Chapter 41: Successfully repairing the car
The purpose of their trip this time is not to scavenge for supplies or anything like that. Their only objective is to enter the garage and retrieve Long Zhanye"s vehicle, nothing too difficult.
The two of them, one leading in front and one guarding the rear slowly tread forward. Their surroundings are completely silent, not a sliver of sound can be heard. In charge of guarding both their backs, Huo Zaiyuan strains his five senses as far as they can go, discovering that each sense has become more sensitive. Ordinarily, the change is rather subtle. However, now that they are in a highly tensed situation, it becomes rather obvious.
What was originally a one-minute walk down to the garage takes the duo five minutes. Fortunately, nothing happened during this short journey.
The garage"s gate is designed to be pulled open by two people from the left and right. Compared to the one pulled up by the handle in the middle, it provides more security. The gate itself isn"t locked, and the bloodstains on the surface cause one to feel uncomfortable. A faint smell of blood wafts through the gap at the bottom, inducing nausea.
Long Zhanye gestures with his fingers, and Huo Zaiyuan aims his pistol at the garage, ready to open fire the moment anything leaps out. Slowly lifting the garage door by the handles, Long Zhanye feels a chill running down his spine, the small hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
Mental alarm bells ring in his head, warning him of danger.
Expression hardening, he applies more strength to his arms, shoving the gate up in one quick motion. Instantly, a greyish-green skinned hand covered in cracks and adorned with sharp, black fingernails strikes out at Long Zhanye.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
A slender finger pulls the trigger in rapid succession, the supressed pistol spitting out three bullets into the garage. Who knew what the bullets. .h.i.t, but it manages to force the hand to withdraw.
An arm circling around Huo Zaiyuan"s waist, Long Zhanye picks him up and retreats a few paces away from the garage.
Grr…grr…
Low roars emit from within the garage. Along with those sounds, a greyish-green, bloodied zombie emerges, all rotting flesh and turbid, yellow eyes. Once it catches sight of the pair of humans, it opens its jaws wide and lurches forth. However, its movements are not as stiff as other regular zombies.
Using the b.u.t.t of his rifle to smack away the two rotting hands making a grab for the duo, Long Zhanye levels the muzzle at the undead"s skull and pulls the trigger, only to discover that this one is unexpectedly different from the average zombie in terms of intelligence. Tilting its head to avoid the bullet, it pounces forward once more.
Huo Zaiyuan who was shielded by the taller man lifts his own pistol and squeezes the trigger three times, landing three consecutive shots in the zombie"s torso. Due to the penetrative force of the bullets, it was forced to retreat several steps.
Flipping the rifle in his hand, Long Zhanye pulls the trigger multiple times, sending bullet after bullet accurately towards its head, successfully blowing his target to bits. Headless, the corpse slumps down to the ground, unmoving.
Gazing at the motionless body, the two men glance at each other, both wearing the same flabbergasted look.
"Burn it."
"Un." Nodding his head, he produces a peach wood tile and drops it on the corpse, allowing golden flames to consume it. It didn"t take long for all traces of this peculiar zombie to vanish.
"Little Yuan, that zombie was a little strange."
Its speed was greater than the average one"s, its claws at least half a meter long, and above all, it knew how to dodge bullets…it truly appears that this apocalypse isn"t as simple as it seems on the surface.
Huo Zaiyuan voices his agreement, before freezing for a split-second as he stares at the spot the zombie"s corpse had been a moment earlier. "Older brother Long, take a look at this."
Picking up a bean-sized crystal with a pair of tongs, he holds it out to Long Zhanye.
From his memory, he recalls that all the crystals Huo Zaiyuan collected before were the size of sesame seeds, but this one is unmistakably many times bigger.
"Well, evidently, the strength of the zombies dictates the size of the crystal. The cause of that zombie being different from the others is due to this." Long Zhanye answers after pondering for a moment. "It seems we need to take better note of things like this in the future."
"But aren"t all the devil ants the size of sesame seeds? Could it be this particular one was a special case?" Huo Zaiyuan murmurs as he studies the crystal clamped between the tongs.
A devil ant the size of a red bean…
"Aha…what kind of logic is that?" Long Zhanye can"t help but chuckle, rubbing his head. "Didn"t you see the bodies of the other zombies? Every one of their skulls was clawed in. I reckon that is all the special zombie"s doing. It devoured the brains of its fellow undead, becoming stronger as the ants merge together in its head. This bean-size crystal is the resulting fusion of multiple ants."
"Okay, that"s a logical explanation. In other words, zombies can evolve too by eating each other!" Huo Zaiyuan pales drastically at that thought.
In his previous life, the him who fled from place to place during the apocalypse had met his fair share of zombies. During that time, the only thing he knew about the undead was they start off slow and stiff but as time pa.s.ses, their movements gradually become more agile, just like a living human. And the most recent zombie they killed clearly displayed such actions…being able to absorb another zombie"s crystal and strength. If in case amongst these evolved zombies, one decides to devour all the others like it, then wouldn"t that make the surviving one near invincible?
"That"s right, but don"t stress." Seeing Huo Zaiyuan"s ashen face, Long Zhanye is able to deduce what he is thinking.
"You are right. There"s no point in worrying." Huo Zaiyuan exhales faintly.
Ever since the apocalypse began, he realises that his emotions are becoming more and more volatile. No matter what he did, he can"t seem to revert back to the constant state of calm prior to the end of the world. Clearly, he needs to put more effort in cultivating.
"Go into the garage and let"s retrieve my car together with all the necessary tools and parts. We"ll head back to the second floor."
As every military base have a backup generator, one doesn"t have to worry about lacking electricity even if the entire district is overrun by zombies. Flicking on the lights in the garage, Huo Zaiyuan is met with shelves of tools and spare parts he has never seen before.
Although that zombie had been hiding in the garage, it apparently held zero interest towards anything within. Long Zhanye"s beloved Hummer is parked in the middle of the garage, its damaged front wheel already removed. It appears that the mechanic in charge of repairs wasn"t able to finish his job before Judgement Day arrived.
The Hummer H1 before him obviously differs from Huo Zaiyuan"s own, its frame more similar to heavy-duty off-road vehicles and painted in the same military camouflage colours as Long Zhanye"s attire. It looked very well-cared for, its owner noticeably putting a lot of thought in its modifications.
"Steel-plated frame, high collision resistance, bullet-proof, special gla.s.s for the windows so it wouldn"t shatter even if smashed as it contains extremely fine gold threads." Long Zhanye boasts as he pats his favourite car, expression c.o.c.ky.
Listening to list of modifications done to that Hummer, Huo Zaiyuan can"t help pouting as he curses the other silently.
As expected, military-grade items are extremely different. Say, can this ultimately be considered a Hummer or an armoured tank shaped like a car ah?
"Older brother Long, could you help me look through those spare parts and see if there"s anything suitable to use for the Hummer. If there is, pa.s.s it to me and I"ll keep them all." Huo Zaiyuan runs his fingers over the Hummer"s hood, transferring it into his s.p.a.ce in a flash of silver light.
The Hummer he bought from the black market and Long Zhanye"s heavily-modified one are their most precious means of transportation. Since this garage has so many spare parts and tools, then they will need to store them carefully in case they need it in the future.
In the end, Long Zhanye managed to uncover quite a few suitable parts and tools as well as several tens of special Hummer tires, handing them all off to Huo Zaiyuan to store in his s.p.a.ce. During the apocalypse, a car"s tires are extremely essential. Should they be damaged anytime during their journey, not being able to fix or change it will be very risky.
Mission accomplished, they return to the second floor"s canteen, not at all worried about meeting random zombies as the scattered arrays are powerful enough to protect them along the way. At the same time, they re-sealed the two doors at the end of the bridge in order to provide additional security.
The entire trip took most of the day, and by the time they trudge back to their temporary hideout, the sky has darkened. Moving most of the tables and benches into the next room, Huo Zaiyuan materialises Long Zhanye"s Hummer in the cleared area. While the soldier proceeds to repair his vehicle with spanner and screwdrivers, Huo Zaiyuan wanders into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Since they only had breakfast this morning and completely skipped lunch, his stomach is currently calling for food.
Entering his s.p.a.ce, he takes a look at the apple and pear tree he planted near the bamboo forest as an experiment before he left the rented house. In only a couple of days" time, both trees have grown to a few meters in height. Pleased by the results, Huo Zaiyuan makes a mental note to use the entire field as a plantation for various fruits and vegetables.
Hmm…he"ll need to ask older brother Long what kind of fruits and vegetables he likes.
(Author"s note: Oh my, little Yuan shou is such a wifey.)