Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Escape Plan (Part 5)
Facing the door, everyone filed out one after another.
As soon as they stepped out of the hallway, King Tang and the others instinctively looked toward the distance.
Less than a hundred meters away, a dense group of zombies gathered, forming a daunting and terrifying mass.
Undoubtedly, the man they were searching for was nowhere to be seen, likely facing grim prospects...
Understanding that now was not the time for sentimentality, Tang Xiaoquan took the lead and pulled a baseball bat from his bag, then loudly shouted: "Acheng, Qiang, for Brother Du, we have to fight our way out alive. Let’s go!"
The baseball bat was like an extended club, and any zombies attempting to approach were struck down mercilessly.
Tang Xiaoquan was at the forefront with a clear goal: to reduce the threat zombies posed to Acheng behind him as swiftly as possible.
Thus, rather than using a sharp spear to pierce the zombies one by one, the method of swinging the clumsy bat was clearly more efficient.
Seeing his brother switch weapons and achieve good results, Wang Qiang naturally drew the bat strapped to his backpack.
They swung, brandished, jabbed, and thrust as best they could to protect Acheng, swiftly maneuvering through scattered groups of zombies.
Finally, through their frantic sprint, they successfully reached their escape point, next to the van.
"Quick, Acheng, open the door, start the car!" Tang Xiaoquan panted heavily, very clearly showing how little exercise he usually got, and he was worn to the point of wishing he were dead from that last hundred-meter dash.
Acheng nodded assuredly, his face stiff like a clay statue, his right hand trembling uncontrollably due to tension, and only after about five or six attempts did he successfully insert the key into the lock.
However, guarding and advancing are different; in movement, survivors can easily shake off zombie pursuit.
Guarding, however, involves staying put, making it easy to be surrounded and devoured by zombies.
Such as for King Tang and the two others, caught in a predicament of being encircled.
Though only a few seconds passed, five or six zombies had already gathered.
Thankfully, they moved slowly and lacked coordination, so Tang Xiaoquan and Wang Qiang didn’t have much trouble knocking them down one by one.
Time flew by, and with the sound of metal scraping, Acheng finally got into the driver’s seat.
Considering past experiences, this should be his fourth time handling a vehicle, and the tension was palpable.
Hands still shaking nervously around the lock, the pressure of holding everyone’s lives at stake was suffocating for Acheng.
Sweat dripped meticulously, like a steady stream, continuously.
When the key was successfully inserted, Acheng felt as if he was about to collapse.
"Acheng! How are you? Hurry up! I can’t hold on much longer!" Wang Qiang yelled, his anxious tone revealing that the increasing number of zombies was overwhelming him.
Tang Xiaoquan also struggled to maintain his stance, his arms waving, growing slower and slower due to exhaustion.
Acheng instinctively glanced at his companions on either side of the car door, and when the staggering mass of zombies reflected in his eyes, his panic skyrocketed a multitude.
The situation had clearly reached a point of no return, and Acheng silently prayed before forcefully turning the key.
"Puchichi~" The engine roared to life...
If you were to ask Wang and Tang what the most beautiful sound in the world is, they would undoubtedly tell you it was this moment’s "buzzing".
Swinging the bat to knock down the approaching zombies, Tang Xiaoquan slipped into the passenger seat.
Just as he got in, Wang Qiang also ducked into the car.
"Drive, Acheng!" Due to severe exhaustion, Tang Xiaoquan shouted, but to others, it sounded like a deflated balloon, utterly weak.
Acheng nodded woodenly, then raised his foot to press the clutch, his right hand swiftly pushing first gear, releasing the handbrake, then the clutch, finally stomping the accelerator with all his might.
"Zizi-" The gears quickly spun, the grating sound of the engine causing Wang Qiang in the back seat to instinctively cover his ears: "****, what’s going on? Is the car broken?"
The car was not broken at all; the real cause was Acheng’s excessive tension.
One must know, with a manual transmission car, after strongly pressing the gas, the gears must be gradually adjusted, otherwise, such dragging phenomena will occur.
But Acheng, in his panicked state, clearly forgot this, still firmly pressing the accelerator, unaware of the car’s abnormality.
He desperately wanted to drive through the zombie blockade, but at the current pace of first gear, less than 20 mph, how could he possibly...
Soon, the car was surrounded by zombies.
They slapped, clawed, thrashed, crashed, in summary, they tried their utmost to breach the metal barricade to devour the delectable meal within.
"Roar~"
Listening to the roaring zombies at such close range surely felt like plunging into hell.
Acheng felt every pore on his body contracting fiercely, goosebumps forming like tightly fitting armor over him.
"Hey, Acheng! Hey~" As Tang Xiaoquan gradually regained breath, he too realized the car’s anomaly, immediately shouting at Acheng beside him without delay: "Acheng, think of something! If this continues, we’ll truly be trapped!"
Regretting the wasted golden summer days on gaming, if only he had spent time learning to drive back then, how would...
Sadly there’s no remedy for regret, so he had no choice but to entrust his life in another’s hands.
Acheng’s eyes widened, his trembling hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, as if it were a lifeline, letting go would plunge him into irrecoverable doom.
Wang Qiang really couldn’t hold back anymore at such a critical moment of life and death, he disregarded all else, reaching to slap the back of Acheng’s head in frustration: "Wake up, dammit! Remember what Brother Du said? Live like a man!"
"Live like a man!" These words struck hard like a thunderbolt in his heart, causing Acheng to shudder, instinctively glancing at the rearview mirror above.
Seeing the distant figure that had long disappeared, his timid eyes suddenly sharpened, and vivid red color gradually filled his whites!
"You beasts! You all will die!"
...