Chapter 80: Fleeing for Life

"The car, our car!"

Zheng Xin watched the zombies approach the vehicle, her instinct screaming to run out and salvage the supplies.

"Get back!" Zhang Su grabbed Zheng Xin's backpack, stunned. "What are you doing? You can't break through, are you crazy?"

"It's over!" Zhong Xiao's face turned deathly pale, her voice trembling. "We worked so hard to clear this place, and now it's over!"

In just a minute or two, over fifty zombies had gathered at the gas station entrance and the street outside, and the numbers were only growing.

Zhang Su watched the zombies, his expression extremely grim. Fortunately, the fire from the car had slightly delayed their advance; otherwise, even more would have wandered into the gas station.

This was their temporary safe zone, and they had planned to leave after one night, but now it was clear they had to leave immediately.

"You have one minute to pack your things, then we go!"

At Zhang Su's command, the group didn't dare to delay, quickly shouldering their bags, but then they felt lost.

"Brother Su, are we fighting our way out?"

Lu Yubo offered a hair-raising suggestion, waving the grain sampler in his hand, full of confidence.

Zhang Su was stunned. Looking at the gathering zombies—already nearing seventy or eighty—how could they fight?

If he had an RPG or a Gatling gun with infinite ammo, he might try...

"No, there are too many!"

Zhang Su shook his head decisively.

His combat power wasn't low, but he would never take risks blindly. Especially when there was a clear path of retreat, why risk his life?

Lu Yubo wouldn't give up, pointing at the H6. "Brother Su, the car, we can't just leave the car! I'll rush out to lure the zombies away, you guys go get the car?"

Zhang Su looked at the van with reluctance; it held many supplies, and the Highlander held newly scavenged goods and armor. Unfortunately, the nearest zombies were already at Ma Xuechuo's corpse, barely two or three meters from the vehicles!

"Bo, don't take risks! We'll find another chance to get the car later!"

If they fought to the death now, they would have no room to retreat. Unless it was a hopeless situation, there was no need to be reckless.

"Damn!"

Lu Yubo sighed in frustration, glaring fiercely at the zombies outside.

"The situation outside the wall must be better than inside. We'll climb over from the top of the restroom!"

After saying this, Zhang Su headed toward the staff office, telling those behind him, "Be quiet, don't make a sound. Technician Tan, remember, no matter what happens, don't scream!"

"Okay!"

Tan Hua held her vernier caliper and nodded firmly. Having survived alone in the gas station for nearly a week, her mental fortitude was tested.

Without another word, the group followed Zhang Su out the back door. There were still many supplies in the convenience store, and with the H6 Lu Yubo had brought, they could have taken more, but that chance was gone.

"After you jump down, don't just fall flat. You must roll with the momentum, any way you can, to dissipate the impact of the fall!"

While climbing, Zhang Su taught them some landing techniques.

Zombies retained some vision. A group of zombies about ten meters from the restroom spotted Zhang Su's group and began walking toward the base of the restroom.

Fortunately, there were many places to climb on the exterior of the restroom. Zhang Su and the others were already on the roof by the time the zombies arrived. Looking back, they saw the clawing, gnashing zombies below, their bared teeth like meat grinders.

In the distance, nearly a hundred zombies wandered slowly down the street, a terrifying and chilling sight. The man who had run out of the car on fire had been eaten until almost nothing remained, leaving only gruesome white bones on the ground that no zombie bothered with.

"Good thing we didn't leave the bags in the car, or we'd be eating dirt!"

Zhang Su remarked.

"Brother Su is awesome..."

Lu Yubo kept giving him a thumbs-up. He had two bags on his chest and back—one his own, the other belonging to Qiu Shuo. If not for Zhang Su's repeated warnings, he would have left the bags in the car.

"The alley doesn't look too bad. Quick, throw the bags over!"

Zhang Su took off his backpack and looked over the wall. The alley between the gas station and the residential complex looked decent, with only a few zombies wandering in the depths and at the entrance.

*Thump, thump. *

No sooner said than done, the group threw their bags into the alley.

"Hey!"

Zheng Xin threw her baseball bat over, climbed the wall first, and seeing the three-to-four-meter drop, she thought of the technique Zhang Su had taught her and jumped without hesitation.

*Thud. *

"Ugh!"

A solid landing sound and a muffled grunt occurred simultaneously. The sturdy Zheng Xin patted the dirt off her pants and stood up, unharmed.

Next was Zhong Xiao. Her physical fitness was better than Zheng Xin's, and having participated in mountaineering, she was more experienced. She actually rolled half a circle upon landing; though covered in dirt, she looked even more relaxed.

Lu Yubo, needless to say, jumped down easily.

"Brother Su, this is too high, too high. I, I'm afraid I'll break my legs."

Sitting astride the wall, Tan Hua felt a bit dizzy looking at the drop.

"Damn, you've got to be kidding, Technician Tan. You're afraid of heights at just three or four meters?"

To be precise, the wall was about the height of a standard basketball hoop. No one would jump off it for fun, but in a life-or-death moment, there weren't many choices!

Zhang Su pointed to the gas station courtyard. "Old Tan, either go feed the zombies or jump down. You're all meat, what are you afraid of!"

After saying this, Zhang Su jumped off the wall first, landing easily on the ground.

"Brother Su, the zombies over there are coming!"

Just as Zhang Su landed, Lu Yubo pointed to the depths of the alley. About twenty or thirty meters away, four zombies sensed the movement and came swaying toward them.

"Hurry down, I'll catch you!"

Zhang Su looked up and beckoned to Tan Hua on the wall.

"Death it is!"

Tan Hua looked toward the gas station; the fear of the zombies was clearly greater than the fear of jumping. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, tilted her body, and fell off the wall.

"Go to hell!"

Zhang Su couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Tan Hua's idea was to minimize the drop, but she naively thought Zhang Su would catch her with open arms...

Zhang Su acted quickly, pushing the horizontally falling Tan Hua against the wall, significantly reducing the downward force and turning it into a lateral one.

*Thud... *

Tan Hua only felt her back hit the wall, shaking her internal organs and bringing a wave of nausea. Before she could actually vomit, her side hit the ground, her arm squeezed her chest, and another wave of suffocation hit her.

"Do you have any idea how much you weigh? Falling like that, are you trying to commit suicide?"

Zhang Su was speechless looking at the dazed Tan Hua on the ground.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 81 =====