Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1146 - 29 Claustrophobia

Chapter 1146: Chapter 29 Claustrophobia

The young man with a head full of golden hair stared at the factory iron gate, a grim look on his face. The knife scar on his left cheek added a rugged, battle-hardened charm to his handsome appearance.

Five Lickers were among the shelves, ferociously tearing at the corpse of a female employee lying on the ground.

"Interesting, how many waves have there been? Even civilians are joining the fray? Greedy ghouls, let’s go." The man crushed the ice cream, threw it away, flicked the bangs on his forehead, looked around, and quickly moved towards the iron gate.

The five Lickers immediately abandoned the tattered corpse they were biting and followed the scarred-faced man, like well-trained hunting dogs.

Bang, bang, in Tang Zheng’s team, the atmosphere was tense, all kinds of firearms were firing, shooting at the approaching zombies, and quickly moving towards the warehouse area.

"How much longer?" Liu Binshi Wen gasped for air, asking Dong Zixuan as she blew apart the upper half of a zombie with her shotgun, and she was slowly gaining back some courage.

"Almost there, this way." Dong Zixuan had been watching the map, continually directing the way, while Tang Zheng and Kong Licheng were responsible for providing covering fire.

"Change clips." Kong Licheng shouted to remind Tang Zheng, then swiftly removed the spent ammo clip, reaching into his backpack with his other hand for a new clip, inserted it into his M4A1, butt against the shoulder, ready to shoot, only to realize he’d forgotten to press the bolt release button.

"This gun is such a hassle, give me an AK74, and I’ll blow these zombies to bits." Kong Licheng was a gun enthusiast, had fired weapons like the Type 95 and Type 56 rifles before, but was somewhat at a loss with American firearms.

"You’ll get used to it soon." Tang Zheng had no such problems; with his proficiency in firearms, he had mastered these weapons and could even operate cannons and missile launchers with ease.

"Found it, the sixth warehouse." Dong Zixuan called out, her face full of excitement. Under everyone’s cover, she rushed over, but she couldn’t push open the tightly closed main door and then saw the electronic lock next to it, which left her stumped.

"What do we do? The zombies are catching up!" Wen Xiao leaned against the main entrance, watching the zombies sprint closer, sweating bullets in panic, and the others weren’t faring much better, breathing heavily and continuously firing.

"Hold steady, don’t panic, it’s the simplest identification system, find an employee card," Tang Zheng said with experience as he glanced at the electric lock and recognized it.

"Where do we find one?" Liu Binshi’s reaction wasn’t swift enough; he could only serve as a sapper, and Kong Licheng couldn’t think of a solution either.

Dong Zixuan furrowed her brows and scanned the surroundings before fixating on a corpse not far from her feet. It was one they had just killed, and there was an ID card with a photo attached to his chest, clearly indicating that it could be used to freely enter and exit the warehouse.

"Isn’t this it?" Dong Zixuan was about to go pick it up when she saw Tang Zheng already running over and yanking off the ID card.

"Catch." With a flick of his wrist, Tang Zheng sent the ID card spinning towards Dong Zixuan while he continued to snipe zombies. This kind of warehouse was not off-limits, so in addition to this fellow, several zombies were also wearing ID cards.

"Quick reflexes," Dong Zixuan muttered, catching the ID card and effortlessly sliding it into the card slot.

With a soft beep, the electronic screen displayed the photo from the ID card and indicated access granted.

"Push the door open." Dong Zixuan yelled, using both hands to push the heavy iron gate open. Once a gap wide enough for two people to pass through appeared, she was the first to squeeze through.

"That’s enough, Big Brother Liu and Xi Zhu go first, Licheng and I will cover the rear," Tang Zheng’s commands were clear. The newbies were panicking; they just needed to follow orders, which would save them a few seconds of thinking time.

Hu Liwen and the long-faced young man didn’t heed the commands and were about to rush impatiently into the warehouse when they heard a warning from inside.

"There are zombies." The warehouse used a sound-activated lighting system. As soon as Dong Zixuan entered, the sound of her footsteps lit up the lamps, illuminating the dim warehouse, and then she saw two zombies rushing toward her, one of which was trying to get down from a car.

They were wearing blue canvas work clothes, obviously workers caught in the midst of their duties.

Hu Liwen and the long-faced man immediately halted their steps, wanting to let others go first, but then Tang Zheng kicked Hu Liwen, the policewoman, on the buttocks. She collided with the long-faced man and stumbled into the warehouse.

"Hurry up," Tang Zheng urged again, not allowing Kong Licheng to enter and help. If they couldn’t handle the zombies inside the warehouse, they could die for all he cared; he definitely didn’t need such a burden.

Li Yumiao and Zheng Sheng knew that hesitation could be lethal; they entered the warehouse, especially since there were more zombies outside, which were now within ten meters, closing in fast.

Due to issues with firing rate and Tang Zheng conserving bullets, his attack frequency wasn’t very high, so the zombies got even closer, about to pounce. Finally, when all the newbies had entered the warehouse, Tang Zheng swiftly dodged inside.

"Close the door." Having already killed the three zombies inside, Dong Zixuan shouted out, and the newbies exerted their strength in a roar, slamming the door shut.

Just as one zombie’s upper body squeezed through, it got stuck, and several other arms also flailed through, reaching for their prey.

BANG, Dong Zixuan fired at it, her shotgun blowing up its head, and in the process, several of its arms were also shredded.

Tang Zheng kicked the zombie in the stomach, sending it flying out as the main entrance finally closed. Beep, as Dong Zixuan swiped her ID card over the electronic lock, the gate locked again.

They were temporarily safe. The newbies leaned against the iron gate, gasping for air, all feeling the relief of having survived a calamity.

"No one has come in yet, so if someone has drawn the zombies away on the main street, where did they go?" Tang Zheng didn’t rest; he held his gun and checked the warehouse—for a Licker, this kind of place was absolutely the best for an ambush.

The warehouse was large, filled with boxes that also obstructed the view.

"It’s medicine." Dong Zixuan opened a box and unwrapped the packaging, finding a type of green capsule.

"Seems like it’s for stomach ailments." Zheng Sheng picked up a box and read the English on it, "I took the Level 4 English exam this year, I’m sure I will pass."

"Tang Zheng, why did you kick me?" Hu Liwen got up, glaring at Tang Zheng with irritation. The force of that kick was significant—it felt as if her buttocks were split.

"You asked for it." Tang Zheng’s icy gaze swept over the newbies, "If you don’t want to die, don’t cause trouble and follow orders strictly."

"If anyone is too scared to act and hesitates during the operation, don’t blame me for being ruthless." Kong Licheng also spoke up; he knew what his colleagues were like. If not for Tang Zheng’s kick, they definitely would have delayed and possibly ended up fighting zombies in hand-to-hand combat because once Hu Liwen retreated, it would have made the other newbies fearful and caused chaos.

"Liwen, say less." Dong Zixuan hurried a few steps and followed Tang Zheng, "The person who came in first might have taken another passage."

"Each team has a different route?" Tang Zheng frowned, "That’s not bad, at least I don’t have to worry about being ambushed from behind."

It took Tang Zheng less than three minutes to inspect the warehouse. On the left, there was an electric-powered railcar. He peeked inside—the dim tracks sloped downward in a diagonal line, clearly going deeper than a hundred meters, with lamps installed at the top of the tunnel every ten meters or so.

"Looks like we have to go down." Dong Zixuan crawled into the railcar to check it. This thing was similar to a train carriage, a rustic means of transport with only two buttons, red and green; one for stop, the other for start, and a lever that could be pushed, with data inscribed next to it for acceleration and deceleration because it traveled in a straight line, so there was no steering wheel.

"Get on board when you’ve rested enough; we’re setting off." Tang Zheng was frustrated; without a bomb, he could have set up a trap at the entrance to prevent unforeseen circumstances.

Although the newbies were reluctant, they had no choice but to climb into the carriage. However, there was always an exception. Li Zhilian leaned at the channel entrance, looked down into the murky and narrow environment that felt like the throat of a giant beast, and suddenly shivered, retreating in panic.

"No, I won’t go down." Li Zhilian’s face was filled with terror as he shouted twice and then, without thinking, started to run outside.

"Goddammit." Kong Licheng cursed, leaped out of the carriage, and pursued Li Zhilian, his big strides quickly closing the gap. He punched Li Zhilian hard in the back of his neck.

Li Zhilian screamed as he fell, and before he could rise, Kong Licheng sat on his back and began punching him furiously.

"Scream, scream again, I’ll beat you to death." Kong Licheng was merciless, even grabbing Li Zhilian’s head and smashing it against the floor multiple times until his skin burst and blood flowed out.

Tang Zheng did not intervene; this guy was the culprit who killed Black Long Straight, and he would prefer him dead sooner rather than later.

"Stop hitting me, I was wrong, I’ll go down." Li Zhilian pleaded, holding his head. He was a bully when it came to the timid but cowered before the strong. When they had entered the Trojan Room, Tang Zheng had beaten him up, which was why he had stayed quiet up until now, otherwise, he would have caused trouble much sooner.

"Whoever affects the team’s morale, I’ll kill them!" Kong Licheng glared at the newbies viciously, stood up, casually grabbed Li Zhilian’s collar, and dragged him to the railcar.

Li Zhilian wasn’t faking it; he was truly terrified. Trembling, he got on the car and then curled up into a ball, hugging his knees.

Dong Zixuan pressed the green button, the railcar was energized and started. The wheels grated against the tracks, emitting a harsh squealing noise, but it quickly faded.

"How fast are we going?" Dong Zixuan asked, gripping the lever and setting it to the position marked fifty.

"Slower would be better." Tang Zheng stood in front, looking through the window to monitor what was ahead, the draft carrying a sour scent that made him cover his nose.

"What’s wrong with him? He’s not sick, is he?" Liu Miao saw Li Zhilian’s constant trembling and his face turning pale, which got her worried.

"Probably claustrophobia." Gao Ming hugged his rifle and licked his lips, "Those with claustrophobia fear being underground and in tight spaces. Upon entering, they would feel dizzy and nauseated. Don’t underestimate us miners, we not only have guts, but we must also be mentally strong." (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, please vote for it and send monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)