Chapter 616: Shh, Someone

"Alright, Auntie, Uncle Zhu, you can let go now."

Pang Dakun half his body stuck into the maintenance platform, easily pulled the ladder up, and secured it firmly with pre-installed hooks along the edge, completing a convenient stairway for ascending and descending.

The ladder was less than half a meter off the ground—even Wu Lue, the weakest in martial arts, could climb it easily.

"Master Jia, you stay behind to guard the vehicle."

Zhang Su ordered Jia Shiqin to remain below and watch the fire-spewing zombies, while the others gradually climbed onto the railway bridge. Though the elevation had only risen ten meters, the view around them felt entirely different—a sense of refreshing openness.

It seemed everyone shared an unspoken understanding, deliberately avoiding glancing toward the train windows.

"Huh?"

Qi Xiaoshuai glanced curiously at his feet: "Why are there no stones? Shouldn't there be stones holding down the tracks?"

"This is called ballastless track—more advanced, with better overall rigidity and stability, lower maintenance costs, and many advantages, but higher construction cost and poorer drainage. Still, since we have little rainfall here, it's perfect for this kind of track."

Pan Guoliang explained, sounding somewhat technical.

After learning what ballastless track was, the group seemed mentally prepared; they turned slowly and simultaneously, directing their gaze toward the windows.

Before them was the fifth carriage, its blackened glass coated with dried slime. Even under the overcast sky, it was nearly impossible to see inside—except for one person.

Through his sunglasses and the black glass, Zhang Su could still see clearly into the carriage's interior.

Ju Wuying observed Zhang Su covertly and noticed his eyebrows, visible above the sunglasses, tightly furrowed. She knew the situation inside was dire.

Of course it was dire. The interior was no longer describable by a simple word like "horrible." Frozen limbs and organs were scattered everywhere, but poorly preserved.

At the outbreak of the disaster, temperatures were lower than usual for the season, but not extremely cold—it was only later, during the drastic drop, that it fell below zero. So the human remains untouched by zombies had already decayed! The cold acted like a camera, freezing the scene inside into a moment of profound horror—but for some reason, no disgusting maggots had grown on the rotting bodies.

On seats, on backs, on dining tables, on walls…

It was truly a dye house—colors, washed over four or five months, had faded into dullness.

The humans were incomplete; the zombies were intact—or at least, partially intact.

Each zombie had a different form, but shared one trait: they were frozen, motionless, like unpowered, hyper-realistic horror attractions waiting for someone to step inside.

Brave ones like Zhao Dezhù and Lu Yubo pressed their eyes against the glass, peering inside—yet none of the motionless zombies stirred.

These zombies' skin was drier and more wrinkled than ordinary zombies; they resembled mummies more than zombies.

"My god… big brother, Zezeze, did you ever like riding high-speed trains?"

Zhao Dezhù, having clearly seen inside, asked a particularly pointless question with a twisted face.

"Someone's walking along the railway!"

Zhou Haotian said from beside them.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Zhang Su turned to Zhou Haotian, who was examining the train body.

"Brother Su, look—these fingerprints and smudges were made later…"

The group walked over to Zhou Haotian and indeed saw newer marks; compared to the thick dust around them, the faint surface dust hadn't been there long.

"Probably someone moved along the railway to another place. Honestly, it's not a bad method."

Zhang Su carefully studied the marks and judged they were likely left one to two months ago.

"The railway line is relatively quiet, with fewer zombies. Hmm… I wonder if anyone else will come along this way."

Zheng Xinyu stared at the fingerprints left on the train's surface—each still faintly visible. As a fellow survivor, she felt deep emotion.

"Who cares if anyone comes? We've got our own work to do!" Zhang Su waved to the group and resumed examining the carriage's interior.

"Brother Su, why are these zombies motionless? Have they all died from lack of nourishment over this long time?"

Wang Xin shielded his eyes with both hands, peering into the carriage.

After a brief pause, everyone gathered closer to look inside. Even with their hardened minds, forged by over a hundred days in the apocalypse, they all sucked in a sharp breath at the sight.

"If they were dead, that'd be fine—but I don't think they are."

Zhang Su raised his hand, signaling everyone to step back. Then he took the fire axe from Zhao Dezhù and swung it at the metal side of the carriage.

Thud! A dull sound rang out, making alert people instantly scan the surroundings. The noise wasn't loud, but it carried far.

"Come on, everyone—take a look!"

Zhang Su held the fire axe, pointing inside the carriage.

The group was curious—inside, there had been no movement. They couldn't see it, but Zhang Su could: the motionless zombies, upon sensing the vibration and sound, stirred like long-dormant machines reactivating. First, slight tremors; then joints regained flexibility; then they struggled to stand up!

By the time the group pressed close to the windows, they saw dozens of awkward, twisted zombies shambling toward the glass.

Thud! Puff-puff, slap-slap-slap!

Within half a minute, the zombies in Carriage 5 had gathered at the south-facing windows, pounding violently. Their double rows of teeth, framed by dry lips, looked especially sharp.

"C…."

Zhao Dezhù swallowed hard, turning to Zhang Su: "Big brother, what the hell do we do now? Should we just blow up the carriage?"

"No way!"

Wu Lue immediately objected: "Our main goal is to dismantle the equipment. Blow it up and what's left? Better to leave it alone—it'd waste explosives."

Zhao Dezhù glared at Wu Lue: "Can't you tell I'm joking? I know we can't blow it up… but how do we get in?"

Zhang Su turned to Pang Dakun: "Can you open the door?"

Pang Dakun walked to the door, crouched down, felt around, then turned back with a strange smile: "This thing… can only be broken by force."

The group sighed. Qi Xiaoshuai teased: "Dakun, you're still not skilled enough. Opening house doors isn't enough—you'll need to open ship hatches someday, maybe even warship doors!"

"This high-speed train's been sitting here for months—no power left. To open this door properly, you'd have to operate it manually from inside. From outside, only brute force works," Pan Guoliang added.

Unexpectedly, Pang Dakun replied seriously: "Xiaoshuai's right—I'm still unskilled. Opening this kind of door requires specialized lock-picking tools and a laptop. I don't know how to use them."

When discussing his specialty, Pang Dakun became a different person—serious, meticulous.

"So how do we get into this metal can? Break a window? But even if we do, there are too many zombies inside—too dangerous."

"You're dumb. We can lure the zombies to one side from outside, then enter from the other…"

"Hey, that's actually smart! Wait—why not blow the door? Let the zombies fall off the bridge, then kill them—"

"Hey, actually, why don't we blow up the door? Once the zombies fall beneath the bridge, we can kill them like that…"

As the group debated how to open the carriage and clear the zombies, Zhang Su suddenly pressed his palm down, signaling everyone to be silent.

As the group discussed how to open the carriage and clear out the zombies, Zhang Su suddenly pressed his palm down, signaling everyone to be silent.

The group fell instantly silent. They snatched up weapons, crouched low. The two temporary members copied them, hearts pounding in their throats, eyes scanning every direction—but the surroundings remained calm, undisturbed.

The group's voices cut off instantly; they snatched up their weapons and dropped low at once. Two temporary members imitated them, hearts pounding in their throats, eyes scanning every direction warily—but all remained calm, not a ripple stirred.

(End of Chapter)