Chapter 12 - Tianhang City

Over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, a massive blue and white aircraft was cruising steadily. The words “Air Force One” were emblazoned on its exterior, signifying the legendary aircraft of the President of the United States. However, inside the cabin, the situation was anything but calm, as gunfire continuously echoed through the space.

A blond National Security Agency agent was holding a pistol, executing a zombified high-ranking official with a headshot, while another agent was escorting the First Lady backward. But the zombies kept coming in droves; all the government officials aboard Air Force One had turned into zombies! The handful of National Security Agency agents could barely hold them off!

It all began with a military officer who was merely bitten and slightly bleeding. No one expected that within just half an hour…

The time it took for zombification depended on individual constitution and the will to survive. Better physical condition prolonged the complete mutation, and a stronger survival instinct also lengthened it. However, apart from the protagonist, no one has escaped zombification so far.

The military officer transformed into a vicious, bloodthirsty zombie. Despite the accompanying doctor’s best efforts, they couldn’t prevent the officer from turning, and the doctor was bitten on the neck by the newly-zombified officer, subsequently becoming a zombie in seconds. The other officials immediately descended into chaos, further hampering the National Security Agency agents from quickly addressing the emerging threat-the zombies.

In just a few minutes, seventy to eighty high-ranking officials had turned into zombies, with even a few National Security Agency agents getting bitten. Despite their superior physical condition, they couldn’t escape zombification after struggling for an hour, and they immediately lunged at their comrades, severing their necks and devouring their flesh! Some agents, unable to shoot their fellow combatants, quickly became one of the zombies or were torn to pieces like tofu by the horde!

The secretary responsible for protecting the First Lady, after being bitten, hid the fact out of fear of being killed. Consequently, they unexpectedly zombified, biting the First Lady. Although the situation was immediately discovered and the secretary was headshot by a National Security Agency agent, it was an undeniable fact that the First Lady had been bitten.

“Damn it! Aim for the head!”

“Who the hell let these monsters on the plane?”

“Now even the First Lady has been bitten!”

“Requesting reinforcements, sir!”

This time, it was Qimeng and me sitting on the roof of the vehicle. Naturally, we both had guns tucked in our arms. Last night, Liu Yonglin stayed on the roof with a gun, keeping watch for us all night, so now he’s taking a well-deserved rest in the passenger compartment. In a situation where medical help is around but medicine is scarce, falling ill can be really troublesome, so it’s our turn to keep watch. Although Qimeng and I aren’t as sharpshooting as Liu Yonglin, we’re decent enough, especially since I have a shotgun, and as long as I aim properly, I won’t miss.

Qimeng seemed to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of the breeze while sitting on the roof with me. “Tiankuang, isn’t it nice to feel the wind like this? It would be great if it weren’t for those zombies.”

If there were no zombies, the person sitting next to you wouldn’t be me.

But I still gave a light “Mm” in response.

Qimeng seemed to notice my lack of enthusiasm, gently touched her long hair fluttering in the wind, and smiled at me. “Tiankuang, did you notice something?”

“Notice what?”

“We haven’t eaten anything since the morning.” That was true.

However, I had also noticed something else, something no one else seemed to have realized. A few days ago, there were so many planes flying, but today, there’s not a single one in the sky. No helicopters, no passenger planes, nothing.

What exactly is going on?

Inside the inner cabin, a white-haired, middle-aged man in a military uniform was pounding on the table. “Mr. President! Please input the code!”

But the man addressed as President hesitated. “But…” The white-haired man banged the table again. “Whether it’s me or you, we’ve already been bitten, and there are those so-called zombies on the plane! We have to seize the time now to eliminate the UN threat! Apart from ordering the execution of the State Emergency Operations Plan 666D, there’s no other way to fulfill our constitutional and national duties, Mr. President… ugh, argh-!” But before he could finish, a rush of blood surged from his mouth.

“Mr. Speaker!” Two accompanying secretaries quickly went up to support him, while the President still hesitated, touching his already bandaged hand.

On the MJ River in FZ-HOPE City, a Hummer was drifting along, while a child’s crisp singing could be heard from it. “Forward, forward, forward, the little boat flows forward, la la la.”

And it was our vehicle, the very same Hummer we were riding in. Though we knew it had been modified, we never imagined it to be so impressively enhanced, almost like an armored vehicle, capable of both land and water navigation! This only deepens our curiosity about the identity of Ms. Ye’s friend. What kind of person is he to have a stockpile of Tian Chao military weapons and bullets, along with such a formidable Hummer?

The MJ River serves as a critical waterway separating FZ-HOPE City from Tianhang City. Once across, we could reach Tianhang City, but the only road passage is the Tianhang Bridge. However, upon escaping last night, we found the bridge was completely blocked by Tianhang City’s police, making it impossible to cross. In their desperation, the civilians driven back have gradually lost their humanity, resorting to arson and looting. We even came under attack, and with no other choice, Liu Yonglin had to shoot two attackers in the head to deter those who had designs on our Hummer, allowing us to escape safely.

Shen Wei discovered that our modified Hummer could actually travel on water, and delightfully, we decided to take the water route, navigating up the MJ River to find a place to land. I don’t believe every meter of the Tianhang City shore would be guarded.

At this moment, in the Hummer, Ye Ling was driving-or perhaps steering, since we were on water. Qimeng and I were leaning against each other, sleeping, while Xueqi and Ye Xiang were sprawled together. The events of last night had left us all physically and mentally exhausted. Shen Wei, however, seemed lost in thought as she gazed out the window all by herself.

On top of the Hummer, Liu Yonglin and the little girl I rescued last night, Li Xueyang, were singing a song together. “Forward, forward, forward, the little boat flows forward, la la la.”

Xueyang seemed to really get along with Liu Yonglin. “I can sing too, brother. ROW, ROW, ROW, YOUR BOAT.”

Liu Yonglin chuckled, “Let me sing now!”

“Alright!”

“SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT YOUR GUN! KILL THEM ALL NOW.”

“Wow! You’re amazing, brother!”

“Heh heh!” Just as Liu Yonglin was basking in his own glory, Shen Wei stormed out of the passenger compartment, a vein throbbing on her forehead, and shouted at Liu Yonglin: “Hey, creepy uncle! Stop teaching the kids such pointless songs!!”

Liu Yonglin sheepishly laughed it off, “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll just go collect the laundry.” He turned around to take down the clothes and underwear hanging from the bamboo pole at the back like flags, but Shen Wei angrily shouted again, “Pervert! Give me back my underwear!”

Liu Yonglin: “…”

In the passenger compartment, Ye Ling turned her head and called out to everyone who was sleeping in awkward positions, “Wake up, everyone! We’re about to reach the shore!”

Qimeng rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up from my shoulder. She couldn’t help but giggle when she saw my gaping mouth as I slept, but her expression quickly darkened when she realized Xueqi had somehow ended up lying on my stomach, sleeping soundly. A wave of jealousy took over, and she pinched my face hard.

“Ow-!” The sharp pain yanked me from slumber, and I found Qimeng tugging at my face. “Ah-! Qimeng, are you crazy?! That hurts!”

With a forced smile, Qimeng continued pinching my face and pointed at Xueqi, who was sprawled on my stomach. “What a nice position you’ve got there.”

Xueqi was startled awake by my yelp. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

I stammered, looking down at the wet spot on my shirt, “Xueqi, you…”

Qimeng mercilessly noted, “You drooled.” Xueqi immediately touched the corner of her mouth, realizing she really had drooled, and was about to defend herself when the passenger compartment suddenly jolted violently.

Ye Ling turned around and announced, “We’ve reached the shore.”

I nodded, “Let’s get out.”

“Why?”

“Well, we need to climb this embankment first.”

We finally made it out of FZ-HOPE City and landed on the shores of Tianhang City quite a bit upstream on the MJ River. There wasn’t any bridge or anything like that, and the water was pretty shallow, but the best part was that the police presence here was quite lax.

“Hey, Tiankuang, come help me get Xueyang down,” Liu Yonglin called from the top of the passenger compartment as he brought Xueyang over. But Xueyang kept her face flushed red, holding her skirt tightly and not letting me touch her. “My… my… my underwear.”

I was speechless. It seemed she had an accident on my back last night, so her underwear needed to be washed. Just then, Qimeng appeared. She grabbed Xueyang and glared at me, Liu Yonglin, and Ye Xiang. “Hmph! You stinky boys are all the same. We girls need to change clothes! Go up on the embankment and keep watch for us! And no peeking! Or else, hmph!”

The three of us guys could only look at each other and sigh simultaneously, obediently making our way up the embankment to keep watch. The little dog I rescued tagged along.

The little girl we saved is named Li Xueyang, a second-grader. Her deceased father was a journalist for the FZ-HOPE City Daily.

“Bark!” Oh, I almost forgot about this energetic little guy. Its fur is all white, but its ears are black. Its name is Kiku, the nickname the U.S. military gave to the Zero fighter plane, a name that naturally came from Liu Yonglin.

Definitely small and spirited, it suits the name quite well.

“Hey, Tiankuang, why don’t you use this gun?” Liu Yonglin handed me the Ithaca M37 Riot Shotgun and began explaining its usage in detail: “Since it’s a shotgun, all you need to do is point it at the target you want to shoot.”

Liu Yonglin pumped the shotgun and continued, “So, as long as you know how to use it, it’s actually simpler than a steel spike. Just like this, you load the bullet. Then, just aim at the target, pull the trigger, and you can easily blow the target’s head off. But since we haven’t really practiced much, it’s better to use it against zombies at close range.”

Ye Xiang chimed in sarcastically, “I mean, Liu Yonglin, it’s not that we’ve hardly practiced-it’s that we’ve never practiced at all.” But Liu Yonglin ignored Ye Xiang’s sarcasm and pressed on, “If you run out of bullets, just open the loading gate like this. You can generally load four shells in, and if there’s already one in the chamber, it means you can have a maximum of five shots. Next, let me tell you about the features of this gun.”

I was starting to get a bit fed up with Liu Yonglin’s long-winded explanations whenever he picked up a gun, so I said, “Liu Yonglin, just explaining it once like this isn’t enough for me to remember. In an emergency, I feel like a steel spike might be more effective.” Despite my grumbling, I still took the gun from him. I couldn’t just disregard his good intentions.

Honestly, I felt a bit guilty toward Liu Yonglin, but I just couldn’t take it anymore; I was exhausted.

“Brother!” Xueyang’s voice called out from below the embankment. I turned my head to look, and then…

Immediately, a bunch of imaginary black lines and sweat drops appeared over my head in disbelief.

Seeing my stunned expression, Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang asked, “What’s up, Tiankuang?” But just as they started to speak, they too became just as petrified as I was. The girls had changed into new outfits-Ye Ling, Shen Wei, and Xueyang looked as usual, but Qimeng and Xueqi were a bit…

Qimeng and Xueqi were both dressed in those dark green, multi-pocket bulletproof vests. Xueqi had switched to combat boots reinforced with steel plates, capable of smashing a zombie’s head with a single kick. Qimeng, however, was quite intimidating, fully geared up. Besides the multi-pocket bulletproof vest and combat boots, she was holding a Type 99 Sniper Rifle, which Liu Yonglin had modified to accommodate a bayonet. She also wore wrist guards to protect her joints.

“Ahaha,” I could only manage a wry smile, while Liu Yonglin and Ye Xiang stroked their chins and chuckled wickedly, “Hehehehe.” Even Kiku let out a “bark.”

Seeing our astonished expressions, Qimeng raised an eyebrow defiantly and said, “Well? Any comments?” Seeing Qimeng’s “dare to speak and I’ll shoot you” look, I quickly shook my head, “No, no comments. Although it suits you, can it still shoot with all those modifications?”

“Of course it can. Liu Yonglin already taught me how to shoot, and he added a bayonet so it can be used as a spear in critical situations.” Liu Yonglin, ever the show-off, chimed in, “It can shoot, it can shoot, absolutely! It’s got a bayonet attachment and comes with a bayonet, and with my modifications, of course, it can shoot!”

Though we were now in Tianhang City’s territory, this area was still its outskirts, quite far from the main city. Even though we saw some police on the Tianhang Bridge, the situation in Tianhang City might not be very optimistic. Until we could ensure absolute safety, we had to remain vigilant at all times. And with that, our battle preparations were complete.

“Liu Yonglin, you and I will head to the highway to check the situation. Ye Xiang, you cover us from the rear.” Liu Yonglin, little Kiku, and I moved onto the highway, guns in hand, covering each other. It felt like playing CS back in the day, except now it was the real-life version.

The situation looked promising; there was nothing on the road leading into the city-not even a trace of a zombie.

“Ms. Ye, you can start bringing the vehicle now!”

“Woof woof!”

I waved to Ye Ling in the Hummer, signaling that there were no zombies and that she could drive onto the highway.

Ye Ling nodded, “Alright, here we go!” She slammed the gas pedal, and the Hummer lived up to its name, powering up the nearly 40-degree slope, even getting a bit of airtime.

Liu Yonglin was amazed, “Since when did the Hummer have such power?”

Meanwhile, Shen Wei was scanning the area with binoculars. After surveying the surroundings, she frowned and said, “It seems the MJ River didn’t stop the spread of this Resident Evil outbreak. I don’t see any zombies, but there are some wrecked cars over there with bloodstains.”

Xueqi commented, “Wasn’t it on the news that similar outbreaks are happening all over the world?”

Qimeng added, “That’s true, but if there are still police around…”

Shen Wei paused for a moment, then smiled, “Yeah, because our Tian Chao police are very dedicated to their work.”

“Exactly.”

Ye Ling popped her head out of the car and asked, “What do we do next? I remember, Wei Wei, your family lives in Tianhang City, right?”

Shen Wei replied, “Yeah.”

I suggested, “Let’s go check out Shen Wei’s place then?”

Shen Wei glanced at me and said, “Just so you know, don’t get your hopes up.”

“Of course, I understand. Alright, let’s go!”