The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 252 - 247 What’s Going On?

Chapter 252: Chapter 247 What’s Going On?

Gao Yuan and his companions had traveled a long and tortuous road.

The first two days were easy going, but afterwards they were faced with high mountainous terrain, with many stretches of snow-blocked roads and most of the journey at altitudes exceeding four thousand meters.

The journey was perilous and supplies were scarce. To save fuel, they had to abandon one vehicle very early on, leaving only one military truck. This allowed them to save at least a third of their fuel.

A cross-country vehicle could neither carry supplies nor fit fourteen people, so they had no choice but to squeeze into the truck.

Of course, the ride was uncomfortable – jolting, cold, and with altitude sickness, the journey was truly arduous.

However, traveling this highland route, they hadn’t encountered anyone along the way. Although slow, the journey was safe.

The road later followed along the border with Ta’A. The condition of this stretch of road was actually not bad, but it became even more difficult to travel.

Because the viral hazard seemed much reduced in the highland areas, the number of survivors had surged dramatically.

An increase in the number of survivors meant that this stretch of road was not only unsafe but had become extremely dangerous. Gao Yuan and his companions, in the short span of about sixty kilometers, had suffered two attacks.

The once sparsely populated lands now seemed to have become refuges for human survival. However, Afghan was a place with year-round conflicts, and the scarcity of resources couldn’t simply be described by the word "shortage," as these survivors would attempt to rob anything they saw.

Thus, for safety reasons, Gao Yuan and his companions had to travel by night.

Without turning on the lights and using night vision goggles throughout, the vehicle’s thermal imaging could detect if there were people on the road ahead.

They struggled all the way to the westernmost end of the Wakhan Corridor, a place called Ishkashim.

All the way through high altitude areas, the heavy snow would only melt during the months of June, July, and August. Gao Yuan and his partners were prepared to abandon their vehicle and proceed on foot, but they miraculously managed to drive to the Wakhan Corridor.

Once at the Wakhan Corridor, they were only a few dozen kilometers away from Pakistan. But the Wakhan Corridor is essentially a gorge between mountains, so upon entering the corridor, Gao Yuan and his group couldn’t directly enter Pakistani territory.

Blocked by another mountain range, to enter Pakistani territory they either had to travel over two hundred kilometers to the east along the corridor or head south within Afghanistan, then travel another two hundred-plus kilometers – either way, they had to bypass the impassable high mountains.

Gao Yuan and his team chose to head east and finally turned south, less than a hundred kilometers away from Shenzhou, entering Pakistan.

After more than a month of travel and covering several thousand kilometers, they had only just reached the westernmost point of Shenzhou.

If their remaining supplies had not been relatively abundant, everyone in Gao Yuan’s group would have preferred to simply return to Shenzhou for a proper resupply.

But on a sunny afternoon, the truck still entered Pakistani territory through the Wakhan Corridor.

There were many Pakistani troops stationed here at the Wakhan Corridor. When entering Pakistan through the Khyber Pass, there used to be a large military post.

But there wasn’t a single person in sight. Zhao Qiang thought that they would establish contact with the Pakistani side upon entry, but there wasn’t anyone; the Pakistani border was eerily deserted. Gao Yuan and his team crossed the border easily without meeting a single soul.

They had already traveled thirty to forty kilometers into Pakistan when Zhao Qiang finally said, "Seems like Pakistan has abandoned this place; thinking about it makes sense – the altitude here is too high, and life can only be sustained by supplies delivered from the rear. The garrison here probably couldn’t hold out and have withdrawn."

The altitude was still very high, and the road was still incredibly difficult to navigate, but they had made it.

They were now in the Kashmir region.

"Following this road means we must travel through the valley, and on this road, there are many small villages and towns. There’s no way to detour on the highway through these high mountain gorges. But looking at the situation along the way, this high-altitude area has been minimally affected by the virus. Maybe the villages we pass through will be fine."

Gao Yuan remained quite optimistic. He licked his lips with anticipation and said with a smile, "Maybe we’ll finally get to have a proper meal."

No one laughed at Gao Yuan’s remark, as it had been a long time since they had eaten anything that could truly be considered a meal.

"The road sign indicates there’s a small town called Kahabad more than a hundred and twenty kilometers ahead."

Zhao Qiang wasn’t concerned with eating; his concerns were only about safety, and always about safety.

"Although the two countries have good relations and a strong foundation of public sentiment, it’s an extraordinary period right now. We still need to be vigilant. If this area really hasn’t been affected by the virus, then we should avoid contact with the locals to prevent transmission of the virus to them."

Gao Yuan nodded in slight dejection.

If the places they passed through were all overrun by zombies, then they would have to fight their way through, which would be very troublesome. But if the areas they passed through were unaffected by the virus and free of zombies, then they would have to stay away from the population, ideally without any contact at all, to prevent the virus from spreading locally.

In either case, Gao Yuan and his team wouldn’t be able to enjoy a fulfilling meal or find a bed for a good night’s sleep.

The journey had been too tough, but once they descended from the plateau, they would reach large cities, and as long as they were near a major city, they should be able to find supplies. It would merely be a matter of whether they would have to scavenge for themselves in cities overrun by zombies or receive assistance from local governments.

"There’s someone up ahead!"

The car was still moving slowly, but the speed suddenly dropped and then came to a complete stop.

The driver, Liu Deguang, shouted out the window, his voice not loud, but it instantly roused everyone in the dimly lit back of the truck from their drowsiness.

Finally, finally there were people!

And importantly, this was within Pakistani territory.

Zhao Qiang took a deep breath and then he loudly said, "I’ll go negotiate ahead, how far is it?"

"Less than four hundred meters, it’s a checkpoint, there’s a machine gun position, I see people."

Zhao Qiang perked up and said, "Let’s go, let’s go and negotiate, Gao Yuan, Li Yang, you come with me."

Yu Shunzhou said excitedly, "I’ll come too, I’ll come too."

Without waiting for Zhao Qiang to speak, Gao Yuan said, "What are you going for? Do you understand what they say? Just stay in the car."

Gao Yuan was the first to jump out of the car, he looked outside and immediately shouted, "This terrain is fucking scary, everyone get down, you might as well stretch your legs here."

Zhao Qiang also jumped down from the car, glanced forward, and then frowned, saying, "Don’t get out of the car, Deguang, reverse the vehicle."

A highway in the mountain gorge couldn’t possibly be very straight; the checkpoint was located at a turn and the sandbags blocked the entire road. If not for the sandbags visible outside, Liu Deguang’s group wouldn’t have even noticed anyone there.

Gao Yuan was quite puzzled and said, "Isn’t that a bit much? Reversing, doesn’t that seem a bit hostile?"

Zhao Qiang hesitated a moment, then still said, "Safety first, let’s back up another two hundred meters."

In a friendly country, upon meeting people, even if they are soldiers, the first thing to do should be to negotiate, not to immediately retreat by several hundred meters.

Zhao Qiang took a breath and said, "I don’t feel at ease; at this time, who knows what could happen. Reverse the car, and everyone stay back a bit. It won’t seem hostile if I go up to negotiate, the other side should understand too."

Li Yang got down from the driver’s seat, and Li Yang also got down from the driver’s seat, then he whispered, "It’s the flag of Pakistan, I saw people just now, it’s Pakistani military uniform, just that they didn’t make any moves after seeing us, and people who were at the machine gun position even ran back, that’s a bit strange."

Li Yang looked at the national flag on the front of the car and said, "Seeing our flag, they shouldn’t react like this, but it might be different, maybe they’ve gone back to report."

Zhao Qiang pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Li Yang, come negotiate with me, we might need to speak Pashto, Gao Yuan..."

Gao Yuan quickly said, "I’ll come too, shall we bring weapons?"

Zhao Qiang hesitated momentarily and then said, "Let’s not bring long guns, just bring cold weapons, they’re less conspicuous. Everyone else, be alert, let’s go."

The car began to reverse, and Zhao Qiang, Li Yang, and Gao Yuan started walking forward.

At this time, several people appeared at the machine gun position completely blocking the highway ahead.

"Seven people, no obvious hostility, but this situation... isn’t quite right."

Li Yang seemed a bit puzzled, he slowed his steps, and then he looked at Zhao Qiang and whispered, "Boss, they should come forward to greet us, even under special circumstances, someone should come over and call out."

Zhao Qiang thought for a moment and said, "It’s precisely because the situation is special; they’re probably worried about infection. Let’s stay far and talk, see what happens."

When they were less than a hundred meters from the machine gun position, finally someone on the other side shouted, "Who are you!"

Zhao Qiang and Li Yang looked at each other, then together they looked at Gao Yuan.

Li Yang then shouted back in Pashto, "We are from Shenzhou, hello to you."

The opposite position seemed a bit restless, but so far everything that had happened was normal.

It’s a special period now, the whole world is in an apocalyptic state, the virus is rampant, even if the relationship between two countries is good, it’s understandable that they don’t dare to come too close out of self-preservation.

The position seemed a bit chaotic, then several people quickly retreated, but still, two officers remained, and then one of them continued to shout in Pashto, "Shenzhou People? Please come over, you... come first, come ahead."

The officer seemed very enthusiastic, and though they were still tens of meters away, seeing the officer’s smiling face made Gao Yuan feel instantly at ease.

The officer came out from behind the cover and stood in front of the machine gun position, loudly saying, "My friends, welcome."

When they were about twenty meters away, Li Yang stopped, saying, "We might have the virus on us, let’s talk from a distance. May I ask why there is a checkpoint here? Is there some problem?"

"It’s just to prevent any accidents, the current situation is unpredictable, please come over, we all have antibodies."

Once antibodies were mentioned, Li Yang felt reassured, he nodded at Zhao Qiang, and then the three men continued to walk forward.

The officer didn’t hug Li Yang, but he took the initiative to extend his hand, shook hands one by one with the three of them, and then the officer gestured backward with his hand, "Why didn’t the car come over, please come, let’s talk over here."

Gao Yuan took a few steps forward, entering the machine gun position, and then they could see the situation behind it.

A large temporary military camp, densely packed with tents.

Dozens of soldiers were watching Gao Yuan and the other two, but their expressions were somewhat strange, and some soldiers even remained inside the sandbag-built machine gun position and didn’t come out.

Two officers flanked the three men on either side, and while it could all have seemed normal, as they walked forward, Zhao Qiang suddenly smiled and said, "These people aren’t right; they must be Indians, test it, Xiao Gao be ready to retreat, don’t ask, don’t think, just run when I say so."

Li Yang also smiled, turning his head to Zhao Qiang, and said, "They’re off, there’s something wrong with the guns, I think we don’t need to test."

Gao Yuan was extremely confused, but he also knew to ask in a very calm and relaxed tone, "What’s going on!"