Chapter 57: We Will Survive

The vehicle continued northward. The road conditions were poor, so they drove slowly, but at least they hadn’t encountered any more zombies or troublemakers.

The world had become like this, with those possessing abilities standing at the top. Order was rearranged, and it truly became an era where strength ruled.

Lin Mu leaned against the car window, watching the mountains and wild grass fly by.

The desolate world was still shrouded in ink-black darkness, but daylight would eventually break. No matter how difficult it was, dawn would come.

And their task was to survive until dawn.

“Fu Jingmo, what do you think Wushi will be like now? Can the safe zone really protect everyone?”

The two in the back seat had fallen asleep. Shen Rangchen sat upright, his body straight, while He Ze slept haphazardly, half his body slumped over Shen Rangchen’s legs.

Fu Jingmo’s gaze was cold as he turned to glance at Lin Mu. The young man’s gentle profile appeared somewhat blurred in the darkness.

“I don’t know, but the black box gave me the coordinates for the safe zone. At least for now, the safe zone should still be safe.”

The world had long since deviated from normalcy, beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. No one knew what the future held, whether the safe zones would eventually fall; it was all unknown.

Fu Jingmo’s words always stated the current facts. Although harsh, they were more comforting than false hope.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter. We will survive.”

Lin Mu’s voice was light yet firm. As he turned his head, the sky gradually brightened. The road stretched infinitely, and an orange-red sunlight appeared on the horizon, casting its light on his delicate, fair face.

For the first time, Fu Jingmo clearly saw his features. A smile finally curled on his lips, and his cold eyes softened slightly in the daylight.

—

The vehicles, one behind the other, gradually approached Wushi.

The dilapidated road delayed them by two more hours, and by the time they reached Wushi, it was already past nine in the morning.

They found a hidden spot and parked the vehicles at the fork in the road near the toll station.

He Ze bit into a dry, coarse biscuit, a low-quality one they had scavenged from a village along the way.

The blue package had three large characters printed on it, “Qu Xi Xi.”

“Ah, yesterday’s cured meat was so fragrant, and today we only have these substandard products.”

He drank some water to swallow the overly sweet and greasy biscuit. Shen Rangchen sneered, thinking that even a useless person like He Ze was still greedy for food.

Holding a bag of “Oreo” cookies, Shen Rangchen’s pale fingers delicately picked up a piece. He gently broke it open and took a bite, chewing slowly and displaying an unshakable calm.

“Hmph, pretentious Taoist.”

Fu Jingmo and Lin Mu were studying the map they had found at the service area, comparing it to the coordinates on the black box. The location seemed to be in the northeastern suburbs of Wushi.

Their best option was to pass through the eastern district, cross the river bridge, and head north out of the city to reach the safe zone.

Otherwise, they would have to take a detour, which would mean an indefinite extension of their travel time. No one knew how long it would take to reach the safe zone if they had to go around.

“Let’s go, we’ll start from the eastern district.”

Wushi was considered a tourist city, so the service area’s map was very detailed.

Lin Mu pointed at the river bridge on the map. Beyond the bridge was a commercial area, which inevitably meant there would be many zombies.

The city of Wushi had a population of over two million. As their two vehicles entered the city, they felt like two small boats in a vast ocean. If they encountered a large number of zombies, they would be instantly overwhelmed and torn apart.

Fu Jingmo looked at Lin Mu’s cautious expression. “Lin Mu, we have no other choice.”

“Yeah…”

Lin Mu withdrew his hand. He knew this was the best route. If they took a detour or avoided Wushi, the next city would present the same choices, perhaps even more difficult ones.

After agreeing on the plan, Fu Jingmo instructed He Ze and Shen Rangchen to move to the bus behind.

The two got out of the car, and He Ze took over the steering wheel from Old Zhang. While Old Zhang could drive well, his mental state might not withstand the pressure.

Shen Rangchen was responsible for protecting the people in the bus. Among the five villagers from yesterday, the strength mutant named Brother Wu was also there, adding another layer of combat capability.

The SUV still led the way, and the two vehicles passed through the toll station, heading towards the city center.

Half an hour later, they began to see wandering zombies on the road, but the numbers were not significant, and they didn’t even need to stop to clear them.

The zombies chased the vehicles for a short distance before disappearing from sight.

Due to the terrain, Wushi had many overpasses, built in various quirky ways. Driving on them, you could see a heap of zombies below, reaching out and trying to follow but unable to catch up. It added a bit of grim amusement to their journey.

The drive went relatively smoothly, and the vehicles entered the eastern district.

The eastern district was a mix of commercial and residential areas. Lin Mu was prepared for streets densely packed with zombies, but things turned out differently than they had anticipated.

The eerie silence was terrifying. The streets were littered with overturned vehicles and scattered trash, but there were surprisingly few zombies.

They had prepared to face hundreds or even thousands of zombies, but it seemed almost empty.

The vehicle moved slowly. The quiet surroundings didn’t make the two relax; instead, they became even more cautious.

“Maybe they’ve been drawn away by something,” Lin Mu said, glancing at the surrounding houses. The architectural style here was somewhat European, with the edges and windows of the beige houses on both sides of the street adorned with European-style carvings.

Many windows had broken glass, leaving dark, gaping holes.

After a few more minutes of driving, Fu Jingmo slowly stopped the car and said coldly, “Up ahead.”

As a Level 3 mutant, Fu Jingmo’s hearing was naturally superior to Lin Mu’s. Holding his breath and listening, Lin Mu could hear faint, intermittent groaning sounds, mixed with the sound of flowing water.

Looking around, they noticed a street sign on the sidewalk, tilted to one side, with the words “River Crossing Bridge” written on it.

“On the bridge?” Lin Mu frowned. They had to cross the River Crossing Bridge. If that wasn’t possible, they’d have to use the bridge closer to the city center, which was far more dangerous due to the higher density of zombies.

“Let’s check it out first.”

The car started again, with Shen Rangchen’s small paper doll sitting in his original seat, relaying their conversation word for word to his ears.

“Be careful, there are zombies ahead,” he said, glancing at He Ze, who was driving.

Within about ten minutes, the sound of the river became clearer.

The golden sunlight shone on the River Crossing Bridge, and they no longer needed to discern the sound of zombies. Just a hundred meters away, the bridge was densely packed with zombies.

Fu Jingmo stopped the car again, and the bus behind them also came to a halt.

He Ze, sitting in the driver’s seat, saw the scene ahead as well. “How many zombies are there?”

The entire River Crossing Bridge spanned seven to eight hundred meters, making it the shortest of the bridges in Wushi.

The bridge was packed with zombies without a single gap. They pushed and shoved each other, and because of the crowding, zombies continuously fell off the sides of the bridge into the river.

Despite this, more zombies kept pushing onto the bridge from both sides.

The bridge was lined with arch-shaped steel frameworks. Following the direction the zombies were pushing from, Lin Mu noticed a dozen people sitting on top of those steel arches.

No wonder the zombies were stuck on the bridge. There were living people up there, like pieces of meat hanging, attracting the zombies below, making them ravenous.