Chapter 47 Mining Area: Fu Jingmo’s Comfort

They were somewhat fortunate and didn’t spend much time before finding some twenty-liter white buckets on a truck, originally used for crane lubricating oil.

Fu Jingmo kept one bucket, while the rest of the miners emptied the lubricant from the other buckets, using each one to fill with gasoline.

There weren’t many buckets, only about a dozen, so in the end, they even took the driver’s large water bottle they found on the truck to fill with gasoline, along with various bottles and cans.

Altogether, they managed to gather a little over 300 liters of gasoline, which was quite a lot. Filling up the bus, it was enough to allow two vehicles to travel over a thousand kilometers.

This way, at least until they reached the next city, they wouldn’t need to worry.

By the time all the buckets filled with gasoline were loaded onto the bus, the sky had already begun to brighten.

Lin Mu had He Ze gather everyone together, as there were some things that needed to be said upfront.

After counting the people, Fu Jingmo looked at the crowd. When he wasn’t smiling, his face was stern and cold, just standing there made people feel apprehensive.

He was trained by the best units, and had survived numerous difficult missions where he brushed past death.

Fu Jingmo raised an eyebrow and spoke in a cold voice.

“We will take you to Wushi, where there is a safe zone. Since you have chosen to leave, don’t cause any trouble along the way. Don’t make things difficult, understand?”

He stood tall and straight, his 1.9-meter frame exuding a calm and decisive demeanor that inexplicably made people feel very safe.

Although his words were not particularly polite.

The miners looked at each other and nodded. Being able to leave here was already great, and with a safe zone ahead, they no longer feared zombies and could survive.

Lin Mu and He Ze stood behind Fu Jingmo. In such moments, having Fu Jingmo speak was most effective; no one dared to disobey.

“Anyone who can drive, step forward.”

From the crowd, a man raised his hand. He was not tall and looked honest and simple, wearing clothes slightly different from the miners’. “I, I can drive. I drove this bus here.”

Fu Jingmo raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. “Alright, everyone find a weapon you can handle. In ten minutes, everyone should be on the bus.”

The miners immediately went to find weapons. The driver, named Old Zhang, got on the bus first to check the vehicle.

Fortunately, the mining area was not short of various tools. Soon, the miners came back with shovels, iron rods, and pickaxes.

Everyone boarded the bus. Fu Jingmo sat in the passenger seat, He Ze sat in the last row at the back, and Lin Mu sat by the door.

The bus needed to go down the road on the right side, and the sky was already bright.

As Lin Mu had anticipated, the zombie pit below was connected to the small mine shaft from last night. They had dealt with at least dozens of zombies yesterday, and there were still about a hundred or so wandering below.

Fu Jingmo had planted explosives in the mine shaft and was now fiddling with them in the front passenger seat. He asked Lin Mu for the silver handgun back.

After making the necessary adjustments, he looked up at Old Zhang and pointed out a route. “Don’t stop, just drive straight out. Even when you reach the gate, don’t stop.”

The gate was chained shut. Although Old Zhang wasn’t sure if they were supposed to ram the gate, he didn’t dare ask, seeing the stern look on Fu Jingmo’s face. He nodded in agreement.

The expert’s words should be heeded.

The bus started, and everyone’s hearts were in their throats as they looked out the windows.

Xiao Yu was pressed into her mother’s arms, hiding her head.

The road was muddy, and the bus swayed as it moved, going downhill and not at a fast speed.

Old Zhang gripped the steering wheel nervously, his hands sweating. As the bus gradually descended, the zombies had already noticed the commotion, pounding on the barbed wire fence at the road’s entrance and howling with open mouths.

Lin Mu reached out to grab a vine, looking down; they were about thirty meters from the barbed wire.

Suddenly, the passenger window was rolled down. Fu Jingmo, with his right hand holding several sticks of dynamite tied together and his left hand gripping the window frame, leaned halfway out of the bus. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the dynamite toward the barbed wire.

The zombies, seeing the flying object, didn’t know what it was and reached out with their hands, making guttural noises.

The dynamite spun and fell straight into the barbed wire. Fu Jingmo pulled back, drew his gun, aimed, and fired. With a bang, the dynamite exploded within two seconds.

People inside the bus screamed and covered their ears. The dozens of zombies within the barbed wire were blasted to pieces, and the already unstable barbed wire flew to the side.

Severed limbs and the burnt smell mixed with the stench of rotting zombies made everyone nauseous.

Old Zhang drove forward nervously, the bus rolling over zombie bodies with a squelching sound, making the passengers, unaccustomed to such scenes, shudder with horror.

Soon, a second wave of zombies began to gather. Fu Jingmo, using the same method, blasted away the zombies blocking the path.

After three consecutive explosions, the bus finally reached the gate. With a flick of his hand, a black crystal flew out, breaking the chain on the gate.

By now, Old Zhang fully realized Fu Jingmo’s prowess. Without a hint of panic, he floored the gas pedal, and the bus smashed through the gate, charging out.

As the bus hit the road, everyone inside breathed a sigh of relief. Laughter of survival and faint sobs filled the bus.

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. To him, there was nothing to worry about because he trusted Fu Jingmo.

A dozen or so zombies staggered after the bus. He Ze, looking excited, called out to Lin Mu.

“Mumu, look, look, it’s Kang Tianming!”

Lin Mu moved back a bit, peering through the dusty window. He saw Kang Tianming, dressed in a shirt and trousers, his head tilted, with a huge bite mark on his face and pieces of flesh hanging from his abdomen, shuffling with the other zombies behind the bus.

The bus kept moving forward, and the zombies gradually fell behind until they were out of sight.

It wasn’t until they reached the hiding place for the bus that Fu Jingmo told Old Zhang to stop.

The three men got out and drove their vehicles up from the roadside, refueled them, and loaded a few extra barrels of gasoline into the trunks.

Lin Mu distributed the mineral water He Ze had filled to the people on the bus, and also handed out some biscuits and other snacks.

This place was not suitable for a long stop. They would just have a quick bite and wait until they reached a safer location to make a proper meal.

He Ze looked at his water with a pained expression, his heart aching. He had spent several days filling those bottles.

Don’t ask; the answer is simply heartache.

The miners thanked Lin Mu one by one, tears welling up in their eyes.

He Ze, finding the small car cramped, decided to stay on the bus to sleep, while Lin Mu and Fu Jingmo took their vehicle to lead the way.

The two vehicles, one in front and one behind, slowly drove along the mountain road, gradually leaving the Pingkou mining area.

For two consecutive days, they had only slept for two hours.

Lin Mu’s eyes were red and sore from fatigue. Fu Jingmo was driving and glanced at him.

Compared to Lin Mu, at least for those with special abilities, as long as their energy wasn’t completely depleted, not sleeping didn’t have much of an impact.

“Want to sleep for a bit?” Fu Jingmo asked.

“Yeah,” Lin Mu responded.

He rubbed his brow and propped one hand against the car window. He was indeed very tired, his body aching and fatigued.

However, his mind was unusually clear. The scenes from the mining area replayed over and over, as if they didn’t want to stop. It all felt like a dream.

They had managed to deal with so many zombies, along with other special ability users, and even explosives…

This was something he could never have imagined before.

Inevitably, he thought again of Wu Jin, the night vision mutant whom he had strangled with vines with his own hands.

Lin Mu looked down at his hands, his face devoid of expression.

Although by the time Fu Jingmo arrived, Wu Jin had already been eaten by zombies.

But just by looking at where Wu Jin had died and the extent of the zombie bites, Fu Jingmo had a good idea of what had happened.

“Don’t think too much,” Fu Jingmo, not good at comforting people, said awkwardly.

Seeing Fu Jingmo’s rare awkwardness, Lin Mu couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing.

“I know, it’s just… a bit hard to get used to.”

Yes, it was hard to get used to, but he knew that if the apocalypse continued, he would one day be forced to get used to this feeling.

“Fu Jingmo, have you ever had moments of regret?”

Lin Mu turned his head, his gaze lightly resting on the man driving. Fu Jingmo seemed to never be afraid; his eyes were always so certain, so calm.

Fu Jingmo’s lips curved slightly. “No, because I know I’m doing the right thing.”

After a moment of silence, Lin Mu also smiled. He knew that in that situation, he had done the right thing too. He wanted to survive.

He, He Ze, and Fu Jingmo—they all needed to survive together.

Feeling a sense of comfort, Lin Mu exhaled, leaned back against the seat, relaxed his body, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Fu Jingmo glanced at him. The boy’s soft hair and slightly pale skin stood out.

He knew that Lin Mu would grow, would learn to face everything…