The train passed through several city districts and entered the center of a large town.
The scenery outside the window gradually shifted from trees and wheat fields to an endless array of buildings—along with a fair number of mutants.
The roads in the city were in even worse condition than those outside. Since the railway passed directly through the city center, many roads intertwined with the tracks. Numerous vehicles, trying to escape the city, were jammed at the railroad crossings.
Neither Shao Ming nor Feng Yusheng were in the engine room, so Lambert had no choice but to keep driving the train forward, crashing into the vehicles blocking the way.
He gripped the controls firmly, steering the train ahead.
With a loud crash and the sharp sound of metal scraping, every abandoned car blocking the train's path was pushed aside.
Although this didn't significantly affect the train's performance, it had caused the already uneven front of the engine to be nearly flattened.
At that moment, Shao Ming, who had been looking for a place to sit and rest, was startled by the noise.
"What's going on?" Feng Yusheng quickly stood up, asking the same question.
The train hadn't slowed down, and outside the window, the wreckage of the cars could be seen scattered to the sides.
Shao Ming soon realized what had happened. He felt the need to find a walkie-talkie to communicate with Lambert in the engine room.
"Probably something's blocking the track," Shao Ming said to Feng Yusheng, pointing at the cars that had been knocked aside.
Just as they thought the worst was over, another loud crash sounded from the front of the train.
After passing the town by some distance, Lambert gradually slowed the train to a stop.
Once he was sure there were no mutants around, Shao Ming grabbed a hunting rifle and jumped off the train.
Lambert also opened the door and stepped off the train. Shao Ming hurried over to ask him what had happened.
"The train's tire's broken," Lambert pointed at the train. Shao Ming followed his gaze and saw that the bearing between two wheels had snapped, and the water tank-like object beside it had a large crack.
"Uh…" Shao Ming examined the damage and asked, "What should we do now?"
"Well…" Lambert scratched his head awkwardly, "Normally, we'd have to take it to a workshop for repairs, but even if we find a workshop, we wouldn't have the equipment to fix it."
Shao Ming hadn't expected that their journey home, which had barely started, would already be interrupted.
"The simplest solution would be to just replace the train," Lambert suggested.
"But yesterday you said replacing it wasn't realistic?" Shao Ming recalled Lambert's words from the previous day. "You said we didn't have the keys."
Lambert explained, "I looked at the map. There's a repair workshop nearby. Typically, the keys for repairing the trains are kept there."
Shao Ming took the tablet, and to his surprise, the repair workshop was located within the city.
"This place," Shao Ming said, frowning, "If we stop there, we'll be surrounded by thousands of zombies. Plus, you're not even sure there's a usable train inside."
"Our train can't even get there," Lambert said helplessly. "The junction in the city has diverted us in another direction. We can't maneuver the tracks inside the city."
At this point, Feng Yusheng had also stepped off the train. Hearing the conversation, she asked confusedly, "Does this mean the train can't go any further?"
"The city's roads are too bad. I don't know if these wheels are going to fly off any moment."
"I'll go find a car and bring it back," Shao Ming said, looking at the map. "Where exactly are we right now?"
"We should be east of Trent River Stoke," Lambert explained, continuing to watch the map and keeping track of their surroundings. "If we take the southern line, we'll pass through a town."
Shao Ming realized that the map pointed to two rail lines after leaving Trent River Stoke, where they had just passed through the city. One headed south toward Birmingham, and the other went east toward Nottingham.
They were currently on the east line, but the repair shop Lambert mentioned was in the city on the southern line, about 7 kilometers away.
Shao Ming felt that the train might not be the best option. While it was faster than cars, it could only travel on fixed tracks, which was proving to be limiting.
Seeing Shao Ming hesitate, Lambert quickly said, "We just need to switch tracks on the outskirts. It's only in the city where we encounter these problems."
"Let's hope so." Shao Ming rubbed his head. "For now, let's find a car. Whether or not we go to the repair shop, we'll need a vehicle."
The three of them grabbed their backpacks, along with necessary weapons and food, and headed back in the direction they came from.
None of them were thieves, nor were they skilled in the typical movie or TV tricks of hot-wiring a car with two wires. Getting a usable car required finding the keys, and that was no easy feat.
As they walked, Shao Ming thought to himself. Whether they used a train or a car, both would face inevitable collisions in such an environment—unless they managed to turn the vehicle into a "mobile fortress" like in some movies, reinforced with thick steel plates.
After walking for about ten minutes, they came upon a greenhouse-like building on the side of the railroad.
"I'll go take a look first," Shao Ming signaled the others to hide, as he prepared to scout ahead.
With a shotgun in hand, he crouched low and approached the wall.
Behind the wall, there was a large greenhouse, and beyond it stood a small two-story building.
This place seemed different from the others. For one, the large greenhouse stood isolated, and it didn't look like it was a farmer's house. Moreover, all the windows in the building had been boarded up with wooden planks.
Could there be survivors here? Shao Ming wondered as he climbed over the wall.
Using the greenhouse as cover, Shao Ming could now see the interior of the building more clearly.
Although all the windows were boarded up, through some cracks, he could make out shadows moving inside.
It was hard to tell whether these were humans or mutants, but after waiting for a while, Shao Ming noticed that the figures inside hadn't moved. They seemed to be in the same dormant state as mutants.
Looks like I was just imagining things, Shao Ming thought.
He climbed into the greenhouse and was greeted by rows of neatly planted crops.
He pulled a tomato from one of the plants and bit into it. Surprisingly, it was quite sweet.
Carrying the tomato, he exited the greenhouse through another door. The mutants inside didn't seem to stir due to the wooden boards blocking their view.
Shao Ming walked around the building to the front and found a small pickup truck parked steadily in front of the two-story house.