Chapter 164

Chapter 164: The Door to Rebirth in the Apocalypse – Full Novel Website

Chapter 164

“Where are we going?” Director Zhong asked.

Xia Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that the car wasn’t heading towards the Capital City but rather back the way they had come.

“We’re turning around to find someone first, then heading to the Capital City. Any objections?” Zhuang Chen said while trimming her nails with a nail clipper, unaffected by the occasional bumps in the car or Yi Shaoqing, who had fallen asleep with his head on her shoulder.

Director Zhong smiled wryly, “Well, we’re already in your car. It’s too late to regret it now.”

Xia Yu was more straightforward, “Wherever you go, I go.” She munched on a bag of chips with relish. The back of the truck was stuffed with food, and Gu Ning had said they could eat as much as they wanted.

After driving for about two hours, Director Zhong asked to stop for a bathroom break.

After confirming there were no zombies nearby, Director Zhong disappeared into the bushes.

“This is great stuff! The captain really knows me,” Zhuang Chen said happily, holding the gun Gu Ning had given her. Yi Shaoqing’s gun had been handed to Director Zhong, and both had switched to the guns Gu Ning brought.

Now, all five members of the team were armed, significantly boosting their safety. Xia Yu didn’t mind that her gun was a hand-me-down from Zhuang Chen and couldn’t stop aiming it. Her marksmanship was limited to just pulling the trigger, something Yi Shaoqing had taught her after they left the base. Due to the scarcity of bullets, she hadn’t had much practice. Before this, her weapon had been a small axe about thirty centimeters long, which required her to get dangerously close to zombies to attack, risking being scratched or bitten. In a country where guns were strictly controlled, ordinary people rarely even got to see a real gun.

Yi Shaoqing also got out of the car, having slept for two hours and feeling stiff. He stretched and moved his stiff body. Everyone got out to stretch their legs. After Director Zhong finished, they got back in the car and continued on their way.

After another three hours of driving, they reached the spot where the Three-Linked Team had abandoned their two vehicles.

Over the past few days, a dozen or so zombies had gathered in the area, drawn by the sound of the car.

“Xia Yu, this is a great chance to practice your marksmanship,” Yi Shaoqing said, turning to Xia Yu in the back seat. He rolled down the window slightly, propped a flashlight on the barrel of his gun, and aimed through the gap. The beam and the gun barrel aligned perfectly with a zombie staggering towards them. The bullet hit the zombie right in the forehead, and it fell silently in the dark, only making a dull thud as it hit the ground.

“Let me try!” Xia Yu excitedly swapped places with Yi Shaoqing, mimicking his actions. She shone the flashlight out the window, aimed her gun at the zombie’s head, and pulled the trigger. The recoil numbed her hand, but the bullet hit, though only grazing the top of the zombie’s head, leaving a scorched blood trail without killing it.

Yi Shaoqing took the flashlight from her and shone it out again, signaling Xia Yu to keep shooting. Xia Yu clenched her hand, took a deep breath, aimed again, and pulled the trigger. This time, she was prepared, and the recoil was less severe. The zombie’s face now had a bullet hole, and it fell backward.

Xia Yu was thrilled.

Meanwhile, Gu Ning and Zhuang Chen had already gotten out of the car. Standing back-to-back, they fired in a semi-circular arc, each bullet exploding a zombie’s head in a spray of blood.

“Having unlimited bullets feels amazing! You have no idea how I’ve been living lately!” Zhuang Chen said while reloading her magazine. “The First Squad’s armory has enough bullets for us to waste. Next time, bring more. The captain will figure out how to explain it to the other me and Yi Shaoqing.” She chuckled at her own words. “Honestly, I’d love to see what the Zhuang Chen from that world is like.”

Gu Ning replied, “Don’t worry. She’s exactly like you.”

“She’s much luckier than me,” Zhuang Chen licked her dry upper lip. “I can’t even remember the last time I took a bath. I’d love to soak in a tub. Gu Ning, before you go back, I’ll give you a list. Bring everything on it next time you come!”

Gu Ning agreed readily, “No problem.”

“Don’t forget about me!” Yi Shaoqing hurriedly got out of the car. “I need a lot of things. Think of a way to get Number Two to help me out. He’ll definitely have a way.” Yi Shaoqing’s “Number Two” was the version of himself from the other world. “Just thinking about how Number Two lives every day makes me grind my teeth!” Yi Shaoqing couldn’t help but say. How could one person have such different fates?

Gu Ning looked at the two, somewhat helplessly.

“Is this the message they left for you?” Yi Shaoqing asked, shining a flashlight on the words “Tianmen Dutch Town” written on the bus window.

“Yes,” Gu Ning said.

“How do you know this is a message for you? Maybe someone just scribbled it randomly?” Yi Shaoqing moved the flashlight closer, staring at the words on the window for a while before saying, “Gu Ning, come look at this. Do you see it?”

Gu Ning leaned in, “What?”

“Look at these strokes. There are several breaks in the middle, clearly not due to lack of ink. That means these words were written while the car was moving,” Yi Shaoqing rubbed the writing as he analyzed. “When surrounded by zombies, anyone would panic. Their first thought would be how to escape, not leaving a message for you. Even if they thought of leaving a message, they would have done so after the car stopped. At that point, the car would be stationary, and even if written hastily, the strokes wouldn’t have such breaks.” He paused, then continued, “I bet Jiuze didn’t see these words, or he wouldn’t have missed this detail.” He straightened up, his expression somewhat resigned. “If I’m not mistaken, Gu Ning, you might have been completely misled by these words.”

Gu Ning instantly realized the fatal mistake she had made, her face turning pale.

Yi Shaoqing patted her shoulder reassuringly, “Don’t blame yourself too much. You were so worried about their safety at the time that you forgot to verify.”

“It’s like a drowning person grabbing at a straw. Who would think rationally about whether a straw could save them? Since this isn’t their message, it must be somewhere else. Let’s search carefully. It’s definitely nearby, and in a relatively obvious place.”

The five of them searched every corner of the bus and the truck but found no clues. Gu Ning led them to the back of the house where Wang Yang’s body still lay by the back door. They followed the road, checking both sides of the buildings for any possible clues. After chasing down two streets, they finally found something.

“It’s their clothes,” Gu Ning said, picking up a black men’s cotton jacket from the ground. She had personally purchased these clothes and remembered the general style. Three pieces of clothing were scattered on the ground, each about ten meters apart. The last one was at the entrance of an alley, where an iron gate lay overturned. Several zombies crowded the alley, which Xia Yu eagerly shot in the head. Beyond the alley was a backyard surrounded by walls, where more zombies roamed. They immediately charged at the group but were all shot down before they could get close.

“It looks like they climbed over here,” Zhuang Chen pointed to a large overturned water bucket by the wall.

Gu Ning was the first to climb over the wall, followed by the others.

“There must have been mutated zombies chasing them. They didn’t have time to leave many clues,” Yi Shaoqing said, shining his flashlight on a red child’s jacket on the ground. The clothes were arranged in an arrow shape, pointing in a direction. Yi Shaoqing said, “We need to turn back and get the car.”