Song You'ai slammed on the gas. In the rearview mirror, she saw a dozen or so rotting corpses slowly shambling out from the jumbled lines of cars, gathering together.
As if drawn by the scent of human flesh, they limped and stumbled after the small truck for some distance.
However, the rotting corpses were far too slow and were soon left in the dust as Song You'ai drove on.
Xie Ning and Song Kexin both turned to stare back.
They watched as the corpses spun around dumbly in place, stupidly waiting for their meal to come back.
Once the wind slowly carried away the scent of flesh, they began to disperse.
Song Kexin let out a sigh of relief. GULP. She swallowed hard. "Oh my god, those things must be drawn to sound and smell."
Xie Ning nodded. "The sound of the crash would have drawn every zombie in the area. If we'd left a moment later, we would've been surrounded by dozens, even hundreds, of them. It would have been too dangerous."
Song Kexin shuddered. "Got it, sis. We'll have to be extra careful from now on."
Driving the small truck, Song You'ai kept her eyes glued to the road ahead, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"Mom, don't be so tense. You drive for a while. I'm going to lie down in the cargo bed to get some strength back. I'll switch with you in half an hour."
Song You'ai nodded, her expression focused. Her eyes remained locked on the road, not daring to let her guard down for even a moment.
The truck pulled over to a deserted spot on the side of the road.
Xie Ning turned and exchanged a meaningful glance with Song You'ai.
Song You'ai understood immediately. She nodded and smiled. "You must be exhausted after fighting those corpses for so long. Go get some rest. Don't rush. It's fine even if you take an hour before switching with me."
Song Kexin hung her head with a sigh. "It's such a shame about the food we had on the back seat."
Glancing at the large black duffel bag in her sister's hands, Song Kexin felt like kicking herself.
'We never should have swapped the food in the bag for medicine. Great, now food and water are even more scarce.'
Xie Ning gave her cousin an amused look and patted her on the head. "I won't let you starve."
Song You'ai pulled the truck to the side. "Don't worry, Kexin. Your auntie here has plenty of fat reserves. I'll save my food for you two."
Hearing this, Song Kexin felt even less relieved. 'That's... really not necessary, Auntie…'
Xie Ning didn't offer any explanation. She jumped out of the cab, sprinted to the rear of the truck, unlocked the cargo doors, and hopped inside.
The cargo area was packed to the brim—a full three tons of goods.
It was all stacked in neat, orderly boxes.
It was mostly imported snacks and dairy products, but there was also a wide variety of crackers, vacuum-packed jerky, and other goods.
Xie Ning breathed a sigh of relief and wasted no time moving the items into the living room of her spacious villa.
Luckily, the living room had plenty of empty space, so the stacked boxes didn't take up much room.
'It's just that her perfectly nice villa living room was now turning into a convenience store!'
Still, with so many supplies, Xie Ning felt a greater sense of security.
After hurriedly stashing the contents of the cargo truck, Xie Ning thought for a moment and decided to leave behind a few bags of jerky and a case of milk.
'After all, all the supplies in the minivan had been "lost." She couldn't let her poor little cousin starve, right?'
A little over half an hour later, just as Xie Ning finished stowing everything away, the small cargo truck came to a stop.
Xie Ning unlatched the door and jumped down, her eyes landing on the words "Gas Station" in the distance.
'Go to the gas station and scavenge a better car?'
'Scavenge some gasoline, too?'
'That seemed like a pretty good idea.'
"Kexin, there's milk and jerky in the cargo bed."
"Really, sis?"
"Yep. Lock the cargo bed and go have some. Mom and I are heading to the gas station. We'll be back in twenty minutes."