Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1186 - 63: Escape

Chapter 1186: Chapter 63: Escape

The helicopter flew over Long Street, and those lucky ones in the cabin immediately saw below them a complete mess — some citizens were not only fighting off zombie attacks but also exchanging gunfire with soldiers on the walls. There were already more than a dozen corpses scattered across the street, and the battle was fierce.

"It’s the traffic police!" Liu Binshi’s voice was not small, and his eyes were sharp; he immediately noticed Zhou Meng and his group, struggling on Main Street, desperately trying to hold off zombies constantly jumping out of the windows to chase them.

"Shoot!" When a Licker appeared at the window, the traffic policeman yelled, finally killing it — however, it was to no avail. The chaos caused the zombies in the buildings to run out and attack, and luckily, there weren’t many Lickers, only chasing the closest humans, otherwise the whole group of traffic police would have perished right there.

Seeing the black helicopter appear overhead, the newbies desperately yelled for help. The soldiers, unsure whether this steel monster was friend or foe, became cautious, and two Caucasians armed with shoulder-mounted anti-air missiles ascended to the wall.

"Can’t wait any longer." Tang Zheng had already adjusted the aircraft’s position, targeting the bottom of the high wall, unleashing firepower.

Bang, bang, two rocket shells shot out of the bullet nest, hitting their target accurately. In the thunderous roar, the high wall collapsed, burying dozens of soldiers underneath.

Whoosh, among the dust, a missile shot out, grazing the helicopter by three meters, causing everyone to break out in a cold sweat; had it hit, they would have definitely turned into roast pigs.

"Watch out for missiles, use carpet bombing." Kong Licheng, always focused on the battlefield, yelled out. Due to the angle, although he was holding the M134 Fire God Cannon, he couldn’t fire it.

"Wipe them out, leave no grass behind." Tong Dahong, terror-stricken, saw the soldiers panicking as the high wall collapsed and yelled out loud, "Hurry up."

The Caucasians were being urgently chased by zombies, not waiting for the dust to settle, they rushed out from the breach. George’s girlfriend, also a tough woman, followed him, ran out of shotgun shells, and pulled out an SCAR assault rifle from the hand of a dead soldier, half-buried under a concrete block, setting it to automatic and firing at the zombies behind her.

The soldiers were not fools; knowing that once the high wall fell, zombies would surely pour out, so each one quickly ran to an Armored Humvee and Infantry Armored Car. A few brave soldiers even fired at the approaching helicopter with 5.56 caliber bullets, which clinked against the fuselage.

The newbies in the cabin turned pale, fearing that the bullets would penetrate inside.

"Don’t worry, except for rocket shells, rifle bullets can’t bring down a helicopter." Dong Zixuan tried to calm everyone down as Zhao Yulian’s little child, frightened by the situation, cried loudly. The cabin, crammed with twenty people, was chaotic and overcrowded.

Tang Zheng absolutely would not allow the soldiers to drive away the Armored Humvees, which were everyone’s ticket to escape. He pressed the firing button, and the 30mm cannon in front of the cockpit immediately began its thunderous roar, hitting the ground, sending stones flying and leaving fist-sized holes, aligned in a straight line.

About a dozen unfortunate soldiers couldn’t dodge in time and were hit, their bodies instantly shattered; bulletproof vests could not withstand this kind of firepower.

Bang, bang, bang, an infantry armored car started, the Big Viper 25mm chain gun mounted on the vehicle roared, firing at the helicopter in the sky. A soldier even popped his head out, holding a Tao anti-tank missile, trying to shoot down the aircraft.

Tang Zheng was much faster than the infantry armored car; pressing the button, a Hellfire missile shot out, hitting the side of the armored vehicle directly.

In the explosion, the armored vehicle tumbled, tracks broken, turning into a ball of fire. None of the soldiers inside survived; the one with the missile had half his head sliced off by a metal shard.

"What a waste of a missile, but we had to show these guys a lesson!" Tang Zheng slowly moved in the sky, sweeping these soldiers. Just as a guy hoisted up a Stinger missile, he was turned into minced meat by the machine gun.

"Stay away from the vehicles, or we’ll shoot you all down, I repeat!" Tang Zheng turned on the external speaker, picked up the sound pickup, warning the soldiers.

Under the threat of firepower, the soldiers retreated. Some Caucasian citizens, thinking the helicopter was on their side, excitedly screamed, ready to steal the vehicles. With them, they could quickly escape Chicago.

"Brother Kong, kill those who can’t see reality." Tong Dahong bellowed, his face ferocious, as he sprayed gunfire at those Caucasians, knocking down a large number.

"Four vehicles are enough." Kong Licheng lacked such interest, focusing on attacking zombies, buying time for Zhou Meng and his group.

"Still more than fifty people left?" Tang Zheng looked at the fleeing crowd below, sighed, he had left for less than three minutes, and more than a dozen had died.

"Tang Zheng, Cao Rongxuan is dead." Zhao Dongtao didn’t see Cao Rongxuan, suddenly feeling relief inside, "Zixin, you should be happy now, right?"

Zhao Dongtao wiped away his tears, continuing to monitor the battlefield.

"Don’t scramble, volunteers who can drive step forward." Tang Zheng continued to command as the newbies scrambled for the vehicles, turning into a mess.

George ran to the unoperated infantry armored car and jumped in; a few seconds later, he started it. His girlfriend operated the vehicle-mounted machine guns, firing at the advancing zombies.

The white people were too numerous, yet there were not enough vehicles, and their gazes soon fell on the group of traffic police, but Tong Dahong quickly attacked them.

Some citizens gave up competing for vehicles and began to flee on foot, while others attempted to steal cars. Due to the roads being efficiently blocked by quick-responding soldiers, the roads beyond the high wall were clear and unobstructed, which of course, meant there were fewer cars.

"Too slow, what are you dragging your feet for, if you can’t get on one vehicle, can’t you switch to another?" Tang Zheng yelled into the sound pickup, the people below nearly drove him mad, and the traffic police tried to restore order, but under the stimulus of death and survival, no one listened.

The citizens didn’t dare to attack, but the soldiers who took refuge in the buildings on both sides did not hold back; these were the people who had killed their combat mates, so they immediately retaliated.

Bullets struck the armor of the Armored Humvee, sparking off fire, and the irregular ricochets increased the threat to the newbies nearby.

A short-haired miner was shot in the chest and fell down stiffly, blood spewing from his mouth, body convulsing; he clearly wasn’t going to live, and Wu Xiao, feverish and weakened after being beaten by Li Wenbo following an arm injury, couldn’t squeeze onto the Humvee. He stood on the outskirts, inadvertently becoming a meat shield and took several hits, collapsing limply to the ground.

Two people died, making the newbies even more anxious.

"Don’t panic, get into the Humvee and operate the vehicle-mounted machine guns." The policeman shouted, started the car, but did not drive away as there were still newbies getting on.

"Damn it!" Tang Zheng adjusted the nose, the helicopter hovered and turned, and when it aimed at the building, it fired rocket shells. The soldiers hiding there were immediately silenced, crushed to death, but there were too many soldiers, and he couldn’t possibly kill them all instantly.

Xu Zhifeng popped out from the roof, grabbed the .50 Browning heavy machine gun, and sprayed a continuous fire, cutting the zombies into two sections.

Ding, ding, a string of bullets came flying, sparking off the roof, one bullet pierced through Xu Zhifeng’s forehead, blowing off his skull.

The policeman slumped, sliding into the carriage, his corpse causing the newbies who had squeezed in to scream in horror.

"Drive, no more waiting, drive!" Nie Jianhua, though old, had successfully gotten onto the vehicle. Seeing the situation, he yelled for everyone to escape quickly.

Four Humvees started, their tires screeching against the ground, and then dashed away.

A Licker pounced on top of one vehicle, but was quickly killed. He Lian operated the vehicle-mounted machine gun, ducking his head, frantically sweeping with gunfire.

Tang Zheng also focused on attacking those soldiers hiding in buildings; as soon as someone opened fire, they were immediately covered by firepower, and they finally got scared and stopped attacking.

The people in the cabin watched those frantic, fleeing newbies below, especially after witnessing three deaths, and felt incredibly lucky to be following Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng covered the rear from the air, sniping the pursuing zombies, and after five minutes, the fleet was safe; the survivors could finally catch their breath.

After reconnecting communications, Tang Zheng learned that Cao Rongxuan had died, which left him rather wistful.

"Less than twelve hours into the game, and so many people have died; this is practically a massacre." Kong Licheng counted the numbers, his face turning grim, "Tang Zheng, based on past experiences, how much longer do we need to stay?"

"Not sure." Tang Zheng felt very tired; he hadn’t rested all day, the sky had gradually darkened, and the time limit to escape from Chicago was almost up.

"Let’s discuss this later; we don’t have much time left." Dong Zixuan pointed to her wristwatch, "There’s a red line on the map that seems to indicate safety if we cross it."

"Yes, notify the fleet; I’m going ahead to scout." Tang Zheng found an excuse and accelerated his flight, aiming to leave ahead of time.

This significant casualty had its reasons. Even soldiers couldn’t adapt to killing instantly, let alone ordinary people. The time spent hiding in the hotel would have been beneficial for a crash training course, which might have saved a few lives; unfortunately, Tang Zheng left to grab the virus strain, and as for Li Wenbo, they weren’t in the mood for that.

Without a strong Group Leader to unite them, the current team was just like loose sand. As soon as they encountered death, they would immediately crumble, and the more people there were, the quicker the collapse since the shortest stave in the bucket decides the bucket’s capacity. A cowardly deserter was the most likely to cause a team collapse because no one wanted to cover the rear for others.

Tang Zheng actually understood the thoughts of Li Wenbo and Cao Rongxuan. There were always some people too proud to submit to others, mostly just wanting to keep their lives in their own hands. Even if they died, they would not regret it. Getting people to trust you for no reason was impossible because if a Group Leader made a misjudgment, it would cost the lives of the group members. Even fools would weigh their options.

As long as Tang Zheng had time to show his ability, eventually, some would gravitate towards him. Of course, some would still hesitate, wondering if he harbored intentions of using them as cannon fodder. Kong Licheng and Tong Dahong were such; although they supported Tang Zheng, they would never follow blindly and always kept a watchful eye.

People like Li Wenbo, who sought to be Group Leaders, did so purely for their own benefits. For instance, if Tang Zheng now instructed some newbies to scout ahead, besides his own authority and people’s support, those designated as the unfortunate ones hardly had a way to refuse. If they didn’t comply, they could simply leave the group. However, continuing this way inevitably damaged his credit.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)