The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 229 - 225: Injured Pride

Chapter 229: Chapter 225: Injured Pride

Gao Yuan and the others gathered together, and Zhao Qiang said in a low voice, "The survivors around Almaty have been rounded up, but it’s not like our shelter. The soldiers have mutinied. A major led the way, killing the officers who tried to maintain order, and turned the entire area around Almaty into their kingdom, having absolute power over the lives of the survivors, doing as they pleased."

That’s normal, that should be the norm in the apocalypse, but Cao Zhenjiang was extremely shocked, "Can they really do that? Do they dare?"

Gao Yuan waved his hand, "There’s no point talking about that, why wouldn’t they dare? Who’s left to control them?"

Cao Zhenjiang touched his chin, "Then they must be having a great time..."

Seeing the astonished looks of the others, Cao Zhenjiang quickly said, "I’m not saying I want to be like them, Boss Zhao, please continue with the situation report."

Zhao Qiang said, "They intercepted us because they were coveting our supplies, not only food but also our night vision goggles, even lighters are extremely scarce and valuable goods, as well as batteries. So we might think we haven’t brought much, but in their eyes, we are walking treasure troves, not robbing us would be unthinkable."

After speaking, Zhao Qiang hesitated, "The task of those people last night was not to set up roadblocks; they never imagined that anyone would still come through the highway. Their task was to monitor the dynamics of the zombies in the city. This highway is north of Almaty, and the area occupied by the rebel forces is even further north in the countryside, several villages have been taken over, which are still more than twenty kilometers away from here."

Panxin spoke in a low voice, "More than twenty kilometers? Can’t we just go around?"

Zhao Qiang said, "This area is full of farmlands and orchards. Once off the highway, it’s not flat wasteland but orchards and fields crisscrossed by ditches, so it’s hard to say if we can detour, and according to the captive’s testimony, the rebel forces have set up more than a dozen observation posts, big and small, with the larger ones having thirty to fifty people, and the small ones only one or two."

Gao Yuan shook his head, "Detouring is not so straightforward. Last night’s conflict would have surely drawn out the city’s zombies. Now going back there, we would have to face at least tens of thousands of zombies."

Zhao Qiang said, "Oh, the prisoner said their observation posts are all five kilometers away from the city area. That far, can they really attract zombies?"

Gao Yuan thought for a moment, "Five kilometers?"

"Five kilometers!"

Sighing, Gao Yuan said helplessly, "Then the place where the firefight happened last night must be swarming with zombies by now. Based on the time, they would have arrived within ten minutes of us leaving at the most. With that said, unless the few dozen who chased us last night retreated early, they’re definitely dead."

Zhao Qiang, still skeptical, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely sure!"

Having said that, Gao Yuan stood up, "Let’s sleep. Right now, we don’t have to worry about someone coming to trouble us. If they can handle the zombies, that’s already good. After dawn, we’ll scout the area and then we’ll know everything."

Zhao Qiang was still very doubtful because he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes and was not quite convinced that the highway had already been taken over by a horde of zombies.

"Should we go back now and check the situation?"

Gao Yuan waved his hand, "No, we can’t drive there. The sound of the engine could attract zombies from kilometers away. Zombies can hear infrasounds and ultrasounds that we can’t hear, so the sound of the engine carries much further than you think. Plus, it’s too dark right now; if we’re too far, we can’t see anything, and if we’re too close, it’s too dangerous. Just take a look tomorrow morning when it’s bright. That’s it for now, leave two people on watch, and everyone else get some sleep to save energy."

Gao Yuan returned to the SUV, draped the sleeping bag over himself, and began to sleep snuggled up with Xinghe.

Watching Gao Yuan, Zhao Qiang hesitated. After he felt that Gao Yuan had fallen asleep, he waved at Li Yang.

The two went aside and started whispering. Zhao Qiang said softly, "I need to go back and see what’s going on. You stay here with ’Revelation,’ and I’ll see if things are the same as Gao Yuan said."

Li Yang gave a wry smile, "Boss, I think you better listen to Gao Yuan."

"Listen to him? Hmm, I’ll consider his advice, but..."

Li Yang placed his hand on Zhao Qiang’s, speaking softly, "Boss, it’s not advice, you won’t go wrong following his words. Of course, I’m only talking about zombies here."

Zhao Qiang nodded, "I know Gao Yuan is an expert when it comes to dealing with zombies, but he’s just a physically capable young man after all, lacking in experience, severely lacking in a lot of experiences. It’s not right to just listen to him."

Li Yang continued softly, "Boss, let me ask you something. When the fighting started over there, what was your first reaction?"

"First reaction? Whether Xinghe was safe, what’s up?"

"And second?"

"Second... if ’Revelation’ was safe."

"And third?"

"If Gao Yuan was safe. Why even ask? What are you getting at?"

"And fourth?"

"Uh, there isn’t really a fourth. Whether the enemy would pursue us, what kind of enemy we were facing, if protection..."

Li Yang shook his head, "Boss, did you think of zombies at all?"

Zhao Qiang stunned for a moment, then he shook his head, "That... It didn’t occur to me at the time."

Li Yang sighed, "How many years have you been a bodyguard?"

"Sixteen years, this is top secret, but now I can tell you."

"Boss, during your sixteen years as a bodyguard, have you ever considered the threat from zombies?"

Zhao Qiang started to laugh, but it was a bitter laugh.

"Not to mention sixteen years of work, even after six years of training, I never thought about dealing with the threat of zombies. I’ve lived so long and never imagined... that zombies could become real."

Li Yang helplessly said, "Boss, I know I shouldn’t say this, but when we were sent out, the commander repeatedly instructed us that we must not rely on empiricism or dogmatism. We shouldn’t let our years of experience tie our hands and feet, much less our minds. I think... it’s time to remind you, Gao Yuan may be green, but when it comes to facing zombies, he is the authority."

Zhao Qiang fell silent. Then, lowering his voice, Li Yang said, "I feel it’s inappropriate for me to say this, but since only the two of us have come along, I still need to remind you, Boss. You can’t be mad at me."

Zhao Qiang smiled and then he punched Li Yang’s shoulder, saying, "What do you take me for? In our line of work, we cannot afford mistakes, there is no room for any errors! Don’t you understand? Alright, you are right, I’ve been a bit dogmatic."

After patting Li Yang, who was grinning through the pain, Zhao Qiang turned to leave. Li Yang asked in a low voice, "Boss, where are you going?"

"To sleep. Wake me up in two hours. I don’t trust those two rookies. Pretend they are visible sentries, and you play the hidden sentry."

And Zhao Qiang really did go off to sleep.

As for Gao Yuan, he had been fast asleep for a while.

Sleeping soundly while hugging Xinghe, despite being the one who arranged others to stand guard, Gao Yuan was just shameless like that. There was no helping it—who else would take care of Xinghe if not him, the team leader. No, it was because Xinghe needed him.

When daylight broke the next morning, Gao Yuan was still dreaming, but the car door was pulled open, and then Zhao Qiang whispered, "Gao Yuan, Gao Yuan, it’s morning."

Gao Yuan uncovered the sleeping bag over his head. Situated on the plateau, while the southern regions back home were already bursting with the warm blooms of spring, here the nights were still reaching several degrees below zero. Sleeping in the car was too cold; the breath would freeze on the car windows, crystallizing into frost, and without the sleeping bag, your face would freeze off.

Gao Yuan lifted the sleeping bag, but Xinghe immediately pulled it back and continued sleeping.

Gao Yuan got out of the car and curled Xinghe’s legs onto the back seat. Being tall was inconvenient this way; you couldn’t stretch your legs out when sleeping.

After spending too long sleeping in the car, it felt like you could never get fully rested. Gao Yuan got out of the car, stretched, did a few exercises, and then Cao Zhenjiang, standing beside him, passed him a self-heating ration, saying, "Eat something before you go scout."

Gao Yuan took the self-heating rice and asked Zhao Qiang, "Hmm, any situations?"

"Nothing much, just waiting for you to wake up so we could go check."

Gao Yuan leisurely finished his ration and looked at the fully armed crew, saying, "There’s no need for so many to go. I can go alone."

Zhao Qiang said in a low voice, "I’ve never seen a large number of zombies together. The zombies I saw at Guisui Shelter were already dead. I’d like to go see and gain some experience."

"Ten kilometers, you’re going to run there? Can you manage?"

"Ten kilometers is no big deal; I’m lightly equipped. The others don’t need to go, just the two of us will do."

Gao Yuan considered it and then agreed, "Alright then, let’s set off."

Gao Yuan and Zhao Qiang started running towards the location of last night’s firefight. After running just a few steps, Gao Yuan murmured, "We should’ve brought a couple of bikes in the car, huh? They’re convenient for scouting. I’ll get a couple later on. It’s hard to explain why we have too many, but two bikes we could manage, right?"

Zhao Qiang did not respond, simply running alongside Gao Yuan. After about a kilometer, Gao Yuan got impatient.

"Boss Zhao, sorry, but this is really too slow. How about we speed up a bit?"

Zhao Qiang picked up the pace, responding to Gao Yuan with action.

But suddenly, Gao Yuan grabbed Zhao Qiang and, before Zhao Qiang could react, hoisted him onto his shoulder and began running at high speed.

They moved swiftly, yet Zhao Qiang’s position was stable on Gao Yuan’s shoulder, so despite the quick pace, he didn’t jostle enough to feel like vomiting up his meal.

It would have taken Zhao Qiang at least half an hour to run the distance, but with Gao Yuan carrying him, it took less than ten minutes to arrive. They didn’t need to run the full ten kilometers—just close enough to observe was sufficient.

After setting Zhao Qiang down on the ground, Gao Yuan looked around and noticed there were no high points to use for observation. They only had a utility pole nearby, which he quickly climbed to the top of.

Through the binoculars, Gao Yuan called down to Zhao Qiang on the ground, "Zombies! Lots of zombies! A vast, dark mass; I estimate at least several tens of thousands."

Zhao Qiang adjusted his clothes and looked up, whispering to Gao Yuan, "Come down, I want to take a look too. And next time we go back, you’re not carrying me!"

"Is it that uncomfortable? Xinghe really seems to like it when I carry her this way."

Zhao Qiang exhaled and said softly, "It’s not about discomfort; it’s about my pride."