Chapter 462: To the tunnels

Chapter 462 -75 – To the tunnels

They didn’t stop again.

The moment Chen told Liang Wei they had only three days before the region was bombed, the man’s exhaustion seemed to become a much smaller problem. He led them south through the forest at a quicker pace, keeping his injured arm close to his chest while Chen followed with the rifle ready.

Chen’s own body wasn’t doing much better. His ribs hurt whenever he breathed too deeply, the side of his head still throbbed from being thrown down, and the bruises around his throat were beginning to darken. He ignored all of it. Three days wasn’t much time, especially when City S was still several days away on foot.

Skyy stayed beside him now instead of behind him.

The metal pipe remained firmly in his hands, the end still stained from the zombie he’d killed earlier. He didn’t hold it awkwardly anymore either. Whenever something moved in the bushes, his fingers immediately tightened around it.

Chen noticed the change but didn’t mention it.

What he did notice, however, was how often Skyy looked at him.

After the sixth time, Chen finally turned his head. “What?”

Skyy immediately looked ahead. “Nothing.”

“You keep staring at me.”

“I don’t.”

Chen raised an eyebrow.

Barely a few seconds passed before Skyy’s eyes moved toward him again.

“There. You did it again.”

Skyy’s brows pinched together. “I’m checking if you’re okay.”

Chen’s amusement disappeared.

Skyy’s gaze moved briefly toward the bruises around his throat. His expression changed every time he looked at them, and Chen finally understood. The image of the zombie pinning him down was probably still fresh in Skyy’s mind.

Chen reached over and gently squeezed the back of his neck.

“I’m okay.”

Skyy’s lips pressed together. “You said that when your face was covered in blood too.”

“I was still standing.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re okay.”

Chen couldn’t argue with that.

“If something gets worse, I’ll tell you.”

Skyy looked at him suspiciously. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Only then did Skyy seem satisfied enough to stop checking his face every few minutes.

By noon, the forest gradually began to thin. Patches of cracked asphalt appeared beneath the grass, and Liang Wei explained that they were approaching an old service road connected to the highway toward City S. Taking the highway would save them almost an entire day.

It would also leave them exposed.

Chen crouched near the tree line and studied the road ahead. Abandoned vehicles stretched into the distance, some crashed into one another while others sat with their doors hanging open. Weeds had swallowed entire sections of pavement.

He didn’t see anything moving.

That didn’t reassure him.

“We don’t have enough time to stay in the forest,” Liang Wei said quietly. “If the diary is right, this is our fastest route.”

Chen knew that.

He turned toward Skyy. “Stay close.”

Skyy lifted the pipe slightly. “I know.”

Chen’s lips twitched.

They stepped onto the highway.

The place felt different from the forest. There were reminders everywhere that ordinary people had once been here. Suitcases lay beside cars. A shoe sat alone near the road divider. One vehicle still had a faded stuffed rabbit sitting behind the windshield.

Skyy slowed when they passed it.

Chen followed his gaze.

He didn’t say anything. He simply reached out and took Skyy’s hand.

Skyy looked down at their joined fingers before quietly moving closer.

Liang Wei noticed but wisely kept walking.

Several kilometers later, they reached an overturned delivery truck blocking half the road. Liang Wei climbed over first. Chen followed, then turned and held both hands out for Skyy.

“Come.”

Skyy placed the pipe over first before climbing down. Chen caught him around the waist and lowered him the rest of the way.

Skyy’s face immediately warmed.

Chen cleared his throat and released him.

Then Liang Wei suddenly stopped.

“There.”

Fresh tire tracks cut through the dirt beside the road.

Chen crouched and touched one of them. The soil around the edges was still loose.

“Recent.”

“Looks like several vehicles,” Liang Wei said.

That changed things.

Vehicles meant people.

Whether those people were friendly was another question.

The tracks eventually left the highway and disappeared down a smaller road almost completely hidden behind overgrown bushes. A rusted sign lay on the ground nearby, but most of the lettering had disappeared.

Liang Wei frowned as they followed it.

“There shouldn’t be anyone here.”

“Why?”

“The town ahead was abandoned years ago. Too many infected.”

Chen glanced at the tire tracks. “Someone’s using it now.”

They continued more carefully.

Small houses began appearing through the trees. Most were badly damaged, but there were signs someone had recently passed through. Branches had been cut away from the road, and one doorway had been reinforced with new wooden boards.

Then Chen spotted a zombie corpse beside the pavement.

The back of its skull had been destroyed.

He crouched beside it.

The blood wasn’t completely dry.

“Someone cleared this road recently.”

Skyy immediately moved closer.

Liang Wei lowered his voice. “Maybe we should call out.”

“No.”

Chen stood and checked the nearby buildings.

Calling out before they knew who was here would only tell whoever was watching exactly where they were.

They moved deeper into the abandoned town.

A metallic click came from above.

Chen stopped instantly.

“Don’t move.”

Skyy froze beside him.

Chen slowly lifted his head.

A woman was lying on the roof of a two-story building with a rifle aimed directly at his chest.

Movement appeared behind one of the broken windows across the street.

Another weapon.

Then another.

They had walked straight into someone’s perimeter.

Chen slowly moved his hand away from his rifle.

“We’re not infected.”

The woman didn’t lower her weapon.

“Everyone says that.”

“We’re heading to City S.”

That finally got a reaction.

Her brows pulled together. “Why?”

“We need to get out of this region.”

The woman stared at him for a moment before giving a humorless laugh.

“Then you’re going the wrong way.”

Chen frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“The highway to City S was closed yesterday.”

Liang Wei’s face immediately changed.

“Closed?”

“Infected broke through from the eastern district. Military lost two checkpoints before they managed to block the road.”

Chen felt Skyy’s fingers tighten around his.

Three days.

The fastest route was already gone.

“How do we get to City S now?”

The woman adjusted the rifle against her shoulder.

“You don’t.”

“We have to.”

She studied him for several seconds.

“There is another route,” she eventually said. “But nobody with sense is using it.”

Chen waited.

She nodded toward the hills beyond the town.

“Old railway tunnel. It runs beneath the hills and comes out near the western edge of City S.”

Beside him, Liang Wei immediately shook his head.

“No.”

Chen looked at him.

Liang Wei’s expression had gone pale.

“The tunnel is infected.”

“So is everything else.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Liang Wei moved closer, his voice dropping. “They sealed that tunnel months ago. People went inside looking for supplies and never came back. Something lives in there.”

Skyy shifted beside Chen.

His grip tightened around the pipe, but he didn’t step backward.

Chen looked toward the distant hills.

The diary in his bag suddenly felt much heavier.

Three days before the bombing.

The highway was closed.

The forest route would take too long.

That left the tunnel.

Chen turned toward Skyy.

Skyy was pale, and Chen could see the nervousness in the way his fingers kept adjusting around the pipe. Still, when their eyes met, Skyy gave him a small nod.

He was scared.

But he was willing to follow him.

Chen squeezed his hand once before looking back at the woman.

“Tell me where the tunnel is.”