Chapter 23 Night Rescue

23. Nighttime Rescue

This was Jiang Rong's first time using the car since the major crisis. He had packed fuel cans and supplies in the trunk, and in case Chu Qiang's family had been injured, he had also brought some basic anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. After securing his self-defense weapon, the vehicle slowly drove out of the garage.

The white SUV wasn't traveling alone; it was towing the family's forklift behind it. Jiang Rong parked the SUV in the yard, making final preparations before setting off. Hongda Gas Station was more than 20 kilometers from his home. Things were different now; there were no supplies on the road, and if something went wrong, returning would be difficult.

The little fairy perched on the wall, observing Jiang Rong's movements. It waved its thorns, trying to get Jiang Rong's attention: "Jiang Gong~ Jiang Gong~"

After checking the traction device, Jiang Rong looked up and said, "Little fairy, we need to go out for a bit. Would you mind watching the house for us?"

The fairy twisted her body: "There's a problem!"

Thinking of Chu Qiang's family's plight, Jiang Rong worried that someone might try to break into their house after he left. After a moment's thought, he instructed, "Little fairy, if anyone tries to break into our yard, just stab them. If you see a mutated rat, kill it instantly, okay?"

The fairy replied cheerfully, "There's a problem!"

Under the moonlight, a white SUV towed an orange forklift along the mountain road. There were few vehicles on the mountain road near Lingshan Reservoir, and Jiang Rong drove smoothly.

The rustling sound of packing bags being arranged came from the back seat. Jiang Rong glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Jiang Xiaoheng sitting in his car seat, fiddling with the snacks in his backpack. This kid might have some obsessive-compulsive tendencies; he was always trying to straighten out those bulging snack bags.

Thinking that they might have to drive a long way tonight, Jiang Rong said gently, "Son, if you get sleepy, take a nap first. Dad will wake you up when we get there."

Jiang Xiaoheng, holding his Beetle backpack, said earnestly, "No, I want to stay awake. Dad is so lonely driving alone, I want to keep him company."

Jiang Rong's heart softened. Looking at the little child in the rearview mirror, he said in an even gentler voice, "Okay, if you're sleepy, take a nap."

Jiang Xiaoheng tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Then... Dad, if you feel sleepy, just tell me and I'll sing you a song."

However, as soon as the car reached the town below Lingshan Reservoir, Jiang Xiaoheng started to feel sleepy, his little head bobbing against the back of his car seat. Jiang Rong turned down the car music volume, hoping her son could sleep more peacefully.

The journey was destined to be anything but peaceful. Just outside the town, the road ahead was jammed. Under the headlights, Jiang Rong saw several cars had collided, completely blocking the narrow rural road.

The windows of these vehicles were covered with large greenbottle flies; when the lights shone on them, the flies slowly wriggled, a sight that sent chills down one's spine. Beneath the stacked vehicles were large patches of spilled liquid, the dark liquid also teeming with greenbottle flies.

Jiang Rong parked the car a good distance away, then took two masks from beside her and put them on. The sudden movement of opening the door startled Jiang Xiaoheng, and the young child curiously poked his head out from the back seat: "Dad, the cars are all piled up together."

Jiang Rong ruffled her son's hair: "Yes, Dad is going to get out of the car now and separate the cars. You and Lele stay in the car and behave yourselves."

Thinking of something, Jiang Rong casually pulled out two children's masks from the driver's seat, popped two fragrance beads inside the masks, and then put the masks on his son: "Be good, don't take off your mask."

Jiang Xiaoheng liked the refreshing minty scent of the fragrance beads, and he obediently replied, "Okay, Dad, be careful."

After closing the car door, Jiang Rong skillfully walked around to the back of the vehicle; it was time to send the forklift in. The orange-red forklift's rear end was connected to the SUV's rear end; once the towing device was released, the forklift could be put into operation.

Before setting off, Jiang Rong had already anticipated that there would be massive traffic jams on the road.

The crisis struck suddenly. Some people who were on the road couldn't get home; they collapsed in their cars, becoming obstacles on the road. After the crisis, people in big cities were desperate to make a living, so there were more vehicles on the road. With no rescue and roadblocks everywhere, many vehicles were involved in accidents and could no longer reach their destinations.

Jiang Rong didn't know where the cars in front of him came from or where they were going; all he knew was that the people inside would never be able to go home again.

The closer Jiang Rong got to the wrecked vehicle, the stronger the stench became; even two masks couldn't block it. Being on the forklift, which had no windshield and no air conditioning, was unbearable. Only four words echoed in Jiang Rong's mind: "Quickly and decisively."

His forklift has a load capacity of two tons, which is more than enough to handle ordinary private cars. The forks steadily supported the SUV in front of it. As the forks slowly rose, a trickle of yellowish-green liquid flowed out of the truck bed, and the greenbottle flies attached to the vehicle scattered with a "whoosh".

The moment the fly took flight, Jiang Rong saw the horrific scene inside the car. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the sight before her still made her stomach churn.

A swarm of flies buzzed around, searching for light and aimlessly looking for a place to land. Quite a few flies landed on the forklift, but strangely enough, not a single fly landed on Jiang Rong.

This helped him a lot; if a fly landed on him, it would be a major test for both his physical and mental health.

In no time, Jiang Rong had cleared a path between the wrecked vehicles. He skillfully hooked the forklift behind the SUV and continued driving forward. The vehicle sped through the wrecked vehicles, and flies, startled by the vibrations, rained down on the SUV's windows.

Jiang Xiaoheng, who had never seen anything like this before, was astonished: "Dad, look, why are there so many flies?"

Jiang Rong's body jolted violently. His son had asked him the same question in his past life. Back then, he was driving his son and Jiang Jie from City C to the Peace Base, encountering many broken-down vehicles along the way. During their journey, his son gradually understood: flies only swarm around corpses; the presence of corpses proved that a vibrant life had once perished there.

As the vehicles moved on, more and more were covered in flies. Jiang Xiaoheng's initial confusion, fear, and then numbness all happened in just a few hours.

The young child grew increasingly silent, and finally, as Jiang Rong cleared a path to continue, the child let out a soft sob: "Daddy, are they all dead?"

Jiang Rong didn't want to answer the question, but his son was already in a dangerous world, and he had to make him realize the cruelty of life: "Yes, they're all gone."

Jiang Xiaoheng sniffed and asked in a low voice, "Then... will Daddy die too?"

After a moment of silence, Jiang Rong spoke cruelly: "Dad will die too, but Dad will try his best to live longer. Dad can't bear to leave Xiao Heng and hopes to stay with Xiao Heng for a very, very long time."

Jiang Xiaoheng's eyes were red. "Daddy, don't die. Daddy is very strong. Daddy won't die."

The 20-kilometer journey would normally take 40 minutes, but Jiang Rong drove from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. One section of the road was heavily congested, and it took Jiang Rong a long time to clear a path.

The car slowly came to a stop in front of the Hongda gas station, and Jiang Rong's heart began to race. On the way here, he had been worried that Chu Qiang and the others had left after sending the message, and that he had arrived too late and that something bad might have happened to their family.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Lele eagerly started scratching at the car door. Jiang Rong opened the door, and Lele jumped out. Jiang Rong patted its head, "Lele, go find Chu Qiang's car."

Lele spun around a few times, then wiggled her hips and walked toward the cars parked at the edge of the gas station. Jiang Rong, wearing night vision goggles, followed closely behind. A moment later, Lele stopped in front of one of the cars and turned to look at Jiang Rong.

Seeing the car's terrible state, Jiang Rong's heart sank: all the tires were flat, the windshield was smashed to pieces, and if it weren't for the familiar license plate on the trunk, Jiang Rong wouldn't have recognized it as Chu Qiang's car.

The car window was covered with large flies. Jiang Rong reached out and wiped the window. After the flies and dust fell off, a small patch of clean glass was revealed.

The car window in the night vision goggles appeared grayish-blue and wasn't very clear. Jiang Rong's breathing quickened. He raised his hand to wipe the lens of the night vision goggles, but his hand was trembling, and he couldn't wipe it accurately even after several attempts.

As he prepared to approach the car window, a large fly outside the car suddenly crashed into the night vision lens. The insect's face, suddenly magnified by the night vision lens, looked both ferocious and terrifying. Jiang Rong's breathing became erratic, and he staggered, almost falling. He quickly grabbed the rearview mirror to steady himself.

Whatever the outcome, he would have to face it. With that thought in mind, Jiang Rong took a deep breath and approached the car window.

The car was completely empty!

Jiang Rong breathed a sigh of relief, her lips twitching stiffly upwards: It's a good thing they weren't in the car; at least it proves they're still capable of moving around.

The gas station was located beside the national highway, with twenty or thirty abandoned cars inside, and several houses nearby. It was unclear whether Chu Qiang and his group were hiding in one of the houses. Jiang Rong patted Lele's head: "Lele, can you smell Qiangzi's family?"

Lele looked up at Jiang Rong blankly. Jiang Rong knew she was making things difficult for the dog. The stench around them was overwhelming, and the more developed Lele's sense of smell was, the more dizzy she would become.

Jiang Rong glanced at the time: 2:40 AM. There was still plenty of time before dawn; he could search Chu Qiang's family at his leisure. He could always turn the area around the gas station upside down—he needed to find them alive or dead…

He was determined to find Chu Qiang's family no matter what.

At that moment, the sharp sound of car horns echoed throughout the parking lot: "Beep beep beep, beep—beep—beep—, beep beep beep, beep—beep—beep—beep—"

Three long and three short horn blasts rang out rhythmically. Jiang Rong looked over in surprise and saw Jiang Xiaoheng sitting in the driver's seat, his small hands diligently and persistently pressing the car horn.

Jiang Rong walked quickly to the car. "What's wrong, son? Are you scared?" He must have been looking for Chu Qiang for too long, and his son was worried about being alone in the car.

Jiang Xiaoheng was indeed a little scared, but he wanted to help his father even more: "Uncle Chu said that if I encounter danger and need to call for help, I should just honk the horn or smash things like this."

After a pause, he added, "Three long sounds, three short sounds. Uncle Chu said that if I heard this sound, he would definitely come to save me."

Jiang Rong's eyes suddenly lit up. That's right, how come he didn't think of that?

He was overly cautious, forgetting that he could still use the car horn to attract the attention of people around him. The three long and three short radio distress signals—this was something Chu Qiang, who loved tinkering with electronics, had told him about. How could he have forgotten?

Author's Note:

Chu Qiang: Don't let your kids watch cartoons too often. What about those cat teams? Can they really save lives in a pinch?

Jiang Rong: Have you forgotten how you used to run to my house to watch cartoons when you were little and got chased and beaten by your aunt and uncle?