Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 42

The group ran as fast as they could, but there were too many zombies crowding the streets and alleyways of Southern District One.

The mutant zombies were also fast. One in front and one behind, leading the low-level zombies to encircle them.

Only now did Lou Tiannan and the others get a clear look, that there were two black-eyed mutant zombies, accompanied by five or six red-eyed third-tier zombies.

“So many high-level zombies?!” Lu Jia shouted in shock.

“It looks like all the zombies in Southern District One are heading this way,” Zhou Yu said grimly.

They had been careless, underestimating the heightened sensory organs of high-level zombies, which were far more sensitive than those of low-level ones. They had spent an entire night in the densely infested Southern District One. It was especially risky given that, aside from Lin Bai, everyone in the group was an ability user. Zombies were drawn to ability users even more strongly.

The encirclement was tightening and the mutant zombies could no longer hold back. Their rotting mouths gaped wide as they hurled fireballs toward the group.

Lou Tiannan thrust out his palm, summoning a cluster of black flame to counter the attack. He quickly assigned roles, “I’ll handle the mutant zombies. You guys take care of the others.”

Even though they knew it wouldn’t be easy for Lou Tiannan to take on two mutant zombies alone, there was no time to hesitate. The real question was whether any of them would survive the attack at all.

Lou Tiannan launched himself forward first. He didn’t even need to deliberately draw the mutant zombies’ attention. Among the six of them, his ability energy was the strongest and he had already become their primary target, along with the third-tier zombies.

Zhou Yu and Lu Jia took advantage of the moment to engage the third-tier zombies, helping to ease the pressure on Lou Tiannan.

Song Yan stood in front of Xi Ya with a machine gun, trying her best to protect the child. Xi Ya’s fire ability had improved over time and together, their combination of suppressing gunfire and fire attacks was enough to hold off the low-level zombies.

Lin Bai, on the other hand, had her eyes set on the third-tier zombies, as killing them meant getting crystal cores.

Zhou Yu and Lu Jia coordinated seamlessly, swinging chains and propping up wooden planks to restrict the movements of the third-tier zombies. Lin Bai leaped onto the shoulders of a zombie, propelling herself into the air as she hurled her black blade.

Her aim was precise. Even as the zombie’s head swayed back and forth, the blade seemed almost sentient. Without the slightest deviation, it embedded itself straight into the zombie’s eye with a sharp crack. The zombie let out a piercing screech!

The black blade penetrated through the eye, its tip bursting out from the back of the zombie’s skull. A third-tier zombie collapsed to the ground.

As Lin Bai landed, she drew her pistol from her waist and went bang, bang, bang, bang! A rapid volley of shots struck down approaching zombies, clearing a space for her. Without missing a beat, she yanked the black blade from the fallen zombie’s eye while her other hand reached into its skull. In the blink of an eye, she had already retreated beyond the zombies’ attack range.

The entire sequence of movements was seamless and lightning-fast.

Even though Zhou Yu and Lu Jia had already witnessed Lin Bai’s combat prowess before, they couldn’t help but be amazed. Her efficiency was simply unmatched and they wouldn’t be able to replicate it themselves.

Boom!

A fireball exploded nearby. It was Lou Tiannan, locked in combat with the two mutant zombies. One had fire-based abilities, while the other had yet to reveal any powers. However, it was noticeably larger than all the other zombies. Its sheer strength and speed were overwhelming, and beneath its decayed flesh, its bones were thick and massive. Tall and hulking, it was like the Godzilla of the zombie world.

One punch from it left a crater in the wall. Even when Lou Tiannan delivered a powerful kick squarely to its body, it only staggered back half a step. However, Lou Tiannan’s exceptional dynamic vision caught something. At the instant his foot struck the Godzilla-like zombie, its chest momentarily transformed into a stone-like texture.

The zombie’s ability was similar to Song Yan’s. It was an internalized ability; a defensive enhancement.

Zhou Yu barely had time to catch his breath before he spotted a third-tier zombie attempting to ambush Lou Tiannan. Reacting quickly, he lashed out with his chain, yanking the zombie back.

The battle raged on.

The sounds of machine gun fire, explosions, and the clash of abilities filled the air in a relentless symphony of combat. Zombies were continuously cut down, their brains splattering, severed limbs and shattered bones littering the ground.

But zombies felt no fear. They had no emotions.

All they had was their most primal hunger.

The ability users were like an irresistible beacon, driving the horde into an uncontrollable frenzy as they surged forward, claws bared and teeth gnashing.

Lin Bai’s eyes darted around, searching for a way out. With just the six of them, the chances of fighting their way through were extremely slim, unless there were six Lou Tiannans with them. In a fraction of a second, she found an opening and slipped into the zombie horde.

Since Lin Bai had no scent of living flesh and blood, the zombies ignored her.

The first to falter was Xi Ya. Her ability was nearly depleted. Although she had a gun, she was too young and lacked proper training, making it difficult for her to control it effectively.

Song Yan had to protect Xi Ya, which made things difficult for her, but soon Zhou Yu directed a suppressive attack their way, easing some of the pressure on her.

Not far away, Lou Tiannan clenched his fingers into a fist, black flame engulfing it as he struck the Godzilla zombie repeatedly!

A punch to the left cheek, another to the right; each strike was fast, fierce, and precise. Before the zombie could react, he followed up with a powerful kick to its jaw, finishing with a black fire-infused fireball exploding against its face.

Any ordinary person would have died at least five times over from that onslaught. But the Godzilla zombie was different. It shook its head and still managed to stay upright. Its resilience was beyond imagination, but at least it gave Lou Tiannan a moment to catch his breath.

Lou Tiannan quickly glanced toward his teammates.

Song Yan’s hands were bleeding from the machine gun’s recoil, her face and body covered in blood from who knows where. Zhou Yu’s hands, gripping the iron chain, were stained with blood. Lu Jia was even worse; he looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water, drenched in sweat, his lips pale as paper from overusing his ability.

Lin Bai…

Where was Lin Bai?

Lou Tiannan scanned the area frantically, his heart skipping a beat. Where had Lin Bai gone?

There was no time to think. The Godzilla zombie and the fire-ability zombie launched another joint attack on him.

Meanwhile, a third-tier zombie, seemingly enraged, leaped toward Zhou Yu, who was in the middle of restraining another zombie. It raised its claws and slashed downward with immense force!

“Brother Yu!” Lu Jia desperately swung his wooden rope to stop the third-tier zombie but his ability was completely drained and he had no energy left.

At the critical moment, Song Yan flashed in front of Zhou Yu. The zombie’s claws raked across her shoulder but only grasped empty air.

Her entire shoulder had transformed into sand.

She spun around and delivered a fierce kick to the zombie’s chest before raising her gun and firing straight at its eyes.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The third-tier zombie staggered backward under the gunfire, but no relief showed on their faces. Behind the third-tier zombie, an even larger horde was closing in and their own ability energy was nearly depleted.

Vroom! Vroom!

The roar of an engine suddenly echoed through the battlefield.

The exhausted group instinctively looked up, stunned.

Just as Song Yan was about to collapse from exhaustion, she spotted Lin Bai driving a car through the zombie horde.

No one knew when Lin Bai had left.

And no one knew how she had broken through the encirclement to find that vehicle.

But the sight of the speeding car brought a glimmer of hope to their eyes.

Lin Bai drove straight over the zombies in front of the car. As she approached the group, she neither stopped nor even slowed down. Instead, she gestured through the window while the wheels kept tearing forward at high speed. Just as she executed a sharp drift and skidded to a stop in front of them, Zhou Yu seized the moment, using the last of his ability to pull open the car door and climb in with Xi Ya.

Without hesitation, he threw out his iron chain to pull Lu Jia and Song Yan into the car.

The vehicle charged through the zombie horde, the interior filled only with the sound of heavy breathing. Their bodies were completely drained of energy.

Soon, their eyes locked on Lou Tiannan, who was still locked in battle with the two ability zombies.

Lin Bai gunned the car toward Lou Tiannan.

Noticing the movement, the fire-ability zombie hurled a massive fireball at them.

As it grew closer, the fireball loomed larger and larger in their vision. Their pupils instinctively contracted in fear, except for Lin Bai, who remained calm, her hands and feet moving with lightning speed.

With remarkable composure, she yanked the steering wheel, slammed the brakes to briefly stall the car, and then stomped the accelerator. The speedometer needle shot up, the electronic dashboard flickering too fast to read the numbers.

Under Lin Bai’s expert control, the high-performance vehicle executed a 120-degree turn. After a split-second pause, it launched forward like an arrow. The fireball grazed the trunk and exploded just behind them, sending a shockwave that nearly flipped the car over. Fortunately, the vehicle’s reinforced chassis held strong.

Inside the car, the four passengers, who weren’t wearing seat belts, were tossed around like they were on a roller coaster, their bodies completely out of their control.

“Can I throw up?” Xi Ya whispered, covering her mouth.

Zhou Yu barely held himself together. “Hold it in.”

The windshield was completely splattered with zombie blood, making it impossible to see. The wipers jammed, unable to move.

At that moment, Zhou Yu saw Lin Bai steering with one hand while reaching into her pocket with the other. She pulled out a grenade and bit off the safety pin.

The scene looked oddly familiar…

But this time, Lin Bai didn’t stop. After pulling the pin, she rolled down the window and casually tossed the grenade into the mouth of a ‘lucky’ zombie.

The zombie, oblivious, was focused only on the tantalizing vehicle speeding past. It instinctively joined the horde in pursuit, chewing absentmindedly on the object in its mouth.

Boom!

Because of the close distance, Song Yan and the others could clearly hear the sound of zombie limbs splattering against the car.

For a moment, the road ahead was clear. Lin Bai immediately pressed the window button and called out, “Lou Tiannan, two o’clock direction. Get on the roof!”

Without waiting for a response, she rolled up the window and floored the gas, swerving toward the eleven o’clock direction.

As expected, the fire-ability zombie launched another massive fireball at the car. But the moment it attacked, Lin Bai turned the steering wheel, veering toward two o’clock, leaving the fireball to smash uselessly into the empty space at eleven o’clock.

Prepared for this, Lou Tiannan stepped on the Godzilla zombie’s head and launched himself into the air, leaping toward the speeding car.

For a split second, time seemed to slow. The car hurtling through the zombie-infested streets and Lou Tiannan soaring through the air, everything moved in perfect synchrony.

The moment Lou Tiannan’s feet touched the roof, the car shot forward down the street.

Behind them, a dense tide of zombies gave chase.

Leading the horde were the two ability zombies.

Lin Bai opened the sunroof and Lou Tiannan dropped into the backseat.

“There’s a gas station two kilometers ahead,” Lin Bai said, staring at the blood-smeared windshield without blinking.

Lou Tiannan immediately understood her intent. “Got it. I’ll time it right.”

Having just finished the battle, Lou Tiannan was still radiating intense heat from his ability. Without looking back, Lin Bai said, “Come to the front passenger seat.”

She didn’t specify who she was talking to, but everyone knew.

At first, Lou Tiannan didn’t think much of it. He climbed into the front seat and had barely settled when Lin Bai spoke again.

“Put your hand on my arm.”

Lou Tiannan: “?”

Though confused, he complied.

The moment his scorching palm, separated only by fabric, made contact with her cool arm, both of them felt instant relief.

The gas station sign was now visible in the distance. They would reach it in under a minute. No, to be precise, in forty-five seconds.

But the ability zombies were closing in fast. They were less than twenty meters from the car’s rear and the gap was shrinking.

“They’re too close,” Lou Tiannan said, glancing at the rear window.

At this distance, even if they blew up the gas station, they would still be in danger.

“Lou Tiannan.”

Lin Bai kept her eyes on the gas station sign ahead, pressing the accelerator harder.

Lou Tiannan looked at her but heard nothing more. Thinking he had imagined it, he refocused on the gap between the zombies and the car.

As the vehicle sped through the gas station, the embers trailing from its body triggered the station’s automatic fire suppression system. A thick layer of ammonium phosphate dry powder sprayed over the car, covering its exterior in white.

The gas station was huge but in just two seconds, the car had passed through.

The moment the rear of the vehicle cleared the station, Lou Tiannan rolled down the window. He watched as the massive horde of zombies, led by the ability zombies, flooded into the gas station. The instant they were within range, he hurled a blast of black flame toward the fuel pipes.

Even though the station was blanketed in white powder, it didn’t hinder his aim.

The scorching black fire instantly burned through the fuel line. As soon as the fires touched the oil inside, they ignited. The fire suppression system detected the blaze and released more dry powder, but it was useless against the black flame. The fire spread uncontrollably.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds…

Just as the majority of the zombies had entered the gas station and just as the ability zombies were about to leave—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The underground fuel tanks, more than ten in total, detonated in a chain reaction under the extreme heat and pressure, unleashing a series of massive explosions.

The zombie horde at the center of the gas station explosion was completely engulfed in raging fires.

However, the massive fireball from the explosion showed no mercy and surged toward them as well. The windows rolled up and Lou Tiannan turned to look at Lin Bai. Amid the deafening roar of the blast, he could clearly hear her calm voice, “We will survive.”