Apocalypse: Mad Necromancer’s Troops

Chapter 93: Military Trucks

 

The sounds of snarling and biting continued as the skeleton hounds and the mutated hounds tangled together in a fierce battle.

 

The ferocious mutated hounds were being torn apart by the skeletal dogs, with large chunks of rotting flesh falling off and foul blood splattering everywhere.

 

There was no escape for the hounds as their flesh was devoured by the skeletal beasts.

 

In the crew lounge.

 

The few survivors, now more alert, watched the floating ghost with wary eyes, "Don't come any closer, or we'll have to defend ourselves."

 

Xiaoxiao floated forward a bit and said, "I just saved you all, you know!"

 

"Are you a human or a ghost?"

 

"Uh... hard to say, but you're safe now. Just wait until Uncle comes up here," Xiaoxiao replied, seeing that they weren’t too fond of her, and didn’t want to talk much more. She left them with those words and turned to fly out.

 

She floated over to where the skeleton hounds were fighting, cheering them on from the air.

 

Meanwhile, Li Yanhong walked up the stairs slowly.

 

Standing at the doorway, she glanced inside and asked, "Were you the ones who called for help on the radio?"

 

Seeing a living person finally arrive, the faces of the survivors brightened a bit.

 

"Are you the rescue team?"

 

"We’re not a rescue team," Li Yanhong replied, observing their condition. Seeing no obvious injuries, she added, "The zombies outside have been cleared out, so you don't need to worry."

 

"Thank you for coming to rescue us," the leading man said gratefully.

 

Li Yanhong waved her hand dismissively and continued, "Let's skip the formalities. Now you have two choices: first, you can come with me, but from now on, you’ll have to do as I say. It doesn't matter if you're rich or just ordinary folks—if you want to survive, you’ll need to adapt."

 

No one responded.

 

Li Yanhong then laid out the second option, "The second choice is to stay here. The zombies outside have been dealt with, so you can either continue sheltering here or try to go somewhere else. But after this, you're on your own; we won't be coming back to save you a second time."

 

This was what she and Wu Heng had agreed upon.

 

Unlike Wang Ke, who they rescued from the hospital.

 

Wang Ke was frail and alone, so leaving her by herself would have been a death sentence.

 

But here, there were five people, forming a small group.

 

Having more people in a team can be more troublesome.

 

It was up to them to decide.

 

If they were willing to come along, they could be taken in and would add to their manpower.

 

If they weren't willing, they wouldn’t force them; their survival would depend on themselves.

 

"Can we discuss it for a moment?" the man asked.

 

Li Yanhong nodded, "Sure, but be quick, we don’t have much time."

 

The five huddled together, whispering as they occasionally glanced over at Li Yanhong.

 

From the looks of them, it was clear they were in poor condition.

 

They were all pale and emaciated, not just from hunger but also from the stress and tension they had been living under.

 

Meanwhile, Li Yanhong, standing at the door, though dressed like a worker with protective gloves, looked much healthier.

 

She didn’t appear to have suffered from hunger at all.

 

At least it proved she wasn't lacking food.

 

After a brief discussion.

 

The young man in the lead stood up and asked, "Can you tell us what we’d need to do?"

 

Li Yanhong leaned against the doorframe and said, "You'll be moving things, cutting, welding, and doing some manual labor. Nothing too difficult, just physically demanding."

 

"What about the women?" one of the female survivors asked.

 

"If you have special skills, you can let us know. If not, you'll be working too. Don’t worry, I also work every day," Li Yanhong replied.

 

The group was a bit taken aback.

 

Welding and cutting?

 

Who were they working for?

 

Or maybe they had a fixed refuge where they were doing large-scale construction.

 

"Will we be safe if we go with you?"

 

"It should be safer than being on your own," Li Yanhong answered.

 

The five exchanged glances, "Alright, we’ll go with you and follow your instructions."

 

If they were really building a refuge, it could be a good thing for them.

 

At least they’d be safe and could get a good night’s sleep.

 

If they stayed like this, they feared they’d all go mad.

 

Li Yanhong nodded, "Alright, come with me. Stay calm no matter what you see."

 

"Okay!"

 

.........

 

Downstairs.

 

Wu Heng was wandering around the first floor.

 

He was gathering the better-preserved snacks and instant noodles from the station’s store and putting them in his space ring.

 

Since it was an old station, there was only a small kiosk, and there wasn't much left after he picked through it.

 

Nearby, the skeleton hounds were dragging down the corpses of the mutated hounds from upstairs.

 

Leaving dark red blood trails along the way.

 

Wu Heng cast Raise Skeleton.

 

The two skeletal hounds stood up, wagging their bone tails and trotted off to join the others.

 

They mingled with the other skeletal hounds, circling around.

 

Wu Heng used a short spear to sift through the remains, finding two corpse cores among the mess.

 

He put them in a plastic bag and stored them in his space ring.

 

The space ring only had a capacity of 3 cubic meters, so it couldn't hold too much.

 

"We’re back!" Li Yanhong called from not far away.

 

Wu Heng looked over and saw her approaching with a group of survivors, two men and three women, all fairly young.

 

"Let them through," Wu Heng instructed Big Head Skeleton.

 

Clatter!

 

The skeletons cleared a path, and Li Yanhong led the group through.

 

As they walked through the skeleton army, the survivors' legs trembled, and their eyes were filled with disbelief.

 

"Did you explain everything to them?"

 

"Yes, they’re willing to come with us. They’re just trying to survive, and we can help each other out," Li Yanhong replied.

 

Wu Heng didn’t say much; as long as there were no problems later, it was fine.

 

"Alright, let’s head back!"

 

The skeleton army marched out of the hall.

 

Outside, more skeletons filled the open space, standing in dense ranks.

 

The survivors’ legs trembled even more.

 

Where did all these bones come from, and how could they move like this?

 

Some of them regretted their decision, thinking they should have stayed behind. This army of skeletons didn’t seem like something humans could live with.

 

The group started their journey back.

 

The skeleton army moved in a grand procession.

 

As they walked, Wu Heng said, "When we get back, we need to focus on preparing for the trade. See if you can find any trucks or vans, and plan the route ahead of time."

 

"Okay, I remember there are usually some trucks parked near the dam. We can check there," Li Yanhong replied.

 

Trading with the prison wouldn’t just involve transporting food.

 

They’d also need to bring some skeleton soldiers.

 

So they’d need to prepare a few trucks.

 

"If that doesn’t work, we can look for a few vans."

 

The five survivors following closely behind overheard their conversation.

 

The young man, who was the most courageous among them, quickened his pace to catch up and said, "Sir, do you need trucks to transport goods?"

 

Wu Heng nodded, "Yes, do you have any suggestions?"

 

The man continued, "Across from the station, there’s a vehicle storage area. I saw some military trucks drive in there not long ago, brand new, still covered with green canvas. They should still be inside."

 

"Across from the station?"

 

"Yes, right across. It’s where they park special vehicles."

 

"How many trucks?"

 

"I saw three, but I’m not sure if there are more."

 

Wu Heng didn’t know much about vehicles, even though he had a driver’s license, he never got around to buying a car.

 

But he at least knew that military vehicles were usually reliable.

 

And three trucks should be enough.

 

"Halt," Wu Heng ordered, and the skeleton army came to an immediate stop.

 

The entire street fell silent.

 

"Lead us there."

 

"Sure! We’ll need to backtrack a bit."

 

The army turned around, with the rear becoming the front, and started moving back.

 

.........

 

The place the man mentioned was a bit further in.

 

It was a large courtyard with high walls, and the sign at the entrance read "Special Vehicle Transfer Center."

 

The gate was an electric retractable gate, fully open.

 

There were no zombies in the courtyard, and they could see six vehicles parked inside—three military trucks, a bus, and two forklifts.

 

After confirming there were no zombies, the group entered the courtyard.

 

After a brief inspection, Li Yanhong said, "There’s fuel, but no keys."

 

Wu Heng looked around.

 

"Search the building, see if we can find the keys."

 

These things are usually kept in a designated spot, ready to be picked up when needed.

 

Although Wu Heng had a bronze key, it was only useful for doors, and he hadn’t tested it on vehicles.

 

He didn’t plan to reveal it in front of strangers either.

 

The courtyard had a three-story building.

 

It wasn’t tall, but it was divided into several offices, with quite a few rooms.

 

Wu Heng, Li Yanhong, and some skeletons entered the building.

 

The newly joined survivors and the rest of the skeletons stayed outside.

 

Wu Heng instructed, "Spread out and search."

 

"I’ll check the second floor," Li Yanhong said.

 

"Wait, Sword One and Sword Two, go with her."

 

Li Yanhong nodded, and with Sword One and Sword Two, she headed upstairs.

 

Xiaoxiao raised her little hand, "I’ll go to the third floor."

 

"Good, Xiaoxiao is always so helpful," Wu Heng praised her.

 

Xiaoxiao beamed with happiness and floated up through the ceiling, disappearing from sight.

 

Wu Heng started searching through the offices one by one.

 

After going through about half of them.

 

"Ah~!"

 

Suddenly, a scream echoed from upstairs.

 

It was Li Yanhong’s voice.

 

Wu Heng frowned and looked up towards the second floor.

 

"Let's go upstairs."