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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 44: Departure
The moment the two groups of people in the warehouse opened fire, Jiang He and the others had already scaled the high wall and were racing down the mountain as fast as they could.
The fortunate graduate student who had survived shared everything he knew without reservation. He led a group of people to open the security door at the end of the warehouse, crossed an outdoor coal yard locked with a group of Zombies, and ran for five minutes before climbing onto the roof of a Power Distribution Room. They jumped over a disabled electric fence and out. The wall was about two meters above the ground, and outside was soft sandy soil, so the men and women didn’t expend much effort.
The graduate student informed everyone that just two miles east was a civilian reservoir, but due to recent heavy rains, the water level might have risen. Descending from a small road on one side of the reservoir led to a rural road, which was less than an hour's walk from the highway. This rural road led to a village ten kilometers away, primarily inhabited by left-behind children and empty-nest elderly people; most young adults worked at the Power Station, while some went to the city for work or school.
According to the graduate student, this village had already been visited by Zombies over a month ago. Many of their families still lived in the Village, so they had returned once. The village had a small population, mainly consisting of children and elderly people. From what they saw upon their return, there were no survivors. The Zombies did not linger long; they devoured everything and then wandered off into the deep mountains.
Although Jiang He and his companions could not take away the food and water they had packed earlier, each of them carried some dry rations. With Pursuers behind them, they couldn’t afford to be picky. After a brief discussion, they decided to let the graduate student lead them through the village before heading to the highway. Since that group of people had an unknown background, it was possible that their accomplices were waiting on the highway as well; for safety's sake, it was better to keep some distance before approaching.
Climbing up was easy, but descending was difficult, especially with constant vigilance against potential Pursuers behind them. As they reached halfway down the mountain, the gunfire from the Power Station at the top finally faded into silence. Jiang He initially suggested that everyone rest for a moment while waiting for Bai Yudong, but Zhuzi and a few others firmly rejected his idea.
"The Vice Commander told us not to stop for even a moment; we shouldn't linger," Zhuzi said calmly, though there was an elusive sadness in his eyes. Although he had once held great confidence in the Vice Commander, that confidence shattered completely after their firefight in the dormitory building. In his view, the Vice Commander’s choice to hold back was essentially sacrificing themselves to buy time. In such a cramped environment like the warehouse, how could four guns compete with twelve? Especially since their opponents were equally well-equipped and skilled in combat. Xiaomi and Xiao Wei were slightly younger than Zhuzi, but judging by their expressions, they likely shared his thoughts.
The graduate student was very familiar with the surrounding environment. After more than twenty minutes of careful navigation through trees in the forest, they cautiously stepped into a muddy hillside where they could see the deep and icy reservoir below. Just as he had predicted, the water level in the reservoir had surged dramatically, turning nearby areas into marshland. Continuous heavy rains had clearly breached one side of the dam, causing signs of landslides on that side of the mountain as well.
Circumventing the reservoir would not be easy; they found themselves on a steep slope above it and could only advance slowly using the trees lining the hillside for support. If anyone slipped down there, survival would be nearly impossible unless they were carrying an oxygen tank.
The hillside was densely populated with trees and covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves that had rotted into mush due to rain erosion; stepping on it required extreme caution. Xiaomi led ahead while pulling along the graduate student since he alone knew the route; given his frail appearance, everyone felt little confidence.
A small boy lay against Ming Junwei's broad back, his big dark eyes filled with curiosity. He said nothing and did not cry or fuss; instead, he tightly wrapped his arms around Ming Junwei's neck.
The stretch of road was not long, but it was fraught with danger. Song Yao misstepped several times, her foot sinking into the muck, but fortunately, Jiang He was always by her side, steadying her just in time.
The group took nearly half an hour to cover a distance of about two hundred meters. They stepped over a dying old tree and crossed a gully carved out by water, finally reaching the flat land on the side of the reservoir.
Once they set foot on solid ground, exhaustion hit them all at once. They collapsed onto the ground, rubbing their sore calves. Seeing that everyone was struggling with their stamina, the three pillars of strength did not urge them to hurry and instead kept watch at the base of the slope.
The terrain where Jiang He and the others were located was relatively flat, with a drop of about five or six meters to the reservoir below. The path ahead posed no significant challenges; they simply needed to follow the slope eastward. The graduate student performed well, tossing a bag of compressed biscuits to him as a gesture of gratitude. He waved his hand in acknowledgment before turning to sit with Jiang He and the others.
An Zheng held the little boy silently, staring intently at the unfathomable depths of the reservoir below, lost in thought.
The group exchanged glances, each seemingly wanting to speak but none willing to break the silence. In their eyes lingered traces of confusion and uncertainty, soft sighs rising and falling among them, heavy with fatigue.
Pan Luo sat beside Song Yao, hugging her legs. Her delicate fingers traced patterns in the soil beside her, sweat-soaked strands of hair falling across her face, obscuring the dark red stains that had dried on her cheek.
A few minutes later, Xiaomi returned from keeping watch.
"Let's go; it's about time," she said.
Everyone nodded silently and got up to continue their journey. An Zheng hesitated for a moment before approaching the graduate student and asking, "How deep is this reservoir?"
The graduate student was taken aback by the question. After thinking for a moment and hesitating, he replied, "I'm not sure. This reservoir was supposedly built to supply water for the Power Station on the mountain. It used to be a deep pool before they filled it in to create this reservoir."
"Tsk tsk, building a reservoir in this kind of terrain is really..." Ming Junwei looked around in wonder. Strictly speaking, they were still halfway up the mountain. Although there had been artificial filling and afforestation to develop a flat area, it could not compare to conventional reservoirs. It was fortunate that it had originally been a pool; otherwise, diverting water would have been sheer fantasy.
"How deep is it?" An Zheng asked, showing little interest in the peculiar design and instead pressing for the depth of the reservoir.
Jiang He and Song Yao exchanged glances, thinking that Sister An might be feeling overwhelmed and considering jumping into the lake.
The graduate student tilted his head in thought and replied, "About four to five meters? I'm not really sure. A couple of years ago, someone from the factory went down to play in the water and ended up drowning. The Security Office fished for half a month but couldn't find him. I heard there are voids and fissures at the bottom; it seems pretty deep."
"Sister An, are you okay?" Jiang He asked, a bit worried as he moved to her side to prevent her from suddenly jumping in.
An Zheng forced a weary smile and shook her head. "It's nothing, just a bit curious."
After Xiaomi and the others urged them several times, the group finally wrapped up their discussion about the reservoir and hurried down the slope once more.
The sun gradually sank in the west, painting the horizon a bloody red.
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The moment Bai Yudong regained consciousness, he thought he was dead; a burning pain throbbed at the back of his head.
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