Warning: Gore
Five people drove towards Gong’s family home in the military district, encountering many cars along the way. Several streets were congested, making it impossible to pass.
The driver’s expression was calm and whenever he met a blocked road, he’d immediately turn around and go another way. However, after several changes to their route, the distance between them and the Gong family residence was becoming longer and longer. Even the man’s sharp eyebrows were showing signs of worry.
He looked ahead and talked to Gong Lixin in order to clear his mind.
"Right before the apocalypse, the military issued a warning in the media. Your father already knew about the apocalypse. Did he make any preparations?" He didn’t care how Gong Yuanhang knew. He only cared about whether Gong Yuanhang had any countermeasures. Moreover, even if he asked, the teenager may not tell him.
"En, my father had known for a long time and has been preparing for a year. You can rest assured that my father will come and save the people. He won’t abandon any survivors in the city." Gong Lixin’s expression was firm, his father was very trustworthy.
The man nodded lightly and stopped talking. The bodyguard sitting in the back, on the other hand, couldn’t stand it and asked, his voice filled with indignation. "Since he knew a year ago, why didn’t he release the news to the public earlier so others could prepare for it?"
The rich young master also showed his resentment. Only Wang Tao sat quietly, without saying a word. Gong Lixin was his idol, he would never say anything against the father of his idol. "Would you believe it? If it was said that those people will become zombies?" Gong Lixin referred to a group of zombies that had staggered outside their car window, his delicate brows rose in inquiry.
Who would believe such nonsense without proof? If it was announced in advance, his father would be slandered for abusing his power before being taken down from his position! Gong Lixin, who was not entirely ignorant of modern law, had been worried about his father’s martyrdom.
Right, who would believe something so absurd? If someone told him this a year ago, he would definitely ask, "Are you mentally ill?!" Moreover, if the news was announced, the head of the government would have punished them for the crime of disturbing social stability. The Gong family would have collapsed. And then, when the people became zombies or were bitten and changed to zombies, the army would not have been prepared. Would they be able to release a notice saying that they would come to rescue the people at that time?
The bodyguard thought this through and the anger faded from his face. He scratched his head, embarrassed to have asked such a question. Lu Yun’s nostrils flared and he yelled loudly, but he didn’t complain anymore. He was seventeen, almost eighteen years old, so he understood the reason behind their actions. He understood that this was a natural disaster, that it couldn’t have been prevented by one or two people.
The man glanced at the young man who was worried about his father, the cold lines on his face were smoothing over. A pure child who only saw the bright side of everything; when faced with such a child, how could one’s heart even harden.
"Since your father had known for a long time, what were you doing at school? Was it not good enough to wait for him to pick you up at home?" The man’s voice was not as cold as before, and he even sounded a little concerned.
"The reason for this is kind of complicated. It’s a long story but in short, I wasn’t cautious enough." Thinking of Gong Xiangyi’s concealment and his own actions, Gong Lixin’s clear eyes dulled. His voice was sullen and his head slumped down, revealing a small white neck. He looked particularly pitiful.
The man no longer asked and instead, comforted him with, "Rest assured, I will safely send you back." Seeing the young boy’s previously gleaming face getting covered in a layer of shadows, he felt annoyed.
"Thank you!" Although there was no need for others to protect him, Gong Lixin still felt the sincerity and concern in the man’s words. He raised his head and smiled at the man, his pair of cat eyes curved slightly; they were clean and clear, glittering like stars.
"It’s nothing." The man’s smiled but it was stiff since he hadn’t smiled for a long time, obviously he was not used to it. He had been with the arrogant young master Lu Yun for a long time. In the face of a such a sensible teenager, he actually didn’t know how to cope, but his heart was extremely comfortable.
"Right, I still don’t know your names. My name is Wang Tao and he is Gong Lixin." Another open road was found and the car continued in silence. The atmosphere was somewhat tense and Wang Tao couldn’t take it anymore thus decided to break the silence.
"My name is He Jin." The man in the front repled succinctly. "My name is Wu Ming. Wu like the 4 common last names Zhou, Wu, Zhen, Wang and Ming as in tomorrow." The other bodyguard deliberately explained. He had no choice since his name was somewhat confusing since it was pronounced the same way as "nameless".
"My name is Lu Yun. You can call me Young Master Lu." Lu Yun held his head high.
"Oh." Lu Yun’s nostrils flared. He looked a little speechless when he saw that no one was even a little flustered by his respected title. Wang Tao was quite bored and shut himself off after his inquiry.
Their car was once again filled with silence and the normally broad main road leading towards the military housing district gradually became congested. The road in front of them was filled with cars that had collided head-to-tail with one another, making it seem like the congestion went on forever. Both sides of the road were crowded with zombies, and with their slow and stiff movements, surrounded the people in the cars.
The cars that had crashed were densely packed, there was no gap in between the doors, making them unable to leave their cars. Compared to them, the owners who were parked on the side of the road were surrounded by zombies. They closed their windows and kept screaming but that just made the zombies even more excited. The thin claws kept smashing against the glass as if they wanted to take them out of an oyster. The owner of the car in the center of the traffic of congested cars saw the zombies unable to reach him and quickly opened his skylight and ran on top of the car roof to escape. The hurried and heavy footsteps attracted a large group of zombies to follow him.
The once open and clean streets was sprayed with blood. Unrecognizable bodies had been torn apart and hollowed out. There were even a lot of organs and large intestines that were splattered on the once clean car and house windows. Some were even hung on street lamps on both sides of the road.
This situation could only be described as a "human purgatory".
Lu Yun’s face immediately paled and he gritted his teeth, holding back a fearful scream. He Jin and Wu Ming on the other hand, were used to life and death situations, thus was able to keep their composure.
As for Wang Tao, he rested his head on the back of Gong Lixin’s seat, as if he wanted to get closer to him. The suburbs were sparsely populated yet there were these many cars and it was already such a mess. Then what was the situation like at the city center? Could anyone run away alive? At this moment, Wang Tao felt despair, he knew it was unlikely for his parents to survive.
"We can’t go through this road; we need to change roads." He Jin took the opportunity to turn the car around but did not expect to suddenly be hit by a Buick SUV, forcing them to be stuck in the congestion.
"Fuck!" He Jin cursed and quickly checked the situation of the teenager beside him. He saw him waving his hand and saying that he was fine. Then he asked the people in the back: "Is anyone hurt?"
"No." The group got up and replied after groping their bodies up and down.
The Buick SUV engine seemed to have been damaged. A fire started barely a second after crashing into them. The violent crash had caused a group of zombies to slowly approach the two cars. The owner became flustered and opened the door to run in the opposite direction. The smell of fresh flesh and blood instantly attracted most of the zombies’ attention.
"We can’t stay here for long. We have to find a safe place and make a break for it." He Jin said as he took off his seat belt. He realized that these zombies were particularly sensitive to sound.
"How about there?" Gong Lixin face had a little trace of worry as he pointed to a half-constructed building at the corner of the street.
The building had more than dozen floors. No one knew why the work was stopped but there were many building materials and valuable steel pipes lying around. Many of the steel pipes were stolen. A three-meter high wall was built around the building. A fairly strong iron gate was also set up in front of it which was tightly locked with a thick chain.
The three-meter wall and iron gate were not high but it was enough to stop the primary stage zombies. He Jin nodded, appreciating Gong Lixin’s suggestion. "That place is good, let’s head there."
"Are you crazy? The sidewalks on both sides of the road are full of zombies. There are so many cars in the middle of the road too. How are we supposed to run there?" Lu Yun shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice full of fear.
"We run on the car roofs." Gong Lixin pointed to the densely packed car wreckage in front where there were minimal gaps between roofs.
"Let’s do it!" He Jin commanded out loud, looking into Gong Lixin’s eyes with deep appreciation. Although the child was pure-minded, he was not timid or weak, making him more and more likeable.
"What if we fall down? Didn’t you see? Some of the car owners have become zombies! We will get killed if our foot gets caught!" Lu Yun leaned into Wu Ming’s body, he was trying to stop this mad plan.
"Do you want to run over and gamble, or do you want to stay in the car and wait for them to eat you?" He Jin asked, his cold voice was filled with impatience as he pointed towards the zombies near the car.
"He doesn’t want to do it, let’s go." Wang Tao was too lazy to pay attention to the arrogant Young Master Lu and opened the door.
"Young Master Lu, I will be carrying you, there’s nothing to worry about." Wu Ming and He Jin were different. They were loyal servants who were given a second chance in life by Lu Yun’s father, Lu Zhenxuan. So, he quickly opened his side of the door, pulled Lu Yun out of the car and carried him on his back.
Lu Yun saw that the zombies were getting closer and closer, and promised not to talk nonsense again. He quickly grabbed Wu Ming’s neck and yelled, "Why are you not running?!"
"Would you like me to carry you?" Seeing Wu Ming landing steadily on the roof of the cars, He Jin turned and asked the white,tender, small and thin Gong Lixin. [1]
"No, I can do it myself." Gong Lixin waved his hand and leaned on his toes. He had already slid up to the roof and quickly made his way forward.
The teenager ran fast, leaping and jumping from car roof to car roof. He Jin’s expression was strange, but Wang Tao had a worship-like face. The two no longer delayed and were quick to catch up.
They ran to the unfinished building, but the four surprisingly found the area around the walls densely packed with zombies. All of the zombies were looking up to the sky and roaring with hunger.
"What happened? Just now, there were not so many zombies! We can’t go in like this. He Brother, what do we do?" Wu Ming and Lu Yun, whose legs turned to jelly, breathlessly asked.
"First, let’s hide and look at the situation. Then we’ll decide." He Jin raised his hand, indicating that everyone should go down and hide at the bottom of the cars to avoid the zombies.
The three heard his words and each found a car to hide under. He Jin took hold of Gong Lixin’s thin shoulders and held him in his arms as he rolled under the bottom of a car. Maybe because this child was very worry-free, he unconsciously wanted to take care of him and protect him. This feeling was very new and precious to He Jin, who struggled for half of his lifetime in the dark.
[1] AutumnBreeze: How many adjectives do you need author-san?
[2] AutumnBreeze: New person to harem? Or is it another who has joined the Gong Lixin Cult?