Originally, they had modified four remote-controlled electric cars, but at that time, there were 14 people. Now, Zheng Shiyi was eaten, and a security guard jumped down by himself and was eaten by mutated rats, leaving only 12 people.
In order to take care of the women and save time, Tom decided to use only three cars, with four people in each car, just enough to accommodate everyone. Three cars were pushed down, and all 12 people got on board.
Tom drove the first car with Cheng Fuhua, carrying Xiaomei and Xiaogao. Li Qiang drove the second car with Liu Lian, carrying Zhaoyingying and Sasha. The remaining two security guards drove the third car, carrying Li Zexin and Zhang Feng.
The three cars powered up, heading towards the location of the light column. As they passed the supermarket's front door, they saw Ah Huang fighting fiercely with a black rat emitting red light from its eyes under the bright lights outside the supermarket.
Ah Huang was fast, but scratching the mutated rat seemed to cause little harm. The rat's size had increased significantly since Tom saw it on the branch yesterday, indicating it had undergone another mutation, increasing its size.
The large rat spotted their cars and immediately squeaked twice. Several other rats rushed out into the night and chased after the three electric cars.
"Oh damn! There are more rats!" Li Qiang exclaimed.
Liu Lian couldn't help but marvel, "These rats are so cunning, they know how to keep a trick up their sleeves."
Tom looked back at the approaching rats and sighed. If it hadn't been for Ah Huang's help, induced by the green crystal, their parachute escape would have ended with them being devoured by the mutated rats.
Just the thought of Ah Huang made Tom feel a bit melancholic; Xiaobao was eaten by Ah Huang just like that...
"Stay focused, Uncle An!" Cheng Fuhua loudly reminded Tom, snapping him out of his thoughts. Now was not the time for guilt. If he got distracted, not only would the people in this car not survive, but the other two cars might also be affected.
Since Cheng Fuhua was more familiar with the area, he controlled the direction. Tom was responsible for acceleration, leading the first car with Liu Lian's second car behind and Li Zexin's group in the third.
Tom noticed several rats behind them getting closer and felt that something was wrong.
Liu Lian shouted from behind, "Uncle An, this is unbelievable! Rats can run very fast; their speed can reach 6 meters per second, but their endurance is very low!"
Li Qiang also shouted, "This... How can they chase so far?"
Tom also felt something was off. He had expected the rats to be fast but not persistent. However, these rats weren't particularly fast, but their endurance was unexpectedly long. They had already covered quite a distance, yet the rats were still trailing behind.
"Could they be... mutated too?" Cheng Fuhua speculated.
Mutated? Tom considered it. It was possible since there were so many people in the neighborhood, and not just one rat could have fed on them.
Tom and Liu Lian's car had women on board, while all four in Li Zexin's car were men, which added to the weight. Their car was also the last to depart, so it was slower. Gradually, the rats were catching up.
"Throw away the batteries!" Tom shouted to Liu Lian. "Tell them to get rid of everything on the car!"
Liu Lian quickly conveyed the message to Zhao Yingying in the back. When Li Zexin's group heard, they immediately disposed of the supplies and batteries on their car, gradually increasing their speed.
"Great! Haha! Tom, we're catching up to you!" Li Zexin's excited voice came from the third car, overtaking Tom's.
Cheng Fuhua couldn't wait and scanned the surroundings. Xiaomei also wanted to throw away the supplies, but Tom stopped her. "No need! Let's keep going!"
Although the location of the light column was a bit far, the main roads in the neighborhood were clear. As long as they accelerated in a straight line, controlling the direction wasn't difficult. The only challenge was when they reached intersections and needed to slow down to turn.
As Tom watched the rats getting closer and closer from behind, he had Little Gao take over the speed control while he climbed back and picked up a needle placed on the car.
He had been prepared for battle from the beginning, so the supplies in his car were all weapons. Seeing the rats getting closer, Tom threw the needle with three times the force.
The first throw missed, but with a clear road and the rats running at full speed, the second needle successfully hit the rat at the front. With Tom's considerable strength and the rat's rapid approach, the needle plunged straight into its head, causing the rat to tumble and disappear behind them.
"Great!" Xiaomei exclaimed loudly. "Uncle An, you're amazing!"
Tom shook his head and grabbed the third needle, hitting another rat.
The fourth one missed; the rats had learned to dodge. Tom temporarily gave up the attack and, like Xiaomei, gripped the edge of the car tightly.
"We're almost there! Uncle An, we're almost there!"
The surroundings grew brighter, indicating they were getting closer to the location of the shelter's light column.
"I hope there's a shelter waiting for us there!" Tom could only pray.
Besides the rats in the dark night, there might be more hidden threats. Since it was called a shelter, and there was a countdown, at least the people who built the shelter should have considered the threats facing the survivors.
"Great, great!" The excited voice of Li Zexin's car passed Tom's third car. "Tom, we're going to be safe!"
Tom turned his head to see the security guard driving looking somewhat smug. The speed didn't decrease when turning, so he immediately shouted, "Watch your speed!"
Li Zexin's car turned too quickly, hitting the curb, and the four people in the car flew out with it.
Tom's car successfully completed the turn, but he had Little Gao stop shortly after. Then he threw all the weapons off the car and jumped out himself, saying, "Go!"
"But, Uncle..." the three people in the car were anxious, especially Xiaomei, who directly shouted, "Li Zexin doesn't deserve your..."
"Go! He's part of my team, and it's my duty to save him. You go first!" With a hand holding a thin needle and the other carrying a hollow spike left by a mutant mosquito, and a big knife on his back, Tom charged towards the overturned car with four people.
With the electric car now stopped, they would surely be caught by the rats soon. Tom could only let Cheng Fuhua take the other two people first. He had to see how Li Zexin and the other three were doing.
One of the security guards driving hit the edge of a square trash can, cracking his head and dying instantly.
Tom saw Li Zexin struggling to get up and hurried over to help him. Zhang Feng also got up, but he seemed dazed. He kept shouting, "The rats are coming, help!" as he ran. However, he ran in the wrong direction, straight into the rats chasing them.
Tom couldn't stop him, so he pulled up another security guard to help Li Zexin escape.
At that moment, Liu Lian's car came back. Liu Lian and Li Qiang got out of the car, letting Li Zexin and the security guard climb up, then instructed Zhao Yingying and Sasha to drive away quickly.
Zhao Yingying was reluctant, but under Liu Lian's angry shout, she started the electric car with tears streaming down her face.
"You guys are crazy!" Tom cursed. "The electric car can carry two more people. You don't need to stay behind with me."
Liu Lian chuckled, "Uncle An, you saved my life. If you won't abandon your teammates, how can I abandon you?"
Li Qiang laughed heartily, "Uncle An, you must think I'm a coward. Despite acting tough, I learned from you to face fear. I won't run away anymore."
Zhang Feng had his head torn off by the rats, but the three rats didn't stop to eat his body; instead, they stared at the three people without moving.
These three rats were somewhat smart, knowing their weight, one Zhang Feng wasn't enough, they wanted everyone in the car. If Tom's group had boarded the car just now, they would definitely have been caught by the rats. Now that Tom had stopped them, they could at least buy time for the other two electric cars to escape.
Although Li Qiang appeared brave, his slightly trembling legs betrayed his fear, and the 6-centimeter-long iron nail in his hand trembled slightly.
Liu Lian was also somewhat afraid. After all, he was no longer alone, only holding a shield made of a 1 yuan coin and glued with 520 glue. Only Tom, gripping the big knife, remained steady.
The rats pounced, their sharp teeth biting down, but Tom reacted quickly, holding the big knife and chopping down. Due to his previous confrontation with the rat, he grasped its speed and movements. With one blow, he split its head open, causing the rat to squeak in pain and retreat.
As Tom drove away one rat, Li Qiang stabbed another in the mouth with the 6-centimeter-long nail, stopping it.
However, Liu Lian was pushed down by a rat, using the 1 yuan coin shield to block its large mouth, pressing him to the ground. In the 3-on-3 fight, they temporarily held their ground.
Tom drove away one rat, naturally helping to wound Li Qiang's rat first. Then, seeing Liu Lian being pinned down by the rat, he let go and picked up the hollow spike, jumping onto the rat's head.
Ignoring the rat's dirtiness, he clasped its neck with his legs and fiercely stabbed the spike into its skull. With three times the force and an exceptionally hard spike, he managed to pierce it twice, deeply.
The rat writhed, knocking Tom down, then rolled to the side, squealing.
Li Qiang, taking advantage of Tom's initial strike, vigorously poked the rat's eyes with the long nail, blinding it.
Watching the rat struggle with blinded eyes, Li Qiang cheered loudly, "I did it! I did it! I killed a big rat! Haha!"
Tom got up, grabbed Liu Lian's shield, and blocked the charge of the first wounded rat.
Although this rat was lightly wounded, the pain stimulated its ferocity. It charged at Tom for revenge. Tom, relying on three times the strength, held up the shield, making the rat's charge futile. Even if it tried to lift the shield with its claws, it couldn't withstand Tom's strength, and instead, its claws were hit by the shield. Tom then smashed its head, causing it to retreat a few steps.
Tom didn't give it a chance to breathe, charging up and jumping high. With both hands gripping the shield, he forcefully smashed it down. With the rat's head already injured, this blow completely caved it in, and its white brain splattered all over the ground as the rat collapsed and died.
The other two injured rats, seeing this, immediately became timid. They squeaked twice, grabbed Zhang Feng's body, and ran away, one half each.
"Tom, are you okay?"
Tom got up and waved his hand, "I'm fine, let's go!"