Chapter 31 Mutant Zombies
The blood-red sunset painted the horizon a poignant crimson, and the migrating convoy slowly came to a stop outside an abandoned logistics transit station, just 100 kilometers from the Dawn Base.
The long journey and countless life-or-death trials had long since transformed the initial panic and chaos into a near-numb, routine operation.
Without needing many instructions, the vehicles, following a pre-established understanding, parked in sequence around the open space surrounding the transfer station, forming a loose defensive perimeter.
People disembarked in silence, their faces bearing the deep weariness of a long journey, yet their eyes remained alert. No one made a sound; even the children's cries seemed listless.
The line to receive food quickly formed, winding like a long dragon.
The procession moved slowly and quietly, with only the sound of footsteps and the occasional cough. Everyone knew that noise and arguments were pointless and would only waste precious energy.
The soldiers stood beside the distribution point, their sharp eyes scanning the crowd, maintaining the most basic order. The food rations were still a pitifully small amount of compressed biscuits and a little water, but no one complained; having survived this long, they had long since learned to accept it.
Within each survivor squad, the arrangement of night watch has almost become instinctive.
After parking their car, Ruan Ning's team of four quickly gathered together.
"Same as always, we take turns keeping watch." Ruan Ning's voice was a little hoarse, but still clear.
Lin Yan stretched her stiff shoulders, making a soft thud: "I'll go first. This place is a bit too quiet."
Zhou Min took out a map and notebook, and in the last light of day, carefully checked the route for the last hundred kilometers, her brows furrowing slightly: "I heard that the last stretch of road is not safe either."
The hooded woman had already quietly inspected the area around the vehicle, especially the still conspicuous oil drums, making sure they were securely tied and hadn't been tampered with.
Needless to say, everyone understands their responsibilities.
Lin Yan, carrying an axe, stopped at the station, her gaze sweeping like a hawk across the wasteland gradually shrouded in twilight and the indistinct abandoned buildings in the distance. Zhou Min, after confirming the route, also began to assist in the observation.
Ruan Ning and the hooded woman took the opportunity to rest in the car and recover their strength.
The other squads around were doing the same. Men could be seen talking quietly around the campfire, checking their weapons; women were silently distributing food and tending to their children.
The people on night watch were quickly chosen, exchanging wary glances.
A subdued calm permeated the entire camp, a survival rule ingrained in their very bones, forged through countless brushes with death.
Late at night, a campfire flickered in the abandoned logistics park camp.
"Enemy attack—"
The soldier on the watchtower had just sounded the alarm when he was struck by a fireball and fell to the ground engulfed in flames.
Commander Wang rushed out of the command vehicle, and the sight before him made his heart tighten. Within the dark, surging horde of zombies, several distinctive figures were vaguely visible:
One zombie hurled fireballs with both hands, while the ground beneath another zombie churned, forming a small quicksand.
The most terrifying thing was the zombie in the white coat standing at the rear of the horde, its eyes flashing blue light as it precisely directed the horde's attack.
"Heavy machine gun position, fire!"
Three heavy machine guns spat fire, instantly mowing down the front-line zombies. But under the command of the psychic zombies, the horde immediately changed formation, splitting into three groups and advancing from different directions.
"They're learning!" a veteran exclaimed.
Ruan Ning's team quickly took their positions. Lin Yan stood guard on the left side of the vehicle, cleaving aside the charging zombies with an axe; Zhou Min closed her eyes and sensed: "Fire magic is on the left flank, earth magic is on the right flank, and mental magic is still commanding from the rear."
Suddenly, the ground on the right collapsed, and two soldiers fell into the pit. "It's an earth-type zombie!" Ruan Ning immediately conjured a water ball and poured it into the pit, temporarily trapping the zombies underground.
The fire spread to the left flank, setting several tents ablaze. "I'll deal with the fire-type zombies!" A military fire-type ability user rushed to the left flank, exchanging fireballs with the zombies.
Ordinary survivors, organized by soldiers, took up arms and joined the fight. An old man pierced a zombie's eye socket with a steel bar, but was tackled by another zombie; young people built makeshift roadblocks with tables and chairs to slow down the zombies' advance.
"We must eliminate the commander!" Commander Wang roared.
Ruan Ning tried to condense a water arrow, but found her mental energy was being interfered with. "Zhou Min, help me locate it!"
Zhou Min, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, said, "It keeps moving... it only appears for a few seconds each time..."
The surviving earth-elemental ability users desperately raised the last ring of earthen walls, while the fire-elemental ability users created walls of fire around the perimeter.
Ordinary soldiers formed a human wall with their bodies and fought hand-to-hand with zombies that crossed the wall of fire using bayonets.
"We must take down that psychic!" Ruan Ning said, tears welling in her eyes as she watched her comrades fall one after another.
Suddenly, the hooded woman pulled off her hood, revealing a pale face. She formed a hand seal, and a black barrier temporarily blocked the mind control.
"Now!" Zhou Min shouted, enduring the excruciating pain. "It's moving thirty meters to the southeast!"
Ruan Ning channeled all her mental energy into a water arrow, while Lin Yan simultaneously threw a fire axe to draw attention. The water arrow tore through the night sky, striking the mental zombie precisely in the head just as it tried to dodge.
The piercing scream abruptly stopped.
The zombies, now without a leader, were thrown into chaos, but they continued their frenzied attack.
"The time for a counterattack has come!" Commander Wang picked up his rifle. "For our fallen brothers! Kill!"
The surviving soldiers and superhumans roared and launched a desperate charge.
The fire-type ability users ignited the last fuel, creating a massive wall of fire; the earth-type ability users used their last strength to alter the terrain, separating the zombies; and the ordinary survivors, armed with rudimentary weapons, cooperated with the soldiers to clear out the disorganized zombies.
As dawn broke, silence finally returned to the battlefield.
The surviving soldiers sat slumped on the ground, each covered in blood and filth. Embers still burned throughout the camp, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and acrid smoke.
When Commander Wang was counting the number of people, his voice trembled: "Two-thirds of the soldiers were killed, more than half of the superhumans were lost, and the ordinary survivors..." He couldn't continue.
Ruan Ning looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, many of which were familiar faces—the old sergeant who always gave her an extra cookie, the fire-type ability user who loved to joke around, and countless ordinary soldiers whose names she didn't even know.
Lin Yan's axe was completely destroyed. She sat silently on an ammunition box, watching the rising sun in the distance.
Zhou Min remains unconscious due to exhaustion. The hooded woman put her hood back on and stood alone at the edge of the camp on guard.
They won the battle, but at a terrible cost.
Commander Wang stood in the dawn light, his voice hoarse but firm: "Clean up the battlefield, we'll set off in an hour. Dawn Base is just ahead, we must bring the survivors there safely."
When the surviving vehicles resumed their journey, the convoy was less than a third of its original size.
Zombies are evolving, while humanity's living space is being constantly squeezed.
This news is nothing short of despairing for people who are already struggling to survive.
Commander Wang could even imagine how desperate the ordinary people in the base would feel if they knew this news. They wouldn't even have the courage to step out of the safe base, let alone face the zombies directly.
Are humans to be kept in safe bases like animals waiting to be slaughtered, becoming food for zombies?
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