Chapter 134: Tail
The vehicle pressed onward toward the target mall. Along the way, Little Sweet Potato smashed open the heads of scattered zombies—not a single Crystal Core within its attack range could be wasted.
Behind the Marauder, a dozen or so vehicles were following its tracks across the snow when, suddenly, dozens of thick, mutated vines burst forth around the lead vehicle. These vines closely resembled the agile tentacles of an octopus, thrashing and weaving wildly through the air with dazzling speed. This bizarre and terrifying sight made the drivers of the trailing vehicles tense up in shock, their feet instinctively slamming on the brakes.
"SCREECH—!"
The harsh friction instantly pierced the silence of the snowfield. Winter tires carved long skid marks into the icy ground, the grating noise carrying the biting cold into everyone’s ears. Inside the cabins, the occupants were violently jolted by the sudden halt.
At the rear of the convoy, Jasper Payne and his group were too far away. They only caught a vague glimpse of vine-like objects thrashing wildly in the distance, completely unable to see what had actually happened. But seeing the vehicles ahead suddenly stop, they didn’t dare hesitate and hurriedly hit their brakes as well. In the panic, the two off-road vehicles they were riding in surged forward with immense momentum. Their front bumpers narrowly scraped past the rear of the Blaze Squad’s vehicles ahead, inches away from a brutal collision. The close call left everyone in a cold sweat.
"Ah!" Shay Kramer’s scream rang out from the backseat.
Jasper’s brows furrowed so deeply in annoyance that they practically knotted together. "I told you, don’t make any noise over fifty decibels when we’re out scavenging for supplies!" His voice dripped with impatience. He had warned her that the Containment Zone was full of danger and that she shouldn’t tag along if she didn’t have a superpower. Yet, she had thrown a fit, claiming she needed to learn how to face the apocalypse, and stubbornly insisted on coming.
Shay pouted, a wave of grievance washing over her. Ever since the water plant incident, Jasper had ceased all intimate contact with her, avoiding her like the plague. Instead, he frequently took Yolanda Kramer out to collect Crystal Cores, even giving her over a hundred of them to help her advance to the Second Order! And now, the two of them had even made their relationship official! She looked at her sister sitting in the passenger seat next to Brother Rick, beaming like a beautiful flower, and her eyes filled with jealousy.
Shay’s tone was incredibly cautious. "I’m sorry. I’ll definitely be careful."
Jasper ignored her. Picking up the walkie-talkie, he asked about Jesse Payne’s situation in the other car.
Jesse’s puzzled voice came through the radio. "We’re fine! Are we still following them?"
Jasper pondered for a moment. Although their group was small, they already had four Second Order Superpower Users. While they didn’t have as many people as the Blaze Squad ahead, the latter only had five Second Order Superpower Users, meaning their core combat strengths were roughly equal. He had heard that the Blaze Squad brought back a substantial amount of supplies from their last trip in, so his team should be perfectly capable of going wherever the Blaze Squad could. He promptly replied, "Drive carefully. We’ll continue following the convoy."
The Marauder had already crossed the border of the Eighth District and was driving toward the Ninth District’s commercial circle. With the lead vehicle clearing the path, the dozen or so trailing vehicles didn’t have to stop to kill zombies at all, smoothly arriving in the Ninth District.
Not long after entering the boundaries of the Ninth District’s commercial area, the Marauder became completely stuck. The path ahead was entirely blocked by massive, tangled branches and leaves. With everyone forced to disembark, Luna Dawson waved her hand and stored the vehicle in her spatial dimension.
The two or three squads behind them had been maintaining a distance of several hundred meters from Luna and her group. Seeing that the road ahead was simply too difficult to traverse, they scattered on their own accord, heading into the surrounding shops and residential areas to scavenge for supplies.
Taking just a few steps forward, a bizarre scent—a foul mix of rotting decay and sickening sweetness—drilled into their noses. Even with their masks on, the pungent smell made everyone involuntarily furrow their brows. Looking up, they saw countless mutated trees hundreds of meters tall sprouting from the city’s green belts. Their thick trunks pierced straight through the walls of the high-rise buildings, and their dense foliage blocked out the sun, rendering the sky dark and gloomy.
Vines crisscrossed like giant pythons, entangling the buildings and trees. Unidentified flesh-colored flower buds hung from them, occasionally oozing a sticky sap that hit the ground with a soft SPLAT. If it weren’t for their headlamps illuminating the faint silhouettes of buildings and shop signs ahead, the group would have almost thought they had stumbled into a sub-zero version of a primeval forest.
Even more bizarrely, many zombies had fused with the trees. Mutated roots pierced right through their bodies, and various leaves and branches sprouted from within them. Some branches even skewered several stiff zombies together like a grotesque stick of candied hawthorns. The trapped creatures could only let out weak, guttural growls.
Fragmented sunlight struggled to filter through the gaps in the foliage, casting dappled shadows in the air. One could clearly see countless tiny water molecules and pale green spores drifting through the shafts of light.
Luna checked the thermometer-hygrometer she had just retrieved from the outside of the vehicle. Seeing the reading, she couldn’t help but curse, "Negative thirty-six degrees! Hiss! It’s so dark and cold."
Blake Blue looked at the dim surroundings. "Put Luna’s goggles away. Looks like they won’t be needed."
The ground was covered in thick, slippery moss, topped only by a thin layer of snow. As the group stepped on it, they could hear the CRUNCH of the snow being compacted, along with the soft squelch of the moss being crushed beneath their boots. Their feet slipped frequently.
"Ah! It’s so slippery! I’ll know how to do the splits by the time this trip is over!" Miles Dawson wailed from the cold as he stuck hand warmers all over his body.
Evan Olson couldn’t even be bothered with him anymore. "Miles, if you stick any more of those on, I’m going to start suspecting you’ll roast yourself alive."
Aaron Palmer stood nearby, flashing a wide, toothy grin as he laughed. "Luna, Nancy, and Sister Wendy aren’t even as scared of the cold as you are."
Miles looked utterly shocked. "Did you not see how many they stuck on before we left?! They must have gained at least three pounds just from all the warmers!"
Kevin Keane let out a few dry coughs. "How can you compare yourself to the girls? As long as you don’t freeze to death, you’ll be fine." Anyway, he had personally watched Luna stick on twenty-one warmers, so she definitely wouldn’t freeze.
Miles was speechless.
Shane Shaw stated quietly, "Nancy put on quite a few too. Girls need to stay warm."
Wearing thick gloves, Nancy Sullivan tightened her grip on her knife. "I won’t freeze, but my movements are definitely a lot clunkier."
Aaron gently patted her fluffy, hooded head. "With your meager skills, you won’t even need to lift a finger. Your big brother here will kill all the zombies for you."
Lynn Shelby couldn’t resist teasing them. "Oho, ’big brother’? Are you her real brother, or her sweet Leo?"
Aaron bristled the moment he heard that. "I’m several years older than her, doesn’t that make me her older brother too?!" After snapping back, he unconsciously turned his face away. Pausing for a moment, he stubbornly added, "Don’t you agree, Nancy?"
He stood there acting all awkward, not even daring to look at her. His mind was a tangled, nervous mess. Yet Lynn always had to jump in and stir the pot.
Nancy hadn’t quite grasped the situation. Just as she absentmindedly hummed in agreement, she suddenly cried out in alarm. "R... Rollo!"
"He’s slipping!" Rhonda Dawson also shouted out. She had barely managed to steady herself by leaning on Blake and Miles, her eyes widening in shock at the sight before her.
Rollo let out a yelp as his four paws gave out, sending him sliding down a slope. Without a second thought, Luna dropped to her butt and slid down after him to save the dog. Her reckless action made everyone gasp in horror.