Chapter 796: Chapter 781: Curiosity (5)
Given the current state of supplies in the villa, wanting to go all out with the celebration was obviously unrealistic.
After all, it’s not like having a holiday can magically solve all their problems. Everyone still had to live day by day, and no matter how hard things were, the holiday still had to be celebrated.
Even though it was the apocalypse, even though human civilization was gradually disappearing, Old Xu still hoped that this little family of theirs—who had gone through all kinds of hardships and only managed to gather together and survive till now with great difficulty—could continue to carry on some human traditions.
Of course, it wasn’t that Old Xu wanted to play the saint. He was doing this simply because he hoped the people in the villa could have a bit more comfort and happiness.
So Old Xu weighed things out and decided that while a big event was unlikely, they could at least manage a celebratory meal, and everyone really did need to relax their nerves a bit: "Alright, let’s set it for New Year’s Day night. We’ll all have a dinner together. Let Wei Yang handle the arrangements for this."
Old Xu’s idea coincided perfectly with Lin Junfu’s. The latter also felt that as the start of the new year, New Year’s Day absolutely deserved to be celebrated.
This wasn’t just about how Chinese people value traditional festivals, it was also about whether they could get everyone to adopt a more optimistic attitude toward the current situation.
One incident after another had left everyone in the villa under constant pressure and tension. That ongoing instability had more or less planted a bit of uncertainty about the future in their hearts.
So Old Lin pushing hard for a celebration at this moment was definitely not just about helping everyone relax and de-stress. He was sending the group a message: that whatever problems or difficulties they were facing now would be properly resolved through their united effort. They would definitely be able to live a relatively comfortable life.
Wang Zhongyu drove his repaired container truck forward at a slow pace. The main reason he was going so slowly was his unfamiliarity with the town’s roads.
He had to stop the truck from time to time to carefully check the hand-drawn map, to confirm their direction and avoid going off course due to excessive speed and getting themselves lost.
"Hey, Little Wang, you better look carefully—are we actually on the right road?" Seeing Wang Zhongyu keep stopping the truck to look at the map, Wen Quanxin couldn’t help feeling suspicious. He was worried that since Wang Zhongyu wasn’t familiar with the roads, he might screw up and accidentally drive straight into a Zombies encirclement. That would be a huge problem.
Wang Zhongyu didn’t get angry at his doubts. He kept his eyes on the road ahead, driving according to his own plan, and calmly shot back, "Heh, relax. My IQ is right there for everyone to see, I’m not gonna mess up. It’s you... bro, talk less, rest your nerves. As long as you don’t distract me, I guarantee nothing will go wrong, haha."
Left speechless, Wen Quanxin could only sulkily turn his gaze to the window, grumbling in his heart: Don’t act tough. Act tough, get struck by lightning.
The container truck kept moving steadily forward, and before long, Wen and Wang inside the cab could clearly hear the low growling of Zombies. The appearance of those roars meant the truck was heading in the right direction—they were getting closer and closer to the exit of the town.
Watching the towering flames grow ever brighter, Wang Zhongyu warned seriously, "Wen, hold on tight and sit steady. I’m about to start speeding up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Quanxin felt the container truck suddenly tilt forward a bit, then the engine roared and the speed shot up.
Wang Zhongyu knew perfectly well that once they picked up speed, it was basically the same as sounding the horn for battle. Even without him calling them out, the nearby Zombies would definitely be drawn over by the thunderous noise of him flooring the gas.
The container truck was, after all, not some high-end sports car. Its cheap design meant both its safety and stability dropped sharply at high speed. Wen Quanxin felt like he was sitting on a plane being buffeted by air currents, swaying from side to side. He instinctively grabbed onto the handle on the roof to lessen the feeling of shaking.
As expected, the first Zombie finally appeared in front of the container truck. Under the illumination of Wang Zhongyu’s makeshift headlights, it looked extremely eerie.
There was nothing to say to these beasts. Wang Zhongyu gripped the steering wheel tight and drove straight into it.
"Bang!" With a muffled thud, that unlucky bastard was sent flying by the container truck, which had its horsepower cranked to the max.
But being knocked away didn’t equal being eliminated. If you didn’t destroy these creatures’ heads, they would resurrect right where they stood, with full HP, indefinitely—like they were running around with cheat codes on, ridiculously overpowered.
Wang Zhongyu was very familiar with this trait of Zombies, but now was not the time to worry about kill efficiency. As long as they could successfully break through the Zombies’ encirclement, everything else was secondary.
Soon, the Zombie that had been knocked flying rejoined the battle to besiege the container truck. Together with five newly arrived Zombies, it waved its arms wildly and charged at the truck with zero fear, actually excited.
Flesh versus sheet metal—the outcome was obvious. Wen Quanxin only felt the truck body shake a few times, and then nothing else.
It seemed that the modifications Wang Zhongyu had made to the front lower bumper were doing their job. At least he didn’t feel as obviously uncomfortable as last time.
But Wen Quanxin was feeling relieved too soon. Those six Zombies in succession were just the appetizers; the real feast was already waiting ahead of them after Wang Zhongyu made a left turn.
By the light of the headlamps, Wang Zhongyu didn’t even have time to be shocked by the number of Zombies before the speeding container truck was already engaging this wave of walkers. The crunching of bodies under the tires, the impacts—noises overlapped nonstop. After paying the price of having the left headlamp completely destroyed, they managed to break through this organized blockade by the Zombies.
But the speed of the Zombies’ reaction far exceeded Wang Zhongyu’s expectations. According to what he had observed earlier from the balcony on the rooftop, even though this route would encounter Zombies, it shouldn’t be happening this fast and this frequently.
Reality, however, is always that unpredictable. Zombies definitely weren’t going to retreat just because you were surprised, so since they’d run into them, they could only grit their teeth and push on.
"Wen Quanxin, sit tight! Turn on the big light." Wang Zhongyu shouted a warning, and had Wen Quanxin switch on the flashlight to make up for the missing illumination from the destroyed left headlamp.
Even without Wang Zhongyu’s reminder, Wen Quanxin understood that the most dangerous moment had arrived. Either they successfully broke through this wave of Zombies and continued their path to escape—
Or they would die here, swallowed by the sea of corpses, not even leaving a whole body behind.
At any time, one or two Zombies alone were nothing to be afraid of, but once these creatures appeared in formation, in large numbers, their attack power and destructive force would increase geometrically, making them nearly impossible to deal with.
Right now, Wang Zhongyu felt his scalp go numb. The repeated collisions were torturous even for a veteran driver like him. The seatbelt’s protective effect was on full display; without that strap holding him in place, forget about escaping successfully—Wang Zhongyu probably wouldn’t even be able to hold the wheel properly at this point. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
