In late February, the south warmed up and the ice on the river broke.

The car passed through the deserted village, broke through the snow-covered fields, and sped south.

In front of an abandoned gas station on the outskirts of town, the road was empty. Weeds, dust, and garbage were flying in the cold wind.

Zhou Rong stopped the car and signaled Sinan to stay in the warm car. He got out of the car and picked up the diesel gun.

Sinan closed the road map and saw a small convenience store in front of him. There was no obvious sign of robbery. He opened the car door and asked, "Do you want a cigarette?"

Zhou Rong said politely, "No, I've decided to quit smoking for my partner's health … Go back!

Sit back down! "

Zhou Rongyi refueled while desperately holding the door open. Sinan pushed the door open, "Don't make such a sacrifice, Brother Rong. I'm very democratic. You can smoke as much as you want. I'll get it for you … Let go!

It's not easy to find a store. Let me go! "

The two were in a stalemate for a long time. Sinan's eyes suddenly turned cold, "Come on, there's a zombie!"

Zhou Rong turned back subconsciously. There was nothing on the road behind him.

Sinan ran out from the other side of the car like lightning. He grabbed his snack box and ran happily to the convenience store.

"You just want to eat candy!"

Zhou Rong didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said helplessly to Sinan's back, "Come back quickly. We don't have much bullets!"

Sinan opened the door of the convenience store, ignoring the zombie struggling numbly behind the cashier counter. He laughed, "So what?"

Two minutes later, Zhou Rong was full of gas. As soon as he hung up the gun, he saw the door of the convenience store open again.

Si Nan came out with his full suitcase in his hands. A zombie with a half-rotten face and long arms followed him out and staggered after him.

Zhou Rong's face changed immediately. As soon as he rushed out, he saw Si Nan turn around, jump up, and climb onto the zombie's neck with a dazzling jujitsu move. He broke the zombie's neck with only his knees.

The zombies wailed and fell. Sinan landed nimbly on the ground and walked towards Zhou Rong with a lollipop in her mouth without even looking at it.

"…" Zhou Rong looked down at Si Nanping's calm and innocent face and asked, "… Where's the promised cigarette?"

"I forgot," Sinan suddenly said.

He stuffed the snack box into Zhou Rong's arms, turned around, and went back to the shop to find a few packs of cigarettes and put them in his pocket.

Zhou Rong casually rummaged through the box of Sandwich Biscuits and Nutrition Express. A wave of sorrow welled up in his heart.

"When you were dating, you sneaked out at night to steal food. You didn't forget to bring me two cartons of cigarettes. Now that you've just gotten married, your treatment plummeted. You don't even care about me anymore. Sure enough, you're worthless once you get your hands on me …"

The worthless Brother Rong patted Sinan's head twice, peeled off the candy wrapper, and stuffed a milk candy into his mouth.

Sinan ate both the milk candy and the Alps green apple-flavored lollipop at the same time. She crossed her long legs and leaned against the passenger seat. She repeatedly flipped through the map and frowned. "It's a little strange."

"Right —" Zhou Rong held a cigarette and said casually, "I told you that this route was wrong, but you insisted that we follow the map …"

Sinan: "I said that the milk candy tasted strange. It must have expired."

Zhou Rong immediately stopped the car and took out the wrapping paper in the glove compartment of the car door. He carefully looked at it and found that the expiry date was next year. He sighed in relief.

Sinan was not very satisfied. "Why doesn't it taste like milk?"

Zhou Rong could not clearly explain to this little mixed-race child why the 50 cents milk candy sold in the town's gas station did not taste like milk. He could only comfort him. "In the future, I'll take you to Inner Mongolia. We'll find a grassland to live in a tent and raise cows for you."

Sinan moaned reservedly.

"Continue thirty kilometers to the south and bypass the town." He closed the map. "Avoid the densely populated areas. When we reach the peninsula, we'll look for a dock and see if we can go directly to the sea."

In front of the car window, the road led straight ahead through the dilapidated town.

The residential buildings were like dilapidated reinforced concrete coffins scattered silently under the gray sky.

Zhou Rong asked for the 101st time, "Are you sure this is the right road?"

"I'm not sure, but this national road map published three years ago indicates so."

"Three years ago, when I brought people here to carry out the mission, this town was not here yet. It was deserted and uninhabited.

If you're talking about that time, the road did indeed go around the town, and there was a mountain in front of us … "

"You remember that?" Sinan asked in surprise.

"Hmm."

Zhou Rong blew a smoke ring deeply. "I've traveled extensively. I've stepped on the Ten Thousand Mountains of Guangxi and waded through the Talimu River of Kunlun …"

Sinan glanced at him suspiciously.

Zhou Rong: "…"

After thirty seconds of suffocating silence, Zhou Rong finally told the truth.

"Back then, we were looking for a toilet on this road, but we couldn't find one. We could only stand in a row on the side of the road to pee and compete to see who could pee the furthest."

"It left a deep impression on me. I lost to Yan Hao."

Facts proved that the national road map published by the People's Transportation Publishing House in 2017 could not compete with Zhou Rong's deep memory of failure. The map was wrong, and Zhou Rong was right.

At noon, the SUV left the road, leaving the zombie tide gushing out of the town center far behind, and drove over the hillside to the peninsula.

The sun peeked out from behind the dark clouds, reflecting the sparkling light of the harbor in the distance.

The once bustling gambling city had long been razed to ruins. Almost all the tall buildings were blown up, the TV tower was cut in half, and the Garden Casino was burned to the ground.

The harbor of the bay no longer saw the bustling scene of ships coming and going. Instead, it was replaced by the desolate, silent, and lifeless coastal waters.

Further away, the South China Sea Islands were hidden in the vast mist, like a legendary mirage.

Zhou Rong turned slightly.

Looking at the end of the dust-covered city, between the rolling hills, the sunlight reflected vaguely in the high-powered military binoculars.

"What is that?" Zhou Rong narrowed his eyes and said to himself, "Why does it seem like there is a building?"

Sinan sucked on his eighth Alps lollipop of the day, grabbed Zhou Rong's shoulder with both hands, and nimbly jumped up.

Zhou Rong staggered and steadied himself by holding on to the tree trunk. Unexpectedly, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Si Nan had already sat on his shoulder with his legs apart and took the binoculars.

After a while, Sinan said, "Ground base.

The surface of the building seems to be covered with solar panels. "

Zhou Rong looked up and smiled, with a slightly bad intention, "Comrade Xiao Si, do you know?

Your action seems to be a vague invitation to me, such as off-road car sex … "

"Do you want to try scissor feet?" Sinan used his thighs to clamp Zhou Rong's neck, smiled and said, "It is said that the suffocation play is very satisfying."

The two of them, one on top and one on bottom, looked at each other for three seconds, and suddenly moved at the same time!

Zhou Rong carried Sinan and quickly retreated to the rear SUV, while Sinan flipped over and twisted his neck.

With a loud bang, Zhou Rong bent back and pressed Sinan's back against the hood of the car. In the midst of Sinan's laughter, Zhou Rong turned around and grabbed both of Sinan's ankles, squeezing his whole body between Sinan's thighs, and made a very threatening posture.

"Suffocation play?" Zhou Rong stared down at Sinan and asked condescendingly.

Sinan asked back, "I showed mercy, you know?"

That was true.

If Zhou Rong was a zombie, in that position, his neck would have been twisted by Sinan's legs, just like the zombie in the gas station who was cleanly decapitated.

Sinan lay on the hood, his eyes bright, his eyelashes curved, and the corners of his lips slightly raised in a provocative manner.

Looking down from above, his neck was particularly slender, his collarbone extended into the collar of his black shirt, and the blood vessels were clearly visible under his white skin.

Zhou Rong's breathing deepened, and his heart was slightly warm. He lowered his head and rubbed his lips between Sinan's eyebrows for a moment, wanting to make a little mistake of discipline in the wilderness.

At this moment, there was a slight sound in the distance — —

Click.

The sound, like a bird flying from a tree branch, passed through hundreds of meters and entered Zhou Rong's ears.

"Who is it!"

Zhou Rong quickly stepped forward and picked up the binoculars that Sinan had thrown to the ground.

In the gray forest of winter, shadows of ghosts were flickering under the hillside. A group of zombies was quietly surrounding them, and they were already within a hundred meters!

"— — Get in the car!" Zhou Rong said sternly, "Quick!"

The two got into the SUV at the same time, and the engine roared as they sped towards the shady side of the hillside.

But when they were halfway up the hillside, they suddenly heard dragging footsteps in front of them. Another group of zombies seemed to have emerged from the ground, densely blocking their way.

"Damn, why is there no movement at all? Aren't the zombies screaming?" Zhou Rong frowned, "They've learned how to sneak attack?"

Sinan held the binoculars, "Ten o 'clock forward, quick, there's a breakthrough!"

The SUV turned around bumpily, and the group of zombies chased after them. Finally, one after another, they let out muffled howls!

Sinan pulled out two submachine guns from the back seat and threw them to Zhou Rongyi. The two lowered the window at the same time and pulled the trigger, shooting the zombies in front of them.

"They're surrounding us!" Zhong Sinan roared after the gunshots.

Zhou Rong, "Are you kidding me?!

Zombies don't have minds of their own! "

The SUV ran over the knotted tree roots on the ground and suddenly bounced up.

Zhou Rongyi held the steering wheel with one hand and shot down the zombies pouncing from the side with the other. The tires crashed to the ground, and several zombies were crushed into pieces!

"Roar — —"

More zombies staggered and finally appeared from the forest, fanning out to surround the SUV. Zhou Rong's pupils suddenly contracted, and he realized that Sinan's observation was not wrong.

This was indeed an encirclement.

Not only that, but there was also stealth, concealment, and teamwork. The zombies actually had the preliminary intelligence of a social animal hunting!

Zhou Rong felt a chill from the bottom of his heart. He had traveled across more than half of the country, but he had never felt such a real fear as at this moment.

When did the zombies start to mutate?

Did the zombies have minds of their own?

Did they exist all over the country, or did the virus in the coastal areas evolve?

Sinan reloaded a new magazine and backhanded the SUV to shoot repeatedly. Almost every time she pulled the trigger, two or three zombies would be killed.

Zhou Rong jerked the clutch, only to hear him shout as the shells flew out, "There are too many zombies in front of us!

Turn around and go down the mountain! "

On the muddy ground covered with thick leaves, the SUV roared and turned around. Under the gaze of the zombies, it drifted like a race car, knocking over half of the zombies in a circle and sending them flying in a fan shape.

"Hold on tight!" Zhou Rong roared, and then stepped on the gas pedal to the bottom!

Most of the zombies had already gathered in front of the SUV. There was no time to chase, and they could only watch as the SUV made a 180-degree turn.

The modified bumper protruded with spikes and sent the zombies flying head-on. The SUV roared into the forest and rushed down the mountain between rocks and tree roots!

— — Boom!

The heavy SUV flew and landed on the ground, the tires making a sharp screeching sound.

The two of them bounced up at the same time. Zhou Rong reached out and caught Sinan in his arms, but his head hit the roof of the SUV, and he groaned.

The off-road vehicle with a modified engine didn't even pause. It left the zombies behind and sped off into the distance.

"Very good, we got out smoothly."

Zhou Rong exhaled a hot breath, "The quality of this car is good. I can express the gratitude of the people to my brother-in-law in the underworld."

"He's not my brother-in-law," Sinan said coldly.

Zhou Rong: "Okay, okay, okay …"

The floor of the driver's seat was full of bullet casings. The SUV bypassed the city and drove to the hillside in front of it, where the reflections of buildings flickered.

Groups of zombies wandered on the side of the road, but they couldn't catch up with the SUV. They could only reach out to the dust raised by the wheels in despair.

Zhou Rong looked away from the side mirror and asked, "How many zombies surrounded us just now?"

"Five to six hundred.

Why? "

"There were no wounds on those zombies."

Sinan's hand paused in the middle of flipping through the map.

"After a living person is infected by the virus, most of them start to rot from the bite, and then spread to the whole body.

But the decomposition of those zombies was very uniform. A few of them must have been bitten recently. There were no obvious bite marks on their heads, necks, arms, etc. "

Zhou Rong paused, one hand supporting his forehead, his thick and sharp eyebrows furrowed, "When the military helicopters came to T City to pick up the survivors, the nurses who fell ill also didn't have any wounds. They were infected by inhaling the high concentration of poisonous smoke from burning zombies … Then what about the zombies in the coastal area? Ocean currents?

Has the virus spread to this extent? That's not possible. "

Only the sound of the tires moving forward could be heard in the car.

Both of them were silent for a moment. Sinan slowly turned a page, "They started to develop elementary intelligence. Maybe it has something to do with this."

Intelligence.

This word made Zhou Rong shiver.

"The city is too dangerous. In front of us are the buildings on the ground that we saw just now." Sinan looked up and asked, "Shall we go and take a look?"

Zhou Ronggang was about to answer when he suddenly cursed for the second time today, "F * ck!"

Zhou Rong slammed on the brakes. The tires scraped the ground again, and the two of them pulled forward at the same time.

Then Zhou Rong didn't have time to explain. He quickly reversed the car and turned the steering wheel.

The car shook violently. Zhong Sinan glanced back and saw that in front of the front of the car, there was a rope tied with iron wire!

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

"Get down!

Or we'll shoot! "

Suddenly, a dozen people jumped out from the side of the road. They were all dressed in camouflage and holding guns, shouting at the front of the car.

— — Robbery?

Zhou Rong's eyes were cold. Just as he was about to step on the accelerator and run over these people, he heard the leader shout, "Stop, what are you doing?

We are the People's Liberation Army! "

Zhou Rong's foot on the accelerator suddenly slipped.

These people were obviously veterans. They must have done this hundreds of times.

In this one-thousandth of a second of hesitation, several people pulled the trigger of their shotguns at the same time and shattered the entire front window of the car!

In the loud crash, countless pieces of glass and broken glass rushed into the driver's seat. Zhou Rong pressed down on the Sinan, and his eardrums were buzzing.

He grabbed the submachine gun and covered half of his face with his elbow. Just as he raised his head and was about to snipe, he suddenly froze.

The dozen people were just about to rush to the SUV when suddenly, the head of the leader who shouted "We are the People's Liberation Army" exploded with blood, and he staggered and fell.

His subordinates didn't even have time to scream before the second, third, and fourth were all shot in the head, turning into ghosts in an instant without knowing why.

"Sniper!" Someone yelled, "Find cover, quick!"

Someone forced his way into the car. Zhou Ronggang was about to break his neck and send him to the afterlife when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a sergeant's epaulet on the man's uniform. His eyebrows twitched slightly, and he smashed the man's head with the butt of his gun, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Si Xiaonan, hold on tight!"

Zhou Rongghui went to the driver's seat and was about to step on the accelerator to force his way through when he heard a crisp sound — — Click!

Zhou Rong: "…"

— — Sinan didn't care if the other party was the People's Liberation Army or not.

As long as it wasn't the special forces from Team 118 who shot him first, they were a bunch of dead people in his eyes.

He reached out the car window with his right hand, grabbed the throat of the person, and twisted it. With the crisp sound of the throat breaking, he grabbed the shotgun and pulled the trigger.

The whole series of actions took less than three seconds.

— — Bang!

More than half of the people blocking the road fell, and the dead rolled on the ground with their sternum protruding.

The rest of the people desperately rushed into the car. Sinan Kong was about to fire a second shot when he suddenly paused and pinched his earlobe.

"Zhou Rong," he said in surprise, "your gay tracker is vibrating."