Shortly after, the phone in the car rang, and the voice on the other end was urgent: "Urgent mission, get Pei Silai on the phone!"
Pei Si's phone was destroyed when he entered the laboratory, so the only way to contact him now is through the phone numbers of other people in the car.
Upon receiving the urging, Pei Si, who was walking over, quickened her pace and approached.
"There's an accident 2.9 kilometers away from you during the evacuation of a group of people, including the widow of a fallen soldier! Pei Si, I need you to go and rescue them immediately!"
Pei Sizhou's expression darkened.
He saluted. "Understood. Mission accomplished!"
Everyone quickly boarded the vehicle, and Yu An was no exception.
A route map and specific location were transmitted, and the driver stepped on the gas, heading to the destination as quickly as possible.
Pei Si took the time to recover her strength, study the route, and familiarize herself with the upcoming tasks.
Seeing them all ready to go, Yu An couldn't help but reach out and tug at Pei Si's arm.
Pei Si looked up at him.
Yu An whispered, "You have injuries."
Pei Si was injured at the research institute.
Pei Si smiled when she heard his words: "The injury is not serious, it's nothing serious."
Sitting next to Pei Si, Lu Chao interjected at the opportune moment: "Don't worry, our Boss Xie broke several bones back then, but he could still complete the mission without batting an eye. Brother Pei is someone he trained, so he's not that delicate."
Lu Chao boasted for a while, and then he blurted out his true feelings: "Brother Pei, do you think it's possible that Boss Xie is just showing off?"
Pei Sixin said, "I had thought of this possibility long ago."
However, thinking of Xie Chiyuan's cold face and the way he scolded people, he swallowed his words and didn't respond.
They arrived at their destination without much delay.
"Yu An, sit still in the car! We're going to switch cars and start the fight." Pei Si opened the car door, grabbed his gun, and rushed out.
In their line of sight, they could see several large trucks trapped by the zombie horde, as well as a cargo van.
The people inside the vehicle cried out for help in despair. They had run out of ammunition and could only sit helplessly in the vehicle, constantly shrinking further inside. The masked zombie stretched out its arms, panting, and grabbed at them again and again.
The vehicle, packed with people, began to shake violently as the zombies shoved it around.
"Isn't the car moving? The zombies are climbing on it!"
"Where's Officer Li?! He said he'd take us out alive! I need to find Officer Li!"
"Did that bastard surnamed Li abandon us and run away? He had a gun, he must have run away on his own!"
Inside the car, someone kept calling out "Officer Li," until a little boy in the far corner, wiping away tears, choked out, "Li Susu put me up here, and then I got bitten."
"SuSu got bitten and wouldn't come up, so he went to bang his head. Bang! SuSu stopped moving."
The children sobbed as they described what had happened. Just moments before, they had been calling for Officer Li, but upon hearing this, they all fell silent.
Just as a sense of despair was spreading through the car, suddenly, the car stopped shaking.
Some brave souls looked out and saw that the zombie that had been pushing the car had a small blood-red flower splattered on its forehead, and then it collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Gunfire continued.
The zombie horde finally changed direction and shifted its target.
The newly arrived vehicles were not only attracting zombies, but also searching for any lone individuals on the ground.
Yu An was safe in the car at first. But soon the driver carrying him also rushed towards the area where the zombies were gathered.
"I heard Lu Chao call you Little Lucky Charm, Little Lucky Charm, hold on tight. I'm taking you to ride the bumper cars!" said Jun, the driver, as he immediately started showing off his driving skills.
After several bumpy rides, Yu An, sitting in the back, slapped his mouth and exclaimed, "Ugh!"
He felt like throwing up.
Yu An knew that Jun Ge was doing something important, so even though she felt like throwing up, she just covered her mouth tightly and didn't say anything.
With Pei Si leading the charge, the situation on the ground visibly improved.
Yu An watched as the car, which had been attacked by zombies, slowly regained its ability to move. He looked outside, then looked up at the sky.
No planes were flying overhead.
"Drive!" he heard Pei Si shout from outside. "Drive faster, we'll cover your retreat."
Pei Si said she would cover their retreat, but the zombies in this area kept jumping in like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Yu An sat in the car, her face pressed against the glass, watching them fight the zombies without blinking.
He needs to observe and learn more!
Even after he gets away from here, he will still leave. He wants to venture out into the world alone, to become stronger, and to find his children.
The car finally managed to drive a short distance.
Pei Si returned to Yu An's side and bandaged the wound again. The bloody wound, sprinkled with medicinal powder, was so irritating that it almost made Yu An scream.
"for you."
After Yu An finished bandaging him, she handed him some water: "Your lips are chapped."
Pei Si took the water and gulped down a few mouthfuls.
Thanks to the ample ammunition in the vehicle and Pei Si's experience in dealing with zombies, they managed to shake off the horde and allow the vehicle carrying the civilians to drive away smoothly.
With so many people on the bus, Pei Si wanted to prioritize getting them to a safe place.
Zombies, with their two legs, can't outrun cars with their four legs, and as they run, their numbers dwindle.
Yu An looked back several times, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no more zombies.
"Crack—"
The sound of tires screeching to a halt suddenly rang out; for some reason, the car in front braked abruptly.
When he braked suddenly, all the cars behind him braked suddenly as well.
Caught off guard, Yu An bumped his forehead straight into the chair in front of him.
Pei Si straightened up and immediately called out to the car in front: "What happened? Why did you stop?"
"There's a fallen tree blocking the road. We can't get through unless we move it," the driver said, but he didn't get out of the car.
It was obvious that he was afraid.
Upon seeing this, Pei Si got out of the car without hesitation.
He picked a few people to go with him to move the trees. Yu An hurriedly joined in, eager to contribute his strength.
"Take me with you, I can carry it!" Yu An, having been protected for so long, felt embarrassed to just sit there like a useless little thing any longer.
Pei Si looked around; it was quiet and seemed safe. But his heart remained in his throat, and he dared not relax easily.
"Stay close to me."
"Um!"
The group jogged over and saw the tree blocking the road. The tree was very long and thick, its roots half-exposed in a pit, and its trunk bent so much that it was almost lying horizontally.
The leaves on the tree trunk are lush and green, full of life.
"Come on, lift it up."
Pei Si instructed them: "Make this quick and decisive."
Lu Chao looked down at the tree, puzzled: "Brother Pei, I've been to this place before. I remember there was only a shabby little sapling here, not a tree this big."
Such a big tree must be at least a hundred years old.
Standing at the very back, Yu An, upon hearing this, subconsciously looked at the tree roots and saw a lot of blood inside them.
Blood, and shredded clothes.
There were no bodies.
Yu An stared at the tree roots. The once still roots seemed to come alive in his eyes, as if the patterns on the dry, hard bark had instantly come to life.
Brown lines surged, and within them, a faint red glow of blood could be seen.
Yu An rubbed her eyes; the lines were still moving.
A chill suddenly ran down his spine, and an ominous premonition rushed into his heart.
"This tree is eating people!"
As soon as Yu An finished speaking, he pulled the person closest to him aside. Pei Si didn't need him to pull her; she simply moved a few meters away from the tree.
Almost the instant they dodged, the tree, which had been lying peacefully, suddenly stretched out long branches and stabbed sharply at them.
Pei Si fired several shots at the tree.
The tree, thicker than a person, was completely unaffected by the bullets; its branches lashed out in the air like fierce iron whips.
"What the hell is this thing?"
Someone, their scalp tingling, asked, "Can trees really become spirits?!"
Since the zombie outbreak began, this was the first time they had ever seen a tree that could kill and eat people.
Although it was the first time Pei Si had seen this either, he calmly said, "Tangle it and make the people in the car change course! Don't let it get close to the cars behind."
"yes!"
The group was entangled with the tree and was clearly at a disadvantage.
Lu Chao, having dodged in a sorry state, shielded Yu An behind him and gasped for breath, "Little lucky charm, we're doomed. We're really going to be stuck here this time."
Yu An's face was tense; even under these circumstances, he was still well protected.
Pei Si looked at Lu Chao and said sternly, "Send Yu An back to the car!"
Yu An didn't want to hold them back, but he had nothing in his hands and couldn't even rush into the fight.
Just when this unexpected event seemed to be heading towards a dead end, Yu An's ears suddenly twitched.
He looked up, his amber eyes fixed on the sky, and shouted, "The helicopter is here!"
The helicopter has arrived.