Game, Day Three — 4:41 PM
They had been driving along the highway for an hour now.
Chu Yian turned on her phone again and played the radio broadcast out loud.
The repeated announcements gave her a strange sense of motivation.
"We are currently on National Route 713. Stay on this road for approximately seven more hours."
Lu Qingyuan started briefing her on what was ahead. "This van doesn't have enough gas to get us all the way to X City."
"We can siphon gas from abandoned cars along the way," Chu Yian suggested.
Lu Qingyuan shot her a look, as if annoyed by her pretending to be clever.
"This road won't stay this clear forever."
He spoke slowly, "We'll need a sturdier, off-road capable vehicle soon."
Only something like that could handle stronger impacts without getting stuck on debris or corpses.
Unfortunately, most of the vehicles they'd seen by the roadside so far were totaled.
Lu Qingyuan rubbed his eyes. Between his injury and the relentless tension, he looked exhausted.
"Teacher Lu, let me drive."
Chu Yian pulled out a bottle of water and some anti-inflammatory meds from her backpack, offering them to him before sliding into the driver's seat. "Just follow Route 713, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Don't stop for anything."
"Got it."
With her seatbelt fastened, Chu Yian took the wheel and followed his directions. Under pressure, her driving skills were leveling up fast. She was no longer just dodging obstacles—she was even weaving around zombies. The bumpy ride carried them dozens of miles down the road.
Bad news: the fuel tank was almost empty.
Good news: tons of cars up ahead.
Worse news: the road was completely jammed. God knows how many zombies were hiding inside those vehicles.
Chu Yian slowed the van to a stop about 100 meters from the traffic jam, taking care to make no sound.
Next to her, Lu Qingyuan opened his eyes. He glanced at the scene ahead. "Roughly five hundred meters from here... there's a service station."
After the outbreak, people with cars had the same first instinct—to run.
They had managed to avoid the toll stations by taking detours, but a highway service area? No chance.
More cars meant more people.
More people meant more zombies.
"Should we get out and walk along the opposite lane?" Chu Yian asked, noting that the jam was only on one side of the road. The other side was practically empty. There was also a wire fence between the lanes, offering some cover.
As for vehicles… they'd wanted to upgrade to something with higher clearance anyway. Surely one of those up ahead was still drivable.
"Once we're over there, we'll look for a better ride."
"Okay."
Lu Qingyuan nodded. It was a rough plan, but not one he could argue with.
A few minutes later, something snapped loudly in the distance. The zombies a hundred meters away froze, heads jerking toward the sound. Their mouths stretched wide, and their beady eyes swiveled in sync.
But nothing happened.
After a brief stir, the horde settled again, returning to standby mode.
At that moment, Chu Yian and Lu Qingyuan were huddled behind the van's open side door. They pressed close, inching sideways.
Now in the opposite lane, the van's doors shielded them like flimsy armor as they shuffled forward, like two slices of bread sandwiching fear.
The air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and leaking fuel.
They had reached the blocked section of road. From the van's height, Chu Yian could just barely see the zombies beyond the fence.
She peeked, then quickly ducked again.
A lot of them.
If they all surged over, the fence wouldn't stop them. And these two van doors? Useless.
Time to run.
Chu Yian lowered her head and bolted. Her feet scrambled so fast it was as if she was chasing Lu Qingyuan forward.
But then—they stopped.
No, he had stopped.
"What is it?" she asked, confused.
"A vehicle," Lu Qingyuan replied curtly.
She followed his gaze.
They had reached the edge of the service station. About a dozen cars were parked there—some looked pretty decent.
Unfortunately, so did the zombies. There were way too many of them standing in the middle of the lot.
"Do we have to use one of those?" she asked.
"Not necessarily," Lu Qingyuan replied. "But can you guarantee that any of the abandoned ones out here have gas, and can last us seven hours?"
Well… you've got a point. You're handsome—you win.
Chu Yian pulled out her handgun. "Teacher Lu, what's the plan?"
"You hotwire a vehicle. I'll find spare fuel. We meet back here in five."
He didn't wait for a reply. He grabbed a van door and bolted, vaulting over the highway divider in seconds.
Hey! Chu Yian stood up in reflex, then dropped down again as a zombie turned its back toward her.
He was too fast. No time to prep.
Peeking through the van window, she assessed the situation. She was just across from the service area—maybe ten meters. Normally, that would be a quick sprint, but eight zombies stood in the way. The jammed-up vehicles left no clear path.
Well… maybe there was one.
About twenty meters ahead, a cluster of crashed vehicles had created a slight gap.
Chu Yian took the long way around, lugging the van door with her, her mind racing through possible routes.
She reached the quieter area. Good cover, less undead. Bad part? Her door was big and clunky—easy to bump things and make noise.
She hesitated… then ditched the door.
Going in light.
She vaulted over the fence and crouched behind a red sedan.
All around her, zombies stood slack-jawed and still.
She kept low, creeping forward between the crushed metal bodies.
Her hands were slick with sweat, and she hardly dared to breathe.
Then—
A sudden snarl, right behind her.
Her hair stood on end. She raised her pistol.
A zombie was just two meters away, its lower body crushed in a car wreck. It was stuck between the bumper and the grille, flailing its arms uselessly at her.
Can't move. False alarm.
Chu Yian swallowed hard and kept moving, shoulders hunched low.
BANG—!
A loud thud struck a nearby car. She turned.
Inside the vehicle, a zombie had just spotted her. Their eyes locked.
It went berserk, hurling its body against the glass, again and again.
The noise echoed through the lot—and from every direction, the other zombies began to stir…
and move.