Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Escape Plan (Part 6)
Release the clutch, shift gears, this time Du Jincheng didn’t mess up, all his actions were executed flawlessly, while Wang Qiang, seated behind him, nearly fell off the backseat due to the sudden acceleration of the car, almost ending up flat on his back.
The zombies did not retreat at the sight of the speeding metal box; instead, they charged forward bravely and recklessly, hoping to use their bodies to block the van’s escape.
But flesh is ultimately flesh. Even though the wall of corpses was two layers thick, it was no match for the increasingly powerful van.
The car pushed through the zombies as it moved forward, and as the speed increased, zombies on both sides were knocked down one after another, followed by the crunching sound of breaking bones.
Tang Xiaoquan and the other three inside the car were not feeling well, overwhelmed with towering tension from being surrounded by a horde of zombies, with the constant jolting making them feel as if they might explode. Afraid that a single mistake could jam the wheels with bones, which would send them straight to meet the Almighty.
After a minute of such stalemate, when the speedometer finally reached 30mph, the wall of corpses in front of the windshield finally collapsed under the pressure.
And with another violent jolt, the van successfully broke free from the encirclement.
"Phew~" Tang Xiaoquan instinctively let out a long breath. The sudden brightness ahead made his tense heart relax slightly.
But the crisis was not over yet; they had only covered half the length of the long and complex street, so...
"Du Jincheng! Watch out!" His eyes widened like saucers, then quickly narrowed. Although Tang Xiaoquan had immediately issued a warning, but...
"Bang!" His body slammed heavily onto the back seat, the fierce impact causing Tang Xiaoquan a brief dizziness.
Just that moment, when he shouted the warning, the van collided head-on with a zombie that wasn’t trying to save its own life.
Wang Qiang struggled to crawl up from the floor of the car, his rear burning with pain from the impact.
He speechlessly patted Du Jincheng’s seat, and with a sarcastic grin said, "Du Jincheng, take it easy, will you? This is a damn car, not a tank!"
But Wang Qiang’s teasing words did not reach Du Jincheng’s ears.
Du Jincheng’s eyes were sharp, gone were the previous terror and panic; his body leaned forward, pressing hard onto the steering wheel.
Even though his right foot was already flooring the gas pedal, he continued to apply pressure mindlessly, as if trying to break it.
The speedometer now displayed 40mph, translating directly into racing speed and all sorts of menacing noises in real life.
Such as the ear-piercing sound of zombie claws scratching.
Such as the terrifying sound of collisions between car and zombies.
But the most frightening had to be the intense vibrating sound when occasionally brushing past street stalls.
Harvesting no mercy, every second was a literal death race for Tang Xiaoquan and the others crammed inside the van.
At 50mph, Du Jincheng broke yet another record, with the increasing speed causing the van to start noticeably floating.
"****! We’re doomed for sure today!" Wang Qiang wore a bitter smile, gripping the overhead handle tightly, not daring to move an inch.
He no longer cared about the threat from the external zombies, as Du Jincheng’s "extreme" driving skills overshadowed everything. Now he only prayed, prayed that the kid driving ahead would take it easy and wouldn’t cause a car crash and calamity; then just Amitabha Buddha.
The van once again hit a zombie head-on. But thanks to the appearance of this reckless creature, otherwise at the current speed, breaking through 60mph would be a matter of seconds.
"Bang~" the collision sound came as expected. Tang Xiaoquan seemed accustomed to such situations appearing occasionally, not displaying much surprise post-impact. Instead, he gazed blankly ahead as if he had lost his soul.
"Hey, Du Jincheng! Stop slamming the gas! Watch the turn ahead!" Seeing the car slightly stall due to the collision, Wang Qiang quickly seized the opportunity to lean forward and remind him, simultaneously slapping Du Jincheng on the back.
Wang Qiang put a substantial amount of force into that slap, especially as it came abruptly. Consequently, the fully focused Du Jincheng was knocked against the steering wheel, nearly causing a major accident due to losing control.
Ignoring the dizziness in his head, Du Jincheng sat up straight and quickly stabilized the turned car head; only once back on track did he realize his back was drenched in sweat.
Fortunately, Wang Qiang’s powerful slap woke Du Jincheng from his revenge-driven impulse.
And with the return of his rationality, the unique fear of a novice driver instantly flooded his mind.
Why is the speed so high? Why is the car floating! As these questions arose in his mind, Du Jincheng anxiously tapped the brake pedal and quickly moved the gear lever to lower the speed.
From the wild sprint earlier to the current snail-paced progress, Du Jincheng took only a matter of seconds. Only when the van returned to the initial 20mph did he finally release his heavily pressed right foot.
Speechless! Utterly speechless! Feeling the car transform from one extreme to another, Wang Qiang was truly speechless.
He initially wanted to say something, but then remembered it was his initial words that incited Du Jincheng to risk it all like drinking too much caffeine. So there were no further words; he immediately extinguished the desire in his heart and obediently stayed seated.
After all, compared to that near-mad death race speed, the calm and steady progression right now was clearly safer.
A hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters, a straight and wide avenue gradually came into view.
It stretched across the east and west sides of the city, being the most important transport hub in HF City, carrying tens of thousands of vehicles daily.
And relative to the Survivor Squad present, successfully reaching there meant accomplishing their escape plan.
Everyone was tensely focused on the avenue ahead, keeping vigilant even though it was within reach.
After all, this world has way too many instances of joy turning into sorrow. And the Law of Survival’s sixteenth rule clearly states:
In a post-apocalyptic crisis, as you near victory, you must heighten your alertness.
Because often, the endpoint of victory is adjacent to the tomb of death, and until you truly reach the shores of victory, even at 0.1 meters away, you cannot relax your vigilance.