Boom…

  A loud, muffled thud echoed through the vehicle, followed by a violent jolt that sent everyone inside tumbling. The girls shrieked in fright, their faces pale as they turned to look at Bai Ru, who was gripping the steering wheel tightly.

  “It’s fine! Just two zombies in the middle of the road,” Bai Ru reassured them in a shaky voice, though her own hands were trembling. She hadn’t expected two undead to suddenly appear right in front of them. But with this damn weather, visibility beyond two or three meters was practically nonexistent.

  At the back of the vehicle, Old Hu had also noticed a rge smear of bck liquid spttered across the windshield—a grim reminder of their collision. A shiver ran down his spine. If Lin Tao had taken his advice and driven the Mercedes G55 instead, there was no way that car would still be running after an impact like this.

  Sitting with his rifle clutched tightly, Old Hu found his thoughts in disarray. The death of Xiaohua had left a deep shadow over him. Even the sight of the girls’ alluring figures—once a tempting distraction—now felt meaningless. What did it matter if every woman in the car willingly threw themselves at him? One lone zombie outside could easily end his life. Was he really going to die here, clinging to some fleeting, carnal fantasy?

  The atmosphere inside the vehicle was stifling. It felt like the weight of impending doom pressed down on them all. With the engine’s noise filtering into the background, the only thing anyone could hear was their own pounding heartbeat.

  Then, unexpectedly, the howling wind outside began to die down. The harsh sound of sand scraping against the vehicle faded, and even the ctter of rger debris striking the metal frame grew fainter. Just as the tension began to ease, the entire transport truck lurched forward in an abrupt emergency stop.

  Crash!

  The sudden inertia flung everyone forward in a chaotic tangle of limbs.

  “Oh my God… Lin… Lin Ye, get up!”

  The panicked cry came from Cao Mei in the front passenger seat. Her forehead had smmed against the dashboard, leaving a swollen lump, but she barely noticed the pain. Instead, she clutched at her forehead and stared in abject horror through the windshield. Her face was deathly pale, her trembling lips struggling to form words.

  Lin Tao groaned as he scrambled up from the pile of bodies, pushing himself off Jiao Jiao. He followed Bai Ru and Cao Mei’s frozen gazes and immediately felt his stomach drop.

  The road ahead was flooded with a dense horde of undead.

  At a gnce, there had to be at least a thousand of them—mindless, rotting figures wandering aimlessly, occasionally letting out hoarse, guttural wails.

  The sudden arrival of the transport truck was like tossing a sb of fresh meat into a starving wolf pack. At first, the creatures hesitated, their decayed brains sluggish in processing the disturbance. But mere seconds ter, a wave of feral excitement spread through the horde.

  A deafening chorus of shrieks erupted as the undead lunged toward the vehicle. The nearest ones cwed at the metal frame, their hardened, skeletal fingers screeching against the surface in a grating, ear-piercing cacophony.

  Inside the truck, the girls screamed in terror.

  “What the hell are you waiting for?! Reverse the damn truck!” Lin Tao’s voice was sharp with urgency.

  “I… I can’t! We’re surrounded!” Bai Ru’s voice trembled as she gripped the steering wheel, her eyes locked on the rearview mirror. It reflected a nightmare—another dense mass of zombies closing in from behind.

  Lin Tao swore under his breath and gnced at the mirror himself. The scene behind them was just as hopeless as the one ahead. He had no time to question how Bai Ru had driven them straight into this death trap. Instead, he grabbed her by the arm, yanked her aside, and threw himself into the driver’s seat.

  Shoving the gear into drive, he stomped on the gas pedal.

  VROOOOM!

  The 28-liter diesel engine roared like a raging beast, and the armored transport truck surged forward, plowing into the horde like a battering ram.

  The impact sent zombies flying like ragdolls, their brittle bodies shattering upon collision. Limbs twisted, heads snapped, and bckened flesh spttered across the windshield. But the undead were not creatures of pain or fear. They had no sense of self-preservation—only an insatiable hunger. Even those reduced to crawling torsos continued to drag themselves toward the truck, grasping blindly with whatever remained of their limbs.

  They were tragic echoes of humanity, mindless husks driven by a singur instinct. But their sheer numbers made them monstrous.

  Wave after wave of corpses pressed against the truck, swallowing it in a suffocating tide of rotting flesh. Though the vehicle weighed nearly three tons, even its powerful engine struggled against the relentless swarm. The wheels spun uselessly, slick with gore, as the vehicle lurched to a halt.

  Lin Tao gritted his teeth, his forehead beaded with sweat. Behind him, the girls clung to each other, too terrified to even scream anymore. Their faces were ashen, their bodies trembling violently.

  The truck shuddered under the weight of the horde. Even at five thousand RPMs, the wheels couldn’t find purchase. Lin Tao knew that if they remained trapped, it was only a matter of time before they were completely overwhelmed.

  They were running out of options.

  With a frustrated growl, he smmed the gear into reverse.

  CRUNCH!

  The transmission groaned in protest as the truck jerked backward, crushing several zombies under its massive tires. But the effort was futile—after barely three meters, the vehicle came to another grinding stop.

  The undead had them completely surrounded.

  A thick, putrid stench filled the cabin. It was the unmistakable scent of death, seeping through the reinforced gss and armored pting. The moans and screeches outside cwed at their sanity. It was a sound that could break even the strongest will.

  They were trapped.

  The reality hit them all at once. A heavy, suffocating despair settled over the group. The undead were mere inches away, cwing, pounding, gnashing their rotting teeth against the gss. Though the truck’s armor held for now, they all knew the truth—there was no escape.

  If the zombies didn’t tear them apart, starvation would cim them instead.

  Lin Tao exhaled slowly and loosened his grip on the wheel. A storm of frustration and helplessness churned inside him. With a sudden burst of anger, he smmed his fist against the dashboard.

  He turned to face the terrified group behind him.

  There were over a dozen of them—young, frightened, and desperately clinging to hope. Even now, as their bodies trembled with fear, none of them dared to scream or wail.

  None of them wanted to accept that this was the end.

  “Lin Ye… is there nothing we can do?” Cao Mei’s voice was barely above a whisper. She and Bai Ru huddled together, their hopeful eyes searching his face for any sign of salvation.

  The relentless pounding on the truck’s armor continued, a sickening reminder of their grim fate.

  Lin Tao scanned the terrified faces before him, his voice low and bitter.

  “I’ve done everything I can.”

  The moment those words left his lips, the st remnants of hope shattered.

  The girls broke down in sobs, but none of them bmed him. They had chosen this path themselves. They knew the risks. They just never thought the end would come so soon.

  “No… no, we can’t die here,” Old Hu muttered, his voice rising to a near hysterical pitch. He stood abruptly, waving his arms. “We’ve survived for so long! We’re not going to die today! There’s still a chance, right? Lin Tao, you have a pn—don’t you?!”

  Lin Tao let out a bitter ugh and shook his head.

  “All we can do now,” he murmured, lighting a cigarette, “is pray for a miracle.”