There is a small town called Hurley in New Mexico in the southwestern United States.
The numbers on the gas pump stopped ticking, and Gu Chen removed the gas gun from the 2020 Chevrolet Express truck.
Sitting back in the driver's seat, he looked at the dark environment outside.
It was only five in the evening, and the overcast sky made it feel like night time here.
There was still nearly five hours of driving left. Gu Chen glanced at the cargo box filled with various domestic goods and sighed.
The visibility outside is not good now, but we can only get the full shipping fee if we deliver this batch of food on time.
After finishing the coffee he bought at the gas station convenience store, the bleeding bite mark on the arm of the young clerk in the store suddenly popped into his mind.
"What does other people's hands have to do with me? I'm just a deliveryman." Gu Chen smiled lightly and threw the coffee accurately into the trash can through the car window.
From time to time, vehicles sped out of the town, passing Gu Chen and heading north.
In the rearview mirror, two middle-aged men got out of a business car and walked towards the convenience store angrily. During the walk, they were almost hit by a vehicle that rushed out of the town.
"Why are these cars in such a hurry?" Gu Chen took out the key and prepared to start the truck.
A woman with short blond hair rushed out of the business car, wearing a sports vest and a khaki short jacket.
The black overalls and Martin boots made her look tall.
Gu Chen became increasingly alert as he watched the woman running towards the truck in the rearview mirror.
But the screams made him turn his attention to the entrance of the convenience store:
One of the two angry men was knocked to the ground by the clerk. Then, as Gu Chen looked on in surprise, the clerk lay on top of the man and tore off a piece of flesh from his face with his mouth.
The passenger window kept being banged on. Gu Chen took out a Glock pistol from the locker and held it in his hand:
"What are you doing!"
The woman yelled, "Zombies! There are zombies in my car!"
Zombies? Gu Chen was quite familiar with this word that only appeared in movies and games, but how could it appear in reality?
Figures of people rushing out of the town appeared in the rearview mirror. The way they ran was completely different from that of humans.
The girl outside the car desperately showed her clothes to Gu Chen, shouting quickly: "I have no wounds! They are coming!"
Gritting his teeth, Gu Chen unlocked the car door and the girl got in:
"Let's go! My driver was bitten and turned into a zombie! I wasn't bitten!"
As he was speaking, a pale-skinned person rushed out from outside the passenger window. His head, half of his face missing, revealed uneven yellow teeth. His pupils, shrunk into tiny dots within his red irises, stared intently at Gu Chen and the girl in the car.
Gu Chen was frightened and subconsciously shot the man with a large wound on his neck.
The unaimed bullet went through the glass and pierced the man's cheek.
The bullet shattered his teeth, and the man, with dark red blood flowing from his mouth, seemed unconcerned and continued to gnaw on the spider-web-like glass with his remaining teeth.
There was a sudden loud noise from the left side of the truck, and a pickup truck rushed onto the road, brushing past the truck.
Gu Chen didn't care about the left rearview mirror that was knocked off by the pickup truck. He locked the car door and turned the key to start the truck.
"So many!" said the young woman who got on the bus, looking at the rearview mirror.
The truck loaded with cargo couldn't speed up, but the zombies were moving at a terrifying speed.
"They're catching up!" the girl in the passenger seat reminded tremblingly.
With a few "bang bang bang" sounds, zombies climbed onto the truck.
A head with sunken eye sockets and missing eyeballs popped out of the car window, scratching the glass hard with a hand with exposed knuckles.
Listening to the harsh scratching sound of bones rubbing against glass, Gu Chen hardened his heart and stepped on the brakes.
The seat belts almost made it difficult for them to breathe, but the sudden braking of the truck also caused the zombies in the truck to be thrown out by inertia.
The zombies behind the car who were unable to dodge in time crashed into the rear of the truck.
Looking at the zombie that rolled on the ground several times and then quickly stood up, Gu Chen shifted the gear to reverse and stepped on the accelerator.
The truck shook a few times and crushed a zombie's head, just like crushing a watermelon.
The yellow and white tissue in the zombie's brain with some white lines was pulled out into a long line by the wheels. The zombie that lost its head twisted a few times and then stopped moving.
Gu Chen heard a buzzing sound in his ears and saw a piece of text:
[Vehicle activation successful, data loading completed]
[Vehicle: Chevrolet Expree Van]
Level: 1 (1/10)
After knocking away a few zombies, Gu Chen shook his head. After the words disappeared from his sight, Gu Chen knocked down another zombie with the back of the car and ran over it.
"Experience +1" A strange hint appeared in Gu Chen's eyes again.
"Hold on tight!" Gu Chen whispered to the girl beside him and shifted the gears to forward.
Thinking that the two previous tips were to shoot the zombie in the head, Gu Chen lowered the car window and stretched out his left hand to pull the trigger at the zombie's head when driving past it.
As the zombie fell backwards, Gu Chen saw the prompt to gain experience again.
The first time he used a gun to take a life, the anger that had been suppressed in Gu Chen's heart came out.
More than a dozen zombies were about to surround the truck again. Gu Chen turned the steering wheel with his right hand to control the truck to knock down and crush the zombies. He stretched out his left hand from the window and shot the approaching zombie in the head.
As the experience prompt reached "10", Gu Chen saw a new prompt:
[Vehicle Upgrade: LV2 (0/30)]
[Host selection upgrade reward]
[1. Repair vehicle appearance and increase armor]
[2. Increase vehicle power by 100%]
[3. Adding a collision angle to the vehicle]
The second one! Gu Chen quickly made a choice in his mind. This inexplicable text might belong to his golden finger system.
As he thought, after he made a choice in his mind, a blue light appeared on the hood and the sound of the engine became strange.
The girl next to him had remained silent, covering her mouth without saying a word as Gu Chen crushed and shot the zombies.
At this time, she also saw the blue light on the hood, but she kept her mouth shut.
More figures rushed out of the town. Gu Chen's Glock had a magazine with only 17 bullets, and he had just used about ten rounds.
Looking at the at least dozens of zombies, Gu Chen turned the steering wheel sharply to turn the truck.
He stepped on the accelerator hard, and the truck engine roared and rushed onto the paved road.
Gu Chen and the girl were pressed hard on their seats by inertia and instantly moved away from the town.
The truck, missing its left rearview mirror, was speeding under the gloomy sky. Gu Chen, holding the steering wheel with his right hand and the Glock with his left, pointed at the white girl and glanced at her:
This pretty girl with short blond hair and blue irises was about the same age as him and looked quite capable.
Thinking back to the girl's neat white teeth during the conversation just now, Gu Chen's first impression of this girl was: a child from a wealthy family, perhaps even an elite white leftist.
Glock didn't move. Gu Chen said to the girl:
"That's enough, you can get off now."
The girl opened her eyes wide, looked at Gu Chen in disbelief and asked, "Are you going to abandon me?"
"What else? I've already rescued you from danger. Do I owe you anything?"
Looking at the thick fog outside the car, the girl frowned and said, "At least take me to the next town."
Gu Chen slowed down the car, still holding the Glock firmly in his hand: "How do I know you won't turn into a zombie?"
The girl closed her eyes for a while, then slowly said:
"I'm Caroline Jane, an employee of the new materials company 'Mail'."
"So what? I'm a deliveryman for Chinatown. Do I have any connection with zombies?" Gu Chen interrupted the girl.
Jane shook her head: "I'll tell you what I saw, and then you can judge."
"I'm here with my colleagues to conduct an inspection. The company plans to move its production department to New Mexico."
"When we were in Heli, our business car needed to refuel. After the driver paid, he came back and told us that he was bitten by the waiter..."
"Two colleagues went to deal with the matter, but after they left, the driver suddenly vomited blood in the car."
"The co-pilot was about to grab a tissue when the driver pounced on him and bit him..."
"The driver bit my colleague's throat in one bite, and I ran out immediately."
"Your car was closest to me at the gas station at the time, and I saw you weren't injured..."
Gu Chen interrupted Jian after hearing this and said, "Transmission through body fluids?"
Jane nodded: "Judging from the situation at the gas station, the possibility of transmission through body fluids is the greatest."
"It shouldn't be through water or air, because if it was water, the whole town would be infected. Air is even more impossible, otherwise we would have become like them."
Gu Chen remembered the bite marks on the clerk's arm and moved his fingers holding the Glock. This girl's analysis was quite reliable.
"I'll drop you off at the next town." Gu Chen said to Jian after putting the Glock into the storage compartment.
He was just about to turn on the radio to listen to what was happening when a bright light suddenly appeared ahead on the foggy road.
At a speed of over 70 miles per hour, Gu Chen stepped on the brakes hard to stop the truck just before it hit the bright light.
It wasn't lights, but twisted vehicles with flames. More than ten cars collided with each other, blocking the road.
Jane looked at the tragic scene and asked, "What happened?"
"I've walked this road many times, and there should be very little traffic. It might be the thick fog that caused the vehicle fleeing from Heli to collide." Gu Chen slowly drove the car out of the road. He planned to bypass this section from the desert.
After getting off the road, Gu Chen and Jian discovered that the traffic accidents on this section of the road were far more serious than they had imagined.
The road for nearly 100 meters was full of crashed and burning vehicles, including a long-distance passenger bus.
Gu Chen, who was driving the car slowly forward, suddenly found something wrong. There were many shadowy figures in the dim firelight in front.
After turning the car lights to high beam, Gu Chen and Jian gasped at the same time - those shadows were actually zombies!
"Damn it!" Gu Chen suddenly shifted the gear to reverse, stepped on the accelerator, and the truck roared backward.
The huge engine sound made the zombies turn their heads collectively, and then hundreds of zombies ran out of the scrapped vehicle at a high speed, howling.
The truck could not go any faster in the desert, so Gu Chen could only hope to reverse back onto the road and turn around to get away from here.
Having lost his left rearview mirror, he could only observe the road through Jane's side, but he couldn't see clearly in the dim environment and the glass cracked by bullets.
"They are catching up!" Jane warned as she looked at the group of zombies getting closer and closer in front of her.
You can't steer randomly in the desert, and the car can't go faster. Gu Chen can only roughly judge the direction by the road outside the car window.
Jane suddenly lowered the car window, unbuckled her seat belt and leaned out.
Jane, who was holding onto the car window, yelled, "Turn to your left!"
Gu Chen suddenly turned the steering wheel, and the truck fell to the left to avoid the zombies that were rushing towards him with flames.
"More left!" Jane's shouts continued.
"We're on the road! Turn right and back!"
Under Jian's command, Gu Chen drove the car steadily back to the paved road.
The truck was rapidly reversing on the road, gradually moving away from the group of corpses in the fog.
Sliding back into the passenger seat, Jane fastened her seat belt.
Gu Chen looked at Jian and thanked her.
Jane, who was holding the handrail, replied indifferently: "Me too."
In the thick fog, Gu Chen slowly drove the car off the road again and stopped after driving a short distance in the desert.
Jane looked at the thick fog and asked, "Why did you stop?"
After turning off the car, Gu Chen replied, "It's very likely that there are other survivors in the town who are fleeing by car."
Jian instantly understood what Gu Chen meant: "The fleeing vehicle must be traveling at a high speed, but the visibility is too dangerous right now."
Raising his eyebrows, Gu Chen felt that communicating with smart people was convenient: "Yes, another point is that I guess zombies use sound and moving objects to confirm their targets."
Jane suddenly remembered the zombie lying on the car window next to her at the gas station.
The tiny pupils scanned back and forth in the car, until Gu Chen fired a shot, then they stared at Gu Chen intently.
"As for those in the car accident just now, it was the sound of the approaching vehicles that really alarmed them, so in the current situation, the right choice is for us to hide in the thick fog and keep silent." Gu Chen said after taking out the Glock and checking the magazine.
Jane glanced at Glock, opened her mouth to say something, but finally closed it.
There were still 7 bullets. After confirming, Gu Chen put the Glock back into the gun box in the locker.
"What should I call you?" Jane suddenly asked in a low voice.
Gu Chen snorted: "It doesn't matter. We will go our separate ways in the end anyway."
Jane blinked and looked at the full cartons in the cargo box: "What kind of goods are you transporting?"
Gu Chen simply said nothing, found a long blanket from behind the driver's seat, wrapped himself in it, and looked at the thick fog.
Jane pulled part of the blanket around herself.
Gu Chen stared at the girl at the airport: "Hey!"
Jian looked at Gu Chen and said seriously, "Thank you."
Gu Chen, who was speechless after being tricked by this girl, took out his mobile phone, adjusted the brightness to the lowest level and wanted to see if he could see some information.
But all social media platforms were disconnected, so he tried to call 911.
There was not even a signal tone, and the number could not be dialed out.
After putting away their phones, Gu Chen and Jian stayed in the car in silence.
A slight "click" sound came into the car, and Gu Chen and Jian opened their eyes wide and looked at the thick fog outside the car.
It was a strange kind of knocking sound, like the chattering of teeth when one is extremely cold, only louder.
The "click-click" sounds became more and more frequent, and then a zombie dragging its feet appeared in the thick fog, followed by the second and third.
The zombies moving slowly beside the truck collided with their upper and lower jaws from time to time: "Click".
Dozens of zombies slowly walked out of the thick fog, and soon the outside of the truck was filled with horrific living dead with bones and muscle tissue exposed.
It was an extremely horrifying scene as hundreds of zombies from the car accident walked past Gu Chen and Jian.
The zombies stared blankly ahead as they moved. Some of them bumped into the truck, their upper and lower jaws colliding with each other, making a "click" sound, and then they turned in another direction and moved.
Gu Chen and Jian covered their mouths tightly, waiting in fear for the zombies to leave.
A zombie passed by the car window and looked over with red eyes, meeting Gu Chen's frightened eyes.
Gu Chen was so frightened that he didn't even dare to blink. He held his breath and stared at the zombie.
"Click" the zombie's upper and lower jaws collided and turned away. Only then did Gu Chen and Jian dare to breathe quietly.
More than ten minutes passed before the zombie group disappeared in the thick fog.
Jane breathed softly and whispered, "What do we do now?"
Gu Chen looked behind the seat. He planned to move the cargo to make room for two people to sit.
After whispering their plan, Gu Chen and Jian carefully moved some of the goods.
The face-to-face encounter with the zombies in the driver's seat just now was too terrifying, and Gu Chen and Jian really didn't want to experience it again.
The two of them huddled together in the vacated space, and Gu Chen carefully tore open a cardboard box and took out the bread.
Jane took the bread handed to her by Gu Chen, tore it open and took a bite.
Gu Chen poured hot water from the thermos into a disposable paper cup and handed it to Jian: "Eat something, we definitely won't be able to leave here tonight."
Jane, who hadn't eaten for almost a day, felt that this was the first time she had eaten something so delicious. She choked a little, but she picked up the paper cup and took a sip.
Just as Gu Chen was about to stop her, Jian spat out all the hot water in her mouth into the paper cup and whispered, "It's so hot!"
"Why can't you white people eat hot food?" Gu Chen was speechless as he looked at Jian who kept sticking out her tongue.
Jane huddled in the small space, eating bread and observing Gu Chen. She found that this Chinese young man in his twenties was actually quite good-looking.
His medium-long hair was tied up with a headband, and his handsome features were completely different from the stereotypes in the eyes of arrogant white people.
Gently poking Gu Chen's knee, Jian asked softly, "Can I introduce you now?"
Gu Chen sighed. This girl clearly had a white left personality. He said casually, "If you ask me any more nonsense, I'll leave you here."
Jian smiled softly: "Although you act decisively, I believe you won't do this. We may eventually go our separate ways. In the words of Dongda, wouldn't it be nice for us to form a bond?"
Gu Chen was speechless: This white girl is really left-handed... and she even knows the concept of making friends.
Leaning his head against the carriage, Gu Chen answered Jane: "My name is Gu Chen. I deliver goods to Chinatown in Los Angeles."
Jane raised an eyebrow. "I'm in Los Angeles, too."
"I know that 'Mail' is a well-known company on the West Coast, headquartered in Los Angeles." Gu Chen stretched his body. "Can you see if your phone has a signal? I can't connect to any app."
Jane took her phone out of her trouser pocket and took a look, then shook her head. "Mine isn't there either, and all social media is inaccessible."
Gu Chen thought that he could only wait until the fog cleared and see if the surrounding environment was safe before turning on the radio.
After moving to the driver's seat, Gu Chen whispered to Jian, "You rest in the back. I'll keep watch in the driver's seat."
After hearing what Gu Chen said, Jian was stunned for a moment, and then thanked him gratefully.
After Jane finished saying thank you, the system prompt "buzzing" sound rang in Gu Chen's ears again.
Gu Chen looked at the words that appeared in front of him in surprise:
Passenger module activation
[Current passenger: 1]
[Caroline Jane Comfort Level: 1]
[Caroline Jane Reputation: Friendly]
Passengers with a reputation of Friendly or above can provide survival points for the host. The number of survival points is related to the comfort level, with one point of comfort providing one survival point.
[Note: Passenger comfort levels may change at any time, and survival points are only available if the passenger is within ten meters of the vehicle.]
Gu Chen glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car.
There was nothing unusual about Jane, who stretched out her long legs from under her overalls and leaned against the carriage with her eyes closed to rest.
After Gu Chen silently said "open the system" in his mind, words appeared in front of him. He looked at the interface that looked like a game menu and studied it carefully.
Vehicle upgrades should be achieved by killing zombies.
The upgraded vehicle will give you three options to choose from, just like in a Roguelike game.
These options seem to add various functions to the vehicle. Will it be possible to turn the vehicle into a mobile fortress in the future?
In addition to the vehicle, a passenger module also appeared.
This module seems to encourage Gu Chen to pick up more passengers.
According to the module description, survival points are provided based on the passenger's comfort level, with one point of comfort increasing by 1 per day.
The highest comfort level is 100, with daily survival points +100.
Comfort is determined by the level of comfort of passengers when riding in the vehicle. Gu Chen shrugged his shoulders, knowing that it was good enough for the truck to be comfortable now.
There is also a gray word "mall" in the interface of the passenger module. Gu Chen guessed that when the mall is available, survival points can be used to purchase things.
The most important thing in this passenger module is reputation. Gu Chen looked at Jane's "friendly" reputation and had a guess:
The passenger module is his most important cheat code, and if the reputation is real, it would be a particularly ideal plug-in.
The passengers' opinions and thoughts on Gu Chen were directly expressed through their reputations, and it seemed that Jian had indeed not done anything dangerous.
The upgrade of the vehicle may not be able to avoid being seen by the passengers, after all, the blue light is too conspicuous, but Gu Chen knows in his heart that his real golden finger is the passenger module.
Since coming into contact with Jane, Gu Chen felt that this girl had a special charm, and her thoughts and actions were of great help to him.
If Jane had not leaned out in time to give orders in the sand just now, Gu Chen would have had to use the Glock with only a few bullets left.
Facing a horde of zombies, a pistol with seven bullets would be of no use whatsoever.
Combined with the current passenger module, Gu Chen wondered if the system was deliberately preventing me from leaving Jane behind?
Glancing at the gray mall icon in the system, Gu Chen muttered in his mind: "Open the mall?"
"Enter the mall?"
"Buying something?"
"Mall?"
It was all useless, and Gu Chen came to the conclusion speechlessly: this gray mall has not yet opened.
Looking at Jane who was resting with her eyes closed, Gu Chen had a better impression of this girl because of her timely reminder and the fact that she stepped forward to give orders regardless of danger.
Thinking that Jane had a friendly reputation in the passenger module, Gu Chen planned to try to lead this girl first, at least to get some survival points.
Thinking of this, Gu Chen whispered to Jian: "I have a suggestion."
Jane opened her eyes, looked at Gu Chen and said, "Please speak."
"I want to go back to Hurley when the fog clears."
"Why? You want to throw me among the zombies?"
Gu Chen shook his head: "No, the situation outside is unclear right now, and I only have seven bullets left in my pistol. The truck can't stop the zombies."
Looking at the thick fog outside the car, Gu Chen added, "Heli has a large gun store."
Jane opened her eyes wide. Although Gu Chen's proposal was bold, it was indeed necessary to implement it.
No one knows the current situation in society, but the terrifying zombies have indeed caused a huge impact on both of them.
Although Jane had a small pistol for self-defense, it was dropped along with her bag when she escaped from the business car. Now she had no weapon for self-defense.
Gu Chen did have a small dagger and a pistol, but a magazine with only seven rounds was obviously useless against zombies.
Jane suddenly realized that Gu Chen was a man of action. She nodded and agreed to Gu Chen's proposal, but at the same time expressed her inner concerns:
"However, there is a thick fog outside now, and there may be a lot of zombies in Helili."
Gu Chen frowned and thought carefully: "Well, let's see if the fog will dissipate first, and then drive to the edge of Heli for a circle."
Turning his head to look at Jane who was looking at him with big eyes, Gu Chen continued: "If it is too dangerous, we will leave immediately."
The sound of vehicle engines could be heard from time to time in the thick fog in the dark night, and Gu Chen even heard the sound of a vehicle overturning.
Listening to the cries in the thick fog, Jane wanted to suggest several times to get out of the car to rescue these fellow humans fleeing in the fog.
But seeing Gu Chen holding the pistol tightly in the driver's seat, Jian tactfully suppressed her proposal.
"Do you want to save them?" Gu Chen saw Jane's conflicted expression in the rearview mirror, snorted, and asked.
Without waiting for Jane to reply, Gu Chen said bluntly: "I won't go, and I don't agree with you going."
Gu Chen continued forcefully: "You have seen zombies, but you may not have seen the true human heart."
"When someone knows that the truck is full of food, the best outcome is that we have to distribute the food to people who don't know the details when the future is uncertain."
Looking directly into Jane's eyes, Gu Chen's expression gradually became colder: "You are a woman, so think about the worst case scenario yourself."
As soon as he finished speaking, a gunshot startled the two people in the truck.
The second, third, and after the fourth gunshot, a scream suddenly came from outside the thick fog.
The howling in the fog lasted for more than ten minutes. Jane covered her ears and huddled against the wall of the box in silence, while Gu Chen lay down and tried to avoid the car window.
Something must have happened on the road in the thick fog. The sound of vehicles colliding could be heard occasionally, followed by the screams and running of humans.
For a while, Gu Chen and Jian were both in a state of extreme nervousness, but the thick fog outside also provided good protection for their quietly turned-off truck.
As the sounds in the fog gradually faded away, Gu Chen and Jian's spirits gradually relaxed after being tense...
At seven o'clock in the morning, the alarm on his cell phone suddenly rang. Gu Chen covered his phone with his hand and quickly turned it to silent mode.
Fortunately, no danger was caused. Gu Chen carefully looked at the thick fog outside and woke up Jane who was dozing off.
"Get up, the fog might clear."
Jane, who was sore all over, took out two bottles of black coffee and a pack of Daliyuan cakes from the goods under Gu Chen's guidance.
After satisfying their hunger with some black coffee and small cakes, Gu Chen and Jian watched the thick fog gradually dissipate.
The dark clouds in the sky disappeared, and the morning breeze blew away the thick fog that was gradually thinning around.
After the fog cleared, Gu Chen and the others saw the tragic scene on the road last night.
There were broken vehicle parts all along the road, and at least thirty vehicles were abandoned on the highway.
There was also a lot of blood and corpses.
Jane covered her mouth and felt a little sad. Gu Chen didn't pay attention to the white left girl. He saw a hunting rifle lying next to a corpse.
Patting Jane, Gu Chen pointed to the rear of the carriage and ordered, "Help me find a crowbar from there."
For Gu Chen, who often delivers and moves goods, a crowbar is a tool and weapon he always carries in his car.
Although Jane is very "white left" and seems a little weak, this girl is very clear about what she should and should not do.
She also saw the hunting rifle that fell to the ground, and she understood Gu Chen's plan as soon as he said it.
He crawled into the pile of goods with his butt sticking out, fumbled around, and pulled out a crowbar with the paint worn off, and handed it over.
Looking at Jane's roundness, Gu Chen looked away and touched the crowbar with his hand.
"I'm going to pick up the gun, you help me keep an eye on the surroundings..."
After carefully checking the surroundings, Gu Chen unlocked the car door and gently opened it a crack.
There was nothing moving, so Gu Chen took a deep breath and got out of the car gently with the crowbar and pistol, without forgetting to take out the car keys.
Jane saw Gu Chen's actions, but she was not angry because of Gu Chen's distrustful behavior.
Jane, lying on the car window, diligently helped Gu Chen observe the surroundings.
Bending over to the corpse, Gu Chen poked the Latino body lying on the ground with a crowbar.
The corpse didn't move at all. Gu Chen stared at the corpse and reached out to use a crowbar to hook the hunting rifle next to him.
The hunting rifle, which was still hanging on the corpse with the gun belt, could not be hooked halfway.
Frowning, Gu Chen carefully took the hunting rifle with his hand, while paying attention to the corpses around him.
After untying the hunting rifle from the motionless corpse, Gu Chen took a breath and was about to leave when he glanced at the corpse's head.
An extreme chill instantly rushed from his spine to his forehead.
The corpse opened its red eyes, and its tiny pupils stared at Gu Chen.
Those eyes seemed to contain endless hatred, and the mouth on the sallow face opened and closed.
Gu Chen subconsciously smashed it down with a crowbar...
An extremely sickening sense of blow was transmitted through the crowbar.
What Gu Chen smashed didn't look like a head, but rather like a pumpkin that was about to rot.
Skip text in your eyes: Experience +1.
There was no time to pay attention to the system prompt. Gu Chen ran towards the truck with a gun and a crowbar.
The sound of running feet echoed in the morning desert, and several bodies lying on the road slowly stood up.
Startled, Gu Chen grabbed his pistol and fired several bullets at a standing zombie.
The zombie was caught off guard and its head was not blown off by the bullet. Its body was staggered by the impact of the bullet, but it immediately stood up and ran towards Gu Chen, roaring.
There were also some corpses that could not stand up, either lying or crawling on the ground, turning their heads and howling towards Gu Chen.
Jane looked at the zombies crawling on the road and quickly chasing Gu Chen. She opened the car door completely and shouted at Gu Chen:
"Six! There are six! Don't look back, run! The closest one is twenty meters away!"
Gu Chen was still more than ten meters away from the truck. He was wearing a hunting rifle and fired his pistol blindly at the back, but it could not stop the speed of the zombies at all.
"Hurry! Hurry!" Jane held the B-pillar and leaned out, stretching her arms.
Gu Chen grabbed Jane's hand and jumped towards the truck.
Jian used all her strength to pull Gu Chen into the driver's seat, and then quickly closed the door.
"Bang!" The car door was stuck by the zombie's palm that followed closely. Jane struggled to pull the car door and kicked the zombie's palm hard with her Martin boots.
Gu Chen threw the hunting rifle aside and pulled the trigger of his pistol towards the zombies outside the door: "Click"
Throwing away the unloaded pistol, Gu Chen raised the crowbar and was about to hit the zombie's hand.
The zombie used the gap where his palm was stuck to reach his other hand in, and then a huge force came.
Jane's hand on the car door suddenly slipped and the door was pulled open violently.
Jane lost her balance and was almost pulled out of the car door. Gu Chen was quick to grab the belt of Jane's overalls and pulled her back.
Although she was pulled back by Gu Chen, Jane watched the zombie's mouth, which was opened at an exaggerated angle, getting closer and closer to her.
I'm going to be bitten! This was the only horrible thought in Jane's mind.
When the zombie's mouth was more than ten centimeters away from Jane.
The crowbar suddenly hit the zombie's face. Gu Chen used all his strength to poke the crowbar and rescued Jane in time.
Gu Chen, holding the crowbar in both hands, gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength, finally stopping the zombies' momentum.
"Get out of the way! You're too weak to resist!" Gu Chen shouted at Jian and kicked the zombie away.
In a short while, all six zombies had surrounded him. Gu Chen tried his best to block the zombies with a crowbar and his feet, and narrowly avoided the zombies' bites several times.
If he continued like this, he would only die. Gu Chen knew that zombies could make countless mistakes, but if he made only one mistake, he and Jane would surely die here.
That hunting rifle... Gu Chen felt regretful in his heart, he was too careless.
"Bang!" A loud gunshot rang out behind Gu Chen's head. The sound of the air exploding and the whistling of the bullet piercing the air made him scream instinctively.
A zombie's head jerked back, then fell limply to the ground.
Gu Chen, who was almost stunned, saw the words "experience +1" in his eyes.
"Click...ding...bang!" A crisp metallic sound was followed by another gunshot.
The second zombie falls down after its eye sockets burst, and experience +1.
"Lie down!" Jane's roar came from behind Gu Chen, who was dizzy and had tinnitus, but when it reached Gu Chen's ears, it was as thin as a mosquito's sound.
Gu Chen kicked a zombie away with his foot and lay down using the force.
Leaning in Jane's arms, Gu Chen watched the white girl skillfully pull the bolt. After a slight aim, a life-saving bullet hit the zombie head that was about to bite Gu Chen's feet.
He pulled the bolt again, and with a pleasant metallic "ding" sound, the hot bullet was ejected and bounced off the cargo box and landed on Jane's waist.
Jane snorted and kept her posture unchanged, killing another zombie with one shot.
"Click..." The gun did not fire after the bolt was pulled again.
Jane calmly thrust the shotgun forward, sending a zombie stumbling.
Gu Chen seized the opportunity, held onto Jane's thighs and stood up, then kicked away the zombie that was lying on him, and then slammed the car door shut.
The zombies outside the car were howling outside the car door. Jane checked the hunting rifle and shouted, "No more bullets!"
Gu Chen shook his head violently, and the tinnitus finally felt better. He stepped on the brake and pressed the ignition switch, and the Chevrolet Expree truck started with a hum.
The truck kicked up a lot of sand and rushed out suddenly.
Jian, who was squeezed together with Gu Chen, threw the shotgun behind the seat and moved to the passenger seat.
Looking in the rearview mirror at the three zombies chasing after her, Jane shouted, "Brake!"
Gu Chen stepped on the brakes without saying a word, and the truck slid for a while in the desert before stopping.
The zombies in pursuit crashed into the rear of the car, and then Jane's voice came: "Back up!"
Gu Chenhuai pulled the trigger and then stepped on the accelerator to the floor.
The truck swayed a few times and then reversed, chasing the three fallen zombies.
The truck that drove onto the road turned around and stopped. Gu Chen covered his ears and hummed for a long time.
Jane sat in the passenger seat, gasping for air. Just now, she almost closed her eyes and waited for death to come.
Gu Chenna's timely pull and the use of all his strength to hold the zombie with a crowbar allowed her to survive.
"Thank you..." Jane said sincerely as she looked at Gu Chen, who was grimacing in fear at the sound of the gunshot.
After saying thank you, Gu Chen's mind buzzed and he saw the changes in the passenger module:
[Caroline Jane Reputation: Trusted]
The tinnitus got much better after this system prompt. Gu Chen took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful girl and said:
"I have to thank you too. If it weren't for you, we would all be finished."
This time, Gu Chen was sincerely grateful to Jian for her calmness in firing a few shots. If it weren't for Jian, this reckless action would have surely led to their death at the hands of zombies.
"Can you use a gun?" Gu Chen asked, looking at the hunting rifle behind the seat.
This girl not only knows how to use a gun, but she can also give Gu Chen experience points by killing zombies.
Gu Chen wasn't sure if this was because Jane was a passenger.
Bringing the hunting rifle over, Jane expertly cocked the bolt and replied, "Remington 700, chambered for .300 Winchester Magnum."
Caressing the gun lovingly, Jane sighed and continued, "Developed in 1962, the rotating bolt is a descendant of the Mauser rifle. Unfortunately, it's out of bullets."
Gu Chen looked at Jian, who looked as if she had seen a treasure, and asked in surprise, "You like guns very much?"
Jane smiled and then shed tears: "My father loves guns the most, so he has been practicing with me since I was a child. My father's expectation for me was to become a shooting athlete, so I am very familiar with many guns."
Putting the shotgun back, Jane wiped her tears and continued: "My father later died in a car accident."
Gu Chen subconsciously asked: "Has the driver been caught?"
Jane shook her head: "I didn't find it."
Gu Chen had no idea how to respond at this moment, so he could only imitate Jane and say sorry.
"It's okay. I've gotten over it after all these years." Jian smiled and looked at the rising sun outside the car. "Shall we go to Heli now?"
Gu Chen was terrified by his reckless action just now. He pursed his lips and said, "Find the bullets first."
Under Jane's surprised gaze, Gu Chen drove the truck back and forth to chase away the corpses on the road.
The words "EXPERIENCE +1" appeared several times. Gu Chen speculated that these zombies should be unable to get up like the owner of the shotgun.
Parking the car next to the body of the original owner of the hunting rifle, Gu Chen said to Jian, "You get in the driver's seat."
Jane raised an eyebrow: "Why?"
"If there's an emergency, drive your car and hit them." After saying that, Gu Chen opened the door and jumped out of the car.
Because of Gu Chen's trust, Jane smiled and moved from the passenger seat to the driver's seat, watching Gu Chen use a crowbar to turn the Latino's body over.
The blood in the empty abdominal cavity was like pudding. Jane's smile froze instantly. She suppressed the urge to vomit and quickly looked away.
No bullet was found on the body. Gu Chen looked around and walked towards the broken pickup truck next to the body with a crowbar.
After finding two boxes of bullets on the driver's seat, Gu Chen returned to the truck and handed the bullets to Jane.
After checking the bullets and confirming that the Remington was usable, Jane pointed in a direction outside the car and said, "That car is not ordinary."
Following Jane's finger, I saw a pure black Lincoln Navigator overturned in the desert.
Although there are rich people in remote areas like New Mexico, it is extremely rare to find someone driving a Navigator in Hurley.
Gu Chen knew what Jane meant. There must be some good things in this luxury car.
Jane loaded the bullet into the Remington and climbed onto the top of the truck to help Gu Chen keep watch.
Gu Chen climbed into the navigator's car and was about to smash the window with a crowbar when he saw that the driver's door was open.
I gently opened the car door and a foul smell came out.
The highly decayed driver and passenger in the passenger seat almost made Gu Chen vomit.
With a strong feeling of discomfort, Gu Chen turned around and opened the rear door.
The original seats in the huge passenger space had been removed, and the two massage seats that had been replaced, coupled with the luxurious decorations in the car, made Gu Chen exclaim in surprise.
Who is this navigator carrying?
There were some blood spots in the crew cabin, but no one was in sight.
After a careful look in the crew compartment, I found that nothing valuable was left.
Gu Chen, who was about to leave, suddenly noticed a small black square on the seat rail.
He leaned over and pulled out the small cube: a fingerprint USB drive, engraved with the red letters "M" and "C5".
Jane looked at Gu Chen walking back with only a crowbar in his hand and knew that he had not gained anything this time.
"Here, this is the only thing we found in the car." Gu Chen handed the USB drive to Jian. "I searched everywhere, and didn't even find anything else in the glove box."
Jane sat back in the passenger seat and looked at the USB drive in surprise for a long time. Gu Chen called her twice but she didn't pay attention.
"What's wrong?" Gu Chen pushed Jane's shoulder.
Jane suddenly came to her senses and replied, "This is our company's USB drive."
Pointing to the red "M" on top, Jane continued, "The documents stored inside should be confidential, with a level 5 rating, the highest."
Gu Chen frowned. How could Mailer's USB flash drive be in this overturned SUV?
"Never mind for now, put the USB drive away and let's go to Heli." If you can't figure it out, don't think about it for now. Even if there is a secret hidden in the USB drive, it is not a priority right now.
The Chevrolet truck soon returned to the gas station where it had been yesterday evening, which was now in a mess.
Jane watched the truck pass by their company's business car. She opened her mouth to ask Gu Chen to stop the car, but then quickly closed her mouth.
Although she really wanted to get her bag back, she finally decided to go to the gun store first as Gu Chen suggested.
Heli is a small town with a small population. Most of the houses are traditional wooden structures. Houses of this structure are simply unable to withstand the zombies with increased strength and speed.
The sound of a truck's engine was heard in the quiet town, and then a large number of zombies rushed out from the houses on both sides of the road.
"So many!" Jane exclaimed softly, holding the shotgun.
"Hold on!" Gu Chen shifted the gear to reverse.
The vehicle still needs 18 points of experience to upgrade, and Gu Chen wants to lure some zombies away and then kill them by crashing into them.
The help provided by vehicle upgrades is enormous for them. Having a sturdy vehicle can greatly increase their chances of survival in this inexplicable zombie crisis.
Following Jian's instruction, Gu Chen quickly reversed the car, and a group of running zombies followed closely behind.
"Can we go out and kill them with a gun?" Gu Chen asked Jian loudly.
Jane quickly replied, holding the shotgun: "Sure, but there are only twenty rounds in two boxes."
There are too few bullets and they shouldn't be wasted on this.
After taking a closer look at the zombies chasing them, Gu Chen, who often transports goods, used the area division method to roughly calculate that there were about twenty of them.
Jane looked at Gu Chen's shaking hands and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Hit them to death! Otherwise we can't get into the town center." Gu Chen answered after turning the car around and shifting the gear to forward.
Jane looked at Gu Chen who said he was going to kill the zombies but led them to the gas station. Not knowing what Gu Chen was planning, she asked:
"Why are you here?"
Seeing the zombies still several hundred meters away from them, Gu Chen turned his head and said quickly: "We didn't alarm the zombies when we passed the gas station. It should be safe here. Can your company's commercial vehicle drive?!"
"Yes…yes."
"Use your hunting rifle to protect me, I will drive your commercial vehicle to hit them!" Gu Chen jumped off the truck and ran towards the commercial vehicle that Jian pointed at.
Pulling the door open, I was hit by the same foul odor as the overturned Lincoln Navigator.
Looking at the two corpses that were equally severely decayed, Gu Chen swung a crowbar and smashed the heads of the corpses.
As the body was pulled away, Jane's voice was heard: "They're getting closer!"
After getting into the smelly cab, Gu Chen started the commercial vehicle and turned the car towards the zombies.
As they passed the truck, Gu Chen yelled at Jian, "Be quiet! You don't have to shoot when I'm not in danger!"
Jane, with her shotgun on the car door, watched as the commercial vehicle roared towards the zombies. More than a dozen zombies were knocked tumbling in the air by the impact.
Ten minutes later, Gu Chen came back in a smoking commercial vehicle.
The front of the brand new commercial vehicle was dented and a large part of the front window was broken.
When the blood-stained commercial vehicle stopped, Gu Chen opened the door and quickly got back into the truck.
He had just seen the prompt that the vehicle could be upgraded, but the requirement was that it had to be done in the vehicle.
Just as he closed the truck door, Gu Chen heard a buzzing sound in his ears and saw the upgrade prompt:
[Vehicle Upgrade: LV3 (5/90)]
[Host selection upgrade reward]
[1. Vehicle size increased by 20%]
[2. Restore vehicle appearance and add armor]
[3. Vehicle fuel tank capacity increased by 100%]
Gu Chen was thinking about which reward to choose. Jian looked around and found that there was no danger, then opened the car door, ducked down and jumped out.
"What are you doing?!" Gu Chen shouted as he watched Jian get into the business car next to him.
Then Jane came back with a backpack.
"It's dangerous for you to do this!" Gu Chen shouted angrily in a low voice.
Jane hugged her backpack tightly and apologized repeatedly, then took out a small black revolver from the bag.
"Ruger LCR, double-action revolver, chambered in .38sp, a 15th birthday present from my father." Jane said as he ejected the revolver and pressed the magazine lever to eject five rounds.
After handing the empty gun to Gu Chen, Jian took out a box of bullets from his backpack: "There are still thirty bullets."
Gu Chen was playing with the revolver. This was the first time he touched a revolver. He had only used his Glock before.
Most of the Chinese people in Chinatown are kind and gentle by nature. Although some have applied for concealed carry permits, no one will show off their guns.
Gu Chen swung the revolver to the right, and with a "pop" sound, the magazine returned to its position due to inertia.
Jane's expression changed immediately after seeing Gu Chen's actions: "Don't do this!"
Gu Chen was startled by Jian's shout, and then Jian snatched the revolver back and carefully checked it: "Revolvers can't be like those in the movies!"
After ejecting the magazine, Jian pointed to the connection between the magazine and the gun body and explained, "The magazine is connected by this thing, and the pressure rod is also a fragile component. Shaking it so hard will damage the connection between the magazine and the gun!"
Gu Chen scratched his head: "I'm sorry, I've never used a revolver."
Sighing, Jane handed the revolver to Gu Chen again: "This gun is for you."
Surprised, Gu Chen asked, "Why?"
"We are on the same side now. Your pistol has no bullets left, and I have a Remington now." Jane smiled at Gu Chen.
What Jane didn't say was, "I hope this gun of yours will protect you."
Gu Chen didn't hesitate and listened carefully to Jian's brief introduction to the rules for using firearms in the cab.
Following Jane's instructions, Gu Chen loaded five bullets into the magazine. He then gently returned the magazine to its original position. Jane nodded after seeing this: "Yes, guns are tools. They can only do their job when they are in the best condition."
Putting the left wheel in the door storage slot, Gu Chen thought for a while and then looked at Jian seriously and said, "There is something I need to tell you."
Looking directly into Jane's light blue eyes, Gu Chen said to Jane: "I have super powers."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Jane said speechlessly, but before he finished speaking, the whole car shook again.
Jane looked at the truck's left rearview mirror in surprise: a light blue straight line emerged from the truck's body, then outlined the shape of the rearview mirror.
When the light connection was completed, the brand new left rearview mirror of the vehicle was connected to the door perfectly, and even the passenger window looked as if it had never been damaged.
"This..." Jane muttered in disbelief.
Gu Chen raised his eyebrows: "How?"
Immediately afterwards, countless blue lights enveloped the vehicle body, and when the light disappeared, the exterior of the truck was covered with a thick layer of stainless steel plate.
The originally white Chevrolet Express is now a mirror-like bright silver like the Tesla Cybertruck pickup truck.