Chapter 42: Crossing the Bridge

In fact, Wang Zhi knew they shouldn’t be traveling at night, but the urgency to save Dr. He was pressing. No one knew how long she could hold on. He didn’t want to run all the way here only to find the doctor turned into a zombie.

On their detour heading north, Wang Zhi and the others encountered no obstacles. After half an hour of driving, Lao He had already taken them past the eastern ring road, which circled to the north.

As they approached their destination, traffic increased, and so did the number of zombies on the road. Some zombies were even fast enough to attempt attacking the car.

Wang Zhi looked at the map in his hand. Ahead, there was a large bridge—over a thousand meters long. If nothing unexpected happened, it was likely that the bridge had already been blocked by cars.

“Stop the car! There’s a bridge ahead. We’ll wait until daylight to cross,” Wang Zhi said.

Lao He stopped the car about two kilometers from the bridge. It was starting to drizzle lightly outside, and the rain began to wet the car windows.

Wang Zhi pulled out four cans of beef and handed them to the others. “Let’s eat something first.”

Wang Zhi ate his can of beef while vigilantly watching the surroundings.

At 6 o’clock, the sky began to lighten. The four of them got out of the car. The visibility around them was much clearer now. After walking two kilometers, Wang Zhi could already see the entrance to the bridge. This bridge led directly to M City. Once they crossed it, they would be in M City.

Wang Zhi used binoculars to examine the situation on the bridge. As expected, from one end to the other, it was completely blocked by abandoned cars. Between the cars, countless zombies were aimlessly wandering.

To get to M City, they had no choice but to clear the bridge.

“It looks like we’re in for a tough battle,” Lao He said as he put down the binoculars.

“We’ll shoot the zombies on the bridge. Liuli, you handle the zombies that are attracted from the sides. Is that okay?” Wang Zhi asked.

Jia Liuli nodded, signaling that she was ready.

“Alright, let’s go.” Wang Zhi said and took the lead toward the bridge.

As they got closer to the bridge, Wang Zhi’s hands began to tremble. It was the first time he had to face so many zombies. A rough count of the zombies on the bridge suggested at least 500. He knew that once the first shot was fired, the zombies would swarm toward them. Without much combat experience, he was caught in a strong mental struggle.

After finding suitable positions, the four exchanged glances to confirm they were ready. Lao He took the first shot.

Pop, pop, pop! Wang Zhi quickly followed suit, firing his rifle at the zombies on the bridge. His rifle was equipped with a suppressor, so the sound wasn’t too loud, but the bullets hitting the cars created a sharp metallic clang.

The zombies on the bridge were immediately stirred up, releasing low growls that sent chills down their spines. The zombies began climbing over the cars, rushing toward Wang Zhi.

“Keep shooting! Quickly!” Lao He ordered.

The three of them quickly emptied their magazines, but after 90 shots, they had only managed to take down about 40 zombies. The rate of elimination was far slower than the zombies’ advance.

Meanwhile, ten or more zombies had appeared on both sides and were taken care of by Jia Liuli, but they no longer had time to manage the sides.

Seeing the increasing number of zombies in front of them, Wang Zhi realized they couldn’t hold out much longer with just gunfire.

“Grenade!” Wang Zhi shouted.

He pulled out a high-explosive grenade and threw it into the center of the zombie horde.

Boom! The explosion from the grenade and the vehicles reverberated across the eastern part of M City.

Inside a room at the research institute:

“Was that an explosion? Could there still be survivors?”

“Should we check the rooftop?”

“What’s the point? We’re barely surviving ourselves. Who knows if anyone is still alive out there? They’re probably already dead.”

“You’re right. We haven’t had anything to eat or drink for two days. We can’t hold on much longer… sigh.”

“Dr. Yang, wake up, wake up.”

Yang Liu struggled to get up from the floor. “What’s wrong, Xiaoqi?”

“Dr. Yang, are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“Ah, it’s just dehydration. I’ll be fine.”

Xiaoqi thought for a moment before turning to the others. “Maybe we should go out and find some supplies. If we stay here, we’ll all die.”

The others stayed silent, heads lowered, unwilling to speak up.

Xiaoqi, seeing their indifference, became furious. “What’s wrong with all of you? If Dr. Yang hadn’t taken us in and shared her food with us, we’d all be dead by now! Now Dr. Yang is about to die from dehydration, and you’re just sitting here doing nothing?”

“Xiaoqi, you know that the outside is crawling with zombies. Going out there is suicide,” said a man in his forties.

“Old Liu, do you really think hiding here will help us survive? If you’re not going, I’ll go myself!” Xiaoqi said as she picked up a steel pipe from the ground and started walking out.

“Xiaoqi… don’t go… please,” Yang Liu weakly called out.

“Sigh! Dr. Yang, you’re too weak to talk right now. Thank you for everything. Let me go. I’ll feel better knowing I tried,” said a young woman, around 20, who was Dr. Yang’s assistant. She covered Yang Liu with her jacket before following Xiaoqi outside.

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On the Bridge…

Smoke filled the air. After a few grenades exploded, many zombies were wiped out, and the three of them had a brief respite. They continued to reload and shoot at zombies in the distance.

The huge explosions had attracted more zombies from farther away. Wang Zhi shot while retreating. By this point, they had moved 100 meters away from the bridgehead.

After firing a thousand rounds, the zombies began to thin out. The entire bridge was covered in bodies, with blood flowing like a river. Wang Zhi was starting to lose his sanity. He had never killed so many zombie-like creatures before.

The four of them cautiously approached the bridge entrance. The cars, which had caught fire earlier, were now extinguished by the rain. The vehicles were still scattered all over the place, a sight that could be seen in every corner of M City.

“Be careful. There might still be zombies inside the cars,” Wang Zhi warned.

In just 1000 meters, Wang Zhi had walked for an hour. By now, the four of them were covered in blood, looking like killing machines.

“Ha-ha, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this crazy. This is exhilarating!” Su Mu Ying laughed excitedly, her eyes burning with intense madness.