Chapter 28
G177 Highway was the main road connecting G City to other cities, a vast stretch of wilderness, with towering mountains extending endlessly. It was a remote area, sparsely populated, and the road passed through a long uninhabited zone, with the nearest transportation hub over a thousand kilometers away.
Unless cars carried extra fuel, they would be stranded halfway.
Wen Xin recalled cycling on this road once.
At that time, he had just graduated from college, full of youthful ambition. One day, he stumbled upon some photos uploaded online by fellow travelers, showing breathtaking scenery.
Upon checking the location, he realized it was G177 Highway, conveniently near his hometown.
He immediately jumped out of his chair and decided to go on an impromptu trip. It was just him, a bicycle, and a backpack with water and food—a true minimalist adventure.
However, for someone without any training, the result of taking the highway cycling challenge on a whim was predictable.
The ten-kilometer stretch took him nearly an hour to cover in fits and starts.
After that hour, Wen Xin had to stop and collapse on the ground, grimacing as he massaged his cramping calf muscles.
Defeated before he could even begin.
That humbling experience left a lasting impression on Wen Xin, teaching him the importance of knowing one’s limits.
At the same time, he never forgot the warmth of the sunlight on his face as he leaned against a tree, or the faint fragrance of grass carried by the breeze.
It was the same sense of peace that the little fox later experienced in Wen Xin’s dreams.
Now, though the feeling of tranquility remained, the place that had once brought it had changed beyond recognition.
Wen Xin looked out through the car window.
The clean, smooth road he remembered was gone, now littered with wrecked vehicles.
Some had flipped over the guardrails, while others had crashed into each other, the burnt-out carriages still exuding blackened smoke from the explosions.
Bloodstains, mixed with flesh, were smeared haphazardly across the road. Near the broken guardrail, half of a round object poked out—it looked like a human head.
Though Wen Xin had seen plenty of corpses by now, he still wasn’t used to death. Looking at those pale, bulging eyes, he frowned and instinctively turned away.
Scarface, sitting next to Wen Xin, occasionally glanced at him, concerned that the young man, who had only recently left the relative peace of his home might be overwhelmed by the scene.
Seeing Wen Xin frown and turn his head, Scarface cleared his throat, already mentally preparing comforting words.
To his surprise, before he could say anything, Wen Xin turned back to face the scene.
“The zombies can’t catch up with cars. What happened to these people?”
His voice was steady.
Scarface was taken aback.
The scene outside was far more gruesome than a typical zombie attack—the road was strewn with mangled bodies and shattered bones—yet the young man’s only reaction was a slight deepening of his gaze, without a hint of fear.
Thinking of the newcomers at their base, who would vomit at the faintest smell of blood, Scarface couldn’t help but wonder who the real young master was.
Wen Xin noticed Scarface staring at him, not responding, and asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
Scarface smirked, clearly impressed.
He shifted closer and pointed at the road to explain.
“To figure out what happened, take a look around.”
He pointed to one of the overturned cars.
“A car like that, all by itself against the guardrail—the first thing you want to check is the tire marks. If they’re all over the place, like zigzags, it’s probably because someone inside turned into a zombie while driving.”
“In those cases, the zombie usually stays inside the car. If you’re nearby, either stay clear or make sure you’re armed. I’d recommend a gun. Guns can take out zombies instantly; sticks and knives aren’t reliable.”
Wen Xin realized that Scarface was sharing valuable survival knowledge, more than he needed to. Grateful, he listened even more attentively.
Scarface continued, “Then, for the cars that crashed into each other, look at how open the area is.”
“Like on G177, it’s as open as it gets—three cars could drive side by side easily. Even if one crashes, the ones behind would see it in time to avoid it.”
“But these cars still crashed into each other. Why do you think that is?”
Wen Xin thought for a moment. “They were being chased by something?”
Scarface clapped his hands. “Exactly, and whatever it was, it was right on their tail.”
“To answer your earlier question, I can say for sure that regular zombies couldn’t have pushed these drivers to this point.”
Wen Xin, sensing something off in Scarface’s tone, remembered the mutated animals and plants they had mentioned earlier and asked, “Could it have been a mutant?”
At the mention of mutants, the little black cat in Wen Xin’s arms narrowed its eyes, and the others twitched.
Those who could bury their heads did so, the others just looked away.
Even though they weren’t the culprits, being mutants themselves made them feel guilty by association.
Scarface stroked his chin, thinking along the same lines.
The crew-cut man focused on driving, listened to the conversation and began to notice something odd as well.
After observing for a while, he pulled over in front of a crushed vehicle. “Xu Qiang, Wen Li, go check if it was a mutant.”
Xu Qiang was Scarface, and Wen Li was a lean, artistic-looking man. He had claimed to be an art student before the apocalypse, but before he could pick up a paintbrush, he’d had to pick up a brick and smash in the head of the zombie attacking his sister.
Wen Xin, hearing this, wanted to go with them to check it out.
But Wen Li, guessing his intentions, quickly stopped him. “We don’t know what kind of danger might be out there. Stay in the car, it’s safer.”
Xu Qiang disagreed. “He’s perfectly healthy, not some fragile porcelain doll. The apocalypse has just begun, and it’s going to be a long road. He’ll have to face this eventually, so why not start gaining experience now?”
Wen Li was hesitant, but while he was still considering, Xu Qiang seized the moment and dragged Wen Xin out of the car.
“Hey, Xu Qiang!”
Xu Qiang ignored Wen Li’s calls.
Wen Xin, still holding the little black one, hadn’t had time to set it down. Seeing that the little black one was awake, he stroked its soft, warm ears and decided to carry it along as he followed Xu Qiang.
Wen Li, exasperated, had no choice but to trail after them.
The car they approached had been thoroughly crushed. Xu Qiang estimated that if there were zombies inside, they’d be as flat as cardboard by now.
Still, he cautiously kicked the car to see if anything emerged. When nothing happened, he waved Wen Xin over.
Wen Xin slowed his pace as he approached.
The car had been smashed from above, leaving two large, bucket-sized dents in the roof. The edges had buckled under the pressure, lifting upwards.
Xu Qiang studied it for a moment, then admitted he couldn’t tell what kind of animal had made the dents.
Wen Li, on the other hand, stared at the marks and murmured, “Why do they seem so familiar?”
Neither of them could figure out what had caused it, so Wen Xin didn’t expect to either.
In fact, it was genuinely puzzling.
From the shape, it didn’t look like an animal’s footprint. It resembled two identical hammers, but with a hook-like protrusion at the head.
There were no clear fingerprints either.
Wen Xin quickly gave up, leaving Xu Qiang and Wen Li to continue searching for clues.
Meanwhile, the little black one in his arms lifted its head, staring at the two clear dents on the roof. Its eyes took on a cold glint.
Having developed a resistance to the green-scaled viper’s venom, it was becoming harder to suppress the restlessness in its genes, which also affected its senses.
It remembered feeling something off when Wen Xin and Xu Qiang first mentioned mutants. At the time, it wasn’t sure if it was truly sensing danger or if its instincts were just misfiring again.
But now, it was certain.
There was no trace of a mutant’s scent here.
This meant that whatever had attacked the cars wasn’t a mutant.
Wen Xin noticed the seriousness in Xiao Hei’s (the little black cat) expression and was about to ask if it knew something.
But before he could speak, he glanced down and saw his hand, half-curled from holding the little black one.
Wen Xin froze, his pupils shrinking as a startling thought formed in his mind.
He quickly extended his hand for comparison.
“Xu Qiang, Wen Li!”
Hearing Wen Xin’s raised voice, the two men rushed over, thinking something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Before they could finish, Wen Xin held out his clenched fist, showing them the shape of his hand from the side.
“Does this look familiar?”
At first glance, his hand didn’t seem to match the dents in the car. But upon closer inspection, there was indeed a resemblance.
Xu Qiang’s expression changed.
He held out his own fist, comparing it briefly, then punched the car hood. Sure enough, the resulting dent, including the raised edges, was a perfect match.
Wen Li smacked his forehead. “No wonder it seemed familiar!”
In his art classes, he had often drawn detailed sketches of hands, and now he realized the similarity.
With this revelation, the three hurried back to the off-road vehicle to inform the others.
However, their companions found it hard to believe. “You’re saying those dents were made by a human fist?”
Xu Qiang nodded. “Exactly. And it had to be someone with a lot of muscle.”
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to create such rounded dents, which had nearly fooled them.
Thanks to Wen Xin’s keen observation.
The crew-cut man, who had been sitting in the car but not oblivious to the surroundings, frowned deeply. “But those dents are at least ten times the size of a normal fist. How could someone be that big?”
“Uh…”
The others found the idea hard to swallow as well.
Someone suggested, “Could it have been a mutated monkey?”
“A mutated monkey…”
But the crew-cut man recalled that they hadn’t seen any signs of mutated monkeys on their way here.
Besides, monkeys usually lived in forests or mountains, not on flat plains like this.
Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, the crew-cut man turned to Xu Qiang and Wen Li. “Did you find any animal hair nearby?”
Xu Qiang and Wen Li admitted that they hadn’t found anything unusual—no animal hair, just plenty of human hair scattered along the road.
While they discussed, the little black one, still in Wen Xin’s arms, perked up.
Wen Xin opened the zipper of the pet carrier slightly, allowing the green-scaled viper and purple squirrel to poke their heads out for fresh air.
The green-scaled viper hissed, “I can’t sense any mutant presence. Could the humans have made a mistake?”
The purple squirrel squeaked in agreement. “You’re right. I can’t smell any lingering scent either.”
So, it seemed the humans had gotten it wrong. It wasn’t mutants causing the trouble—it was their own kind wreaking havoc.
With that conclusion, the green-scaled viper and purple squirrel retreated back into the carrier, feeling relieved.
The little blue one remained silent, lazily indifferent to everything.
Meanwhile, the canary had all its attention on the little fox, which had started trembling uncontrollably.
The canary, unsure of what to do, instinctively turned to the person it trusted most. “Wen Xin, something’s wrong—Xiao Qi (the little fox) is shaking!”
Wen Xin immediately noticed the little fox’s strange condition and rushed to the back seat.
When he touched the little fox, he found its belly ice-cold, but its heart and the back of its neck were burning hot—a clear sign something was wrong.
Having taken care of the little black one before, Wen Xin had some experience. He quickly took off his jacket and wrapped the little fox in it, trying to warm it up.
There was no heating in the car, so Wen Xin rummaged through his backpack and pulled out some disposable hand warmers, sticking them to the inside of his jacket.
He skillfully bundled the jacket into a makeshift “hot water bottle” and pressed it against the little fox’s cold belly, massaging it gently with his fingers.
Feeling the warmth, the little fox struggled to open its eyes, tears of pain glistening as it whimpered, “Yip…”
It hurts so much…
Hearing the cry, Wen Xin hugged it tighter. “Hold on a bit longer. Once we get out of the car and find a place to stay, we can build a fire to keep you warm.”
Under Wen Xin’s constant reassurances, the little fox’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed.
Whether due to exhaustion or sheer pain, it soon drifted back to sleep.
The conversation in the front of the car gradually quieted.
The crew-cut man and the others turned to look at Wen Xin, who was gently soothing the little fox and felt an odd sensation in their chests.
Perhaps it was simply a rare sight—most people in the apocalypse barely had time to care for themselves, let alone shower their pets with such tenderness.
As they continued driving, the number of corpses and wrecked vehicles increased.
Several times, they had to stop and clear the obstacles from the road before moving forward again.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, the crew-cut man couldn’t help but grumble, “If destroying public property weren’t illegal, I’d just tear down the guardrails and drive across the plains.”
It was an attempt at a light-hearted joke, but it didn’t land—no one was in the mood to laugh.
Because as they advanced, the number of fist-shaped dents they found increased.
In one particularly damaged section of the road, eleven cars had been destroyed. They counted at least twenty-five casualties.
The crew-cut man let out a heavy sigh.
This kind of mutant wasn’t part of their initial calculations.
And its strength far exceeded their expectations.
But at this point, turning back wasn’t an option.
They didn’t have the luxury of choosing a horde of over a hundred thousand zombies or a single, exceptionally powerful mutant.
They could only hope that this mutant had already moved on and wasn’t lurking along the road ahead.
Xu Qiang clicked his tongue in frustration. “I don’t get it. If there are zombies and mutated animals and plants, why haven’t humans evolved superpowers? Is the apocalypse playing favorites?”
His companion joked, “Aren’t zombies technically evolved humans? Think about it—no pain, no need to eat, they can still move even with missing limbs, and they don’t die unless someone kills them. Pretty powerful, don’t you think?”
“Get lost!”
Xu Qiang cursed, not in the mood for jokes.
By dusk, they finally reached a small town with about 400 households.
But before they could drive in, the crew-cut man’s expression suddenly changed, and he slammed on the brakes.
Screeech!
The abrupt stop almost sent everyone flying, but they managed to grab onto the seats just in time, avoiding a painful collision.
“What happened?” “What’s going on?”
They all looked ahead, only to see the crew-cut man’s twisted face in the rearview mirror.
Following his gaze, Wen Xin turned to look at the road in front of them, and his eyes widened.
In the beam of the car’s headlights, a massive footprint was embedded in the muddy road.
And the shape was… unsettling.
Wen Xin couldn’t help clenching his fists, while Wen Li gasped.
“I may have let my professional training slip over the years, but my eyes aren’t that bad.”
“No matter how I look at it… that footprint looks human, doesn’t it?” Wen Li added, his voice wavering. “Unless mutated monkeys have human-like footprints?”
Before anyone could respond, they heard footsteps.
Not just one set, but an entire crowd, echoing all around them!
Wen Xin and the others quickly turned around.
Through the car windows, they saw rows of brick houses.
The night was dark, with clouds obscuring the moon.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, parting the clouds and revealing the cold, pale light of the moon.
There, behind the houses, were countless zombies, squeezed into the corners, only half of their heads visible. Their pitch-black eyes stared unblinkingly, as if they had been waiting there for a long time.
oh no… oh no!!!