Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 142 All the way north

The group continued to move forward, and the rest of the journey was relatively smooth. Occasionally, they would encounter vehicles and Lao Mi parked on the roadside, but no matter how they waved or shouted, Lei Yong ignored them and stepped on the accelerator to rush past.

Every time an accident occurs, regardless of whether Lao Mi shows up or not, everyone will be on high alert under Lei Yong's reminder.

Although everyone knows that the probability of an accident is not as high as imagined, it is naturally best if nothing happens. Once something happens and you are careless and not prepared, in the end, the only ones who will suffer will be your own people.

As the old saying goes, if you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world.

Now they can't even take care of themselves, let alone benefit the world.

The journey was long, and at first everyone could still talk to each other to kill the boring time, but the repeated vigilance soon wore out everyone's patience, and no one spoke anymore.

Ou Yang, who had nothing to do, simply took out the map. When there was something to do, he concentrated on it, and when there was nothing to do, he would lie on the map and cram for the exam.

At this time, the RV had left the brown bear's territory, but there was no sign of communication being restored.

There is no internet, no positioning, no navigation, so we can only rely on the most primitive method and rely on roadside signs to guide the direction.

Ou Yang planned to write down everything about the next journey, which would not only help him kill time but also make some necessary preparations for the next trip.

The road conditions were much better than expected. The RV headed north and after more than an hour, it successfully entered the snow bear territory.

Before getting close to the city, the number of vehicles on the road increased significantly. Lei Yong had no intention of getting close to the city at all, so he took a small road to bypass the snow bear.

Ou Yang didn't even get a close look at this long-famous landlord; he only glanced at him from a distance.

The outline of Snow Bear City quickly disappeared from sight. Zhu Yiming suddenly said indignantly, "When there was an epidemic in Brown Bear City, the US military directly blocked the city. Snow Bear also had an epidemic, so why didn't they block it?"

In one sentence, everyone was stunned.

Only Ou Yang, accustomed to his occasional wild imagination, responded casually: "What's the point of sealing it off? If we can seal off the snow bears, there won't be an epidemic."

"You're right. Mi Gong didn't understand fungi before, but now that he does, there's no need to seal it off," said Lei Yong.

Zhu Yiming continued, "Then I don't understand. If sealing off the city can't stop the spores, then sealing off the state borders can stop the spores?"

Everyone looked at each other, stumped by this question.

Spores are not viruses, but like some viruses, they are transmitted through the air. They are not as dangerous as the T virus, but they are much more contagious than the T virus.

What’s more, there is no cure for the fungus.

A gas station appeared ahead, and several cars were waiting to refuel. Lei Yong slowed down, turned the steering wheel, and drove the RV into the gas station.

There were seven or eight Lao Mi in sight, all of them wearing airtight masks, and half of them were holding their weapons tightly. It was obvious at a glance that they were security guards, thugs, and the like.

Lei Yong also put on his mask, opened the car window and waved proudly: "Fill up!"

The gas station attendant immediately quoted a price that was ten times higher than usual.

Ou Yang couldn't help but sigh: "Old Mi is a professional at raising prices!"

Lei Yong argued for a few words, trying to negotiate the price down a bit, but Lao Mi was unmoved and refused to budge. "The fuel is sold out in the entire Xiong State, and I don't have much left. This price is very fair."

Lei Yong sighed helplessly: "Okay, fill it up!"

Not only is the fuel tank full, but there are also several fuel drums in the luggage compartment, which are enough for the RV to run thousands of kilometers.

He didn't mind the few bucks, but there was a lot of rice here, and he didn't want to give others the impression that he was stupid and had a lot of money, so he had to bargain for the price. When paying, he didn't take out a neat stack of bills, but a handful of crumpled bills.

In addition, it seemed that PKM was accidentally given a brief moment of recognition.

In short, it is to hint to Lao Mi through various details: I am a dangerous poor guy, don’t set your sights on me!

Before the RV drove away, two more cars drove into the gas station.

Ou Yang said in surprise: "From this point of view, the order in Snow Bear City seems to be quite good."

"That's not necessarily true," Lei Yong said. "Besides the few Lao Mis in the open, there are a few more lying in ambush in secret. That's their confidence."

"It's not surprising," Ma Zhiyuan said. "In a society like the United States, where everyone owns a gun, guns can be a destabilizing factor under normal circumstances, but under certain circumstances, they can help maintain order... Of course, I'm not saying that owning a gun is better, but when everyone has a weapon, anyone who wants to cause trouble should carefully consider the consequences."

Ou Yang couldn't help but laugh: "What a contradiction!"

"Isn't that right? This world is not short of contradictions... Hey? Song Lei, take a look at what's going on up ahead?"

Ou Yang looked over and found that the road ahead was full of parked cars, and some old Americans were whispering to each other and watching.

The drone took off, and Song Lei immediately saw the situation ahead: "There's been a car accident, a pileup, and we can't get through for the time being."

"Then we'll take a detour!" Lei Yong made a quick decision, pointing to the map and saying, "Turn right ahead, there's a small town we can go around!"

"Got it!" Ma Zhiyuan drove the car off the road and drove along a two-lane road that could only accommodate two cars driving side by side.

After a while, a small town appeared ahead.

There was no small road nearby that could bypass the town, so Ma Zhiyuan parked the car on the side of the road and waited for Lei Yong to climb onto the bed and set up the machine gun before restarting the engine.

We continued our journey and just as we entered the town, we saw a burned car on the side of the road. The windows of all the buildings near the main street were boarded up, and the side roads leading to other parts of the town were also blocked with roadblocks, leaving only one main road passing through the town.

The meaning expressed is very clear.

Ou Yang clearly didn't see anything, but he felt like he was being secretly watched by many pairs of eyes.

The RV sped out of the town without any accidents.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, but when they passed a bend, they suddenly saw that the road ahead was blocked by a fallen tree.

not good!

"Something's happening, get ready for battle!" Lei Yong reminded loudly, and everyone instantly tensed up.

After being on guard all the way, it’s finally time to get serious.

Ma Zhiyuan immediately reversed the car and prepared to retreat.

But just as the car body jumped back, there was a sudden noise from the back and it was blocked by another fallen tree.

The front and back were blocked by tree trunks, and one after another, more than a dozen armed Lao Mi jumped out from the bushes.

They are all very young.

It was probably because the older Lao Mi was more stable and didn't want to cause trouble, but the younger Lao Mi was more impulsive and utilitarian, and couldn't help but start a business outside the town with no capital. Ma Zhiyuan stretched his cheeks and suddenly felt a pain in his face.

What did I just say?

An old man in his early twenties smiled brightly and waved his gun towards the RV, meaning that everyone in the car should get out quickly!

Lei Yong directly opened the skylight and fired a long burst of shots without warning. The bullet hit his feet and the opponent stopped immediately.

Lao Mi, who had been smiling just now, suddenly looked unhappy.

The two little guys wanted to run, but they heard a few more gunshots and the bullets hit their feet as well.

Now, everyone stayed where they were and no one dared to move.

There are automatic weapons and machine guns. Can we just provoke them?
"Throw away the gun and move the tree!" Lei Yong ordered loudly.

Under the threat of machine guns, a group of young people reluctantly threw their guns aside and obediently moved over to move the trees.

This is the United States, and no one dares to bet whether Lei Yong will shoot.

It took them a lot of effort to move the tree away, and Ma Zhiyuan stepped on the accelerator and rushed out.

Ou Yang smacked his lips and suddenly came to his senses.

The brown bears were troubled by the epidemic for two whole months, and a large number of people were lost, so they only encountered a few minor accidents when leaving the city, and the journey was smooth after that.

The epidemic broke out in Snow Bear City not long ago, the population loss is not serious, and the surrounding areas are more fully prepared, so they have encountered accidents one after another.

He shared his idea with others and immediately gained everyone's approval. Everyone spontaneously became more vigilant.

With such detours from time to time, we only traveled more than half of the 180 kilometers in a straight line, and the actual driving distance was more than 300 kilometers.

After walking intermittently for a while, a pickup truck coming from the opposite direction suddenly appeared in front of us and passed by the RV at a very fast speed.

"What's the matter with this car? Is there an accident up ahead?" Zhu Yiming asked.

This place is quite far from the state border, and there are only vehicles heading north on the road, no vehicles heading south.

Continuing forward, I soon saw a no-entry sign on the side of the road, with a friendly reminder that the road ahead was impassable for 200 meters.

When we drove closer, we found that some unscrupulous person had dug up the road, leaving a huge hole nearly three meters wide and of unknown depth.

Ma Zhiyuan parked the car on the side of the road. Several people got out of the car and looked at it for a while. It was definitely impossible to get through the pit, and there was no way to go around it on either side.

Everyone was having a headache. Was the only solution to turn around and go back?
Ou Yang and Lei Yong looked at the map together and studied it carefully for a long time, but they couldn't find a detour. They could detour in both the forward and backward directions, but not here.

The two believed that the pit was dug here on purpose!

People can get through, but the problem is that there is a full 60 kilometers of straight-line distance from here to the state border, and the actual distance is almost 100 kilometers. How long will it take to walk all the way?
Does everyone have a lot of luggage?

Lei Yong also realized his mistake. If he had known that this would happen, he would have prepared a few supermarket shopping carts and would not have had such a headache.

Just when everyone was planning to return the same way and try another direction, an off-road vehicle drove over with two particularly eye-catching bridge boards on top.

In front of the off-road vehicle, there were dozens of vehicles of different sizes.

A man named Lao Mi, wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, jumped out of the car and called out to Ou Yang and the others, "Can you lend a hand?"

There is no perfect way for everyone!
Everyone immediately helped to move the heavy bridge plank down.

This thing is obviously DIY-made, heavy and sturdy.

Zhu Yiming looked at the nearly four-meter-long bridge plank, then at the over-three-meter-wide pit: "How are we going to put this up? I can't even move it over there by just carrying it, right?"

Ou Yang didn't understand it either, but Sunglasses Mi was well prepared. A group of people first moved the bridge board over, tied a rope to one end, and stuck the other end on the ground. They stood the bridge board upright and then let out the rope little by little until the other end was on the edge of the pit opposite.

Mi in sunglasses proudly put his hands on his hips and said, "I've been here once before, but I couldn't get through, so I went back and made these two planks to cross the bridge!"

Ou Yang was speechless. The round trip was at least dozens of kilometers. What kind of spirit was this?
The off-road vehicle crossed the bridge first, followed by the RV, and then the other vehicles.
Every car owner who passes through the big pothole will leave a message of gratitude.

But before the car in front left, the cars behind caught up, and soon a long queue formed.

Mi in sunglasses originally planned to remove the bridge board, install it on the car and continue on the road, but as a result of this, he couldn't find a chance to remove the board.

I wanted to give up, but I was worried about encountering a similar situation again, and I suddenly felt like crying but had no tears.

The RV continued to move forward, getting closer and closer to the state border. The plains on both sides of the road were gradually replaced by undulating hills. The road was sometimes high and sometimes low, sometimes driving on the mountainside and sometimes driving at the foot of the mountain.

The scenery is nice, but unfortunately no one appreciates it.

Ahead of us was a road sandwiched between two mountains. A pickup truck lay sideways on the road, and there was no one in sight.

It appears to have accidentally left the road.

Lei Yong drove past as usual, but no one noticed that there was a curved road sign in front of the pickup truck.

As he continued driving forward, Lei Yong suddenly realized something was wrong. The trees and vegetation on the roadside looked wilted as if they had been hit by frost, and a large area of vegetation on the top of the mountain had turned dry and yellow!

Although it is the end of August, it is not yet autumn here. Why are there so many dead trees?
Moreover, the dead plants are distributed in strips, first appearing on the top of the mountain, and then gradually moving towards the road from the left and right sides.

Could it be that defoliants were sprayed on the vegetation to prevent people from approaching the state line?
Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. Lei Yong immediately stopped the car and said, "Song Lei, scout!"

Song Lei agreed, opened the window, and released the drone. Ou Yang suddenly smelled a faint, fresh smell mixed with a hint of burnt air. "What's burnt?"

Zhu Yiming looked confused: "Nothing is blurry, are you confused because of sleep?"

Ou Yang was not sure whether it was blurry or not, but he was very familiar with the smell of spores. He looked out the window at the jungle that was about to fall into the night, and measured the distance on the map in confusion.

According to calculations, the straight-line distance is more than 20 kilometers!
Ou Yang was stunned for a moment. He looked carefully and found that there was no wind outside. So where did the spores come from?

Is there a spore source nearby, or is it the wind blowing over from the snow bear?
He suddenly realized something was wrong: "Hey, listen, why is it so quiet outside?"

"Yes, I hadn't noticed it if you hadn't told me. It's already this late, and there are neither insects chirping nor birds singing. It's so strange!" Zhu Yiming also said.

Even in the urban area, it would not be so quiet, let alone in the jungle with dense vegetation?

As he spoke, the drone flew forward and approached to observe the withered plants.

Song Lei suddenly noticed that there was a small amount of noise on the screen and the picture was slightly blurry.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat: No way?
(End of this chapter)