"Bang…"
A few zombies that were unable to break in from a distance suddenly flew high into the air, as if they had been violently struck by a speeding train, landing nearby and unable to get up for a long time, shocking yet also quite baffling!
"Bang…"
With another muffled sound, more zombies were thrown into the air and fell heavily to the ground, some with broken arms and others with broken legs. A few unfortunate ones even snapped their necks and fell heavily to the ground, never to move again.
"Roar..."
With a wild roar, like an invincible lion on the African savannah, it loudly proclaims its sovereignty over its territory, wanting all things to submit to it. Then, an unexpectedly tall figure suddenly appeared in front of the escort vehicle, standing out starkly under the pale moonlight, as if it were a crane among chickens, looking so out of place, not at all like a creature that should exist on Earth.
Hearing the roar, the horde of zombies stirred uneasily, their earlier excitement dissipating like mischievous children caught by their parents. Several living corpses that had climbed onto the roof tumbled down in a panic, emitting fearful wails as they hurriedly ducked their heads and scurried back into the mass of corpses.
The horde surged to the sides of the road like a tide. Although it seemed unbelievable, the people in the vehicle caught a glimpse of unprecedented fear on the faces of the living corpses. They looked reluctantly at the escort vehicle in the middle of the road, but none dared to provoke it, much like soldiers bowing their heads in the presence of a general, retreating to the sides to clear a wide path for the towering figure.
"It... they actually retreated? We might be saved! Jack, hurry, drive faster!" Boss Hu excitedly patted Jack on the shoulder, but Jack ignored him, gripping the steering wheel tightly and cautiously watching the tall figure a hundred meters away. He said gravely, "Dexter has left, and now a tiger has come. This one is even more formidable, but... it might be an opportunity. Everyone, hold on tight; our fate depends on this!"
"Vroom... vroom..."
Jack floored the accelerator of the escort vehicle, making it roar like an F1 race car, his eyes fixed on the tall figure ahead as he searched for an opportunity to break through.
The tall figure approached Jack and the others slowly and arrogantly, like an ancient warrior. Whenever it passed a group of corpses, the living dead would wail and try to retreat, seemingly terrified to the core. Occasionally, one or two oblivious ones would block the path, and the tall figure would swing its arm, as thick as a person's waist, and strike them down, leaving them as nothing more than a puddle of mush without even a sound.
With each step, the tall figure made a heavy "thud" sound, and in just a few strides, it was only fifty or sixty meters away from the group. It was only then that everyone in the vehicle was shocked to see what kind of monster was approaching!
The creature stood three to four meters tall, completely hairless, with a bald head covered in eyes. Its thick arms reminded one of King Kong from the movies, but its appearance was far more grotesque, covered in protruding flesh tumors, some of which were cracking open and oozing thick black pus, emitting a stench worse than that of rotting corpses from a distance.
"What the fuck is that thing!" Boss Hu's eyes nearly popped out. He had no doubt that the monster's arms, thicker than his waist, could easily crush the poor escort vehicle beneath him, and the excitement of thinking he was about to escape vanished in an instant.
"Hold on tight!" Jack shouted angrily, suddenly releasing the clutch. In that moment, the three-ton escort vehicle charged forward like an enraged bull, roaring fiercely towards the creature.
The car left a trail of pitch-black exhaust amidst the roar, and Jack instantly pushed the engine's horsepower to the maximum. The towering monster across from him clearly did not expect its prey to have the audacity to provoke it. It let out a thunderous roar, pounded its chest a few times, then dropped to all fours and charged towards the armored vehicle.
If the armored vehicle at maximum horsepower resembled an enraged bull, then the monster before him was undoubtedly a crazed rhinoceros. The monster's charge was not only much fiercer than that of the armored vehicle, but it was also considerably more agile. As the armored vehicle rushed right under its nose, the monster swung its left hand fiercely and smashed down towards the armored vehicle. Everyone understood that if that hand landed, the worst outcome would be merely spitting blood!
In this critical moment, Jack, who was already prepared, suddenly turned the steering wheel all the way to the left. The three-ton armored vehicle unexpectedly tilted sharply due to its massive inertia and quickly dove under the monster, crashing with a loud bang into the monster's right leg.
The monster's speed was no less than that of the high-speed armored vehicle, but its left hand swung and missed, causing it to lose some balance. However, it was not so easy for it to fall while on all fours. The immense force of the armored vehicle crashing into its foot acted like the last straw that broke the camel's back, playing a crucial role in the outcome.
With its leg struck, the monster tilted and rolled to the left like a runaway truck, its massive body crashing down onto a group of living corpses by the roadside. The ground shook violently, and the earth trembled, while a large number of living corpses were swept away, screaming and scattering in all directions, leaving behind pools of black flesh on the ground.
Jack exerted all his strength to control the armored vehicle, which was on the verge of tipping over. After the high-speed collision with the monster, they were not unscathed either. The front of the vehicle was severely dented, the bumper was gone, and the windshield was a hazy white, covered in countless shattered white patterns, making it impossible to see the road ahead.
"Bang..."
The similarly out-of-control armored vehicle, after knocking down a group of living corpses, crashed into a building by the roadside, creating a large hole in what used to be a sauna. Although the scene was somewhat tragic, at least it did not flip over.
The girls, who had just been screaming, were now hoarse, their throats only able to produce instinctive "gurgling" sounds. Jack patted his dizzy head and quickly surveyed the surroundings. He found that although they were surrounded by living corpses, they did not swarm in like before. It was likely that the furious roars from the fallen monster scared the living corpses away, causing them to scatter in all directions and no longer dare to disturb Jack and the others.
"Not good, that monster is getting up! We need to get out of here!" Boss Hu, covering his forehead which was bleeding, looked terrified in the rearview mirror, his off-key scream sounding like a young wife whose pants had been torn.
Jack looked at the only surviving side mirror on the right and immediately saw the monster struggling to get up from the ground. He knew that if that monster charged at them again, it could very well mean the end for everyone, including himself. However, it seemed that at critical moments, something always had to hold them back a bit, just like the escort vehicle they were in now. No matter how much Jack twisted the key to start the engine, it only made a "whoosh whoosh" deflating sound and refused to work.
As the monster on the ground behind them began to charge forward, everyone turned pale with anxiety. Fortunately, the engine roared to life at that moment, and Jack slammed down on the gas pedal. The escort vehicle lurched forward, swerving onto the road...
Watching the monster behind them, which was wreaking havoc in the middle of the road, grow increasingly distant, everyone let out a long sigh of relief. It was only then that they realized they were utterly exhausted from the tension, and a few frail girls even fainted, their eyes rolling back.
"Lin, what on earth is that thing? Even the zombies are afraid of it!" Cao Mei trembled as she struggled to light a cigarette, finally managing to take a deep drag before shakily putting it in Jack's mouth.
"That is an evolved form of the strongest individual among the zombies, but it only appears once in tens of thousands, so you can call it Zombie William!" Jack took a puff from the cigarette, slowly exhaling smoke while carefully assessing the road conditions outside. The spiderweb-like shattered glass made it hard to see anything clearly.
"How do they evolve? Is it possible that zombies eat other zombies?" Bai Ru asked in surprise from the side.
"I haven't seen it myself, but it should be something like that!" Jack nodded in agreement.
"So it's like raising a poisonous insect, putting many of them in a jar to fight until only the strongest one remains!" Bai Ru said, frowning.
"Yes, that's a very apt metaphor. However, the formation of Zombie William is much more complex than raising poisonous insects. It requires not only a naturally strong body but also the consumption of many sources of infection!" Jack replied slowly.
"Sources of infection? What is that?" Bai Ru asked curiously.
"It's the source of the infected population, the people who were directly exposed to the virus at the beginning. Unlike those ordinary zombies outside, which are mostly infected indirectly, those zombies that have had direct contact with the virus are much stronger than regular zombies, and some can even exhibit independent thought!" Jack said, holding the cigarette with a complex expression.
"If there are more of these corpses, won't we humans have no way to survive?" Bai Ru's face looked very grim.
"Even without them, it would be hard for us humans to survive!" Jack sighed deeply. After he said this, everyone fell silent. Indeed, where is the way for humans to survive? Perhaps even the ghosts don't know!