Chapter 34: Journey to Huan'an (4)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

“You’re gambling with our lives!” a middle-aged man screamed hysterically, and the target of his outburst was actually a young woman who appeared to be only twenty-one or twenty-two years old!

The young woman was named Xun Lili. Despite her youth, she came from a genuine martial arts family. In addition to her family’s legacy of Tongbei Fist, the young woman was also proficient in Muay Thai, Sanda, and the very popular no-holds-barred combat style from the internet. Typically, seven or eight grown men couldn’t get close to her. A young girl preferring fists and kicks over makeup troubled her mother, who was the general manager of the municipal Power Company. It took spending money and pulling strings to finally place this problematic young woman in a branch company in a subordinate county, with plans to eventually transfer her back to be kept under closer watch.

Xun Lili had been living in the Power Company dormitory. After all, the city was over a hundred kilometers from the county town. Besides driving back to her home in the city on weekends, she spent the rest of her time living at the company. The Power Company was a state-owned enterprise with excellent benefits, including a staff canteen that served good food for free. The young woman lived quite comfortably there. However, a sudden blood rain shattered her peaceful life.

“Uncle Wang, shouting won’t help. The alarm has already been sounded. Besides, the canteen is running low on food. We’ll starve eventually anyway, so we might as well take the gamble.” Xun Lili said nonchalantly while rubbing her ears. The person shouting at her was her mother’s former driver, who, through her family’s connections, had now risen to the position of deputy manager at Huan’an County Power Company. He had always been very good to her, but this time, her self-willed decision to secretly sound the prevention and control alarm had made this usually kind Uncle Wang completely lose his temper!

There were over twenty people living in the company dormitory. These individuals were relatively fortunate—when the blood rain erupted at night, most company employees had already gone home after work. They hadn’t been exposed to the rain and thus avoided infection. Additionally, Huan’an County’s high elevation prevented flooding. This combination of fortunate timing and geographical advantages allowed the twenty-plus people in the company dormitory to escape the initial disaster. However, their luck didn’t hold. When the Red Tide virus outbreak turned many humans into zombies and mutated creatures, their building came under attack from zombies. More than ten colleagues became snacks for the zombies. It was at this critical moment that Xun Lili stepped forward and played a decisive role.Thanks to her excellent physical fitness and formidable combat skills, the young girl managed to eliminate all those zombies one by one. Afterward, she led everyone in sealing off several stairwells leading to the upper floors, which ultimately ensured their survival. In the days that followed, they relied on the reserve supplies from the company cafeteria’s storeroom and the food stored in each person’s dormitory to sustain themselves until now. However, as time passed, their food reserves had dwindled significantly. Xun Lili had calculated that, even with careful rationing, they could last at most another three weeks. She had originally planned to risk venturing out to search for supplies, but while standing on the company rooftop to survey the surrounding streets, she inadvertently spotted a convoy on the distant Ring Road. Using the telescope in the rooftop recreation room, Xun Lili saw the military-green armored vehicle in the convoy and immediately concluded that it was highly likely a National Rescue Force. Without consulting the others in the company, she took matters into her own hands and used the backup power to activate the Air Raid Siren installed on the rooftop—the only method she could think of to attract the convoy’s attention.

“Lili, even if everything you say is true, what if the convoy doesn’t hear it? And even if they do hear the siren, what if they don’t come to rescue us? Look, the entire company is surrounded by zombies now. Even if they want to save us, can we actually be rescued?!” Middle-aged Wang’s finger trembled slightly as he pointed downstairs.

Over the past few months, he had become thoroughly familiar with the habits of the zombies below. These monsters were extremely sensitive to sound, and even moderately loud noises could draw hordes of them. When he heard the Air Raid Siren blare from the rooftop, Middle-aged Wang immediately realized the severity of the situation. But by the time he thought of shutting off the siren, it was already too late. After all, they lived on the middle floors of the company building, fifteen stories below the rooftop. Even if he rushed up the stairs as fast as he could, it would take several minutes—enough time for half the zombies in the county to converge on the company, guided by the siren’s sound.

Xun Lili also grasped the gravity of the situation. When she had seen the convoy, she had been solely focused on how to get their attention, without considering that the siren would also attract hordes of zombies. Following Uncle Wang’s pointing finger, she looked down and saw the Power Company’s courtyard already packed with a dense army of zombies. Moreover, countless more were swarming in from the streets, encircling the Power Company building. Even if the convoy wanted to rescue them, it would be as difficult as scaling the heavens!

“Uncle, I know I was wrong. What should we do now?” After all, Xun Lili was just a young woman in her early twenties. Realizing that her impulsive mistake was irreparable, she felt momentarily at a loss.

“Alas, we can only leave it to fate!” Middle-aged Wang sighed deeply. What else could he do under the circumstances?

“Old Wang, I’ve spotted the convoy!” Just then, a man in his early thirties shouted excitedly. After hearing about the convoy on the Ring Road, he had been searching for it through the telescope, and to his surprise, he had actually found it.

“The lead vehicle is indeed a military truck, and the ones behind are hauling artillery. It’s definitely the army!””Where? Let me see!” In an instant, hope reignited among the people present. The military, with artillery! Perhaps they really could be saved after all.

The small team composed of An Sheng, Nie Chong, and the others cautiously navigated the streets of the county town. Half of Huan’an County was built on mountain slopes. Cities constructed on mountains typically shared a common flaw: due to terrain constraints, the streets were generally very narrow. Coupled with numerous vehicles abandoned during the catastrophe, the already narrow roads became even more difficult to traverse. It would indeed be quite challenging for the search team’s large trucks to enter the county town.

“An Sheng, even if we successfully rescue those survivors, escaping will be a very tricky problem.” Looking at the complex road conditions, Nie Chong grew increasingly worried.

“Don’t worry. First, we need to figure out the situation inside. Then I’ll find a bulldozer to clear a path. I refuse to believe we can’t find a single bulldozer in this entire county. When the time comes, I’ll clear a passage. After all, I’m a Mutant—those Zombies and low-level Mutated Creatures pose no threat to me.” An Sheng had already thought this through on his way here; it was a last resort. Fortunately, through his perception, he hadn’t detected any powerful Mutated Creatures in the area, which was the only piece of good news at the moment.

“That’s all we can do. Skinny Monkey, take cover on the top floor of this building. Remember, report every three minutes. Kid, be careful—don’t become monster food. You haven’t even gotten married yet.” Nie Chong ordered Skinny Monkey to establish the first communication point. The communication device’s signal range was only five kilometers in a straight line, and with interference from urban buildings, the actual range might be less than three kilometers. However, choosing to set up communication points on building rooftops was an effective solution to maintain signal clarity. By using a relay method for communication, they were flexibly utilizing the limited equipment to maximize its inherent capabilities.