RIACMET chapter 48

 

They were delayed for almost an hour before they were able to leave again. It was already two in the afternoon. During that time, some zombies came out of the nearby areas, but they were all quickly killed.

The snowplow was in the lead, followed by Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian’s vehicle, then Li Kaiyun with his sons, and finally Huang Qian and her group bringing up the rear.

Li Kaiyun was so touched by this that he started to cry.

They met several groups of zombies, some of which were big, but the team was able to handle them easily.

Before it got completely dark, they reached a big, empty plaza on the edge of the city.

Jiang Nian wanted to sleep in the open because he was worried about earthquakes. So, they kept choosing places to rest that were outside.

Tang Yi and Zhou Rongbin, who hadn’t been on watch during the day, set up tents and took turns standing guard. They used handheld game consoles Jiang Nian had given them to pass the time.

The others who weren’t working slept in the vehicles, ready to leave as soon as they saw trouble.

Since they left Qingyun City, they had already avoided a few nighttime earthquake crises.

Even though Jiang Nian didn’t fight himself, everyone trusted the routes and travel plans he arranged.

If it hadn’t been for Jiang Nian, they would have been buried several times over by now.

Everyone ate dinner together. Jiang Nian felt that, since they all wanted to build good relations, he should be generous.

All his teammates understood what he meant, and each of them talked with the Li family.

Jiang Nian’s style was very straightforward:

If he wanted to treat you well, he’d be honest about it. If he didn’t want to deal with you, he wouldn’t give you a chance to approach him.

After dinner, Xiaoya and Huang Qian started talking with Li Shuhui. Li Kaiyun and Li Liang offered to watch, but Cheng Jing said no.

“You just need to rest well and keep your energy up so you can keep up with us all day. Starting tomorrow, our breaks will be shorter, and we’ll have different drivers. If you have any trouble, let me know.”

Li Kaiyun nodded.

“Thank you. Xiaoliang and I can take turns driving during the day.”

“Okay.”

Cheng Jing said, handing him a pack of cigarettes before sitting down beside him.

No one on his team smoked, but he had collected a lot of different supplies because Jiang Nian said that tobacco was a valuable item in the bases. When the acid rain came, they made a lot of money trading it.

Seeing that they wanted to talk, Li Liang politely walked away and went to ask the other teammates if he could help.

Li Kaiyun was thankful for the cigarettes and lit one right away, but it wouldn’t catch on fire. Just as he was about to ask, Cheng Jing flicked his fingers, and a spark lit the end.

“Hoo—”

He took a big drag, and the nicotine made him feel instantly smarter. Li Kaiyun squinted and smiled.

Cheng Jing took the opportunity to ask:

“Uncle, were you in the military?”

“I was.”

Li Kaiyun smiled at him.

“You too.”

It wasn’t a question; it was the sort of instinctive recognition that passed between men who had served.

Cheng Jing nodded.

“Yeah, I just left my apartment.”

Li Kaiyun took another drag on his cigarette and looked at the people working nearby.

“Your team is well-trained, and you trust and understand each other. It’s clear that this wasn’t just randomly put together.”

“Except for my wife Jiang Nian and Xiaoya, we all used to work for a security company before the apocalypse. After it started, we joined the Official Qingyun City Rescue Guild.”

Cheng Jing spoke calmly, sharing some information and explaining their situation simply.

Li Kaiyun understood right away. He tapped ash off the end of his cigarette.

“A team like yours will be welcomed at any base, and you’ll get very good resources.”

He thought, “So that’s his partner.” He finally understood why Jiang Nian was the one to make decisions.

Cheng Jing didn’t say anything, he just answered humbly:

“The official in charge of Qingyun City did give us a letter of recommendation, but those of us with families only want stability. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have chosen Nancheng Base.”

Li Kaiyun nodded.

“You’re right about that…”

They talked for a long time before finally getting into their vehicles to rest late that night.

It was still very cold, so Jiang Nian brought two more blankets for Li Kaiyun and his children to use.

That night went smoothly.

In the days that followed, they encountered many zombies, but the team handled them all with ease.

After collecting a lot of mutant zombie cores, Cheng Jing talked about it with Jiang Nian and decided to tell Li Kaiyun directly.

After all, since they were acting together, Li Kaiyun wasn’t the sort of careless man who wouldn’t notice eventually. It was better to be honest.

The Li family surprised everyone by also giving the cores they’d collected by splitting zombie skulls.

On top of that, since Li Liang and Li Shuhui had fewer chances to fight, they took the initiative to help with “logistics,” like cooking and cleaning during rest breaks.

After all, Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing had shared meals with them since the day they joined. When others were generous, it was only right to be considerate in return.

They traveled together like this for almost a week.

They were getting closer to the base, and they often encountered rescue teams transporting survivors at crossroads.

This meant that there were fewer zombies blocking the roads.

They thought they could reach the base at this speed, but as they were about to cross a bridge over the river, an earthquake struck. The bridge collapsed, and huge cracks split open across the ground.

Right in front of them was a rescue convoy driving large green trucks full of hundreds of survivors.

When the earthquake hit, the rescue team had just gotten ready to drive onto the bridge. Though they realized something was wrong in time to turn back, a few trucks couldn’t reverse quickly enough and toppled, falling into the crevices and rubble.

Huang Qian was told to stay behind with Xiaoya and Li Shuhui to guard their vehicles, while Cheng Jing led the others to help.

The base rescue squad moved quickly, but the earthquake happened too quickly for them to react. Chaos spread everywhere. People were screaming, crying, and cursing. There weren’t many medical staff, so they couldn’t save everyone.

Even though there were many people with special abilities among the rescuers and survivors, many people still died. Some of the people pulled from the wreckage were too badly hurt to survive.

After the apocalypse, this part of the river dried up. The ground under the bridge became black and muddy from all the pollution. This attracted many zombies.

The collapsed bridge and broken ground hadn’t buried them. On the contrary, they were already climbing up the debris.

Many people were pinned down and couldn’t get away quickly enough. They were bitten, scratched, and even eaten alive. There was nothing that could be done to save them.

And this was happening in broad daylight. If it were night, there’d be no hope of rescue.

“Help us…”

“I don’t want to die…save me…”

“Someone please save us!”

A family of three—a middle-aged couple and a daughter in a school uniform—was pinned beneath a large piece of concrete.

Two zombies crawled toward them from each side. The family shrieked in overwhelming terror.

Just as the zombies’ sharp claws were about to touch the woman’s arm, a storm of lightning, fire, and ice spikes fell from above, blasting the zombies to pieces.

Zhao Lei used a metal bar to make chains. He also pulled the concrete slab aside to save the family. Luckily, they were only trapped and not badly hurt.

“I…I can’t walk anymore…please carry me…”

The girl was shaking like a leaf, she couldn’t stand up, and tears were streaming down her face as she looked at Cheng Jing with a pleading expression.