Chapter 39: Fire Engine

Soon, someone spotted the train passing slowly overhead. But looking at the zombies wandering through the gaps between the vehicles and the height of the overpass—dozens of meters up—the vast majority abandoned any hope of rescue.

More than ten days of torment had left these survivors gaunt and their spirits numb. Those with true courage had long since perished, becoming part of the wandering horde. Yet, one youth trapped in an SUV seemed to see a glimmer of hope. Taking advantage of the moment the surrounding zombies were distracted by the train above, he quietly unlocked his door and slipped out.

Following the route he had observed over the past two days, he climbed onto a sedan, maneuvered around a pile of jammed trucks, and walked cautiously along the asphalt. His eyes remained fixed on the nearby wandering zombies. He held his breath, keeping his footsteps as light as possible. However, while passing a van, he overlooked the zombie driver inside.

"Thwack!" A muffled sound came from the window. A rotting face was pressed hard against the glass, its crimson eyes staring greedily at the boy. The youth felt his scalp tingle; losing his composure, he broke into a run. Fortunately, the zombie driver in the van made no sound.

The boy darted left and right, miraculously avoiding any living zombies. A few he did encounter were already dead in gruesome fashion, their heads impaled on jagged metal spikes protruding from the sides of nearby vehicles.

This scene played out before those watching from above. Su Huan looked at the path ahead of the boy, where two zombies had been perfectly fine until their heads were suddenly punctured by metal spikes from a nearby car. He glanced at Qi Xiaoba, who was sitting in a wheelchair beside him, and asked with interest, "Is the range already this far?"

Xiaoba pursed his thin lips, his gaze, hidden beneath his bangs, tracking the boy below. "There is no limit to the range, but the further it goes, the more energy it consumes."

"A high-tier ability, indeed," Su Huan remarked with a sigh. His gaze also followed the boy below, wanting to see how long he could hold out. Of course, what he was really watching was how long Qi Xiaoba could last.

Besides those on the train, some survivors also witnessed this miraculous sight. Though they didn't know the cause, they were unwilling to miss the opportunity; one by one, they opened their car doors and fled.

Such a commotion immediately stirred the zombies below. The boiling sound of their roars sent shivers down one's spine. A woman had just emerged when she was tackled to the ground by a zombie. Just as its blood-filled maw was about to bite down, a steel rod fell from the overpass, piercing its skull with a wet thud.

But there were over a dozen escapees below. Because of the delay in protecting that woman, the youth who had started it all panicked, collided with a group of zombies, and was torn apart alive.

"Help—"
"Save me! I have gold, please, let me on the train!"
"Mom! Run!"

Realizing there was no hope of escape, some began to beg the passing train. But their loud cries only incited the zombies further.

"Let my child on the train! Please, let him live! I'll be your slave, just let him live—" A woman knelt on a car, holding a child of about ten years old high above her head, screaming toward the train. The zombies surged forward, engulfing the woman. The young child also fell into the swarm.

The shrill, agonizing cries left everyone feeling a deep sense of sorrow. Su Huan’s face remained smiling, but the frost in his eyes nearly spilled over.

"I... I caused their deaths," Qi Xiaoba said, his face pale.

"No one likes to watch their own kind being slaughtered, especially in such meaningless deaths. But if you want to change things, you must be prepared to bear the consequences," Su Huan said. His voice was calm, even tinged with coldness. He did not comfort Xiaoba this time, nor did he attempt to force his own philosophy upon him. He simply showed him what ability meant and what the price was. No one can truly convince another; you cannot convince those stronger than you, nor those on your level. Eventually, you realize you cannot even convince those beneath you.

Soon, the dozen survivors under the bridge were also consumed. Having lost interest in watching, Su Huan walked out of the carriage and into the lead cabin, where Liang Kuan was focused intently on the tracks ahead. Because of a previous derailment, a large section of the rails had been twisted and broken; although that stretch had already been passed, caution was paramount. If a train of dozens of cars were to derail, the team currently lacked the capability to save it.

Hanging behind the control cabin was a railway map of Mojiang City. The city had three stations: Mojiang South, Mojiang Central, and Mojiang North. Su Huan observed for a moment, his gaze lingering on a street outside Mojiang South Station. If he remembered correctly, several fire trucks were blocked there. They were fully loaded with water; when the apocalypse broke out, they had tried to go put out fires but ended up trapped. Later, the vehicles were reclaimed and became the core of the Mojiang Mutual Aid Fleet.

Relying on the sturdy carbon steel bodies of the fire trucks and their large supply of purified water, they had become the key factor in maintaining the fleet's early cohesion. Now, with a train and water purifiers at his disposal, Su Huan naturally had no interest in the fire trucks or those few tons of water. What he was eyeing was something else on those trucks: firearms and ammunition.

The fire trucks had been carrying many law enforcement officers, and a lot of weapons were left behind. They had been scooped up by that scumbag Hu An and his gang. Last time at the water plant, because there were many lingering evolved beasts in the building, they hadn't conducted a large-scale search after finding the water purifier. In the end, the last few bullets had been wasted on Gao Zhe. Without ammunition, their pistols were just decorations.

The tracks ahead would pass through more cities, and until an team of evolved individuals was fully formed, modern weaponry remained the best substitute. Some of the heavy-duty gear would even be useful in the later stages of the apocalypse.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Su Huan looked up. Just in time, he saw several staggering zombies appear on the tracks ahead. Hearing the sound of the train, they acted as if they had spotted a delicious can of food and lunged forward excitedly.

"Don't enter the station later; just stay outside. The number of zombies in the station is too high, and it wouldn't be convenient to get off," Su Huan instructed.

Liang Kuan pulled the control lever. "Understood!"

The zombies were sliced apart at the legs and crushed beneath the wheels. The armored train rolled steadily forward, without a tremor.

The terrain on both sides gradually leveled out with the tracks, lined with tall buildings, but the rails were fenced on both sides, preventing them from being surrounded by the horde.

"Something's ahead," Liang Kuan said in a low voice.

Bloodstains were visible on the rail ballast, along with scattered corpses and debris. Su Huan squinted. A strange figure was squatting on the fence beside the tracks. Its body was hunched, making it appear only about a meter tall. Its bare upper body was a metallic green, and its back was covered in tumors that hung like fruit. Most were dark red, with a few black ones.

Its crimson eyes stared fixedly at the train. With a sinister, guttural laugh, it tore a black tumor from its back.