Chapter 112: The Beast

Su Qing and Fang Qing woke up almost at the same time. They opened the car door and jumped out. There was chaos outside. Cars were rampaging in the inner circle, people were running around in panic, shouting and screaming were everywhere, gunshots were heard in the distance, and there seemed to be the roars of wild beasts.

The patrol car used the horn to reassure people: "Everyone, don't panic! Don't run around! Get in the car as soon as possible and wait for instructions! Don't act on your own! Don't act on your own!!!"

Several army-green figures ran past her. Su Qing grabbed one of them and asked anxiously, "What happened?"

"There are wild beasts attacking the camp, and the outer troops are killing them. Stay where you are and don't move around." The man left a word and ran away in a hurry.

Fang Qing had just contacted Dong Wen. She walked over to Su Qing and said, "There's a wolf pack attacking. The people outside are dealing with it."

"What's going on in the camp?" Su Qing frowned as he looked at the rioting crowd nearby.

Fang Qing's face was gloomy, and she gritted her teeth in anger. "A few idiots heard the warning and drove out without stopping, crashing into cars and people alike."

The wild beasts outside had not caused any impact yet, but it was the people inside who started the chaos and suffered casualties. Fang Qing was so angry that she wanted to kill people!

As the two were talking, Li Xing came trotting up to them with a large group of armed men.

"Chief, deputy chief, Brother Dong asked me to assist you."

Su Qing patted Fang Qing and said, "I'll go check out the outside. I'll leave this here to you."

"Well, be careful." Fang Qing nodded, and then ran into the crowd with her men.

Su Qing took out a gun and held it in his hand, then quickly walked through the crowd and reached the outermost layer.

From a distance, she saw Commander Liang holding a telescope in one hand and a military walkie-talkie in the other, directing the soldiers in battle.

Liang Zheng's guards surrounded him and stood guard. Seeing Su Qing approaching, Ji Cheng'an raised his hand and saluted, "Chief Su."

Su Qing took a few steps forward, "Captain Liang, what's the situation?"

Liang Zheng glanced at her sideways, signaled the guards to step back to let Su Qing come closer, and then said in a deep voice: "These wolves must be very hungry, they keep pestering me. For some reason, they are very agile and it is difficult to hit them with bullets." As he said that, he handed the binoculars in his hand to Su Qing.

"I asked the soldiers to drive the wolves as far away as possible to buy time for the people to evacuate."

Su Qing took it and looked out. In the open space in the distance, where the car lights converged, dozens of wolves with red eyes gathered together. Most of them were thin, grinning at the surroundings, showing their sharp fangs ferociously.

There was a faint smell of blood in the air, and Su Qing discovered that three wolves were still holding the corpses of their companions in their mouths. There were several bloody holes on each corpse, and bright red blood was still flowing out.

Not far away, an armored convoy was encircling the wolf pack, followed by hundreds of soldiers shooting with guns, trying to drive the beasts as far away as possible.

The wolves growled in their throats and jumped around to avoid the bullets. The two sides were in a stalemate.

Su Qing handed the telescope back to Chief Liang, "Are there any casualties on our side?"

"Several people were injured and have been carried to the back for treatment." Liang Zheng took the telescope and looked up again.

"Evacuation will take at least an hour. Continuing like this isn't a solution..."

“Ouch…”

As Su Qing was speaking, a loud roar suddenly came from the wolf pack. The wolves that were still dodging bullets began to change their formation. After a while, they started to ram the armored vehicle frantically. Some wolves even jumped directly onto the vehicle body. After a few flashes, they jumped out of the encirclement at an extremely fast speed.

"Not good! Spread out quickly! Defend in groups of three! Use daggers for close combat, and watch your surroundings with your guns to avoid hurting your own people!" Liang Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted, and veins bulged on his forehead. He gripped the walkie-talkie with his knuckles white from the force, and shouted, "Set up the second and third lines of defense immediately!"

The front team immediately changed their formation after receiving the order. Some personnel quickly evacuated and re-established the defense line, while the other group of soldiers stood in teams of three, back to back, holding daggers and engaging in close combat with the wolves that broke through.

A team of people also quickly gathered beside Su Qing and the others. They drove their vehicles forward dozens of meters, formed several teams in a fan-shaped horizontal row, and established another line of defense.

Several figures quickly climbed onto the roof of the armored vehicle and set up sniper rifles.

"The sniper is in position!" A low and concise report came from the walkie-talkie.

The next second, there were a few muffled "bang bang bang" sounds, and within a few seconds, continuous gunshots continued to ring out.

"Ziz... Missed the target! The target's movement trajectory is abnormal and cannot be hit." The sniper shouted nervously and quickly on the walkie-talkie.

Liang Zheng stared at the situation in the telescope. There was a melee in the front. All the wolves rushed out of the encirclement and were fighting with the soldiers. Some of them had already moved to the second line of defense to attack.

Su Qing also took out a telescope from her backpack and looked at the situation in the distance. She frowned and asked, "Have these things mutated?"

"No ordinary wolf pack could possibly possess such fighting prowess," Liang Zheng said solemnly. "Look at the way they pounce and their speed. They're nearly twice as fast as an ordinary wolf. Furthermore, their eyes are glowing red, which isn't a characteristic of a normal wolf."

If it were an ordinary wolf, it would have been killed long ago when facing such a well-trained and armed team of a thousand people.

The camp behind was still evacuating in a panic. Fang Qing organized people to dismantle some of the highway fences to facilitate vehicles to enter the road quickly.

Seeing the stalemate between Su Qingjian and the wolves, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind. She pulled out a few cans of instant meat from her backpack and asked, "Captain Liang, since the wolves are just trying to fill their stomachs, is it feasible for us to throw some cans of meat out to attract their attention?"

Liang Zheng was stunned for a moment by Su Qing's question, then he reacted, "You can try, Xiao Ji!" It's not that he hadn't thought about throwing some food out before, but the migration journey was long and supplies were scarce. The food they brought were all coarse grains, dry biscuits and steamed buns, which the wolves ignored.

I didn’t expect Su Qing to have canned meat on him.

"Here! Chief!"

Liang Zheng pointed at the cans in Su Qing's hand and said, "Send someone to throw these cans into the wolf pack."

"yes!"

Ji Chengan took the can from Su Qing and immediately arranged for people to run forward.

Several soldiers approached the defense line, opened the cans in their hands and threw them hard into the wolf pack. The cans hit the sides of several wolves. They paused for a moment, then twisted their bodies very quickly and ran away.

Just as Su Qing was feeling disappointed, the wolves around the can suddenly whimpered and shook their heads as if sniffing! Several wolves cautiously approached the can. One of them stretched out its claws and scratched at it a few times, then lowered its head and sniffed again.

Upon seeing this, Liang Zheng immediately gave the order, "Everyone stop shooting! Pay attention to defense!"

The wolf raised its head and stretched its neck to howl. After a while, an extremely tall wolf jumped out from the pack. It walked swiftly towards the howling wolf and scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes. After confirming that it was safe, it stretched out its claws to hook the edge of the can, lowered its head, twitched its nose, and tentatively licked it with its tongue.

After taking a bite of the can, the wolf waited for a moment. Seeing that there was nothing unusual with his body, he raised his head and let out a long howl, then quickly started eating the can.

Su Qing looked at the wolves around him that were fighting with people. They gave up their attacks and approached the wolf eating the canned food. They formed a circle, surrounded it, and stood alert on all sides.

"This wolf should be their wolf king." Liang Zheng whispered to Su Qing.

"This method is effective. I still have some stuff here. Let's leave some more for them and then evacuate quickly." Su Qing took out more than a dozen boxes of canned meat and handed them to Ji Chengan.

Hundreds of canned meat were opened one by one and thrown into the wolf pack. Even the air was filled with the rich aroma of meat. The wolves were very smart. They attacked the team for food. Now that there were so many cans of meat, why bother with these difficult humans?

Upon seeing this, Liang Zheng immediately ordered his troops to withdraw. The two sides kept a distance from each other and were on guard against each other until all the people behind them got on the highway and drove away. They also followed the team and quickly left this dangerous place.

Before leaving, Liang Zheng ordered a wall of fire to be lit to prevent the wolves from following them.

The convoy was back on the highway. Most people had not yet recovered from the panic. Every car was filled with an indescribable tension and fatigue. Some people were talking in low voices, some were silent, and some were looking out the window at the darkness speeding by, with a look of fear still in their eyes.

Liang Zheng sat in the passenger seat with a frown on his face, glancing at the rearview mirror from time to time to check if there was any unusual movement behind him. Although the wolf pack was temporarily blocked, no one knew whether any unexpected situation would occur.

The convoy continued to move forward. The sound of the engine was particularly harsh in the silent night. Small villages flashed by on both sides of the road from time to time. Occasionally, zombies would hear the sound and chase onto the road, but they were all shot by the alert snipers.

Gradually, the sky brightened and the temperature rose. In order to save fuel, the vehicles did not turn on the air conditioning, and the heat was unbearable inside. The back of the military truck was crowded with people. The air inside was turbid and stagnant, and the smell of sweat and metal rust were intertwined. People clung to each other, their clothes already soaked. Some people grabbed the canvas at the rear of the vehicle and stuck their heads out to breathe, but were burned back by the scorching sun.

"Zizila...Zizila...Commander Liang, if we keep walking like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to bear it. Please send a helicopter to see if there is a place to stay ahead," Fang Qing's voice came from the intercom.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

…

It was two hours later when the team finally stopped. The helicopter discovered a small town. After a carpet search by the vanguard troops, it was confirmed that there was no danger here. People who had been sleeping in the wild for several days could rarely live in houses. All the vehicles were parked in a queue outside the town, forming a barrier that was easy to evacuate and defensive. People were arranged into buildings in order.

Fang Qing and the others discussed it and decided to rest here for a day and then set off again at one or two o'clock in the morning when the temperature was lower.

Su Qing followed Liang Zheng's car all the way. He and the soldiers had to stay on guard outside the town. Su Qing asked for Fang Qing's location and went to find her in the town.