The one-eyed zombie's eye socket squinted even tighter, so small that Jiang Xing could hardly see it. Even when Jiang Xing shone her phone light on its face, it didn't react.
Jiang Xing felt as if she had been trapped in place. There was a corpse below her, a zombie in front, and an evolved type ahead; it seemed like a dead end.
But Jiang Xing was soon back to her senses. This zombie, despite not making any movements? Just a moment ago, when it turned, its black socket pointed downward, indicating that it had already sensed the corpse.
She recognized the agility of this one-eyed zombie from yesterday.
Jiang Xing forced herself to calm down and keenly noticed that the zombie didn't seem to be looking at her but had been focused on the corpse behind her all along.
It seemed like this was an attractive corpse to it. Could the one-eyed zombie also be drawn to it?
Jiang Xing slightly loosened her grip, and the brain sack of the one-eyed zombie turned just a bit more.
This gave her hope.
"Do you want it?" Jiang Xing asked softly.
But she immediately felt she was acting crazy.
She took a deep breath, stomped hard, and pushed the corpse into the ventilation duct opening.
It dropped down!
The corpse fell, tumbling onto a pile of other corpses below, like a fragrant petal descending, instantly causing the zombies to go berserk, growling as they rushed toward the starting corpse body.
"Clack clack clack!"
The one-eyed zombie in the vent let out a strange noise, no longer as silent as before. It moved its legs, shooting out like an arrow.
Jiang Xing clung tightly to the corpse, forcing herself to press close against the side of the vent, watching as the zombie brushed past her and pounced on the corpse it was fighting for.
There were too many zombies. The corpse wouldn't last long before it was torn apart, so she climbed out of the vent at her fastest speed.
After she escaped, not even a minute had passed when the car arrived under the vent, and the zombies in the distance were already rushing towards this side after noticing the corpse.
Fortunately, the SUV was taller, and her jump of over two meters landed her smoothly on top of the car.
But the zombies were already closing in, leaving no time for her to crawl down. She clung desperately to the SUV's roof rack, shouting frantically, "Drive!"
As soon as she spoke, the SUV roared to life, speeding off fiercely.
Bang! Bang!
The car kept shaking as it hit zombies one after another. Occasionally, a zombie's claws would even brush past her scalp as it flew by. Jiang Xing clung to the roof rack with a death grip, feeling like she had just barely escaped the clutches of death.
But when the car rushed out of the underground garage and returned to the bright daylight, the warm sunlight hitting her face gave Jiang Xing a sense of being alive again.
Meanwhile, in the car, Chen An sat in the back seat, holding a gun with a grim expression, his eyes sharp, giving off the feeling of a tiger ready to strike, resembling a straving demon.
"Whoa, whoa, there's a flower bed, a flower bed! Turn quickly!"
Lin Moxi, in the passenger seat, shouted nervously, her eyes fixed on the approaching flower bed. Xiao Jin swiftly made a sharp turn, almost throwing Jiang Xing off the roof.
"Cough, cough!"
Chen An was drinking water, and the sudden maneuver made him slam into the car door, spilling water all over himself.
Lin Moxi grabbed the handle tightly, shouting angrily, "Are you driving like this to reincarnate into another world?!"
The car hit a barricade, sending splintered zombies flying into the air like a fireworks display.
Under the soothing sunlight outside, the car finally slowed down. Jiang Xing managed to open her eyes, gazing at the city that was still engulfed in chaos.
The roadside was filled with zombies roaming aimlessly. Occasionally, people could be seen at the windows signaling for help, and sometimes even trying to jump down towards them, but they would quickly be swallowed up by the hordes below.
Fortunately, there was less chaos further out. Though there were some risky moments, the roads were relatively wide, with accessible routes. They gradually moved away from the city center and finally stopped on a street with fewer zombies. They found a relatively safe spot to let Jiang Xing get back into the car.
As soon as Jiang Xing entered, she was startled by her reflection.
Her whole body was covered in blood and dirt. Her clothes were torn with a few rips, her face was barely recognizable, and even her hair was sticking together in clumps. Compared to the zombies outside, she could almost blend in. She looked over at Chen An, who glanced at her with worry.
"Are you okay?" Chen An asked, his tone concerned as he watched Jiang Xing. "Little sis, there's a hat in the front, and some water in the canteen. Freshen up a bit."
...
The car quickly left the city center, covering almost a third of the planned distance, but the route ahead became unfavorable. When they arrived at a larger intersection, the most direct path was no longer an option. Looking into the distance, the elevated roads were shrouded in smoke, and no one could tell what was going on up there. It was clear that attempting to use those roads would be a gamble.
But if they avoided the overpasses, they would at least be on a familiar route. Since Jiang Xing still had no internet connection, Zhao, who was driving, decided to take a detour on a less direct road.
It was now June, and even with the car windows closed, they could still feel the heat outside. Yet the zombies didn't seem to mind the sun; at least, Jiang Xing noticed that the ones near the road were either lurking by the shaded shop fronts or only coming out when vehicles passed by.
After driving for a while, several phones finally managed to connect to a military broadcast. The GPS established a few safety zones, and one of them was in S City.
This news was a huge relief, reviving the spirits of those who were starting to feel fatigued.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would arrive in S City within a few hours.
However, Jiang Xing still hadn't received any messages back from her contacts. She switched off her phone and turned her gaze outside, where the sunlit road stretched on. There were no people, only patches of bloodstains and unidentifiable bits of shredded flesh.
At that moment, Lin Moxi, who was sitting up front, suddenly gasped, holding out her phone to show Jiang Xing.
"Jiang Xing, tell me this isn't your three-eyed, long-tongued zombie?"
The phone displayed a picture, and although the image wasn't very clear, it showed a creature with a long tongue, sharp claws, and a large, abnormal head with two small protruding eyes.
Jiang Xing nodded, but her initial excitement faded, leaving her a bit uneasy.
The others also fell silent, especially Lin Moxi, who looked visibly disturbed.
"It's a clear and recent photo," Lin Moxi muttered, "Does this mean the evolved zombies are progressing faster? If we're dealing with that level of mutation, our best bet is to find a safe area and wait."
Jiang Xing opened several social platforms on her phone, and sure enough, there were many new pictures of zombies. Aside from the common flesh-eating ones, there were some with massive, muscular bodies. Some people called them Titans, while others called them Brutes. Regardless of the name, those towering, two-story-tall figures were a nightmare for ordinary people.
It was only the third day since the zombie outbreak, yet there were already so many evolved types. According to Lin Moxi's observations, even the ordinary zombies were becoming stronger and more agile than when it all began. Did this mean all zombies were evolving?
If these zombies were truly advancing toward a more dangerous form, would humanity really have any chance of survival?