72: Chapter 70: Ambush 72: Chapter 70: Ambush There were also some large craters created by meteorite impacts, and Su Mo couldn’t help but think of the two heavily damaged vehicles Mo Yan and the others had driven back when she saw a guardrail that had been knocked crooked.
At every sharp turn, Lu Chen would step on the brake to slow down, yet they still hit quite a few zombies.
When they finally left the highway and reached Pingshui County, the front of the military vehicle was dented inward, and it was splattered with blood.
Li Qian looked at the buildings outside the window, and the map in his mind expanded to its limit, “Just follow my directions, Admiral Lu.”
Lu Chen nodded, “You tell me.”
The vehicle slowly entered the town, where the streets were littered with chewed-over skeletal corpses and scattered luggage, indicating that many had tried to escape, only to be completely devoured by zombies.
Su Mo frowned as she looked at everything before her, feeling queasy.
Driving past the mutilated corpses, the car slowly moved along the streets, with their speed at the lowest, everyone holding their breath.
Turning the corner, they saw a small supermarket in the town, but unfortunately, the entire building was burnt to a blackened ruin, only the huge, half-burnt sign signaling the prosperity that was once here.
There were many shops on the roadside, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, everything one could wish for.
“The zombies are sparse around here, at least within a five hundred meter radius, but I don’t know about farther,” whispered Li Qian in the car.
“Then let’s stop here, there are many shops and we can grab quite a few things,” Su Mo whispered.
“Wait,” Li Qian stopped her as his spiritual power spread out like an invisible net upwards, “There are still living people in the commercial building ahead, three of them.”
Lu Chen pondered for a moment then parked the car at the roadside decisively, “Grab what we need and go.”
Just three people, they posed no threat to them.
He turned off the engine, and the three of them quietly got out of the car.
Seeing them disembark, Jianxiong slowly parked the car at the roadside and Zhao Changsheng also got out.
“Go get the stuff, meet back here in half an hour,” Lu Chen instructed in a low voice as the five convened.
“Stick to this area, I’m not familiar with the situation further away,” Li Qian explained again to Jianxiong and Zhao Changsheng.
Lu Chen went off with Su Mo, while the others split up.
She first entered a restaurant, which was small with just a kitchen at the back, chairs and tables haphazardly overturned, and food scattered on the floor that had turned black and was emitting a foul smell.
She carefully maneuvered past and gently twisted open the door to the kitchen.
The door creaked open, inside was pitch black, barely revealing the cooking area.
Lu Chen took a flashlight out from Space and led the way.
She followed with a knife in hand, and the air where the flashlight shone was filled with a layer of fine particles, all the ingredients had gone bad.
A big bag labelled “Japanese Gourmet Rice” momentarily caught her eye, Su Mo grabbed Lu Chen’s hand and shone the light on it again, and quickly advanced upon confirming it was rice.
The kitchen at this restaurant was stocked with five bags of such rice; upon inspection, it hadn’t gone bad, she signaled for Lu Chen to help carry it out.
They had just exited the door and were placing the rice in the trunk of the military vehicle when Su Mo saw Jianxiong carrying several bags of items out as well, and Zhao Changsheng who had taken two boxes of liquor from a bar.
“Top-quality aged liquor, haha,” Zhao Changsheng handled it like treasure as he gently placed it in the trunk.
“You women only know how to store useless stuff,” Jianxiong muttered disdainfully, though his eyes lusted after the liquor as he tossed food into the back seat.
“Are you asking for trouble?” Zhao Changsheng immediately became agitated upon hearing that, his hands crackling with electric current ready to start a fight.
“Both of you, keep it down,” Su Mo had to intervene to remind them.
Without prior agreement, the two turned their heads away from each other.
Su Mo sighed helplessly, waiting for the time to pass, and soon Li Qian returned, carrying quite a few items.
He had put on a new pair of gold-rimmed glasses, making him look refined.
“Nice glasses,” Su Mo teased, raising an eyebrow and stepping aside to let him load the items into the trunk.
“Thanks,” Li Qian adjusted his glasses, a proud smile forming on his lips.
After gathering more food and loading it into the car, Li Qian suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on a residential building not far away: “They’re at the window.”
A woman’s head appeared at that window, waving at them, then quickly withdrew when she saw no response.
“Let’s go,” Zhao Changsheng said as he opened the car door.
A vase shattered loudly in the otherwise silent street.
“Damn it!” Jianxiong cursed furiously: “Are they asking for death!”
The hearts of the five tightened.
That wasn’t the end, as two more heads appeared from the upstairs window, a couple.
Seeing the lack of response, the young woman upstairs smashed another vase down.
Li Qian’s spiritual power surged to its maximum, sweat beading on his forehead as he rushed out, “Move!
Seeing his expression, they all instantly knew something was terribly wrong.
Su Mo quickly shut the trunk and hurried into the car.
From the shop at the corner, suddenly, a dozen zombies appeared, moving in packs.
“Girl, stop yelling, they’re here!” an elderly man in his seventies or eighties shouted from behind the couple, as zombies began to emerge below their building.
We’re trapped!” the young woman screamed defiantly, grabbing an ashtray from the living room to hurl down, striking the speeding military vehicle.
Soon, dozens of zombies with horrifying shrieks emerged on the street below the apartment, their heads tilted back ninety degrees, their pale eyes fixed on the room making noise; the swarm of zombies rushed into the building.
“Don’t go back the same way, take the left street and detour out,” Li Qian said, his head throbbing from overuse of his superpower, but the pain was nothing compared to the terrifying multitude of marks that sprang up in his mind.
Lu Chen floored the accelerator on Li Qian’s word and suddenly swerved around, hitting a zombie and flying into a commercial street.
Jianxiong followed closely, his tires sparking from the sudden turn along with a grating screeching sound.
The commercial street, adorned with an antique decor and lined with a row of red lanterns, continuously unleashed hordes of zombies.
Su Mo hit her back against the car door, convulsing in pain, but the increasingly numerous zombies in front made her ignore the pain as she drew her pistol from her thigh and fired several shots, quickly running out of bullets.
She stuffed the gun back into her thigh holster and urgently said to Lu Chen: “Open the roof’s sunroof, pass me the gun so I can clear the way for you.”
Lu Chen, holding onto the steering wheel with one hand, tossed two submachine guns from the Space behind him without looking back; the car’s small sunroof flung open.
“Li Qian, keep watch on both sides, cover Jianxiong’s vehicle,” Su Mo quickly said to Li Qian, grabbing a gun and climbing half her body through the sunroof.