In reality, Wang Zhi knew they shouldn't travel at night, but given the doctor they had rescued, no one knew how long she could hold out. He certainly didn't want to travel all this way only to find a Zombie doctor upon arrival.
On the detour route heading north, Wang Zhi and his three companions encountered no obstacles. After Old He drove for half an hour, they had circled from the North Ring Road to the East Ring Road in the east.
On the road from the East Ring toward their destination, the traffic gradually increased, and so did the number of Zombies on the road. Some moved so fast they could even jump onto the vehicle.
Wang Zhi looked at the map in his hand. Ahead was a large bridge, over 1,000 meters long. If nothing unexpected happened, the bridge must already be jammed with cars.
"Stop the car! There's a bridge ahead. We'll wait until dawn to cross," Wang Zhi instructed.
Old He parked the car two kilometers before the bridge. A faint drizzle had started outside, slowly wetting the car windows.
Wang Zhi took out four cans of beef and handed them to the other three.
"Eat something first."
Wang Zhi ate the canned food in his hand while cautiously scanning their surroundings.
At six o'clock, as daylight began to break, Wang Zhi and the other three got out of the car. The surrounding visibility was now clear. After walking for two kilometers on foot, Wang Zhi could see the entrance to the large bridge. This bridge was the very one leading into City M. Crossing it would mean officially entering City M.
Wang Zhi looked at the scene on the bridge through the binoculars. As expected, from the head to the end of the bridge, it was completely jammed with scrapped vehicles. Between the gaps of the cars, countless Zombies were swaying aimlessly.
To reach City M, they had to fight their way across this bridge.
"It looks like we're in for a tough fight," Old He said, lowering his binoculars.
"In a moment, the three of us will shoot the Zombies on the bridge. Liuli, you'll be responsible for eliminating any Zombies attracted from the surroundings. Any problem?"
Jia Liuli shook her head, indicating there was no issue.
"Good, let's go,"
After Wang Zhi spoke, he took a step and walked toward the bridge entrance.
Getting closer to the bridgehead, Wang Zhi's hand trembled slightly. This was the first time he had to face so many Zombies. A rough count showed at least 500 Zombies on the bridge. He knew that once the first shot rang out, all those Zombies would swarm forward. Lacking much practical combat experience, he was now engaged in an intense psychological battle.
After the four found suitable positions, they exchanged glances. Once confirmed, Old He fired the first shot!
*Puff, puff, puff!* Wang Zhi immediately raised his rifle and began shooting the Zombies on the bridge. The rifle was also equipped with a silencer, so the gunshots weren't too loud, but the bullets hitting the vehicles created sounds of metal colliding against metal.
In an instant, all the Zombies on the bridge were alerted, emitting bursts of low growls in the silent Dawn, making one's spine tingle. All the Zombies began swarming over the vehicles towards Wang Zhi's position.
"Keep shooting, quickly!" Old He had underestimated the speed of the Zombies. The three of them had fired through their entire magazines—only 90 rounds total—with perhaps 40 effective shots. The rate of elimination was far slower than the Zombies' advance.
On both flanks, more than a dozen Zombies also rushed over, but they were all dealt with by Jia Liuli. At this moment, Wang Zhi and the others did not have time to worry about the Zombies on the sides.
Seeing that the Zombies ahead were increasing in number, and realizing the situation was turning bad, they knew this level of firepower wouldn't hold out for long.
"Use the grenades!"
Saying this, Wang Zhi pulled out a High-Explosive Grenade and threw it toward the center of the horde ahead.
Boom! A series of explosions erupted from the East Bridge of City M. The sound of the grenade and the subsequent car explosions echoed throughout the entire eastern district.
Inside a room in the Research Institute.
"Was that an explosion? Are there still living people out there?"
"How about we go up to the Rooftop to take a look?"
"What good would looking do? Everyone is struggling to save themselves. Maybe they're already dead; are you still hoping they'll come save us?"
"That's true. We haven't had food or water for two days. We probably won't last much longer either. Sigh!"
"Dr. Yang, wake up, wake up."
Yang Liu heard someone calling her and pushed herself up from the floor. "What is it, Xiao Qi?"
"Dr. Yang, are you alright? You didn't look very well."
"Ah, I'm just a bit dehydrated, I'm fine."
Xiao Qi lowered his head in thought for a moment, then spoke up to the others, "Why don't we go out and find some supplies? If this continues, we will all die."
When Xiao Qi finished speaking, everyone lowered their heads in silence; no one dared to speak.
Xiao Qi became furious seeing their attitude: "What is wrong with you all? If Dr. Yang hadn't taken us in and shared her food, we would have died long ago. Now Dr. Yang is dehydrated and near collapse, and you just sit here doing nothing?"
"Xiao Qi, you know as well as we do that it's crawling with Zombies outside. Going out is just asking to die, isn't it?" said a man in his forties from the crowd.
"Old Liu, do you think we can survive just hiding here? If you won't go, I'll go alone!" After speaking, Xiao Qi grabbed the steel pipe from the floor and marched out.
"Xiao... Xiao Qi... don't... go." Yang Liu called out weakly.
"Sigh! Dr. Yang, you're too weak to talk now. Thank you for keeping us alive this long. Just let me go with him; it will ease my conscience."
The speaker was a young woman in her early twenties—one of Yang Liu's assistants. After draping her coat over Yang Liu, she followed Xiao Qi out as well.
On the bridge...
Gunsmoke choked the air. After several grenades detonated, they managed to wipe out a significant number of Zombies. The three gained a brief reprieve, constantly swapping out their magazines while firing at the distant infected.
The massive explosion attracted quite a few more distant Zombies. Wang Zhi kept firing while retreating; by now, they had pulled back 100 meters from the start of the bridge.
After firing a thousand rounds, the Zombies gradually thinned out. The entire bridge was littered with corpses, blood flowing like a river. Wang Zhi was somewhat crazed now; he had never killed so many creatures that resembled humans yet were not.
Wang Zhi and the other three cautiously approached the bridge exit. The vehicles that had been burning were now extinguished by a light drizzle. The cars ahead were scattered haphazardly, blocking the view completely; this scene likely continued all the way into the city.
"Be careful; there might still be Zombies inside the vehicles."
Wang Zhi reminded them.
Covering that short distance of one thousand meters took Wang Zhi a full hour. By this time, the four of them were covered in bloodstains, making them look like raving murderers.
"Haha, it's been a long time since I've been this wild. So satisfying."
Su Muying laughed excitedly, her eyes blazing with fervent madness.