Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 981: Chapter 966: Operation Luring the Corpses (14)

Wandering around blindly without a guide would only waste precious rescue time, and worse, the pickup team itself could end up in trouble.

If that happened, then everything the Survivor Team had done over the past two days would have been for nothing.

So after careful consideration, Old Lin and Old Xu finally decided to set the rendezvous point in front of the campus convenience store.

That was the only route you had to pass through, no forks, and it wasn’t too far from the teaching buildings. It was just about the perfect meeting spot for both sides.

Of course, the most crucial point was that the convenience store was the only special location Derek could clearly describe.

It’s just that this "not too far" between the convenience store and the teaching buildings was relative. Old Lin could reach it in minutes by driving, but for Old Xu, dragging a long column of people, the difficulties in between really couldn’t be explained in a sentence or two.

Fortunately, none of the missions Old Xu had carried out in the past were ever easy to explain.

He’d long grown used to that way of living; maybe constantly "solving problems" for others was the very meaning of his life.

After confirming there were no Zombie movements outside the teaching building, Old Xu waved for everyone to follow.

He’d only taken a couple of steps when he raised his hand and pressed down, signaling Demmi and the other girls to crouch as low as they could.

Because within his field of vision, he could clearly see the shambling corpses wandering all around them.

These bastards obviously hadn’t noticed their presence yet and were just mindlessly swaying around their own turf.

Since the Zombies weren’t actively "looking for trouble," Old Xu had no intention of launching any surprise attacks either.

The two sides just maintained this relatively harmonious stance, each minding their own business.

The breakout team successfully exited the teaching building; Old Xu led the group, using the flowerbeds outside the school as cover, inching their way toward the rendezvous point.

At the same time, the Jianghuai van carrying the luring squad also charged into the campus right on cue.

Just as Old Xu had reported, Zombies still infested the campus. Even if only a tenth of their original number remained, the sheer base figure still made their scale impossible to ignore.

The roar kicked up by the Jianghuai naturally drew the Zombies’ attention. Those beasts who’d missed the last round of "strange noises" instantly got excited.

But Old Lin had no time to mess around with them. For the sake of the bigger plan earlier, the Survivors had "swallowed their anger," begrudgingly leading them on a detour.

Now, though...

Everything he’d been forced to endure, Lin Junfu was going to take back.

"Everyone, sit tight!"

Through the hand-held radio, Old Lin issued a warning to the team members in the rear compartment.

Then he stomped on the gas and accelerated.

On the straight stretch of road, the Jianghuai was like a Black Bear out of the mountains, charging straight ahead; nothing could block its path.

Those brainless beasts that rushed up enthusiastically all ended up as piles of pulp under the wheels.

Relying on the Jianghuai’s speed and its thick armor, Old Lin’s side reached the planned location—the campus convenience store—without a hitch.

But with no protection at all, Old Xu and his people were still inside the campus playing hide-and-seek with the "Zombie brothers" scattered everywhere.

Still, it had to be said: Old Xu was truly a master of concealment.

Years of fighting behind enemy lines had given him an incredibly rich and almost unbelievable set of evasion skills.

In many moments that seemed certain to expose them to anyone else, he could always find a way to hide at the critical instant.

Unfortunately, while his methods were unique, they required sharp reactions and solid military training.

Li Xiaoxin, Hua Biao, and Lei Tong, all from the Sharp Blade Company, naturally had no problem. But the girls traveling with them really couldn’t keep up with Old Xu’s ever-shifting dodging tactics.

On top of that, for Demmi and the others, their declining stamina was also a problem that couldn’t be ignored.

Half a year of never having enough to eat had already tortured these poor souls until they were barely human.

Especially Zhao Lina, who was still sick; though she tried hard to suppress it, her heavy, ragged breathing still betrayed her weakness.

Old Xu really wanted to give the group some time to rest, but in a place like this, it was all Zombies. The slightest carelessness would draw those beasts’ attention.

And once a single beast spotted them, a chain reaction would follow.

The only way to prevent that disaster was to keep moving.

To slip into a new safe zone before the Zombies noticed.

But at the end of the day, it was the same problem: Xu Renjie’s plan was good, but only if everyone could keep pace with him.

After all, he was leading a team now—a team that included weak civilians.

Some people might say, then just abandon these ordinary folks and escape alone.

To that, the only answer is: everyone has their own aspirations, their own thoughts, their own way of living.

In the apocalypse, trust itself is a luxury. But at the same time, when you give up trust and abandon humanity’s most basic morals, it means you’re choosing to live as the most primitive kind of human.

The question is... do you actually have that capability? Or rather, do you have the capital to live that kind of isolated, feral existence?

Afraid not. In this world, only a minority can truly do that.

And those strong ones, ironically, move in packs.

Old Xu wasn’t a saint, and he’d never thought of himself as one.

But he was a soldier—a Huaxia soldier.

A soldier’s duty is to protect the country and the lives and property of the people. Old Xu and the Sharp Blade Company’s fighters had always been doing exactly that.

They’d been to the most dangerous war zones on the planet, carried out missions that others thought were flat-out impossible.

Most importantly, none of those things had anything to do with them personally.

Our peaceful lives, however, were precisely safeguarded by these "fools" who help others at their own expense.

Even in the apocalypse, even after losing contact with their superiors, Old Xu and the Sharp Blade Company fighters had never forgotten the iron-blooded oath they once swore under the August 1st flag.

If a man lives without any belief, what’s the difference between him and a salted fish?

Old Xu and his people were made of flesh and blood; when they faced deadly traps, they felt fear too. But some things had already sunk deep into their souls. From the day he joined the army, Old Xu had been ready to sacrifice himself for his country and his people.

The group was still moving forward—slowly, but they were closing the distance to the convenience store bit by bit.

Long stretches of crouching and darting around severely tortured Demmi and the other girls’ legs. At first, they could still barely keep up with the team’s pace. Now, though...

There was no other choice. Given the girls’ total exhaustion, Xu Renjie had to slow the group down to ease their fatigue.

But doing so carried enormous risk.

Several times, just because the girls moved too slowly, the entire group had almost been thrown into danger.

After passing the line of flowerbeds outside the teaching building, the escape team finally reached a row of French plane trees.

The towering plane trees were in excellent shape; their thick roots were as wide as two people standing side by side. Anyone hiding behind them would be completely concealed.

After some checking, Old Xu led the unit over and signaled for the group to take a short rest. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)

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