Ling Jiujiu lay on the ground, feeling the earth tremble.
After listening for a while, he suddenly realized it wasn’t the earth shaking on its own—it was the pounding of many feet making the ground quake.
Following the sound, he looked in the direction the vibrations were coming from.
His vision was limited, so he couldn’t see clearly and had to move closer for a better look.
The earth’s trembling grew stronger and clearer.
As he approached, Ling Jiujiu finally saw it.
Not far away, a large horde of zombies was rapidly marching toward his location.
This was a zombie horde, moving much faster than any he had seen before.
There was no time to warn Lu Chen now.
The best response was for Lu Chen and Xu Jie to stay in the car and avoid being noticed by the zombies.
The car was parked in the wilderness. Lu Chen and Xu Jie had already been woken by the vibrations and were looking out the window, instinctively holding their breath.
Xu Jie: “Is there still time to drive away?”
Lu Chen: “No time. Stay down and keep quiet.”
In the dim night, Lu Chen saw Ling Jiujiu standing by the roadside, also watching the zombie horde.
“Is he waiting to join them?” Xu Jie whispered.
“He can’t communicate with zombies,” Lu Chen shook his head.
As they spoke, they saw Ling Jiujiu walk to the middle of the road, waving at the zombie horde.
Xu Jie’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t lead them over here, would he?”
Lu Chen frowned slightly, not quite understanding what Ling Jiujiu was doing, but said firmly, “He won’t.”
Xu Jie: “How can you trust him so much? You’ve only known him for a few days.”
Lu Chen didn’t reply, his gaze fixed intently on Ling Jiujiu on the road.
Ling Jiujiu rubbed his ears, surprised to find he could hear many voices.
No longer just muffled groans, but clearer, more distinct speech.
They were saying, “Hungry,” “So hungry,” “Where’s the food,” “Where’s the boss taking us”…
And these voices were coming from the zombie horde right in front of him.
This was the first time Ling Jiujiu had heard zombies speak.
At the front of the horde was a leading zombie, seemingly guiding the direction of the march.
The Zombie Leader spotted Ling Jiujiu standing in the middle of the road and slowly came to a halt, staring straight at his face.
After a moment, the Zombie Leader opened its pale, bluish mouth:
“Awooo… (Are you new? Want to join us?)”
For so long in the apocalypse, Ling Jiujiu had been isolated from zombies due to the language barrier.
Now that he could finally communicate with his own kind, he was overjoyed.
Ling Jiujiu asked curiously, “Where are you all going?”
Zombie Leader: “Awooo… (Looking for food. There’s a place with lots of food. Want to come?)”
Hearing they weren’t targeting Lu Chen, Ling Jiujiu felt a slight relief.
He rubbed his stomach and shook his head with a smile. “No need, I’m already full.”
He had eaten the sashimi Lu Chen gave him earlier and wasn’t hungry at all.
The Zombie Leader leaned closer to Ling Jiujiu, sniffing carefully:
“Awooo… (What garbage food did you eat? Come with us for delicious, screaming meat. Stop living this hard life.)”
Ling Jiujiu: …
“Screaming meat” probably meant humans.
Ling Jiujiu didn’t approve of Lu Chen’s taste for tree root meat, nor could he agree with the tastes of other zombies.
He reminded them, “Humans are terrifying. They’ll aim for your heads, and then you won’t get to eat any meat.”
The Zombie Leader growled, “Grrr! (You cowardly zombie! If you don’t want to go, then don’t! Keep eating your garbage!)”
Ling Jiujiu was roared at and didn’t argue further, obediently stepping aside to the edge of the road to make way.
The Zombie Leader roared at Ling Jiujiu twice, then led her zombie horde away at a leisurely pace.
Ling Jiujiu watched them until they were far away, making sure none of the zombies had discovered Lu Chen, before heading back.
Xu Jie wore an expression as if he had discovered a new world, pulling Ling Jiujiu into the car.
“Xiao Jiu, you can actually communicate with zombies?”
Ling Jiujiu didn’t hide it either. “I just discovered it myself. It might be the effect of the Crystal Core I ate during the day.”
Xu Jie looked at Lu Chen, his eyes seeming to say, “Just a little brother, huh?”
Lu Chen ignored him and asked Ling Jiujiu, “What did you say to them just now?”
Ling Jiujiu answered truthfully, “They said there’s a place with a lot of food and invited me to join them.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen and Xu Jie immediately knew where that group of zombies was heading.
A place with a lot of food meant a place with a lot of people.
It was likely a refuge for many survivors.
With so many zombies heading there, even if there were awakened individuals, the casualties would likely be severe.
Awakened individuals were extremely rare. The Sea Serpent Base having seven was already considered a lot.
Based on his covert investigations, other bases only had three to five awakened individuals, and their levels weren’t high enough to withstand such a large-scale zombie siege.
“Brother Lu, should we go warn them?” Xu Jie’s expression turned serious as he looked at Lu Chen.
In the apocalypse, human nature was complex.
Some people were suited to this world, while others were struggling to adapt.
Lu Chen, Xu Jie, and the former 001 squad belonged to the latter.
Their guiding principles were: don’t act foolishly, don’t be self-righteous, and don’t sacrifice themselves for others.
However, if it didn’t endanger themselves and was within their capabilities, they wouldn’t turn a blind eye to others’ lives and refuse to help.
“The zombie horde moves slowly. If we drive to warn them, it shouldn’t be a big problem,” Xu Jie voiced his thoughts.
He was only offering a suggestion; the final decision still rested with Lu Chen.
Lu Chen looked in the direction the zombie horde was heading, then took out a town map he had found at the pharmacy. After studying it, he had a rough idea.
“Visibility is limited at night. We’ll set out at dawn.”
Although the zombie horde moved slowly, their numbers were too great, and they were too organized, leaving too many unknown possibilities.
Lu Chen couldn’t risk his and Xu Jie’s lives.
For the latter half of the night, the two took turns keeping watch and set out at the break of dawn.
They followed the road, seeing many severed limbs and rotting flesh dropped by passing zombie hordes along the way.
Even without seeing the direction the zombie horde was heading, the trail of scattered, messy flesh made it clear where they had gone.
After driving for three hours, tracking the zombie remains, they finally saw the massive, dark mass of the zombie horde in the distance.
Lu Chen took out the map and pointed to a location. “Ahead on this road, there’s a school. A bit farther, there’s a hospital. Either could have been turned into a refuge.”
Xu Jie glanced at the general route, then turned the car directly toward the wilderness, avoiding the zombie horde ahead.
Soon, they arrived at the buildings near the school ahead of time.
Hidden behind the structures, Lu Chen concealed his tracks and used Clairvoyance to conduct a thorough reconnaissance.
His Clairvoyance range had increased significantly, estimated at about twenty meters, just enough to see the school gate.
The school was surrounded by a circle of barbed wire, with a row of small light bulbs attached to it, which still seemed to be functional.
Inside the guardhouse at the school entrance, there were two people—clearly, this was the destination for the zombie horde.