The leader of the humans nodded: "We will be careful, but we'd appreciate it if you could lead the way."
The headquarters Louis mentioned was only a few blocks away; it was possible they were the ones who blew up the building blocking the way. There were over thirty human survivors in this group, half of whom were young women. This was related to the nature of their work in the commercial building; most of them were sales clerks. Louis and two soldiers led the way with guns, followed by Zhao Qiang, Professor Martin, and a few others, with the survivors trailing behind. Everyone moved very quietly and stealthily, afraid of making a sound that might attract the infected.
With a bang, Louis kicked open the closed glass door, revealing a large shopping mall. The peak of the virus actually began in the evening, but the mall had stopped operating after dark due to the unrest outside. So the mall was quiet, with only the emergency lights in the corners flashing a faint blue light. People walked through the rows of shelves, and some couldn't resist reaching out to grab food. After spending most of the night there, everyone was hungry and thirsty.
"Shh," Louis turned around and waved his hand. Two soldiers gestured for everyone to stay put. Louis approached Zhao Qiang and said, "Hey, fellow countryman, I know you have powerful weapons. I'm familiar with this building. After you go out the front door, there's a long corridor that leads to the back lobby. But that's not just the back entrance of the mall; there are agencies that use that back entrance on the entire floor. It's usually not as peaceful as it is here. So I need you to go and clear that area. With the weapons you have, it shouldn't be difficult. If you think it's difficult, you can hand over your weapons to me, and I'll personally go and clear the way for everyone."
Giving the weapons to Louis was impossible, so Zhao Qiang didn't refuse the mission. Louis was very satisfied and beckoned a soldier over, saying, "You help him open the door in front. We'll wait for your good news. Whether you can break through and continue towards headquarters depends on you."
The main entrance to the mall was tightly locked with chains. It was a closed fire escape. The soldier checked the chains, then raised his gun. Zhao Qiang quickly lowered the gun. "Don't fire! What if there are infected people outside?"
The American soldier said, "It's locked. How do we open it without a gun?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Let me drive."
As he spoke, Zhao Qiang casually touched the lock, and his energy caused the metal to crack open. The iron chain clattered to the ground, and the American soldier stood motionless with his mouth agape. Zhao Qiang gave him a push, "Let's go."
(Thanks to Fatty and sub79 for their monthly votes)
Volume 2 [691] Detour
【691】Detour
The American soldier bent down and picked up the chain that had fallen to the ground. He saw that the links that had been fastened together had been smoothly broken apart. "How... how did you do that? I didn't see you have a saw," the American soldier asked, his mind filled with doubt.
Zhao Qiang said, "You're not planning to complete the mission?"
Thinking of Commander Louis's orders, the American soldier said, "Yes, who doesn't want to complete the mission?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Then don't ask anything, let's go."
The two gently opened the door, revealing a long corridor. This passage hadn't been used for a long time; it was cluttered with debris and covered in dust. The American soldier was choked by the dust and wanted to cough, but Zhao Qiang immediately covered his mouth: "Don't make a sound."
The American soldier nearly choked to death. Zhao Qiang let go of his hand, clutching his lungs, and asked, "What happened?"
Zhao Qiang pointed to the end of the corridor: "There's someone there."
The American soldier immediately picked up his gun and said, "Go and take a look."
Zhao Qiang said, "I'm not familiar with the way, let's go together."
The American soldier was somewhat reluctant. "Okay, let's keep our voices down and not disturb them."
The American soldier pulled gauze from his first-aid kit and covered his mouth and nose so that he wouldn't be choked by the dust. The two quietly walked down the corridor and turned a corner to see the lobby. There was a large, transparent glass door connecting to the lobby. The door was locked, but the view outside was crystal clear.
The American soldier was so frightened that he sat back down at the corner, kicking up a cloud of dust. Luckily, he had gauze covering his mouth and nose, but even so, he almost sneezed. "If so many infected people had gone this way, they would have been devoured alive. Luckily, you covered my mouth just now. If they had found out, we would have been in big trouble."
The lobby was packed with people, and no one knew exactly how many there were. There was no room to even step. And that wasn't all; the area outside the door was also full of infected people. No one knew how they had gathered at the back door of the building.
Zhao Qiang and the American soldier dared not touch the glass door, fearing that the infected would break through before it was even opened, and the humans hiding in the mall would be in big trouble. The two returned the way they came, where Louis and the others were sitting on the ground resting, all chewing constantly, their stomachs empty after running around for most of the night.
"How is it?" Louis asked, throwing down the food in his hand.
The American soldier trembled: "No, no, it's terrible! There are so many infected people..."
Louis kicked the soldier: "Get out of here! You can't even explain the situation. What else can you do? Useless trash."
Louis glanced at Zhao Qiang, who said, "There are at least five hundred infected people in the hall. And that's not all. The entire area outside the back door is full of infected people. They're all gathered together and won't leave. If they break through that glass door, they can come over very quickly."
Louis shuddered: "They...they didn't find you, did they?"
Zhao Qiang said, "No, I think we should find another way to get to the headquarters. It's too dangerous to go this way."
Louis considered for a moment: "Where's your gun? Can't that powerful plasma gun handle them?" Louis referred to the compressed gas plasma as having an odd color, which was really unrealistic, but Louis didn't know the details, so his way of referring to it was understandable.
Zhao Qiang said, "If I give you the gun, can you change the world?" No matter how powerful a gun is, it's still just a gun. If you want to turn the tide with this gun, then it's not a gun, it's a god.
Louis sighed: "Yes, with so many infected, ten guns are useless, but this road is the best route to headquarters..."
Yang Shiyun interrupted Louis: "There is no best route. The so-called best route is the safest route. Let's revise it."
Louis pulled a flat map from his pocket and spread it on the ground. Soldiers used tactical flashlights to illuminate the way for everyone. Louis pointed to the map and said, "Look, the headquarters is over there. We're here now. Because the headquarters is afraid of an attack by the infected, they destroyed most of the roads. If we don't go this way, we'll have to take a detour." Louis marked two points on the map. The distance was indeed not far, even very close. However, if they couldn't pass through this building, they would have to detour two kilometers. On a normal day, walking two kilometers wouldn't be a big deal, but today, those two kilometers could be a den of wolves.
Zhao Qiang pointed to the map: "The peak of the virus infection is during the daytime, when most people are outdoors. We can cross this residential area and then return to the main road. This will take us more than three and a half kilometers, but it will be safer."
Louis nodded: "It's not impossible, but it's hard to say whether there are any crazy people in the residential area who escaped back home and got infected again."
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's give it a try. Staying here is useless. I'm afraid the infected people in the back hall won't stay quiet for long. If they attack, we'll be in great danger."
Louis waved his hand: "Everyone, cheer up, grab some food and water, and let's go."
A soldier said, "Sir, come and see, Professor Martin can't stand up anymore."
Louis's expression changed. He knew he was carrying a time bomb with him. Professor Martin had been injured by the madman. Although he had injected himself with a treatment, who knew if it would work? Fortunately, a long time had passed, and Professor Martin had been conscious before this.
"What's wrong?" Louis asked in a low voice as he walked over.
The soldier pointed at Martin, who was shivering on the ground, and said, "Sir, look, isn't he infected?"
Upon hearing that they had been infected, the survivors who had been following the group immediately scurried to the side. Several girls huddled together, terrified. Some of them noticed that Yang Shiyun held a special position in the group, and considering that women would sympathize with other women, they hid behind Yang Shiyun.
“Professor, Professor?” Louis shook Martin hard, but Martin remained silent, his jaw clenched, eyes tightly shut, his body trembling without any response. Louis drew his pistol: “I think he’s infected, Professor. I’m sorry, I have to do this…”
"Wait!" Yang Shiyun raised her hand to stop Louis. Louis said to Yang Shiyun, "He's definitely infected. Do you want to watch him mutate and then attack us?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Whether the professor has been infected or not cannot be determined by guessing. If you rashly kill him, can you bear the consequences?"
Louis hesitated for a moment. He really couldn't bear this responsibility. Professor Martin was a person designated by the military to be rescued. If he failed to rescue him, that was one thing, but if he managed to rescue him and killed him with his own hands when they were almost at headquarters, even if Professor Martin had no objection, would the people at headquarters let him go? But walking around New York City with such a dangerous person was no different from carrying a bomb.
Zhao Qiang said, "I think we should tie the professor to a stretcher and carry him. Even if he has a viral attack, he might not be able to bite us immediately."
Louis couldn't think of any other way, so he agreed. The group worked together to dismantle the shelf and tie Martin to it. Two men carried him, and even if the virus flared up, Martin would first try to break free of the packaging straps binding his body.
"Go, be quiet and don't make a sound," Louis instructed. Everyone filed out and walked back the way they came. Soon they came out of the building and arrived at the ruins of the collapsed building. There were no infected people here yet, but there were countless infected people behind the collapsed building, which was the back door of the building they had just come out of.
A full moon hung in the sky, making the streets appear bright. Everyone walked quickly forward, dodging several groups of infected people, and smoothly arrived at the residential area that Zhao Qiang had pointed out on the map. In fact, it was only a little over a kilometer away from the blocked section of the road. By passing through the residential area, they could bypass the blocked section of the road, and after walking another kilometer or so, they could return to the main road. There were indeed not many infected people along the way. It was unknown how many infected people they would have encountered if they hadn't taken this route.
Louis gathered everyone together. "Listen up, everyone. We don't know if there are any infected people in this residential area yet, so we have to take a gamble. The young man from China, you come with me, your girlfriend comes with the stretcher, and your group comes at the back. I'm warning you all, don't make any noise, or you're all dead."
Louis brought Zhao Qiang with him hoping to use his weapons, while Yang Shiyun followed the stretcher hoping she could help keep an eye on Martin in a critical moment, since he was a ticking time bomb that they wanted to get rid of but dared not.
Before they even entered the residential area, they encountered trouble. A group of uninfected humans had gathered outside the area. At first, they were cautious, but then these people suddenly started shouting and started their car, seemingly preparing to leave the residential area and escape to the outskirts of the city. With this commotion, Louis and the others dared not show themselves easily. The infected people in the residential area had already been alerted, so if they went any further, it would be a dead end.
"What should we do?" Louis asked Zhao Qiang. It was Zhao Qiang who suggested this route, so Louis had to ask him.
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's talk about it after they leave."
Knowing they couldn't afford to linger too long, the group jumped into their car and sped off along the road. Zhao Qiang shook his head. They had just come off the highway and knew the road conditions well. It was impossible for them to escape New York by car; they might as well stay home and wait to see how things developed.
"Let's go!" Louis said, waving his hand as he saw that the road was now open, ready for everyone to emerge from their hiding place.
Zhao Qiang grabbed Louis: "Wait a minute."
Louis said anxiously, "What are we waiting for? The professor will soon become ill. Are we going to carry an infected person back with us?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Do you want to go and die?"
Louis asked, "How is this considered suicide? You were the one who suggested we go this way."
Zhao Qiang remained silent, but Louis dared not move until he left. A few minutes later, a group of people staggered out of the residential area, numbering around twenty. They looked around at the entrance, likely alerted by the group of survivors who had just escaped. However, this group of infected individuals had come out a bit late, and apart from car exhaust, they hadn't found anything else yet. If they had found any survivors, they wouldn't have been so leisurely; they would have chased after them frantically.
Louis wiped the cold sweat from his brow: "What should we do? It looks like the residential area has been infected. Let's take another route, it's a bit shorter."
Volume 2 [692] Headquarters
[692] Headquarters
Zhao Qiang said, "Why don't you take a shortcut? We'll stay here and continue waiting."
Louis hesitated. He wanted to use Zhao Qiang's weapons, but Zhao Qiang was not under his command, which annoyed him. In addition, the dozens of infected people at the entrance of the residential area refused to leave, making Louis waver.
However, Louis didn't have a chance to express his thoughts. Instead, it was the ordinary people who had been following the group who spoke up. The leader said, "This won't work. Since this way is blocked, let's take another route. If you don't go, we'll have to go around to another place. Are we going to stay here and wait to be attacked by more infected people after dawn? We've had enough."
Zhao Qiang smiled and said, "Then let's go. We should keep waiting; there will always be a chance to leave."
The leader quietly left. A dozen girls glanced at Zhao Qiang, then stood up as well. This wasn't going to work, and they didn't want to wait any longer. With someone taking the lead, they naturally left.
Louis glanced at Zhao Qiang. In fact, he also agreed to find another way to leave. Waiting here would never end. However, Louis looked at Martin. At this moment, Martin was a huge burden. Although there were a few soldiers helping, most of their weapons were out of ammunition. They encountered infected people along the way, and carrying a patient was always inconvenient. There was also not enough firepower support. It was too dangerous. Louis shut his mouth.
More and more infected people emerged from the residential areas. They were probably civilians who had been infected again after returning to their communities. The citizens of New York were really unlucky. Who could have imagined that such a serious biohazard would occur?
“It’s about time we went,” Zhao Qiang said, standing up. Louis asked, “What about the infected?”
Zhao Qiang asked, "Do you have any grenades?"
Louis said, "There are two left. These are the only two left. What are you planning to do? Grenades are extremely loud and will attract more infected."
Zhao Qiang said, "The point is to attract their attention. I'll cover their retreat, and you guys can sneak into the residential area and then go around the road."
Louis said, "Understood. I suggest you make full use of that small weapon. Although there are many of these infected, firing a few more shots should be enough to deal with them. If all else fails, don't you have two plasma guns? Use them together."
Zhao Qiang smiled calmly: "I know what to do. You guys go ahead and hide outside the flower bed in front. After I blow them up, you rush in immediately. Don't worry about the rest."
"Blow them up? You mean use these two grenades to kill them all?" one soldier said, indicating he was under a lot of pressure.
Zhao Qiang said, "Why don't you cover our retreat?"
The soldier fell silent; he didn't have the power to do so.
Louis didn't mince words. He was eager for someone to risk their life to clear a path and cover his retreat. He directed the soldiers to lift Martin, and everyone hid in the flower bushes outside the residential area. Zhao Qiang pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it. The grenade arced through the air and exploded with two loud bangs above the infected man's head.
Louis didn't approve of Zhao Qiang's actions. Killing infected people who didn't even know what injury or pain was with two grenades was just wishful thinking. However, since someone was willing to use themselves to attract the infected, he didn't say much. As for Zhao Qiang's ability to time the grenade explosions perfectly, with the grenades exploding above the infected's heads, Louis knew that it would be very difficult to do that, and he would most likely be injured by the exploding grenade. But Zhao Qiang had timed it perfectly.
Louis peeked out from the flowerbed and was shocked by what he saw. Dozens of corpses lay on the ground, the infected who had been loitering outside the residential area. Not a single one was missing; they had all been killed by two grenades. They must have all died from shrapnel hitting their heads. How could this be? Louis was dumbfounded. He had never heard of grenades having such power and accuracy. Were those two grenades specially made by the government? He should have known better than to give them to Zhao Qiang.
Louis was still lost in thought when Yang Shiyun nudged him from behind: "Aren't you leaving yet? Are you going to stop only when the noise attracts other infected people?"
Louis suddenly realized what was happening and ordered the soldiers to lift Martin. "Let's go!" The group ran into the residential area, followed by a chaotic and hurried sound of footsteps. It must be that the madmen elsewhere had heard the explosion and were attracted to it. However, with Zhao Qiang covering their rear, Louis believed that his plasma gun alone could hold them off for a while, enough for them to evacuate.
Louis was extremely impressed by Zhao Qiang's foresight along the way; they hadn't encountered a single infected person, as they had all probably left the residential area. They did, however, run into a dozen or so survivors who, seeing the American soldiers retreating, hurriedly ran out of their homes to catch up with the group. As they ran forward, one of the survivors asked, "There's a wall blocking the way ahead, how are you going to get over it?" If it weren't for that large wall, they would have escaped long ago.
The residential area was semi-enclosed, with a factory outside the wall. Although the wall wasn't very high, the concrete structure was very sturdy, making it impossible for an ordinary person to jump over. Soon, the group reached the wall, and Louis was dumbfounded again. He could easily climb over, but what about Martin and the rest of the group? They could find a rope to pull them up one by one, but that would take a very long time.
Yang Shiyun pushed Louis aside: "Get out of the way."
Louis's face lit up with joy. He knew that Zhao Qiang must have considered this when he chose this path. Although Yang Shiyun was a woman, her abilities should not be underestimated. Sure enough, the weapon in Yang Shiyun's hand emitted a faint 'plasma', and the wall collapsed with a bang, creating a hole. Because the power of the gun had been weakened, creating this hole did not make much noise. In addition, a large number of infected people were being held back by Zhao Qiang, and the sound there was much louder than here, so it did not attract any infected people. Under Louis's command, everyone successfully entered the factory.
The factory had probably stopped operating before the virus outbreak, so it was quiet inside, and there wasn't a single dead person to be seen. After walking only a few dozen meters, we arrived at the main gate, which was locked. Louis went up and fiddled with it for a few moments, and the padlock was opened. It would be unreasonable for a commando captain like him not to have the skill of picking locks. Outside the factory gate was a narrow alley, and after walking a short distance, we could return to the main road.
They hadn't walked more than 600 meters when someone caught up from behind. Louis stopped and waited for a while. Zhao Qiang ran over, and Louis asked, "How did it go? Did you get rid of them?"