Jiezi might have actually driven race cars before—Xin Meng wasn’t sure—but after just five minutes on the road, his head had already hit various parts of the car more than ten times. If before, it felt like there was a spring under Jiezi’s seat, now the whole car seemed to have turned into a kangaroo, bouncing forward as it crashed into zombies. Jiezi gripped the steering wheel tightly, his face showing a strange expression of excitement. He stared straight ahead, occasionally shouting, “I’ll hit you! I’ll crush you! Die, you monsters! Hahaha!”
It was like he had become a completely different person, transforming from a simple-minded muscle man into a reckless speed demon. Even more frightening was that in the back seat sat someone who seemed eager to cause even more chaos. Four large men crowded the back, already making it a tight fit. Bear Jiabao, who was squeezed next to Xin Meng, was also cheering wildly, flailing his arms so much that his claws nearly poked Xin Meng in the eye. “Yo! Yo! Check it out! Pancakes and fritters, coming right up! Bumper cars are my favorite, and whoever stops me will face my wrath! Yo~ Yo~”
Dong Xiu couldn’t take it anymore and smacked him in the face with his backpack, glaring fiercely, “Wrath? Who do you want to mess with?! If you keep acting up, get out! We’ve got more than enough zombies chasing us; we don’t need you attracting more!” Then he shouted to the front, “Jiezi, slow down!”
His shirt was wrinkled, and his glasses were crooked from all the bumps. He had never been so disheveled in his entire life! Damn those brainless muscle men!
Xin Meng barely dodged Bear Jiabao’s flailing limbs and then had to avoid the swinging backpack straps, only to lose his grip and slam his head against the front seat, leaving him teary-eyed and seeing stars. “Yeah, slow down, or this car’s gonna break down!”
But it was as if Jiezi couldn’t hear them. He seemed to be in a trance, deliberately aiming the car at zombies, making the vehicle shake even more violently. Outside, more and more zombies were drawn by the noise, howling as they surrounded the car. Fortunately, they were moving fast enough to stay ahead, or they’d be done for.
Li Yougen clung desperately to the car door, screaming like a pig being slaughtered, “Help! Help! Change drivers! I demand a new driver! Now!”
Some people agreed with him, while others just wanted him to shut up, but everyone was too jostled to say much. If they weren’t all crammed into the back seat, they might have been thrown out by now.
Only the two people in the front, who were wearing seatbelts, were faring better. Even in this chaotic situation, Xin Meng didn’t hear a sound from the girl. If it weren’t for her long hair occasionally whipping back due to inertia, they might have thought she wasn’t there at all…
Bear Jiabao, dazed and disoriented, yelled at Li Yougen, “Stop screaming, you’re worse than a woman!”
Li Yougen shot back, “You idiot!”
Sandwiched in the middle, Xin Meng had a bad feeling. He’d checked the car out yesterday, and if they kept crashing like this, it was definitely going to break down. But none of them could snap Jiezi out of it. Knocking him out wasn’t an option from the back seat, and the woman in the passenger seat wasn’t speaking up either. Things were looking really bad!
As Xin Meng tried to steady himself and say something, the Land Rover suddenly shuddered violently. The engine made a loud buzzing noise, and the vehicle lost control, skidding wildly. The tires screeched on the pavement, and then the car crashed into something with a loud bang, shaking violently before coming to a halt, smoke rising from the engine.
“Damn it, aaaah—” Bear Jiabao opened his mouth, nearly biting his tongue off. The sudden stop threw him forward, almost smashing his face into the window, flattening his nose. The rest of the group in the back seat tumbled into each other, groaning in pain.
Xin Meng’s arm was pinned under Bear Jiabao, cold sweat breaking out from the pain. He tried to push him off, but Bear Jiabao was too dazed to move, his body unresponsive. Just as Xin Meng took a deep breath and was about to find a way to free his arm, he heard a strange voice, “You want… to kill us.”
The voice was low and hoarse, like someone who rarely spoke, with each word forced out through clenched teeth. It was a woman’s voice, chilling and unsettling.
Was it the girl?
He looked up and saw the girl in front, her hair now in disarray, revealing most of her face. Without the interference of her long black hair, her face, pale and ordinary, was illuminated by the sunlight. Her lips were bloodless, her features faint. If not for the eerie, ghost-like presence she carried, she would have easily blended into a crowd.
But her gaze was icy as she stared coldly at Jiezi, who was slumped over the steering wheel, seemingly questioning him or perhaps just confused.
Jiezi seemed to snap out of a dream, shivering as he straightened up, quickly turning to the back seat with his hands clasped together in apology, “Sorry, sorry, I’m so used to speeding that I lose control as soon as I get behind the wheel. I forgot to mention that earlier, I’m really sorry, everyone!”
The last hope of having a reliable teammate shattered, and Xin Meng’s vision went dark.
But there wasn’t time to dwell on it. Outside, the zombie growls were growing louder. Through the dirty, zombie-gore-covered windows, they could see the horde closing in rapidly, cutting down their chances of escape.
“Open the door, run!” Xin Meng shouted at Li Yougen by the door.
“No! Don’t open the door! Don’t open it!” Li Yougen shook his head frantically, crying and screaming, his hands gripping the door handle so tightly that he couldn’t let go, completely losing his ability to think rationally. “If we open the door, the zombies will get in! We can’t open the door!”
Bear Jiabao finally managed to sit up, freeing Xin Meng’s arm, but his position had shifted. He was now by the door instead of between Xin Meng and Dong Xiu. He asked in disbelief, “Why open the door? Do you want to let the zombies in, or are we going out?”
He didn’t expect Dong Xiu to slap him hard on the back of the head, cursing, “You idiots! Do you want to be trapped here and eaten by zombies? If we don’t get out now, we won’t be able to run later! Open the door!”
Bear Jiabao was much more obedient than Li Yougen. The moment Dong Xiu snapped at him, his body reacted faster than his mind, and with a quick click, he opened the door. Dong Xiu gave him a hard shove, pushing him out of the car and quickly following him. Xin Meng was next, and Jiezi and the girl, who had already opened their doors, were outside. After a moment of hesitation, Li Yougen, seeing that he was the only one left in the car, scrambled out, afraid of being left behind.
Once outside, Xin Meng’s sharp eyes caught sight of a dark blue sign 500 meters away—the police station was right in front of them!
What luck!
“Quick, get to the police station!” Xin Meng shouted. The others, seeing the police station, were also overjoyed and ran towards it with all their might, only to be blocked by the zombies converging around them.
Before they came, everyone had prepared their weapons. Xin Meng was still holding the steel pipe with a boning knife tied to the end, Dong Xiu had a watermelon knife, and the others had wooden sticks that Jiezi had found for them. The girl, however, was the most unusual, wielding a folding iron chair she had taken from a supermarket. She held it by one leg, swinging it at any zombie that got too close, even spinning in place to use the inertia and centrifugal force to smash zombies away. This left Xin Meng and Bear Jiabao, who had been ready to protect her, stunned and without any opportunity to help.
But the situation was too chaotic to dwell on it. The zombies were relentless, and the group fought their way forward, dodging zombies and trying to avoid getting grabbed. It was a frantic struggle for survival. Xin Meng’s steel pipe hit the zombies repeatedly, making his hands numb, but he didn’t dare pause. The rope tying the boning knife to the pipe finally snapped, and the knife was lost. He used the pipe as a club, and the sound of weapons hitting zombie flesh and bones filled the air like a heavy rain. Rotten flesh and blood splattered everywhere, clouding their vision and filling the air with a stench so foul it numbed their sense of smell. Sweat poured down Xin Meng’s face as he inched his way towards the police station door.
As if to make up for his earlier recklessness, Jiezi was fighting with all his might. He led the charge, wielding his steel pipe with incredible force, his muscles bulging, veins popping. A single swing could crush the heads of three or four zombies. He was a powerhouse, clearing out most of the zombies blocking the police station entrance, giving the others a precious moment to catch their breath.
Finally, they made it inside the police station. Dong Xiu and Bear Jiabao slammed the heavy door shut, shoving all the remaining chairs and tables in the lobby against it to block the way.
Li Yougen was the last to get inside, panting heavily, his clothes drenched in sweat and torn in several places. He leaned against the door, eyes wide with fear and exhaustion. “We… we made it.”
Bear Jiabao looked around and laughed nervously, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I can’t believe we actually made it… Alive!”
But as they stood there, catching their breath, a cold realization began to settle in. The police station was eerily quiet, too quiet. Xin Meng glanced at the others, his chest heaving as he tried to calm his racing heart. “Everyone… be careful. We don’t know what’s inside here.”
Jiezi, still gripping his steel pipe, nodded solemnly. “Stay alert. We need to find a safe place to rest and figure out our next move.”
They began to cautiously explore the station, weapons ready. The silence was unnerving, but they knew it was better than the alternative—the howling horde of zombies outside.
