Chapter 51 - The Cheng Siblings
Translator: Jostena
Editors: playerprophet & Callis
When the zombie dog fell, they had nothing to fear from the rest of the zombies. Under the unparalleled lethality of the pea bullet, the zombies that surrounded the shops were disposed of quickly.
In order to test his guess, Su Ruizhe took a knife to cut open the head of the second zombie dog and was surprised to find a crystal nucleus with a peculiar color. The nucleus itself was a pale red and a layer stained the outside, as if it had been painted carmine red. If the evolved zombie dog had eaten the other's nucleus, it's nucleus would have changed. If Su Ruizhe hadn’t shot it right away, it probably would have evolved again, with unthinkable consequences.
The tenth team had been trapped for a while on the shop roof. After escaping danger, they reunited with the twelfth team. However, their numbers had shrunk from 40 to 25. Fifteen soldiers had died.
An acceptable loss.
When the tenth team came to the rescue, they hadn't expected so many zombies. Their plan had been to use military cars as a distraction.
Evolved zombies, both dogs and humans, were waiting there. They were very fast, caught up with the tenth team’s military cars, and attacked.
The zombie dog was powerful, and rammed the car with its body over and over. The car swerved and crashed into the guardrail. Zombies swarmed, attracted by the movement. When they collided and crowded against the side, the vehicle almost tipped over.
The tenth team sent out a call for help, but they didn't have much time. The zombies ramped into a frenzy. The combined power of the evolved zombie and dog was catastrophic. The sharp claws could gouge the bullet-proof glass. The rear door bowed with the zombies' force. If they continued to hide in the vehicle, they could only become the turtle in the urn
They couldn't just wait for death. They had to find a way to break the siege and wait for rescue. Using brute force and firepower, the tenth team succeeded in clearing a line through the swarm. Evolved zombies were fast, and it was unrealistic to fight creatures with that kind of speed and endurance head-on. Guan Hong, captain of the tenth team, led the tenth up the roof of the small shop. But while breaking through the swarm and scaling the wall, they lost more than a dozen people.
They didn't have time to grieve. There were still survivors awaiting rescue in the police station.
The police station was on the opposite side of the street to the shop, less than 700 meters away. A dense crowd of zombies surrounded the small police station. There were officers in uniform and several strong young people standing on the second floor balcony of the station. They pierced the heads of zombies with bayonets made from broomsticks and knives, killing several of them.
They must have heard the gunshots, and on seeing soldiers who had come to rescue them, tried to help.
But it was too dangerous! There were evolved zombies in that crowd!
As if to confirm their fears, a young man’s weapon was grasped by a claw, and when he did not react, he was yanked down hard. He was thrown off balance. As the soldiers across the street watched him, about to fall off the balcony into the sea of zombies, a hand stretched out from beside him and pulled him back with great force. His weapon was gone.
When Zhan Yun saw the familiar figure, his pupil shrank in focus. Was it him? Why was he here?!
“Xiao Zhe, Cherry… No, bombs. Give me some!” Zhan Yun barked to Su Ruizhe.
Su Ruizhe used his powers to make several cherry bombs without hesitation.
“Let’s go!” Zhan Yun charged out with his team.
Li Ming could only struggle to keep up.
Zhan Yun and his team, as if driven by divine intervention,, charged and opened fire. With the pea bullets in a magazine, they didn't even need to aim at the head to cause fatal damage to the zombies. In addition, Zhan Yun had cherry bombs, which he threw to clear the mobs as they closed in.
"Zhan Yun!” At 1.9-meters tall, Zhan Yun stood out. The young man standing on the second floor balcony waved excitedly at him.
The rest of the zombies responded to the sound, and stretched out their arms to grab him. Su Ruizhe watched several zombies jump to reach him, but they weren't as effective as the zombie dogs. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't reach the people on the balcony.
“Get back, wait inside!” Zhan Yun shouted at him.
He really couldn't do anything about Cheng Qi's mindless actions. What was there to be so happy about when he was surrounded by zombies?
The cherry bomb's explosion was comparable to an army’s grenade. The power was actually on par, but against zombies, the damage multiplied. Almost all the zombies dropped as soon as they were struck by the impact. Even evolved zombies couldn’t withstand the blast, and their numbers shrank.
Zhan Yun and the soldiers approached the gate of the police station without incident. The gate opened before they could knock.
"Zhan Yun! Come on in!” Cheng Qi waved excitedly to him in the same gesture as a lucky cat.
Zhan Yun rolled his eyes at him in his heart and wished he could go up and smack Cheng Qi on the back of the head. But there were still many zombies around, so he went inside with the others, first.
The crowd entered the police station and closed the gate. There was a crash against the door, but nobody cared. There were only a few dozen zombies outside now, and the door looked very strong. Without evolved zombies, it should be able to hold for a while.
“Come out, everybody. The army has come to save us!” Cheng Qi exclaimed.
As his voice fell, countless people came out of the rooms and corners. Roughly estimating, there were nearly 200 people. The survivors were haggard, thin, and with panic in their eyes. They were demoralized. From the bedsheets on the ground and the mess of garbage, they must have been trapped there for some time.
But they seemed very devoted to Cheng Qi, and even a few policemen stood behind him, seeming to support him in silence.
But Cheng Qi was also part of the Cheng family. He had been in the army for some time, but he had no skills to speak of.
“We are the National Rescue Team. Now we have established a survivor base in the Southern Military Region. Please be ready to follow us out.” Guan Hong said, stepping forward.
Li Ming, on the other hand, had begun using a radio to appeal for help from other teams. The military cars of the tenth team had been blown up by the zombies when they broke through the siege. The military cars of the twelfth squad had already returned to base. In order to take so many people back, they needed at least two or three more military cars.
Li Ming’s call was soon answered. The eighth team was inbound, and the eleventh team was on the way. The thirteenth team had encountered some problems, and would come as soon as they were able. In other words, it would be no problem to relocate everyone.
“Let’s go, tidy up, and see what we need to take with us. Cars will be here to pick us up and depart shortly!” Guan Hong shouted to the crowd.
Zhan Yun looked around the crowd, but did not see Cheng Jiao. He frowned. “What about Jiao Jiao?!”
Cheng Qi bit his lip and whispered, “come with me.”
Looking at the expression on Cheng Qi’s face, Zhan Yun’s heart sank. He followed Cheng Qi up the stairs. When Zhan Yun left, he didn't forget to bring Su Ruizhe along with him.
Although Cheng Qi did not understand why Zhan Yun had to drag a teenager along, he trusted that Zhan Yun had his reasons and he didn't open his mouth to say anything. He took them to a closed room on the second floor.
They didn't know why the room was locked. There were two policemen guarding the entrance, but they had left to pack. Cheng Qi went ahead and opened the door of the room. Five or six people lay bleeding inside. Cheng Jiao was among them.
“What’s the matter?” Zhan Yun knew at a glance that Cheng Jiao was suffering from a fever. Her face was red and sweat coated her forehead.
“There isn't much food here. We had to take turns to take people scouting. She took a dozen people out yesterday and only came back with a few things, and everyone was injured. The surrounding zombies were probably attracted by the scent of their blood. Everyone was afraid that they would become zombies, but I couldn't leave them alone. I could only set them up here and have people watch over them as much as possible." When Cheng Qi spoke, he could not help but show a trace of sadness on his face. “If I had known this would happen, I would have gone with her yesterday…”
“Xiao Zhe… Go and call Lao Song and Zheng Jiahe.” They couldn't leave the wounded as they were. They needed to be treated by Song Chengshu. They also needed vegetable and fruit juice, which could be squeezed by Zheng Jiahe.
Su Ruizhe nodded and went downstairs to call Song Chengshu and Zheng Jiahe. He'd heard about the two siblings from Zhan Yun in his past life. He knew they grew up together, and got along well. He felt for Zhan Yun.
Song Chengshu and Zheng Jiahe arrived. Song Chengshu first checked everyone's injuries. Unfortunately, they had been infected by the virus for too long. Most of them were in advanced stages of the infection, and their faces were pale and grey. Their pupils became cloudy and unfocused, and they were no longer responsive.
Only two people, including Cheng Jiao, seemed to be fighting the virus. He rushed to use the medicine box provided by Su Ruizhe to treat their wounds, and fed them Zheng Jiahe’s fresh vegetable and fruit juice.
They did their best. As for what would happen next, they had to leave it up to fate.
Hope you guys like this chapter! I'm trying my best to translate chapters while my life gets hectic and my laptop lags every freakin second but I'm glad that I can still post chapters each week XD
Reaction to Zhan Yun's Height:
Callis: We get it Zhan Yun, you’re tall
playerprophet: Wow, he’s really tall!
Jostena: The author wants to shove it in our face that he’s really tall XD