BC Chapter 28

Chapter 27

Lu Ziming and Zhou Yuanyuan, after resting at Sun Tai’s place, bid farewell to Sun Tai, Dai Qianya, and little Jin Shengzhe. When they came out of Walmart, the sky was still a bit bluish. After a night of silence, the zombies on the streets were still scattered and dazed in every corner.

Lu Ziming’s initial plan was to head out of Qingshui City, away from the city center. With a smaller population, it would be relatively safer. Since there were no communication devices, she didn’t know the situation in other cities. But if she took the outer ring expressway eastward, it wouldn’t be too far from Linfeng City. If she was lucky, she could find a vehicle and go to Linfeng City to see what the situation was there, whether it had fallen or not.

However, the further east she went, the farther away she would be from the bustling city, and Lu Ziming wasn’t familiar with that area. So, she had no choice but to leave Walmart during the day.

Although she knew that the zombies’ vision would be better during the day, which was disadvantageous for her and Zhou Yuanyuan, she needed to search for a vehicle along the way. It would be difficult to find anything if it wasn’t daytime. So, starting the ‘adventure’ early in the morning was the only option.

“Lu Ziming, did you hear something?” The two were cautiously avoiding the zombies on the street and constantly changing hiding places. When they had walked almost an entire block, Zhou Yuanyuan, who was crouching beside a flower bed at a T-junction, suddenly signaled Lu Ziming to stop. Then, with a strange expression, she used her little finger to pick at her ear, shook her head, and asked Lu Ziming doubtfully.

“Sound? What sound? Are you talking about the moaning sounds the zombies are making?” Lu Ziming imitated Zhou Yuanyuan, placing her hand on her ear and pressing it, then rubbing it in circles. After that, she shook her head again and said, “I didn’t hear anything. I can only hear the sounds the zombies on the street are making.”

“No, not those sounds. The sound of a car!” Zhou Yuanyuan frowned. To her ears, she could hear the sound of vehicles moving from a slightly farther distance, and it was coming from several blocks west, heading in their direction.

Although her hearing had been exceptionally sensitive since she was young, she had never reached this level before.

She even heard the increasingly clear roars of zombies coming from the direction the car was approaching. Although it all felt faint and indistinct at the moment, the fact that the sounds she was hearing were continuous and becoming clearer could not be denied. So, she abruptly grabbed Lu Ziming’s hand and said with certainty, “There are many zombies heading in this direction… we need to hide! Or we’re dead!”

When Lu Ziming heard her words, her face turned pale at first. Then, she turned her head and looked around at the surrounding environment. Besides walls, shrubs, and lush trees, there was nothing else. She wanted to hide, but where could she hide in this environment?

After saying those words to Lu Ziming, Zhou Yuanyuan also immediately looked around for a suitable hiding place. However, like Lu Ziming, she couldn’t see anywhere around that could provide them with shelter.

Sensing the sounds that seemed to be getting closer and closer, she looked around anxiously until she saw several trees that looked climbable on the vertical street at the T-junction.

Zhou Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up, and she pulled Lu Ziming over, pointing to the big tree in front of them and saying, “Climb up!”

Lu Ziming immediately understood her meaning, handed her bag to her, and tried hard twice. But the ideal was full, and the reality was skinny. The branches of the tree that could be used to climb were too high. Even though Lu Ziming wasn’t short, when she jumped, she could only reach the lower surface of the lowest branch.

“No, I can’t reach.” Lu Ziming put her hands on her hips and took two rough breaths, anxiously saying.

Zhou Yuanyuan, who was watching to see if there were any wandering zombies nearby, was also anxious and said, “Then… what do we do?”

Lu Ziming turned her head and saw Zhou Yuanyuan, who was slightly shorter and thinner than her, and felt a sudden flash of inspiration in her mind: “It seems like I should be able to send you up first!”

“Ah?” Zhou Yuanyuan was stunned and hadn’t understood what was going on when she saw Lu Ziming had already walked to the tree and squatted down, holding the tree trunk in front of her.

“Quick, put down your bag and weapon first, and sit on me!” Lu Ziming turned her head and patted her shoulder.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Zhou Yuanyuan, although she had only just realized Lu Ziming’s plan, didn’t have time to be shy. She said okay and put everything on the ground.

When she sat on Lu Ziming’s shoulders, her face flushed red as if the belated effects were kicking in.

Fortunately, Zhou Yuanyuan was thin and not too heavy. Lu Ziming stood up little by little with effort and asked Zhou Yuanyuan if she could climb up the tree. But Zhou Yuanyuan said no, it was still a little short.

Lu Ziming put her hand on the tree trunk and straightened her arm, saying, “Step on my arm and stand up!”

So, Zhou Yuanyuan on top immediately changed her posture tremblingly. During this, Zhou Yuanyuan’s shirt slipped a bit, almost causing her to fall off. Fortunately, before that moment, Zhou Yuanyuan’s hands had already grabbed the tree branch.

After Zhou Yuanyuan sat astride the tree branch, Lu Ziming threw the two weapons and two bags up to her from below.

Before throwing her own backpack, she grabbed some magnesium powder that she had previously packed in a bag from the side pocket. She also took a small plate of safety rope with a locking buckle from the backpack and taught Zhou Yuanyuan to hang this section of rope on another thinner branch. She looked up at the height of the rope loop and was certain that there would be no problem this time, so she retreated a distance.

At this time, Lu Ziming also heard the sound of a car driving in this direction. Knowing that time was running out, she took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and ran towards the tree, accelerating. When she was less than a meter away from the tree, one foot kicked forward, stepping on the lower part of the tree trunk, and her whole body jumped upwards. One hand accurately grabbed the rope loop and used the momentum to pull her body higher. The other hand finally grabbed the tree branch. Then, both hands simultaneously exerted force to secure her upper body. Relying on her extraordinary core strength, she stepped on the tree trunk step by step, and then swung one leg over, clamping the branch.

At this moment, Lu Ziming was completely like a monkey, hanging on this tree branch. With the help of Zhou Yuanyuan, she finally managed to climb up.

Just as the two settled down in the tree, they saw a pure green off-road vehicle driving from the west, heading straight for the east exit of Qingshui City. And after that off-road vehicle passed by, the zombies on the streets moved like a pool of stirred muddy water. Attracted by the noise of the car, they gathered together and then, along that street, surged like a living tide.