abcnovels
Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Chapter 45 – Getting Together to Depart
Translator: Callis
Co-Translator: Jostena (I didn't do much though XD)
Editor: Dragon
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
Three days' time was neither long nor short. The soldiers drove out almost every night to gather as many supplies as possible. After all, they had more than 800 people, and the amount they consumed daily was relatively large. Every time they went out, they would bring something back for Su Ruizhe's group. Despite repeated refusals, the soldiers insisted on passing the things to them. If they truly refused to accept it, the soldiers would simply put the things on their doorstep. This left Su Ruizhe's group not knowing whether to laugh or cry. They heard that a few soldiers, like Zhao Bing, had awakened abilities. The soldiers had probably been scratched by a zombie when they went out to collect supplies.
On the third night, the woman on the radio broadcasted the latest news with a clear and melodious voice. The rescue mission in N City had been successfully completed, and the rescue troops were about to arrive in S City. They would stay in S City for three days, and requested that survivors go to the south-west entrance of 718 National Road, if they were in a position to do so. There, a service area would be set up as a temporary garrison for the rescue troops. If there were survivors that couldn't save themselves, then they were instructed to tie a strip of red cloth outside of the window, as the troops would also be doing a search and rescue.
Even though S City was only a prefecture level city, its population was still about 8 million people. So, even if only half the people mutated, it was something that the rescue troops couldn't handle. Wanting to go into the city and search house by house for the living was unrealistic, and they didn't have the time to spare. Therefore, the method that the government adopted was actually the most effective. If a survivor had the capability, they could find and join up with the large forces; if they didn't, then they would have to wait for the troops to rescue them. If they hung up the red cloth as required, then the troops would figure out a way to save them.
Upon hearing the news, the neighborhood became lively, and almost everyone began to pack up. Zhao Bing also came to ask them if they wanted to go to 781 National Road together.
The answer was, of course, a "Yes".
Because they had Su Ruizhe, Zhan Yun and the rest of the group actually didn't have much to pack. However, in order not to draw suspicion, they each carried a large hiking pack filled with food and water. The survivors' base was far away; it was estimated that it would take them a long while to get there.
They drove the same off-road vehicle that they had before, the one that Zhao Bing's soldiers helped them drive back from the small village. Although the surface was slightly scratched, it still performed very well.
During the day, everyone rested in their rooms. The two meals that Su Ruizhe made were relatively rich and abundant. Once they went on the road with the rescue troops, they guessed that there would be no chance for them to have hot meals again.
After nightfall, they drove the off-road vehicles and left the neighborhood with Zhao Bing and his soldiers.
Shortly after they left, they saw many vehicles heading south-west. Obviously, they were all survivors who had received the news, and were headed towards 781 National Road to find the troops.
After seeing Zhao Bing and his soldiers, the survivors thought that they were the search and rescue team. They followed the vehicles, and soon they converged into a long dragon.
However, under these circumstances, they also attracted more and more zombies. If the zombies could be crushed, then they would be crushed. If there were too many, they would be shot with a gun. There were other vehicles that tried to jump into the line, and would then collide with other vehicles, causing serious traffic congestions. Many of the people in the vehicle were surrounded by zombies. The screams were endless.
But what could Zhao Bing and his group do? Stop the car and save them? That was obviously unrealistic. The road was only so wide, and there were vehicles illegally stopped on both sides. Zhao Bing and their vehicles were in the very front; if they stopped, then the vehicles behind them would also have to stop. Then, wouldn't it just be burying people in hordes of zombies they could have otherwise escaped from?
When they passed some residential buildings, they saw residents opening windows and shouting downstairs, waving all kinds of red clothes and strips of cloth. The residents hoped that the convoy could go up to save them, but Zhao Bing's group couldn't stop the car.
Zhao Bing could only let a few of his soldiers stick their heads outside of the car and shout that everyone should wait patiently for the actual rescue troops.
On the road exiting the city, the further away from the city they got, the more congested it would be. During the apocalypse, there were many people who wanted to escape from the city, but it didn't always end happily. They circled around a good number of roads, but they still couldn't pass through, so they sent people off the vehicles and performed an emergency check-up.
In this way, it took two or three hours until two or three o'clock in the morning before they finally arrived at the south-west entrance of 781 National Road. With a glance, they could see the brightly lit service area in the dark. There were dozens of military cars parked in the lot and thousands of soldiers in uniform surrounded by heavily armed guards.
They were surprised when they saw that the vehicles that headed the convoy were actually more than a dozen military vehicles. As Zhao Bing's vehicle approached, they immediately went to question him. When they learned that Zhao Bing was from the S City garrison, the rescue troops let Zhao Bing and the convoy to drive their vehicles directly in.
Because there wasn't much space in the parking lot in front of the service area, only the military vehicles were allowed to park there. The private vehicles of other survivors were arranged to be parked directly on the national road behind them. Zhan Yun's group had supported the good fortune of Zhao Bing's group, and they had the privilege of parking in the interior lot. Besides, they only had one car. It wasn't a big deal.
The building in the service area was divided into two parts. The left was used by the Department of Operations, and the right was specially prepared for the survivors.
However, before they could enter the service area, all of the people must undergo a physical examination. The injured would be isolated and arranged separately in another room, in case they mutated. Zhao Bing's group had sustained quite a few injuries, but they weren't new. The wounds had already begun to heal, so they were classified as safe.
All of the survivors who passed the examination were guided into the service hall. The unnecessary fixtures had been cleared out, and it was now a completely empty space. The floor had been covered in clean carpet, so that people could sit down and rest. The toilet was behind the back door, so it would be convenient for everyone to solve their personal needs.
Outside, there were already people who had begun to boil water and make porridge. It had been days since many people could drink hot water and eat a hot meal. In a little while, everyone could go out and line up for a cup of water and a bowl of porridge.
The whole service area was brightly lit with air conditioning, powered by two diesel generators. They needed to remain here for three days and continue to aid the survivors, so the generators were necessary. There was a gas station in the service area, and there was more than enough diesel.
It could be said that the survivors were being treated very well.
Zhan Yun and his group also entered the survivors' rest area, found a place near the wall, and closed their eyes to rest.
Soon, the porridge was ready, and some soldiers came in to tell everyone to go out for food and water.
Everyone rushed out; only Zhan Yun's group remained sitting and kept their eyes closed. Before they arrived, they had already eaten a full meal. They weren't too hungry, so they didn't compete with the other survivors. When the survivors finished, they would still have time to go, so it wasn't a concern.
About a quarter of an hour later, someone found them still in the rest area. Thinking that they had not heard the previous notice, he warned them the next time a group of people went out. So, a few people got up and went out.
There were eight large pots standing outside. As they got closer, they could smell the porridge. People were divided into eight teams, and the speed of getting the porridge was especially quick.
Zheng Jiahe glanced at the bowls of the survivors who had already received porridge. The porridge didn't look too thin. He put some yellowish vegetable leaves and finely chopped meat in it and mixed it with soy sauce.
After they all drank the porridge and water, they returned the bowls to the soldiers and went back to the hall to rest.
During the night, survivors arrived one after the other, and more and more people were in the hall.
After daybreak and as the temperature rose, no new vehicles would appear, and the soldiers on guard would return to the service area.
In the isolation room, three people mutated and were shot and killed by soldiers.
By the evening of the third day, more than a dozen military vehicles had been dispatched from S City. This was the team sent out to carry rescue missions in the city and brought back thousands of survivors, all of whom were people who had hung the red cloth on their homes for help.
These survivors did not look as well as the survivors who had driven themselves out. When they were given porridge, they gorged, as if they wanted to swallow the bowl altogether.
"Please get ready. We'll wait here until one o'clock in the morning, then we'll start." A soldier came up to the survivors and informed them of the news.
Because the temperatures during the day was too high for them to go on the road, they had to start at 1 a.m., go on the G5 highway, and head towards A City in order to reach the next service area before dawn.
Everyone immediately packed up and went back to their vehicles, ready to leave.
Soldiers also prepared for the evacuation. They loaded things like generators onto the military vehicles. Survivors without vehicles travelled via the military vehicles. In addition, each private vehicle was given 50L of petrol to support them for the journey.
At one o'clock in the morning, dozens of military cars, followed by hundreds of smaller vehicles, made a formidable departure.
As you guys can see from the beginning, this chapter was translated by Callis! I was really busy this week and I couldn't translate at all so Callis was awesome enough to translate this chapter and the next one for you guys! I only helped a little bit so please thank Callis for her hard work! Also Dragon did great on editing as well so I feel like I had no use this week XD