Chapter 182
Chapter 182
The G297 Expressway seemed to have been forgotten by the world.
Snow blanketed the road, and the guardrails stood crookedly on either side.
Even so, it was far better than they had imagined.
There was no gridlocked traffic and no roaming horde of Madmen.
Ye Que gripped the steering wheel, her palms slick with cold sweat. She had never driven before-not even once. Before the apocalypse, she hadn’t even taken the test for a driver’s license.
But now, she had no choice but to know how.
Perhaps when people were forced to the edge of a cliff, their potential became like toothpaste in a tube: no matter what, a little more could always be squeezed out. Shifting gears, pressing the gas, working the clutch–those complicated mechanical actions had somehow been reduced to muscle memory in her mind.
“A little to the left… Hold it steady.”
In the passenger seat, Wu Wujie’s voice was unbearably hoarse. Aside from occasionally giving Ye Que directions, he remained silent, his gaze fixed intently on their surroundings.
He was exhausted. The blood loss had blurred his vision, but he had to keep watch.
Bang!
A muffled impact suddenly came from the front of the vehicle, followed by the teeth-grating scrape of metal.
A Madman sprang out of a snowbank beside the road and latched onto the hood.
It wore a tattered down jacket, but starvation had reduced it to something barely human-a skeleton wrapped in skin.
The most primal urge to slaughter burned in its murky eyes. Its fingernails clawed frantically at the windshield, producing a shrill, piercing screech.
“Heh… heh heh!”
Its twisted face pressed against the glass, and the fog from its breath instantly froze into frost, almost completely blocking Ye Que’s view.
Her pupils contracted to pinpricks, and her heart leaped into her throat.
“Speed up! Ram through it!”
Wu Wujie abruptly leaned across. His large, bloodstained hand closed around Ye Que’s trembling wrist, guiding her as he wrenched the steering wheel all the way to the right.
The vehicle swerved violently. Its tires skidded across the snow with an ear-piercing squeal, and the tremendous centrifugal force flung the Madman away.
Thud!
It slammed heavily onto the road and rolled twice. Its twisted limbs spasmed several times, yet it somehow staggered back to its feet and gave chase.
It ran fast, like a rabid dog, but the vehicle was faster.
In the rearview mirror, Ye Que watched its figure shrink into the distance. Its greedy eyes remained fixed on the back of the vehicle until it finally vanished into the wind and snow.
“Just focus on driving,” Wu Wujie said weakly as he released her hand and slumped heavily against his seat.
Ye Que nodded, took a deep breath, and tightened her grip on the steering wheel once more.
Wu Wujie closed his eyes for a moment, desperately suppressing the violent tremors rising from deep within his body. His head felt ready to split apart, and his stomach churned violently. That sudden wrench of the steering wheel had used up nearly all the strength he had left.
He felt so awful that even breathing made his lungs seem to burn.
But he didn’t want Ye Que to see it. She needed to know someone was still fighting beside her–that she wasn’t driving this vehicle alone.
He had to put her mind at ease.
There weren’t many Madmen on the G297 Expressway, but every one of them was like an evil spirit born from the snow, bursting out without warning and scaring them half to death.
As time passed, Ye Que’s hands grew steadier. She began to adjust to the rhythm.
Drive. Watch. Dodge.
Brake hard now and then. Speed up when necessary.
Her heart was no longer pounding quite so fast, and her breathing gradually steadied. In the end, the Madmen couldn’t keep up with a vehicle. They would lunge from the roadside, run a few steps, then tumble into snowdrifts and be left far behind.
The most dangerous ones were those lying hidden in the snow, waiting for prey to come to them.
After driving for who knew how long, the first pale light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
As day broke and the sky gradually brightened, the pitch-black landscape slowly came into focus. Road signs began displaying place names that felt both strange and familiar.
After driving for who knew how long, the sky began to brighten.
From the first light of dawn to the dimly illuminated sky, even the road signs began to show place names that felt both strange and familiar.
Jiangyu. Sujing. Shengze…
They were strange because this was an Earth she had never reached before. They were familiar because every survivor had committed these coordinates of salvation to memory.
The G297 Expressway. Take the Shengze exit.
Then she saw it.
She slowed down and left the expressway.
The surroundings changed. Gone was the desolate, arrow-straight expressway, replaced by a winding national road. Bare trees lined both sides, their branches laden with heavy snow like row upon row of white skeletons.
A vast stretch of mountains loomed in the distance, gray and indistinct behind the windblown snow.
Ye Que’s heart suddenly began to race.
She didn’t know the shelter’s exact location. The survivors had only managed to narrow it down to this general area based on the latitude and longitude announced by the government.
Even the Mysterious Woman hadn’t given her the precise coordinates.
They could only gamble.
Keep going. Someone might be watching them right now.
The country wouldn’t abandon them!
Bang!
A sharp gunshot shattered the silence. A bullet flew in from the distance and slammed into the ground directly in front of the vehicle.
“What was that?!” Wu Wujie’s voice instantly went taut.
Ye Que said nothing. Her pupils trembled violently.
Was it a warning? Or were they being hunted?
She stared at the hazy mountain forest ahead, gritted her teeth, and pressed down on the gas.
“Maybe we’ve crossed the shelter’s perimeter… Maybe they’re only warning us… They won’t shoot anyone.”
She glanced in the rearview mirror at the unconscious Qingshui and An Xiaolin, a flash of resolve crossing her eyes.
She pulled off the hood of her protective suit, rolled down the window, and leaned her upper body outside. Raising both hands high, she exposed herself completely to the frigid wind.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
There was no response. Only the bone-deep chill of the wind pouring down her collar.
Ye Que drew back into the vehicle. Her face was pale, but her gaze remained firm. She gripped the steering wheel again, clenched her teeth, and stepped on the gas.
Vroom!
She floored it. The engine roared, and the vehicle shot forward like a cannonball. Its tires crushed through snow, gravel, and everything else in its path.
It was all or nothing!
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out.
This time, it hit a tire.
The vehicle lurched violently to one side, the steering wheel spinning wildly in Ye Que’s hands as though it had come alive. She struggled desperately to steady it, but she had no idea how.
Wu Wujie reached for the steering wheel, but… it was too late.
The world began to spin. Beyond the windshield, sky and snow blurred together until there was no telling up from down.
Crunch–
Ye Que heard metal buckling, glass shattering, and her own heartbeat.
Then everything stopped.
Dead silence.
“Ugh…”
Ye Que lay slumped over the warped steering wheel, a piercing whine filling her ears and the heavy taste of blood coating her mouth.
So she really… couldn’t drive?
It took her two seconds before her vision finally managed to focus.
The windshield had shattered. Snow drifted in from outside and landed cold against her face. She turned toward the passenger seat.
Wu Wujie was slumped against it with his eyes closed, his face covered in blood. She couldn’t tell whether it had come from his ear or from hitting his forehead.
“Wu… Wujie!” Her voice came out so shrill it hardly sounded like her own.
Wu Wujie’s eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes opened. His pupils were slightly unfocused, but he was still conscious.
His first instinct was to turn and look at the back seat.
“Get… out,” Ye Que gasped, her voice trembling. “Get out… Get out… Get out!”
She desperately reached across him for the door. Wu Wujie scrambled out on all fours and collapsed into the snow.
Ye Que crawled out after him and dropped to her knees, gulping down air. She looked back at the vehicle lying on its side. Qingshui and An Xiaolin had been thrown around inside and lay completely still.
“Pull them out!” Ye Que shouted.
Wu Wujie climbed to his feet and staggered to the rear door, reaching inside for Qingshui. Gritting his teeth, veins bulging at his temples, he hooked his fingers into her collar and dragged her out inch by inch.
Ye Que reached in from the other side for An Xiaolin.
They managed to pull them both out. The two women lay in the snow, faces deathly pale and lips tinged purple, looking like a pair of corpses.
Ye Que knelt beside them and checked their breathing.
They were still alive, though their breaths were faint.
“Can you still walk?” Ye Que asked Wu Wujie.
Wu Wujie lifted his blood-smeared face and forced a smile. “Who are you underestimating?”
Ye Que didn’t smile.
She looked at Wu Wujie-at his still-bleeding ear, his swaying body, and his tightly clenched fists. She knew he was only forcing himself to hold on.
She didn’t know how much longer he could last. No one did.
“Carry Qingshui,” Ye Que said, her voice terrifyingly cold. “Hold on a little longer. We’re almost there.”
Wu Wujie nodded, bent down, and hoisted Qingshui onto his back.
Ye Que crouched and lifted An Xiaolin onto hers. Then they started walking, trudging down the road one grueling step at a time.
Ye Que’s legs trembled. An Xiaolin lay limp against her back, breathing so faintly it was almost impossible to feel.
Wu Wujie walked ahead of her, his steps growing slower and slower.