Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars

"I hope it's sunny after the rain… Don't forget to collect water…"

Lin Fan led the others away, casually giving Liu Bin instructions, but he heard no response.

'That's a bit out of character for Liu Bin.' Curious, Lin Fan looked back, only to see Liu Bin staring wide-eyed at the distant sky, as if he'd seen something utterly terrifying.

Lin Fan followed his gaze. The night sky was pitch black; there was nothing there.

"What's…"

Sensing something was wrong, Lin Fan took two steps back. He had barely spoken when Liu Bin looked at him nervously.

Liu Bin's voice was hoarse with shock as he spoke, his words halting.

"No… that wasn't thunder… It was… it was an explosion!"

"An explosion?"

"Are you sure?"

Chu Zhaozhao and Lin Fan, who were closest to him, questioned him in unison.

Hearing this, even Zhang Ziyi, who was behind Liu Bin, looked up at the sky. He pondered for a moment before adding:

"Now that Brother Liu mentions it, it really did sound like an explosion."

"Explosives and thunder are different. One comes from the sky, the other from the ground. An explosion is a much sharper sound…"

Hearing this, Lin Fan decided it was better to be safe than sorry. He hurried over to his side and asked in quick succession:

"Could it have been a car… a gas station, maybe?"

"Doesn't sound like it…"

Liu Bin shook his head, his expression grave.

"It's still very far away. If it were a gas station, we'd be able to see the fire from here. Only high explosives could make a sound that travels this far…"

"Explosives… the military… You guys stay here and guard the place. I'm going to check it out!"

Lin Fan's mind raced, connecting the dots. He quickly spoke to Liu Bin and the others.

Then he turned, pulling Chu Zhaozhao and Su Qing, who were right behind him, and called for Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian. They all ran back to the clinic.

"Zhaotian, Xu Qian, you two clear out the driver's area in the RV. Here's the key to the van…"

Lin Fan picked up a key from a table in the clinic and handed it to Chu Zhaotian.

"Get a barrel of gasoline—there's a funnel here—and fill up the RV… Zhaozhao, Su Qing, you two help them. If there's any danger, we'll take the two RVs and leave. Forget the van."

Lin Fan had gotten quite a bit of gasoline and Diesel as drops from clearing out Mutated Zombies recently, so the van wasn't essential.

"Huh? Is it really that dangerous? What if it's the army? Shouldn't they be here to save us…"

Seeing how tense Lin Fan was, Su Qing couldn't help but feel nervous as well.

"It doesn't seem like it… In any case, it's best to be prepared. There's no harm in being ready…"

Lin Fan turned his head and met Chu Zhaozhao's bright eyes.

"Brother! I'm going with you! I can fly!"

Chu Zhaozhao spoke first before Lin Fan could say anything, staring into his eyes earnestly.

"You… you're more useful here! Protect them!"

Lin Fan hesitated. Although Chu Zhaozhao could fly, her stamina was too low. He decided to leave her behind.

He was more agile on his own, and taking someone else along would only add to the danger. He gripped her shoulder firmly, then gave it a gentle squeeze and said seriously.

"Okay, Brother!"

For once, Chu Zhaozhao didn't argue. She nodded seriously and held up the leather bag in her hand.

'Lin Fan had been itching to make a sarcastic comment about that. Where did she even find that weapons bag? It was a perfect fit for two Flying Swords!'

'But this clearly isn't the time. We can talk about it when I get back.'

After giving his instructions to everyone, he hurriedly grabbed the solid short spear leaning against the wall and ran toward the mouth of the alley.

He passed the supermarket and saw Liu Bin and Wang Yuanhua still standing outside. Besides the people from before, five or six more had joined them.

Liu Bin was holding a flashlight. Seeing Lin Fan return, he quickly stopped him.

"Brother Lin… should we gather everyone, or what's the plan?"

"Don't cause a panic yet. Load the essential food and water into the vehicles. You guys get ready… Right! Wang Yuanhua!"

Lin Fan gave some brief instructions, but then something occurred to him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two round crystals. He tossed them to Wang Yuanhua. The two Crystal Stones glittered in the moonlight.

"Eat them!"

"Okay!"

Wang Yuanhua's eyes widened as he caught them. Though surprised that Lin Fan had so many Crystal Stones saved up, he popped them into his mouth without a second thought.

Lin Fan watched as the moment the crystals entered his mouth, his maximum Life Value and current Life Value began to rise simultaneously. It was just as he'd said.

'These crystals aren't good for anything but saving lives. I just need to save one for Chu Zhaotian. I still have six left, which is more than enough!'

Giving two to Wang Yuanhua would let him recover a good chunk of health and heal his physical injuries. Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, all his strength would be useless.

"If people come, protect the food! If zombies come, protect your lives!"

With that final instruction, Lin Fan ran toward the mouth of the alley without looking back.

Empowered by his superhuman physique, he went all out, reaching a speed of nearly thirty meters per second on foot alone!

Dodging obstacles in his path and listening to the wind whistle past his ears, he passed the gas station in the blink of an eye. It was calm there, so that wasn't the source.

It was farther away…

A flicker of fire seemed to illuminate the direction of the outer ring road. Something was rushing toward them in the darkness…

「…」

"Colonel! The engine stalled! We're stuck!"

The command vehicle was in chaos. The driver's shout came from the cockpit window up front.

"Those were the last two blocks of explosives! Did the dog get in?!"

Zhou Chaoxian completely ignored the driver's report. He was anxiously staring through the armored vehicle's observation port while asking a young soldier in the rear compartment.

The young soldier was holding a remote control with a set of cables and fiber optics connected to its base. The remote's screen was now completely black, displaying only a single line of white text: "Signal Lost".

"It got in! It blew up the wall from the inside! I don't know if it killed it or not!"

The young soldier looked at the monitor in his hand, then stood up to gaze at the smoke in the distance through a porthole, his voice filled with a hint of excitement.

"Son of a bitch!"

It was rare for the middle-aged officer, known for his composure, to curse like that. But his gaze swept over the familiar faces inside the armored vehicle, and his tone became calm again as he asked:

"Observer, did Colonel Ye and her team make it out?"

"They… they made it out! We lost one of the assault vehicles, but the explosion made the horde contract to the east!"

"The truck, the bus, and Armored Vehicle 2 all got out!"

Another soldier, sitting in the gunner's seat diagonally above, said excitedly. But then he remembered their own situation, and his face fell, and he went silent.

"I was the one who gave the order. If you're going to blame someone, blame me…"

Zhou Chaoxian rummaged through his personal belongings and, to his surprise, found half a box of cigarettes. He cracked a grin and handed one to each of the men in the vehicle.

"This thing… its range is much bigger than anything we've encountered before… Even the walkie-talkies have no signal. If we hadn't driven the vehicle this close, the robot dog's cable wouldn't have been long enough…"

"Zhou, this isn't like you… What were our orders? To protect Colonel Ye and her team and get them to the quarantine zone safely!"

"Colonel Ye is out now. Even if we're done for, it's a worthy death. If you keep talking like this, I'll lose all respect for you…"

A middle-aged officer took the cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. He looked at Zhou Chaoxian with a wry smile and said,

"After all these years as a soldier, this is the first time I've ever smoked in an armored vehicle. Feels damn good… If this were back in the day, wouldn't you have thrown me in the brig?"

"Who the hell cares what you do now,"

Zhou Chaoxian tossed the cigarette box to the middle-aged man, then sighed and said,

"It's a shame, though. You three are still so young…"

The two young men in the rear compartment remained silent. No matter what, they probably didn't want to die.

"Colonel, now's not the time for that…"

Only the young man in the driver's seat turned around and said to Zhou Chaoxian.

Because only he could see the dense horde of zombies outside through the bulletproof glass, and only he could see the thing wildly flailing its limbs in the distant firelight.

The string of fear inside him had already snapped, leaving him strangely calm.

"Hey, does the autocannon still have ammo?"

The middle-aged officer suddenly asked his commander.

"A few dozen rounds left. What? You think you can fight your way out with that? Should I get out and push?"