A cold bullet pierced through the skull of the Infected, and blood mixed with brain matter sprayed out from the wound, splattering all over brian’s body and face.
The Infected, its brain destroyed, seemed to lose all power, collapsing limply to the ground and moving no more.
Fresh blood flowed continuously from the wound, forming a pool in an instant and emitting a thick, bloody stench.
Seeing the Infected die, all the strength seemed to drain from brian’s body; he slumped onto the ground, gasping for breath.
Sarah, who was behind him, was also completely stunned by the scene, standing there blankly, her whole body trembling.
On the other side, after Joel shot and killed Jimmy, he turned around to see the two children—one collapsed and one terrified—and didn’t know what to say, but he knew they couldn’t stay here any longer; they had to leave immediately.
“Get up, we need to leave here immediately.” Joel pulled brian up from the ground and grabbed the stunned Sarah, dragging them both toward the front door without a word of protest.
Just after leaving the house, Joel happened to see his brother Tommy’s car parked outside.
When Tommy saw them, a flash of relief crossed his face as he asked: “Where have you been?
I’ve been calling you, but you haven’t answered.
Do you have any idea how chaotic it is out there?” “I already know.
Don’t waste time, just drive.” Joel didn’t say much more; he opened the back door and shoved the two still-dazed children inside.
He was well aware of Brian’s situation and knew his parents were out of town, so he didn’t ask about his home situation.
He closed the door, opened the front door, and got in.
“Damn it, why are you covered in blood?
Are you hurt!” As soon as he got in the car, Joel heard Tommy’s concerned inquiry, but he really didn’t want to waste any more time and said directly: “It’s not my blood.
Let’s get out of here.” Tommy didn’t say anything else, started the engine, reversed, and drove quickly toward the highway.
In the back seat, brian didn’t pay attention to what Tommy and Joel were saying in the front.
He just stared at his hands, his mind constantly replaying the scenes that had just occurred.
“I…
killed someone?” Although this feeling was terrible, he was, after all, an adult with the soul of someone over twenty.
After taking a deep breath, he gradually recovered from the discomfort.
Furthermore, after shooting and killing, he could feel as if he had broken through some kind of barrier within himself.
In his past life, he had once read a report about a convicted murderer.
After killing, as long as one survived the initial period of tension and panic, their entire mindset would undergo an earth-shattering change.
They would feel completely different from others—like a superior being capable of easily controlling the life and death of others.
The way they viewed others would no longer be as peers, but as prey, and whenever they encountered anything slightly unpleasant, their first thought would be to kill the other party.
If a person becomes accustomed to using slaughter to solve problems, then they will also be controlled by slaughter.
Thinking of this, Brian secretly warned himself that he must maintain his rationality at all times.
“Brian, Sarah, how are you two doing?” After the car had traveled a short distance, Joel turned his head to look at them with concern.
Although he hadn’t liked Brian very much at first, thinking he was too close to his daughter, the fact that he had stepped up to protect Sarah in a time of crisis had slightly improved his impression of The Boy.
“I’m fine.” Responding to Joel’s concern, Brian glanced at Sarah beside him.
Seeing that she also indicated she was fine, he asked: “My parents called me just now.
They said the infection is completely out of control.
What is the situation outside right now?” Joel also wanted to know the answer to Brian’s question, so he looked at Tommy, who was driving the car, hoping for an answer.
“I’m not really sure right now.
They’re saying people in the city have lost their minds, as if they’ve been affected by some kind of parasite or whatever the hell it is.” While focusing on driving the car, Tommy relayed the intelligence he had gathered from the news and passersby.
“And now, cell phones and radios are all useless; there’s no way to get accurate information.” Hearing Tommy’s reply, everyone in the car fell silent.
By now, everyone understood that the situation was extremely serious.
As the vehicle approached a fork in the road, Tommy seemed to suddenly remember something.
He turned his head to his older brother, Joel, and said: “I checked the latest news when I was coming over.
They said the Military has set up roadblocks on the highway and isn’t allowing anyone to enter the county.
Where are we going now?” “…Since the highway is blocked, then let’s take Route 71.” “Alright.” As a police car sped past them, the car turned right.
Along the way, they saw many families packing their luggage, wanting to take their wives and children to leave.
He even saw a vehicle that had crashed into a tree on the side of the road.
The driver’s side door was wide open, the inside was empty, and a long trail of blood extended outward, disappearing into the distance.
“Damn it, what on earth are these monsters?” Seeing this scene, Joel frowned slightly, which reminded him of the Infected they had encountered in the house.
“I don’t know.
The police have no clue either.” Tommy naturally understood what Joel was referring to; he had encountered several Infected patients on his way here.
He continued: “It’s not just our town experiencing this.
The reporters said the contagion started in the southern region, but it’s now spreading rapidly toward the east and west…” After driving for about ten minutes, they finally arrived at Route 71.
Along the way, they passed the Lewis farm, which was engulfed in flames, and encountered a family of three fleeing on foot by the side of the road.
Tommy had originally intended to stop and help them, but Joel, sitting in the passenger seat, refused the request to help, citing that there were too many people and they had a child with them.
Arriving at the intersection and looking at the long line of traffic ahead, Tommy said somewhat helplessly: “It looks like everyone has the same idea.” The traffic seemed to have been stuck here for quite a while.
All the vehicles were honking their horns incessantly, and Brian even saw helicopters flying overhead.
The owner of the blue car in front of them was clearly impatient.
He roughly pushed open his car door and roared at the traffic ahead: “Assholes, what the hell is going on up there?
Get moving!” But just as he finished speaking, two Infected wearing Hospital patient gowns suddenly lunged from the darkness beside the lane.
One of them rushed forward, tackled the man by the car to the ground, and began biting him frantically.
The other Infected climbed directly into the open car door and attacked the woman sitting in the passenger seat.
“This…” The sudden appearance of the Infected stunned everyone in the car; for a moment, they were all frozen.
Just then, the Infected that had tackled the man, after biting through its prey’s neck, noticed the four people in the car ahead and charged toward them with a roar.
“Tommy, reverse and get out of here now!” Joel’s shove snapped Tommy back to reality.
He quickly shifted into reverse, slammed on the gas, and drove into the nearby town.
Speeding along, the car turned left onto a main road, but coming toward them was a crowd of terrified people fleeing.
The crowd hindered the vehicle’s progress.
Not far ahead, there was even a car blocking the middle of the road, leaving only a gap wide enough for one vehicle to pass.
Forced by necessity, Tommy had to slow down and drive forward slowly, wanting to wait for the crowd to pass before proceeding.
But the number of people in the crowd was just too great.
Accompanied by Joel’s constant urging, Tommy gritted his teeth, slammed on the accelerator, and accelerated, struggling to pass through the narrow gap.
“Beep—!” But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, just as the car passed an intersection, blinding lights appeared to their left, and a runaway truck slammed into them head-on.
“Bang!” Before anyone could react, the truck smashed violently into the side of the car.
The immense impact flipped the entire vehicle over, and after rolling several times on the road, it landed on its side next to a store.
“Fuck!” It was unclear how much time had passed, but Brian gradually regained consciousness from his coma.
He only felt a dull ache in his head, like needles pricking, but fortunately, his body was not seriously injured.
Immediately afterward, he discovered the vehicle was overturned, Sarah and Joel were unconscious, and Tommy’s position in the driver’s seat was empty; he didn’t know if he had been thrown out.
He pulled hard on the car door, but Brian found it had deformed and couldn’t be pushed open at all.
Fortunately, there was a sunroof on the roof; without thinking, he pulled it open and crawled out.
Once outside the car, the street was filled with people fleeing in panic.
The glow of fires illuminated the surroundings like daylight, and in the distance, he could even see the figures of several Infected.
“Sarah, Joel, wake up!” He hurriedly crouched down and shouted their names into the car through the sunroof.
Brian pushed hard on Joel in the front seat.
Because of his size, he didn’t care whether he was conscious or not; he just pulled Sarah from the back seat and dragged her out through the window.
Joel in the front seat, pushed by Brian, gradually regained consciousness.
He hurriedly turned around to look back.
Seeing Sarah being rescued by Brian, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He then raised his left foot and kicked the windshield several times, kicking it right out.
Sarah, who had been dragged out of the car, also slowly woke up from her unconscious state.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Brian looking at her with concern, asking if she was injured.
But just as she was about to answer, she suddenly saw a hideous-looking Infected sprinting from a dark corner behind Brian!