—trees had fallen, buildings had collapsed, and there were many Mutant Beasts lurking around.
At 4 PM, they encountered their first attack: a very fast Mutated Dog, a local breed known scientifically as Chinese Rural Dog.
Cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, and geese were the most common livestock in rural areas and also became some of the most frequently seen Mutant Beasts after the apocalypse.
This was a two-meter tall Mutated Dog that approached silently with incredible speed. Taking advantage of someone stepping out to relieve himself, it lunged at him, biting him to death and dragging him away. The bloody scene left several people stunned.
Soon after, one of the following sedans turned back to Zhangjia Town.
“It’s so dangerous out here!”
“We’ve only traveled a few miles! We’re still at least sixty or seventy kilometers away from Suicheng! If we make it to Suicheng, how many of us will still be alive?”
“Aren’t Shen Ge and his group supposed to be very capable? They should assign someone from their team to each vehicle for our protection. If someone needs to step out for any reason, they should send someone along! Don’t they have guns? Why aren’t they giving us any? Are they keeping them all for themselves? Those who are capable should help the weak!”
"Are you out of your mind? Why should anyone take care of you? What gives you the right? Moral kidnapping? People like you wouldn't even know how you died!"
"You shouldn't have come out in the first place! It was all of you insisting that Zhangjia Town wasn't safe, when in reality, it's outside that's not safe! That Shen Ge is also at fault; he should have directly refused us and not let us follow! What did he do? He said he wouldn't care if we followed him; he didn't care about our lives at all! If someone dies, it's all on him!"
...
Between life and death lies great terror, which easily breeds fear and resentment, but it can also highlight kindness and integrity, revealing the human heart.
Shen Yuan and his companions had better hearing than ordinary people and could hear some discussions and complaints. Xu Lixing was silent, Chen Letian was filled with anger, Wei Luhe looked ready to rush out and teach someone a lesson, Zhang Huanxue kept her head down and said nothing, while Chi Qinghua appeared very indifferent—everything except for herself, A Hu, and her brother was none of her concern.
Shen Yuan heard Wei Jiankang softly advising and comforting others; his face showed neither displeasure nor amusement, only calmness.
The behavior of those people was too normal; he had no interest in managing it nor could he.
He could only take care of himself and walk his own path.
At five in the afternoon, less than two kilometers from Wuwan Town, several cars had to stop because there were Mutant Beasts blocking the road.
It was a flock of geese.
Proud Great White Geese standing at least one point five meters tall!
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