Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1135 - 20 Falling Behind Crisis

Chapter 1135: Chapter 20 Falling Behind Crisis

Tang Zheng, carrying a backpack weighing over fifty kilograms and holding a rifle, stepped onto the asphalt road. He did not rush to run but observed his surroundings, taking the opportunity to wait for the others to come down.

"Driver, give me the map." Tang Zheng didn’t possess a photographic memory; he just remembered a bit more than the ordinary person after a glance. Now facing the crisscrossing city intersections, he needed to recheck the route, "Everyone else, hurry up."

Liu Guohao wasn’t a fool either. When he got out of the car, he didn’t forget to take the map with him. Running over to Tang Zheng, he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something.

"You need bullets? Help yourself!" Tang Zheng couldn’t use that many at the moment. Giving some away would gain him favor and lighten his load.

"Thanks, young man." Liu Guohao wasn’t much of a talker, but he was genuinely grateful for Tang Zheng’s generosity. He crouched down, pulled open the zipper, and stuffed bullets into his pockets.

With Dong Zixuan and Uncle Wang leading, the policemen got out of the car. The other newbies knew there was no other way and hurried down, resulting in a squeeze and some tempers flared up again.

"Shut up, everybody. Line up to get off." Dong Zixuan tried to maintain order, but to little effect.

"Guohao." A woman in her thirties ran over, stumbling into Liu Guohao’s arms with tears in her eyes, red and panting heavily as if she were on the verge of suffocation.

"What’s wrong?" Liu Guohao was startled; Li Huixin had a heart condition.

"Who’s bullying you? Tell me." Tang Zheng decided to win over Liu Guohao. Seeing his concerned expression, he knew that Liu had a deep relationship with this attractive, well-dressed woman.

"No, none." Li Huixin didn’t want to cause trouble for her husband and held back her tears. When she got out of the car, the long-faced tourist who had been hit by Tang Zheng took advantage of the crowd to pinch her buttocks hard and even grabbed her chest.

"Which bastard was it?" Liu Guohao had a strong presence, with a square face that became imposing when he was angry. He was a truck driver, just out traveling with his wife to relax, unaware he’d encounter such a mess.

"Speak up. I don’t want scum mixing in with our team." No sooner had Tang Zheng finished speaking than a young woman screamed and slapped the long-faced man hard on the face.

"Pervert." The girl held her chest and angrily blamed the long-faced man, clearly not one to take things lying down.

"You’re the pervert. That was just an accident." The long-faced man retorted immediately, seeing a few newbies looking over. He didn’t want to be labeled with such a reputation.

"Damn it!" Seeing his wife glaring at the long-faced man dissatisfied, Liu Guohao knew what had happened. Striding like a meteor, he ran over and punched the long-faced man in the chest.

"Ah!" Tang Zheng followed behind, sighing. This man obviously wasn’t used to fighting. Hitting the chest, what’s the use of that? It couldn’t create any intimidation but would instead lead to a stalemate and make a mess.

"What are you?" The punch probably only caused the long-faced man to feel stuffy for a moment. He didn’t care about Liu Guohao and immediately dashed up to fight, swinging his fists at the head.

"Hu Hong, bros, let’s get this guy." The long-faced man bellowed, calling for the three other tourists to help.

"Step back, nobody move." Tang Zheng rushed over, bellowing, and then swung the butt of his shotgun hard onto the long-faced man’s cheek.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with a few teeth, the long-faced man involuntarily loosened his grip on Liu Guohao and staggered to the side.

Tang Zheng took two steps forward and kicked him in the abdomen.

The long-faced man fell, and a slightly bruised Liu Guohao rushed over, kicking him in the belly, where there was plenty of fat, still reluctant to strike fatally.

"We need to find a chance to kill this troublemaker, Long Face." Tang Zheng wasn’t sure what punishment killing a newbie would bring, so he hesitated; otherwise, he would have killed him already. "Listen up; in times of great peril, we need to band together. Anyone caught bullying their own should not blame me for being impolite."

Most of the newbies were indifferent, only concerned with their own safety and not disgusted with Long Face, as it wasn’t them being harassed.

"Scumbag, it’s all because of you that everyone’s been delayed three more minutes." Tang Zheng wasn’t satisfied with the situation and tried to stir up everyone’s emotions. As long as they held a bit of dissatisfaction with Long Face, it would grow over the days, and he intended to make Long Face unwelcome in the team.

"You guys are nice, it’s a pity you befriended someone who takes all for themselves and leaves you scraps. Don’t be fooled by him." Tang Zheng didn’t touch Hu Hong’s trio, attempting to divide the group of four tourists using words.

Hu Hong and the other two young men were worried others would see them as lacking loyalty for watching their friend get beaten without helping, which would scorn them. Hearing Tang Zheng’s words, they suddenly found them rather appealing, as it provided a convenient excuse.

"Everyone listen up, we’re setting off. Don’t fall behind." Tang Zheng slung his backpack and jogged ahead, hoping to make more ground while everyone still had energy.

By now, most of Chicago was in complete disarray; the highways were full of citizens dragging their families along, hurrying to escape the city. Of course, there were also some who were too afraid of the zombies to leave their homes, waiting for rescue. Unfortunately for them, by relinquishing the initiative they’d soon face even greater difficulties.

Though no zombies had appeared on this stretch of highway yet, the panic was still palpable. Cars were jammed into a long queue, the constant blaring of horns assaulting the eardrums. Because everyone was scrambling for the road, there were over a dozen traffic accidents, with drivers cursing each other and fights breaking out.

There were just too many people with families, and the terrified children couldn’t stop crying. Of course, there were also some who were obedient, helping their parents with the luggage.

Tang Zheng no longer had to worry about their weapons, as this was, after all, America, where it was legal to carry firearms. The local citizens had brought their weapons for safety, with all sorts of modified guns in evidence. He even saw a white youth in his twenties, donned in Ranger gear with a few hand grenades, carrying an M240 machine gun.

The young George’s father was a retired soldier who had taught him quite a few combat skills. He was sprinting through the streets, holding a backpack full of weapons and ammunition, pulling along his girlfriend. Some people apparently felt safer following him and spontaneously fell in behind him, gathering a group of over twenty people.

George was enthusiastic, loudly calling out to nearby people to follow him. He originally had a Hummer, but unfortunately had to abandon it behind due to the traffic jam.

"Tang Zheng, someone has fallen behind," Dong Zixuan called out, reminding Tang Zheng.

With just a brisk fifteen-minute walk, the group of over a hundred people had already become scattered. The women with children could still keep up, but all five elderly people had, without exception, fallen to the rear.

Tang Zheng put down his backpack and looked back. While taking a rest, he pondered a solution. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear Dong Zixuan. Otherwise, people would say he was heartless and he wouldn’t lead the group well in the future.

Even a fool knew the elderly would lag behind. After so many brutal games, Tang Zheng’s heart had hardened. He didn’t want to help the useless old people. Pretending not to know and ignoring them was fine, but Dong Zixuan had brought it up, so he had no choice but to step up, though he was already thinking of ways to deal with it.

"Please, help me," an old man gasped for air, seeing the group stop. He had fallen nearly fifty meters behind and collapsed on the ground, loudly begging for someone to go back and help him.

Although the other three old men weren’t as exhausted, their movement was visibly slower. Only one was still gritting his teeth, hurrying as fast as he could.

"Group Leader, you’re not planning to leave them behind, are you?" Cao Rongxuan deliberately emphasized the title ’Group Leader’ loudly to needle Tang Zheng.

"Rong Xuan, don’t say that, we’re all classmates after all." Cao Rongxuan’s implication was clear as day, and Jing Lan didn’t want the two classmates to become enemies, trying to smooth things over, only to be scolded.

"What’s it to you?" Cao Rongxuan, seeing Tang Zheng carry a backpack weighing tens of kilograms and still running at the front without gasping for breath, was dying with envy and jealousy. His unrestrained lifestyle over the years had made his body weak. "Humph, not talking now? Aren’t you just as hypocritical, always thinking about yourself?"

"If you’re not hypocritical, then you help them," retorted Tang Zheng. Since the other party wasn’t considering their past camaraderie, there was no need for him to be polite, and he stood at ease. If he were fazed by these trivial matters, it would be embarrassing.

"Sorry, I’m not the Group Leader. It’s not my place to meddle in leadership decisions," Cao Rongxuan bluntly refused, intent on humiliating Tang Zheng, and besides, he had no idea what to do about the situation.

"Cao Rongxuan, what kind of way is that to speak?" Zhao Dongtao got irritated, ready to fight.

"Afraid of you? Just wait until we get back, you’ll be out of a job. I’d like to see who dares to hire you then," Cao Rongxuan threatened Zhao Dongtao with overwhelming arrogance.

"What’s all this fuss about?" Song Xin was so anxious she nearly cried. "We’re all classmates, can’t we work together?"

"If you agree to be Rong Xuan’s girlfriend, then we’ll bury the hatchet and let Tang Zheng off this time," Zheng Sheng, Cao Rongxuan’s close friend, naturally came forward to help in such a situation.

"Tang Zheng, you can’t even manage your own backyard, and you still presume to lead others?" Li Wenbo deliberately stirred trouble with the mention of the backyard, which could easily seed discord in someone as proud as Cao Rongxuan.

"I never thought about leading anyone; I just want us to cooperate and minimize deaths, to get through this game," Tang Zheng fixed his gaze on Cao Rongxuan. "Since you have a way to save the old man, you be the Group Leader."

"I won’t do it. You want to abandon the problem on me? You’re not fooling me," Cao Rongxuan wasn’t about to fall for it. He wanted those five useless old people to die sooner rather than later.

"Can’t you two say less? We’re embarrassing ourselves in front of foreigners," Dong Zixuan shouted angrily, as the foreigners watching their quarrel began to turn their attention to them.

"Whoever has a solution, let them be Group Leader!" Tang Zheng’s piercing gaze swept over the newcomers. "Speak up if you have one!"

No one answered; the zombies had everyone too panicked to stay calm, let alone think of solutions.

"Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Since you can’t think of a solution, just shut up and listen to my orders!" With that, Tang Zheng suddenly pulled the trigger on a couple passing by a few meters away. (To be continued. If you like this novel, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)