Yang Cong cursed again, “Isn’t he just being arrogant because he has abilities? Pah! If I had abilities too, would he still get to act all high and mighty?”

Wu Zijie felt a bit awkward hearing this, but since he’d been Yang Cong’s follower for so long, he didn’t dare to argue. “Didn’t Brother Wang give us an apocalypse survival manual? From what I read, awakening abilities isn’t that easy.”

It was something unknown, after all—who knew if there would be side effects after gaining abilities?

The other girls had been scared out of their wits these past few days. Hearing them still have the mind to chat about this, they urged, “Hurry up and get in the car!”
“Yeah, Uncle Zhao is about to drive off.”

Yang Cong snapped back, “Are you looking to die? You damn bitches, since when do you get to tell me what to do?”

Though he kept cursing, he still got into the car. The girls, on the other hand, had reddened eyes from being scolded.

Inside the vehicle, Chen Xiaofei took attendance. Yang Cong’s group consisted of six people: himself, Wu Zijie, another boy surnamed He, and three girls.

Zhao Gang and Liu Chunhui, along with their daughter, were also present. Additionally, there was a pair of migrant workers—good friends from the same village, both in their forties.

There was also a young couple and a trio of best friends. In total, sixteen survivors.

After confirming that no one was missing, Chen Xiaofei signaled to Zhao Gang, “When you start driving, please focus. No matter what you see, don’t panic. Can you do that?”

Zhao Gang swallowed nervously, glancing at his wife and daughter before nodding firmly. “Rest assured, young man, I’ll drive properly.”

Chen Xiaofei found a seat at the front. “Good, then let’s go. Just follow our captain!”

The vehicle set off immediately.

—

Meanwhile,

Xu Duoduo, having nothing better to do, was secretly unboxing packages in the middle row.

The rustling sounds never stopped.

Qin Luo was in the driver’s seat, while Bai Shu was checking road conditions and browsing forums for the latest updates. Hearing the sneaky noises from the back, he found it quite amusing. Having a little zombie around really did make things more entertaining.

Xu Duoduo wasn’t particularly excited when she unpacked electronic devices. Ordinary electronics weren’t valuable in the apocalypse—phones that cost nearly ten thousand yuan before the disaster were now useless scrap. She could only hope they might sell for something later.

But when she found food, she got excited—especially when she discovered a whole box of snacks.

After a while, even that lost its charm.

She shifted her attention to the scenery outside. Though it wasn’t raining, the weather was terrible, with thick, unmoving dark clouds overhead.

Further down the road, they even encountered dense fog.

“We can’t change routes easily. If we get off the highway and take another road, it’ll be packed with cars, completely blocked. Let’s just stick to the highway and take it one step at a time.”

Bai Shu analyzed while looking at his tablet. The forum had a real-time map.

Blocked roads were constantly updated by other combat squads, so teams at the base could stay informed about the surrounding traffic conditions.

Qin Luo drove fast and aggressively, but in heavy fog, he had to be extra careful.

Xu Duoduo was just starting to feel relieved that, despite the poor road conditions, their journey had been smooth so far. She glanced at the tablet—it showed they were less than 200 kilometers from City C.

Just as she felt a bit lucky, a herd of wild boars suddenly charged out of the fog ahead. Qin Luo couldn’t avoid them and rammed straight into them, sending them flying.

The bus behind them was startled, but fortunately, Zhao Gang’s nerves held steady. The vehicle swerved for only a few seconds before he regained control and continued driving.

Qin Luo glanced at the bus in the rearview mirror and gave a rare word of praise. “Zhao Gang and his wife are pretty solid.”

They’d be good for combat missions.

Strong mental resilience was a key trait. It was a shame they hadn’t awakened abilities—otherwise, they’d be quite formidable.

Right now, the whole world was in chaos. Ordinary people had a hard time surviving, but there were too few ability users. Every additional teammate was valuable.

Bai Shu adjusted his glasses. “They do have potential. If the base eventually develops an evolution serum, they might actually qualify to join the combat squads.”

Qin Luo chuckled. “Let’s hope so.”

Xu Duoduo kept watching the road. Apart from the occasional mutated beast charging out from the mountains, the highway was eerily quiet.

Not the kind of quiet that put people at ease, but a foreboding one.

Or maybe it was just her instincts kicking in?

Despite being a zombie, Xu Duoduo had no hostility toward humans. But when she encountered mutated beasts, she felt both fear and a deep sense of combat readiness.

Because, in her mind, she still saw herself as human—even though she was a zombie now.

In an instant, her brain screamed a warning of imminent danger. She jerked her head around and spotted a massive shadow moving toward them from the lower left, at the eight o’clock position! It was that snake-man!

Xu Duoduo immediately grabbed the wooden whistle around her neck and blew hard, successfully alerting the two people in front. Qin Luo instinctively scanned the road.

Bai Shu turned around. “What’s wrong? Something’s happening?”

Xu Duoduo nodded frantically.

Qin Luo also caught sight of something in the rearview mirror. In the distance, the snake-man had reappeared—this time, heading straight for them. “Shit, that thing is coming right at us!”

Bai Shu saw it too. The thick snake body looked even larger than before—who knew how much it had eaten? After just one night, it had grown significantly.

Qin Luo kept his eyes on the road. “Call Old Wang. Tell him to take over driving. We’re speeding up to see if we can shake it off. If not, we’ll have to fight it head-on.”

A creature like this wasn’t easy to take down.

At least a few combat squads would be needed.

But on their route, there wasn’t a single other team nearby.

Bai Shu’s expression darkened, but he quickly contacted Wang Weihu’s group. Wang answered immediately and agreed without hesitation.

Meanwhile, the survivors were screaming again, completely unable to control their fear.

Yang Cong’s voice was the loudest. He was on the verge of breaking down. “I told you we shouldn’t follow them, but you all insisted! Now look! We’ve been targeted by a monster! We’re all going to die! We’re going to be eaten alive!”

Before he could say anything else, Chen Xiaofei shut him up. Muffled sounds came from Yang Cong as he struggled, but his voice was finally silenced. “Brother Qin, don’t worry, just focus on driving. We’ll stay right behind you!”

Reliable teammates were truly reassuring.

Qin Luo laughed. “Alright, keep up.”

Chen Xiaofei responded swiftly. “Got it!”

Wang Weihu, on the other hand, ordered Zhao Gang to stop. He quickly switched places with him, and in less than ten seconds, the bus roared back to life and sped forward.

Both vehicles accelerated rapidly.

Qin Luo, leading the way, had more pressure—he had to maintain speed despite the rough road conditions.

Even Xu Duoduo found it difficult.

He drove recklessly fast, yet the car never felt unstable. The only exception was when they hit the winding mountain roads, forcing him into sharp turns.

Xu Duoduo was tossed around, barely clinging to her seat. Eventually, she scrambled to the back, clutching the rear seats tightly while keeping her eyes on the snake-man.

What she saw made her heart skip a beat—the distance between them was closing fast.

The tension was enough to make her scalp tingle.