Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 82 Sleeping
She could clearly sense that the concentration of the eerie fog in the surrounding air was rising abnormally.

At the same time, a slight tremor was felt on the ground.

Cole was the second to notice something was wrong. He glanced at the horizon, where the haze was surging in, and his expression changed drastically as he realized something.

"It's a horde of zombies! Run!"

He had barely shouted for a short while when a large number of zombies rushed towards him from the distant forest.

The zombies don't run very fast, but they are usually silent because the eerie fog can block out a lot of noise.

Those small, childlike zombies, on all fours, moved as fast as hyenas and quickly charged toward the group.

"Catching up!"

The group panicked, abandoned the scrap they had just collected, and rushed back to the truck like madmen.

As soon as the car door closed, a small horde of zombies surrounded them, blocking their way.

"Bang! Bang!"

They slammed their rotting limbs against the car body, making a dull thud.

"Get out quickly!"

Hua Xin and Ke Er each took out a decoy grenades and threw them forcefully backward.

"Om-!"

The decoy flares emitted a piercing buzz in the air, releasing a strong pheromone.

The zombies' attention was instantly drawn, and they surged toward the decoy flare, disrupting the zombie horde's formation and creating an opening.

"quick!"

Hua Xin seized the opportunity, accelerated suddenly, and narrowly escaped through the gap in the zombie horde.

Cole followed closely behind in another truck.

Along the way, Hua Xin threw out three or four more bait bombs to attract the red corpse birds, which barely allowed him to escape the encirclement of the zombie horde.

It was also thanks to the timely response of Hua Xin and his team.

If we wait until the main force of the zombie horde converges, no amount of decoy grenades will be of any use.

At the same time, the Jetta team also encountered a horde of zombies.

They weren't so lucky; warehouse trucks loaded with goods were swallowed up by the horde of zombies.

"Follow me!"

Jetta acted decisively, leading his people into a nearby makeshift hole, narrowly escaping disaster.

Wherever the horde of zombies passed, humans, mutants, and enhanced beasts alike had to run.

Hua Xin was driving the truck, his mood unusually low.

The horde of corpses in the wild will take at least half a day to subside on its own, so today's scavenging is destined to be fruitless.

She returned to the base and immediately went up to the second floor.

But then Watson came out of the room, and upon seeing her, he shook his head wearily.

"Still the same."

Just then, an emergency communication appeared on Watson's wrist panel; it was Xiong Er on the clock tower sounding an alarm.

"Attention! Multiple hordes of zombies are approaching from the southeast and southwest, with an estimated number exceeding 30!"

Watson's heart tightened, and he immediately gave orders to his team:
"Attention all personnel, a horde of zombies is approaching!"

"Switch off all lights immediately! Eliminate the noise! ​​Pull down the metal sheeting from the windows! Install steel bars on the main gate!"

The base immediately went into combat readiness.

Watson then remembered something else: "Also, remove all the fog lights outside!"

The zombie horde, while hunting, also uses the density of the eerie fog to determine if there are any living people hiding inside.

In particular, there are some zombies whose intelligence is comparable to that of humans, and they know even better where humans are hiding.

Once everything was ready, the team members all hid in the basement.

Only Hua Sheng stayed in Zhuang Fan's room on the second floor. Since the eldest brother couldn't move, he couldn't leave either.

After the fog lights were removed, the recycling station was quickly covered with a light fog, which gradually thickened.

Only the basement and Zhuang Fan's room have fog lights.

Five minutes later, the horde of corpses approached from afar, becoming deafeningly loud, and the area outside the gate turned into a sea of ​​death.

From Xiong Er's perspective, the entire ruins were submerged by an endless horde of corpses, with no end in sight.

This zombie horde probably exceeds 50.

He buried himself deep in the haystack atop the clock tower, remaining motionless to avoid being discovered by the circling red corpse birds.

The path of these zombie hordes is very clear; they are all heading towards the defense line of Linhai City, and there must be a zombie queen commanding them from behind.

The recycling station wasn't tall, with only two floors above ground, and it was quickly submerged by the surging tide of corpses.

More than a dozen giant zombies, each over three meters tall, jumped onto the roof of the recycling station, using it as a temporary foothold.

"Boom... boom..."

Heavy footsteps came from above, one after another.

With each step they took, the roof swayed slightly, and a layer of dust fell from the ceiling.

At the top of the recycling station, there were originally two simple watchtowers, but the supporting pillars collapsed under the unconscious onslaught of the ghouls. One of the ghouls lost its balance after knocking down the watchtower.

Its massive body crashed heavily onto the second-floor corridor.

"Boom——!"

The impact was so close, so deafening, that Watson felt the whole room tremble.

He subconsciously pushed Zhuang Fan's hospital bed into the corner, then raised his rifle and locked the door firmly.

The fallen corpse seemed somewhat disoriented. It struggled to climb out of the shallow pit, its massive body appearing particularly crowded in the narrow corridor.

It flailing its claws in frustration.

"His-"

The claws scraped across the wall, tearing off large patches of plaster, and even ripping apart the thick wooden door panels.

Watson's heart almost stopped beating.

Through the gaps in the claw marks on the door, he could even see the grayish-white back of the ghoul, which was covered with cysts and wriggling maggots.

A strong, pungent smell of rotting flesh wafted towards us.

The corpse monster scratched at the surrounding walls again, but couldn't find an exit, and let out a low roar.

Watson's muscles were taut, his finger hovering over the trigger, ready to fire at any moment.

The corpse monster lost interest in the small space.

Frustrated, it turned around and rammed open another outer wall with brute force. With a huge roar, it jumped out and joined the horde of corpses outside.

Watson took out a wooden board to block the door, and pressed his body against the door with all his might, his heart pounding.

The hand holding the rifle was still trembling slightly.

The horde of zombies continued until late at night before gradually receding.

When everyone came out of the basement, they were all covered in dust and still in shock.

This zombie horde is larger than ever before.

Gage held back for a while before whispering, "Is the boss not here?"

"He has something to attend to," Watson said, brushing it off.

In the past, there had been zombie hordes, but as long as Zhuang Fan was present, he would create a cloud of black mist in a hidden spot near the entrance, and the zombie hordes would automatically detour around it.

Watson discovered this by chance; Zhuang Fan had far too many secrets hidden within him.

Late at night, Chu Ningyan sneaked into the recycling station again.

She brought a light-proof metal bottle containing a multivitamin solution, which included a fat emulsion, glucose, and amino acid solution.

"He's receiving intravenous fluids in his arm, one bottle a day. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to handle such intense mental exertion."

As she spoke, she took out three bottles and handed them to Watson.

"By the way, do you have enough money?"

Watson nodded: "There are also 500,000 gold coins."

"That's enough. Go find Mao Shanwang. He has a source of the goods. One bottle costs a thousand gold coins. Don't get ripped off."

Hua Xin, standing to the side, grew increasingly worried: "It's been over 24 hours."

Chu Ningyan said softly, "Let's observe him a little longer. After all, he's not an ordinary person. Otherwise, why would the nuclear entity be chasing him?"

Hua Xin couldn't help but laugh.

Chu Ningyan paused, then turned her gaze to her:

"Although you didn't say it, I guess you are Hua Xin, your voice is very familiar."

"I first met you at the ratmen's hideout, and the second time was at Harry's camp. You are indeed very brave."

Hua Xin paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hide it from you. I've changed my name to 'Flawless' now."

Hua Xin gently hugged her, "Sister Yan, thank you, you've saved me twice already."

"Small things."

Chu Ningyan patted her shoulder.

"What you can do now is wait, provide him with a safe environment, and let him wake up on his own."

"As for me, I'm still working for Nuclear, so it's inconvenient for me to come over. Please contact me through the panel if you need anything."

Watson and his sister nodded vigorously.

After giving her instructions, Chu Ningyan left in a hurry.

The next day, Zhuang Fan still hadn't woken up.

Gage sensed something was wrong, but Watson vaguely replied that the boss was busy with important matters.

But he felt that the truth might not be kept secret for long.

He arrived at the warehouse and frowned as he looked at the scrap that took up almost half the space.

If the decaying fog can't be removed, the scraps won't fetch a good price, and the team's biggest source of funding will truly be cut off.

(End of this chapter)