Escaping the Death Trap

Taking advantage of the moment all the zombies paused, the off-road vehicle swerved around the giant zombie and sped forward.

Jiang Chu pressed the automatic driving button of the vehicle's system. Even without visibility ahead, the vehicle could still avoid danger and drive normally.

Under the pitch-black night, the giant zombie with rotting skin detected something. In a fit of rage, it picked up a broken lamppost nearby, smashed it onto the ground, and then grabbed two other zombies, throwing them like trash toward the speeding off-road vehicle.

Hit from behind by the two thrown zombies, the off-road vehicle shuddered. Jiang Chu remained calm. She looked back; that giant zombie was actually running straight toward them.

Its speed was extremely fast. Even though the vehicle was running at maximum speed, it was still caught.

"It's here! Is it trying to smash the car?" Chen Qingqing held her gun and bit her lip, thinking that if all else failed, she would rush out to fight to the death.

Shen Yinqiu paused, her expression filled with disbelief. "This zombie is too fast, and its strength is immense. Could this be its ability?"

Jiang Chu was jolted awake by her words. She stared intently outside the vehicle. The giant zombie was very close. After catching up with them, it tried to lift the vehicle but couldn't budge it. It punched the roof frantically, but it didn't cause any damage either.

This angered it, and it summoned all the zombies in the vicinity to surround them tightly.

Jiang Chu knew this was the self-protection mechanism activated by the vehicle's system when subjected to severe attacks, and it had also stopped automatic driving. Thousands of terrifying zombies surrounded the off-road vehicle. Over a dozen zombies crawled onto the windshield, their hideous, contorted faces pressed against the glass, sticking out long, discolored tongues to lick the glass, their eyeballs looking as if they could fall out of their sockets at any moment.

Three people against at least over a thousand zombies.

It was almost a fatal situation.

The giant zombie knew it couldn't drag them out of the car, so it wanted to wear them down to death.

Chen Qingqing was so scared that tears welled up in her eyes. Her eyes were red as she looked at Jiang Chu in pain, seemingly having made a major decision, and said in a trembling voice, "There is still one way. I will go out to lure them away and buy time. You use ice to block them and seize the chance to escape..."

"You're not like me. Living until now is already a bonus for me. I know I've always been a burden. If I can buy time for you, it will be worth it."

"I have no regrets now."

Shen Yinqiu looked at Chen Qingqing in astonishment. Was their bond truly this deep?

Jiang Chu lowered her eyes, a hint of tears glistening in them. She knew Chen Qingqing was telling the truth. Having returned to this life, she hadn't expected someone would be willing to sacrifice their life for her.

Chen Qingqing had made up her mind and was about to pull open the car door when Jiang Chu grabbed her hand tightly and shook her head. "Who said we're going to die here? I have a way."

After all, this was a teammate she had chosen; she couldn't abandon her here.

With that, she raised her eyes to look at the giant zombie that was thrashing around restlessly.

This zombie possessed rudimentary intelligence. To capture the rebels, one must first capture their leader; she had to deal with it first.

It could be determined that the opponent was a speed-attribute Tier Two zombie that had just leveled up. She had also just advanced, so she didn't need to unleash her full strength, only enough to make this zombie feel the threat of a mutual destruction.

Her gaze was ice-cold, as if filled with unmelting snow.

White snow fell from the sky, but the moment it was about to hit the ground, it suddenly merged into several giant ice arrows, piercing ruthlessly toward the giant zombie's head.

At the same time, moving ice walls appeared as if they had legs, quickly and unexpectedly charging forward, knocking away the ordinary zombies crawling on the off-road vehicle and nearby. The ice walls instantly shattered into ice shards, leaving them room to breathe.

The giant zombie seemed to sense the threat. It raised its massive head, wanting to reach out and grab the ice arrows, but found it couldn't. A large number of ice spikes appeared around it, their sharp tips constantly shooting toward it.

At the same time, Jiang Chu created an ice wall two meters high and as wide as the street, blocking the zombies behind that were constantly attacking.

Although the giant zombie grabbed the ice arrow, it still couldn't stop the arrow from slowly piercing through its eyeball, letting out a heavy roar that echoed through the entire street.

"Roar—"

Ice spikes also kept piercing into its body.

No one had expected this sudden turn of events.

The giant zombie had lost its memories and intelligence from when it was human, but at this moment, terror could still be seen on its horrifying, blank face.

Jiang Chu once again used the ice wall to knock away the zombies in front, but her focus remained on that giant zombie.

Waiting until her ability cleared a path, she stepped hard on the gas pedal and charged forward.

"Now is the time."

The zombies in front had decreased significantly, and they were no longer actively launching attacks, only chasing them restlessly.

She calmed down, turned on the windshield wipers to clean off the stains and slime, and drove toward the area with fewer zombies.

A minute ago, Chen Qingqing was still heartbroken. Seeing the turn of events, her tears stopped in her eyes, unable to fall, her gaze blankly shifting between the road ahead and Jiang Chu's face.

"Did... did we just break out?" She opened her mouth, speaking in disbelief.

Shen Yinqiu parted her lips, unable to utter a single word, her eyes unable to hide her shock. She swore that what had just happened was more thrilling than any sci-fi movie she had ever watched.

And what she expected even less was that Jiang Chu had hidden quite a lot of her strength.

Perhaps in the entire safe zone, there was no one more powerful than her.

"It seems so. I checked the GPS; we are currently about sixteen kilometers away from the hospital. Are we still going to the hospital?" The car swerved sharply onto another road, and she was almost thrown out, grabbing the seat belt tightly.

Jiang Chu replied, "Yes. That giant zombie just now had some brains, knowing not to let us go. I was prepared to perish with it, which is why we could escape. We can't go back the same way now; we can only head to the hospital first or find a temporary shelter."

That zombie's ability lay in speed. She only dared to retract the ice arrows and spikes binding it after driving three kilometers away from that spot. They couldn't slow down, otherwise they risked being caught.

Shen Yinqiu snapped out of it, waved her phone, and nodded, saying, "Adjutant Xia Guang sent a message, telling the survivors to gather at the hotel next to the hospital. They are there."

After thinking, she added, "Officer Zhao is also there, so it should be safe."

Jiang Chu didn't have time to look at her phone. She gave an "mm" and continued driving forward.

Fortunately, with the vehicle's system, the off-road vehicle was durable enough; otherwise, it would be a pile of broken parts by now.

The rest of the journey was safe and uneventful, and they smoothly arrived at a large hotel about 400 meters from the hospital.

The moment the car braked sharply by the roadside, Jiang Chu shouted, "Get out!"

Shen Yinqiu and Chen Qingqing were very sensible, carrying their backpacks and rifles as they ran into the hotel.

The main door was tightly shut. The moment they appeared, a fully equipped soldier opened a gap just wide enough for one person to let them through.

Jiang Chu followed closely behind. The zombies trailing her were blocked outside just in time.

Three guns were pointed at the heads of the three. She looked around; about sixty people were gathered here.

She spoke before the soldier could: "We don't have any wounds on us."

This was to check for any signs of being bitten by zombies.

"Lower your guns." Zhao Jingyao walked over from the corner of the hotel lobby.