Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 18: A Narrow Encounter
“Cave Guide, this is Cave Guide, please respond.” The voice of Chao Yifan crackled through the black walkie-talkie from the passenger seat of the ambulance.
“Cave Guide, Cave Guide, this is your uncle. What do you need?” Jiang He picked up the walkie-talkie and replied cheekily.
“Are you two crazy? How old are you?” Song Yao’s furious shout followed immediately, causing both Cave Guide and Jiang He to fall silent, no longer daring to joke around.
Little Gold sat beside Chao Yifan, giggling uncontrollably. The little girl laughed and said, “Yi Fan, why are you and Jiang He so afraid of Yao Yao?”
“That’s not fear; it’s respect for our female companions… But your friend does have a strong presence. Usually, Dahai acts all high and mighty, yet he gets scolded by Song Yao like a child. Instead of getting upset, he seems to enjoy it,” Chao Yifan said with a mischievous grin, hinting at the ambiguous nature of Jiang He ’s attitude towards Song Yao.
Little Gold, being sharp-witted, understood Chao Tianwang’s implication. Her eyes twinkled as she said, “If those two get together, it would be quite a romantic tale, wouldn’t it?”
“I think it should be more like a fiery romance,” Chao Yifan winked, his expression akin to that of someone who had just caught a glimpse of the neighbor’s mother bathing.
“You really have a terrible mouth,” Jinhua scolded him lightly. Looking out the window at the retreating streets, she asked, “By the way, where are we headed now?”
“We discussed it earlier; Dahai thinks we should stay close to the highway. It seems we won’t be able to leave the city today, so we need to find a place to sleep,” Chao Yifan sighed, his expression turning somewhat grim.
“Hmm? Why not?” Little Gold asked in confusion. They had prepared for two days; their supplies and vehicle were ready. Why couldn’t they leave the city?
“It’s easier said than done. There are six of us—adults and kids combined. If we leave the city now, we need to be ready for camping. Neither I nor Dahai have any outdoor experience; how about you two?” Chao Yifan slowed down the vehicle while squinting at the road conditions.
“Uh, I don’t think we do either…” Jinhua pouted as she thought about it. Indeed, aside from her own bed, she hadn’t slept anywhere else.
“So, you see, we can’t predict what conditions will be outside the city. If there are zombies on the highway, that could be dangerous,” Chao Yifan sighed again and added, “It seems like neither Dahai nor Song Yao could come to a conclusion either. This matter needs further consideration; spontaneous trips are all just lies.”
Half an hour later, three vehicles spewed exhaust as they arrived at the toll station for Xitong Expressway.
At the toll booth, a long line of vehicles stretched out, and although it was now deserted, the echoes of the frantic escape from that day still lingered in the air. Jiang He and Song Yao got out to investigate and found many corpses lying inside the cars. While they appeared to be beyond any tricks of the living, the sight was still chilling. Surprisingly, despite the long queue of vehicles, they were all neatly lined up in the regular lanes, while the electronic toll collection lane was completely empty.
" Jiang He, look..." Song Yao pointed at the vacant ETC lane and asked, "What do you think is the reason for this?"
"Maybe the overall quality of our citizens has improved..." Jiang He replied casually, holding his axe protectively against his chest as he checked each vehicle with open doors.
Song Yao pulled out a pair of binoculars he had scavenged from an outdoor shop and climbed onto the roof of their pickup truck to act as a lookout. Chao Yifan didn't want to stay cooped up inside like a hermit either, so he handed the walkie-talkie to Jinhua and grabbed his entrenching tool before following suit. Jiang He and Chao Yifan worked quickly, finishing their inspection of all the vehicles in just a few minutes. The decaying bodies remained silent, showing no signs of life or movement.
"Big Sea, are we leaving the city now? You better think it through; we don't have much outdoor experience, and who knows what might happen on this journey," Chao Yifan expressed his concerns as he walked up beside Jiang He.
"We don't have time to gain outdoor experience; we'll take it one step at a time. Yao Yao said An Zheng also thinks heading north is wiser. We have spare fuel tanks in our vehicle, and gas stations along the way should still be operational. As long as we stay alert, we should be fine," Jiang He said as he pried open the toll booth door with his axe. Inside, a shriveled female corpse with a name tag slumped against the chair; her throat bore a fatal wound, clearly inflicted by a zombie.
"Little Gold and I checked the travel map; it's over twelve hundred kilometers from here to the capital. If we drive fast enough, we could make it in two days, but..." Chao Yifan hesitated.
"But what?" Jiang He asked.
"It just feels like it won't be that smooth sailing. I have this nagging feeling that we're missing something, but I can't quite put my finger on it," Chao Yifan scratched his head and stood on tiptoe to glance at another toll booth that was also empty.
The two pushed aside the roadblock together and walked back in silence. Suddenly, Jiang He asked, "Yi Fan, do you think there are still living people in the city?"
"Hmm?" Chao Yifan raised an eyebrow and replied, "There must be some left. Even though it's a second-tier city, its population is close to ten million. I refuse to believe everyone is dead! Besides, weren't there a few jerks we ran into that day?"
"I think so too, but it's been over two months since everything fell apart. Aside from zombies, how many living people have we encountered?" Jiang He slowed his pace and faced Chao Yifan. "I feel like An Zheng knows something."
"What do you mean?" Chao Yifan looked puzzled.
Jiang He lit a cigarette and glanced at Song Yao keeping watch in the distance. "When we left the hospital, I saw someone flash by upstairs. But An Zheng said I was mistaken and claimed there was a drop behind that window... But I know for sure that it was a patient room. I think she didn't want us to know something, which is why she lied."
"Hey! You two, come back quickly!" Song Yao suddenly shouted while holding a pair of binoculars.
Jiang He exchanged glances with the other person, stopped their conversation, and hurried back to the car.
"What’s wrong?"
"Take a look for yourself."
Song Yao handed the binoculars to Jiang He, who squinted through them for a long time but didn’t notice anything unusual.
"What is it? Why the fuss?"
"Open your eyes wide! Look at the car!"
With a sigh, Jiang He focused again, scrutinizing each vehicle within sight.
"What’s wrong with the car? Did it mutate or something? — Huh?"
Jiang He abruptly halted mid-sentence, realizing what Song Yao meant. Not far away at the end of the convoy was a small white car. When he had glanced over earlier, he hadn’t noticed anything particularly odd.
"This... isn’t this your car?" Jiang He lowered the binoculars and recalled, "Isn’t this the one you let me drive that day we met?"
Song Yao grimaced slightly and nodded.
"No way..." Jiang He found it hard to believe; after all, such affordable family cars were common in second-tier cities.
"There's no mistake. Didn’t you see the sticker on the hood?" Song Yao jumped down from the roof of the car. "Let’s go take a look. The car won’t drive itself here; it must have been brought by someone."
“Why are you in such a hurry? We’re not short on cars right now, and it might have just arrived a couple of days ago,” Jiang He said, indicating that there was no need to check.
Song Yao shot him a glance and walked straight past him, tossing back, “You all wait here; I’ll be right back.”
Jiang He sighed, knowing he couldn’t really let her go alone. He jumped down from the roof of the car and followed her.
Chao Yifan squinted at him and then looked through the binoculars. As the SUV's window rolled down, An Zheng asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Nothing much; they’re just going to check a car,” Chao Yifan replied.
“Oh, are you hungry? I have some snacks in the car. Want some?” An Zheng said with a light smile, pulling out a pack of compressed biscuits from behind his seat.
Chao Yifan licked his lips and cheerfully took them, saying, “I’ve been eating puffed snacks for days; I’m almost constipated. Little Gold, come down; it’s time to eat.”
Jinhua jumped down from the pickup and trotted over. After taking a bite of the compressed biscuit, he asked, “Have you all made plans? Are we heading out of the city today?”
“Yeah, the sooner the better,” An Zheng replied, handing her a bottle of mineral water with a smile.
Chao Yifan leaned against the car door and asked, “Dr. An, have you thought about what we should do once we reach the capital? What if it has fallen too?”
Comment 0 Comment Count