Chapter 47: Night Talk in the Mountains

“Wang Zhi, something’s wrong! A large group of zombies has appeared ahead!”
Old He’s voice came urgently through the walkie-talkie.

Wang Zhi quickly took out his binoculars and saw, about a kilometer ahead, the road was packed with zombies.
How could this happen!? Did the iron fence by the tunnel get destroyed and all of them broke out?
Looking at it, there were at least eight hundred, maybe even a thousand zombies. These zombies were slowly crawling toward Wang Zhi’s direction on the road.

Wang Zhi knew they wouldn’t be able to win in a gunfight. Even if they fired continuously until their bullets ran out, they wouldn’t eliminate half of the zombies. Close combat wasn’t even an option.

“Old He, quickly get everyone to grab the supplies and get out of the car,” Wang Zhi said, picking up the walkie-talkie.
Su Muxiang, sitting beside him, frowned and asked, “Why are we getting out of the car?”
“Because it’s a matter of survival! There’s no point in going forward. We can only divert into the mountains for a bit and bypass the zombies.”
Wang Zhi explained as he opened the car door. He motioned for the people from the research institute to grab the supplies, and everyone started running toward the mountains next to the road.

As long as they kept a safe distance, the zombies wouldn’t chase them. They could only detect by sensing and hearing.
After running for about a kilometer, Wang Zhi stopped and used his binoculars to look back. The zombies had reached their parked cars. With a loud crash, Wang Zhi’s car exploded among the group of zombies. Yes, it was an explosion.

The group heard the sound and turned to look, realizing it was their car that had exploded.
“What happened?” Old He looked confused at Wang Zhi.
“Hmph, Wang Zhi planted a timed bomb on the car. He calculated the time the zombies would arrive, and boom!” Su Muxiang made an explosion gesture with her hands.

“So that’s how it is. But was this really necessary?” Old He asked.
“Of course it was necessary. At least the sound will attract zombies within a 2-kilometer radius, and they’ll gather here,” Wang Zhi replied.

After speaking, Wang Zhi took out a map and showed that they were about 50 kilometers from the evacuation route. At their current speed, they definitely wouldn’t make it before dark. After nightfall, they’d either have to travel through the night or stay put and wait for morning.

After running for a while, it gradually got darker. They couldn’t continue traveling now since the people from the research institute didn’t have night vision equipment. They couldn’t risk using lights either, as it would attract zombies or other strange creatures.

So, Wang Zhi found a secluded area on the backside of a mountain slope and stopped. They would spend the night there.
They built a small fire, and the flickering flames helped ease the anxiety among the group.

They sat around the fire, reminiscing about the past.
“Hey, I didn’t expect we’d make it out of the research institute alive. It’s all thanks to Dr. Yang. Someone came specially to save us.”
“Yeah, we’re lucky to have Dr. Yang.”

An Qing sat quietly with her head lowered, silent. She was thinking of Xiao Qi, thinking of their shared experiences.

“Xiao Qing, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Yang Liu asked, noticing An Qing’s tears.
An Qing didn’t reply. She stood up and walked over to Wang Zhi, who was keeping watch.

Wang Zhi saw her and asked, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you by the fire? It’s freezing out here.”
An Qing stared blankly at the stars in the sky and said, “I saw Xiao Qi die in front of me, but I couldn’t do anything. If I could have shared the burden with him back then, maybe he wouldn’t have been infected.”

Wang Zhi listened to her words and realized she was thinking of Xiao Qi again.
“So you need to become stronger, in your own way, to protect yourself and the people you care about. Look at me, a few months ago, I was just an ordinary person. After joining the Dawn Tower, I’ve been training—training, training, and training. It’s all been step by step.”

An Qing suddenly turned to Wang Zhi and asked, “Do you really think I can do it?”
“Yes! As long as you have enough determination,” Wang Zhi replied.

“To protect the people I care about in my own way…” An Qing murmured.

“Alright, go warm up by the fire,” Wang Zhi encouraged.
“Thank you.” An Qing said and walked back to the fire.

Wang Zhi watched her leave and sighed inwardly.

Not long after, Jia Liuli came over. When Wang Zhi saw her, he asked, “What’s up, Liuli?”
“It’s nothing.”

After a brief silence, Liuli spoke again.
“It’s just that I wanted to talk to the team leader.”

Wang Zhi realized she probably wanted to talk. It made sense; she hadn’t said much during the entire journey, and it was clear she wasn’t someone who expressed herself much.

“Are you tired?” Wang Zhi asked, finding a topic.
“Yeah, a little.”

They sat down side by side.
Wang Zhi looked up at the sky and noticed that the stars, which had once been hidden, now filled the sky.

Without industrial pollution, without car exhaust, and without various filth, the sky had returned to its vastness. Perhaps this was fate—the extinction of humanity, followed by a re-shuffling, and then the start of a new cycle.

“The stars are so bright, so beautiful!” Jia Liuli said, staring at the sky with her beautiful eyes.

Wang Zhi looked at the stars reflected in her eyes. Perhaps this was what it meant to have a galaxy in your eyes. In that moment, Wang Zhi was mesmerized by Liuli’s appearance.

They sat side by side—she looked at the stars, and he looked at her.

“Team leader… what are you looking at…?” Liuli blushed and lowered her head when she caught Wang Zhi’s gaze.

“What’s that?” Wang Zhi suddenly pointed behind Liuli.

In the distance, red dots appeared in the woods. Wang Zhi quickly put on the night vision goggles. Was it a wolf pack!?