TDRA Chapter 19

Gu Ning’s entire body was pulled downwards by that strong force! She looked down and broke out in cold sweat. Gu Ning saw a male zombie tugging at her ankle with a deadly grip, its rotting mouth opened widely and pulling her foot downwards in excitement! It was right underneath Gu Ning, which was a blind spot for Brother San’s firing, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t miss and shot Gu Ning’s leg instead.

“Hold on to me!” Gu Ning shouted at Luo Long before swinging her other foot in the air and kicked down vigorously at the zombie’s face!

The zombie’s head was tilted back by Gu Ning’s kick, but it was simply unfazed by it and continued clutching onto Gu Ning’s foot desperately while opening its mouth in an attempt to bite her. Gu Ning broke out in a cold sweat, firstly because she was worried that she would really be dragged by this zombie and fall into the herd then get torn into pieces. Secondly, because she was worried that Luo Long would let go or Brother San would give her a shot to the head from above.

With this in mind, Gu Ning increased her strength on her foot again, and Luo Long was dragged a few feet off the roof of the truck.

The hand was still firmly attached to her ankle as if it was embedded in her.

Just as Gu Ning’s heart was racing, the grip on her foot suddenly loosened! Gu Ning’s entire body was then pulled upwards by Luo Long. She subconsciously looked down and saw that Cheng Ming was poking out half of his body while holding a knife in his hand. It was he who had cut off that zombie’s arm with a single slash!

As soon as Gu Ning got out of the sticky situation, she immediately got onto the top of the truck after a few pulls from Luo long. Looking at the zombies that were flailing below, she felt a pang of fear.

She sat paralyzed on the roof of the truck for several seconds to catch her breath, then immediately removed the gun from her back and gave a grateful nod to Luo Long before raising it and aiming at the zombie’s head closest to the door.

Except for the first shot which she missed, the rest of the shots were accurately fired into the heads of the zombies. The zombies in the front fell in rows like harvested rice, this performance astonished Luo Long as he watched from the side.

Brother San was also slightly flabbergasted. If the person holding the gun now was a soldier who had been using guns for more than five years, then he could still remain calm. But Gu Ning was a girl who hadn’t even fired a gun just ten minutes ago! Judging from Gu Ning’s appearance, she was only 20 years old and no matter how you look at her, she didn’t look like someone who had been touching guns for years but the way she held the gun was the same as him. Even if this was to be put aside, just judging from her calm and composed posture was already surprising. He wasn’t even sure that he could recover within such a short period after what she had just gone through. The more Brother San thought about it, the more he felt that Gu Ning was a mysterious and unpredictable person.

However, there was no time to think about such things at this moment, this had to wait till they were safe.

The three of them fired at the same time, and the sound of gun firing was heard continuously, and they managed to clear a path through the crowd of zombies.

Brother San saw the right moment and yelled: “Zhang Yang!”

Zhang Yang took a deep breath and jumped out of the truck without the slightest hesitation, followed by Cheng Ming holding his knife tightly and ready to deal with any zombies that broke through the gunfire and got close.

Nevertheless, Gu Ning didn’t give them the chance to get their knife out because of her precise shooting, along with the plan that Brother San had made with her, and Luo Long taking care of zombies that were rushing over while Gu Ning took care of those that broke through the gunfire. From time to time, some zombies rushed past the first line of gunfire attacks but were killed by Gu Ning before it could even reach Zhang Yang and Cheng Ming.

However, the gunfire attracted more and more zombies, Brother San and Luo Long were struggling to cope with it as more zombies broke through the line and rushed into a dangerous range. It made even Brother San get worried for Gu Ning, but she was very calm, although nervous yet not flustered. She kept changing the position of her gun, and each shot was aimed at the head of the zombie as much as possible, but as the number of zombies increased in the danger zone, Gu Ning got a bit overwhelmed and the shooting gradually got slightly off as compared to before. Sometimes a shot hit the shoulder and the zombie would just sway its body for a moment and then continue on its way, so Gu Ning had to add another shot. The increasing number of zombies swarming over made cold sweat seep out of her forehead.

Her original plan had been for four men to cover with gunfire and now that they were one man less, the pressure shared over them increased.

The distance from the rear to the front of the car was less than ten metres and it might not take more than a few seconds to run there, but every step taken now was incredibly difficult.

It was the end of September and the weather was slightly chilly, whereas everyone was sweating like it was in summer. Eventually, Zhang Yang and Cheng Ming had to start wielding the knives in their hands to slash and cut, while moving with difficulty in the direction to the front of the truck.

Gu Ning was firing at the zombies that kept breaking through the line of fire and getting closer, when all of the sudden, the pistol in her hand made a clack! There was no bullet being shot out from the muzzle.

Brother San heard the sound almost instantly and reacted immediately, shouting to Luo Long: “Luo Long! Give her your gun!”

Luo Long hesitated for a split second, then switched guns with Gu Ning.

Gu Ning picked up Luo Long’s gun and continued shooting. Meanwhile, Luo Long quickly began to change the magazine, his palms were clammy with sweat, not knowing if it was because of nervousness or fear, his hands trembled constantly and the magazine was loaded several times but kept failing.

In just these few seconds, the pressure on Brother San and Gu Ning suddenly intensified. Unceasingly, the zombies broke through their line of fire and kept pouncing for Zhang Yang and Cheng Ming!

Suddenly! The truck shook violently as it was slammed by zombies on the other side!

Brother San, who had been standing on the edge of the truck unconsciously, leaned forward! His balance got unstable and he was about to fall off the truck! He caught a glance below him and saw that it was full of zombies, if he fell, there was definitely no chance of survival which made him terrified! Yet there was absolutely nothing around to grab onto, and he could only let his body plunge down from the truck in horror!

Luo Long saw Brother San fall outwards but couldn’t respond fast enough and exclaimed in terror!

Just then! Brother San’s arms which he had subconsciously reached out to the sides for grabbing, were pulled by someone! Then he was yanked back! The force threw him back to the middle of the truck! Losing his balance, he fell to the ground and felt a burst of weakness in his legs with his heart thumping in his chest as he looked at Gu Ning’s back view.

Gu Ning yanked him back and continued firing without even asking any question.

Gu Ning’s blonde hair was particularly dazzling under the light of the risen sun.

“Brother San, are you okay?!” Luo Long asked in response.

“I’m fine.” Brother San shook his head, then reluctantly got up from the ground and picked up his gun, and walked over to Gu Ning’s side to continue firing at the horde of zombies.

The atmosphere in the sealed compartment was tense and oppressive as never before, accompanied by the intense gunfire outside of the carriage.

Huang MengYao uneasily tightened her grip on the knife Gu Ning had slipped into her hand, rubbing the handle over and over again as she looked at Jia DaoZhang. He was cowering in the corner, his eyes closed as if he was resting his eyes. Jia DaoZhang was the oldest among all of them and she couldn’t resist the urge to talk to him to slightly reduce her uneasy emotions. Just as she got closer, a slight snoring sound could be heard, Huang MengYao’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the closed-eyed Jia DaoZhang over there. How could he fall asleep against the wall of the truck at a time like this?!

“Go, go, go! Zhang Yang! You get in first.”

It was with great difficulty that they made it to the front of the truck, and Cheng Ming shouted at Zhang Yang as he plunged a knife into the eye socket of the female zombie that had rushed to him.

Zhang Yang hurriedly crawled on his hands and knees up to the front of the truck. The door was wide open, and just as he climbed up, he saw another zombie in the driver’s seat lying on top of the driver’s body and gnawing on it. Seeing him, it hissed with excitement from its throat and crawled towards him on its hands and knees!

Zhang Yang was scared out of his wits and tried stabbing the zombie in the face with his knife!

The zombie dodged the knife with a shift of its head then reached out and took hold of the blade with a deadly grip!

Zhang Yang jerked the knife back but it didn’t move! At that moment, his heart was greatly alarmed, and immediately afterward, he could hear a gunshot! A bang! A bullet shot through the roof of the truck and directly pierced through that zombie’s head!

All he heard was a series of prodding from Cheng Ming behind him, only then did he shake himself off and drew his knife back, before getting into the truck while pushing the zombie and driver’s body out of the truck. He then got into the blood-covered driver’s seat, slamming the door shut.

Cheng Ming immediately got into the truck as well and barked sharply at Zhang Yang: “Drive! Faster drive!”

The sound of the engine was heard! The truck started to vibrate!

“Get down! Hold on tight!” Brother San shouted.

Gu Ning immediately got down, while the pistol in her hand was aimed at the truck door on Zhang Yang’s side, shooting at the zombies that were climbing on the door and trying to get in.

The people in the carriage felt the truck shake and held onto their breath at this moment.

Jia DaoZhang opened his eyes and everyone waited nervously for the truck to start.

Gu Ning, Brother San and Luo Long, held onto the roof of the truck for their dear lives, their hands clasped around the concave rails of the carriage to prevent themselves from rolling off the roof as the truck moved forward.

The moment the truck moved forward, a heartfelt cheer erupted from the entire carriage!

Bang bang bang bang!!! The sound of the truck hitting the zombies was accompanied by the sound of gunfire as the truck trudged its way through the horde of it.

It was only then that Gu Ning had the time to look at the military truck in front of them, the rear door was wide open, filled with bloodstains, dropped walkie-talkies and guns, but there were no bodies of any men as they might all been dragged out and devoured by the zombies. The instant the two trucks brushed past each other, the heavy smell of blood filled Gu Ning’s nostrils and made her stomach lurch.

At last, they broke out of the crowd of zombies and looked at those who were still hot in pursuit but were being left further and further behind. Gu Ning let off a few rounds of shots then rolled over to lay on her back on the roof of the truck. She felt weak and numb all over her body, there was a wind that didn’t have the rotten or bloody smell brushing past her face, lifting the tips of her golden hair. Gu Ning squinted at the blinding sun in the sky and smiled as if relieved.

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(T/N: Hurray! They escaped! Also thank you for reading. =) )

(Editor: De Vile)