"Quick, the antidote! Xiaolei, help him buy it!"
Lun Tai reacted the fastest and made a decisive move. When Xia Xiaolei heard the command, he immediately exchanged for an antidote from the system and threw it to Roddy. Roddy took it; it was a portable injector. Without hesitation, he rolled up his sleeve and injected the needle into his arm.
As the automatic drug dispenser pushed the transparent antidote into his skin, Roddy felt a slight relief.
However, shortly after, another system prompt appeared after a few seconds!
"System Prompt: The system has detected that you have used an advanced antidote, which has a mitigating effect on the infection of unknown forces but is not sufficient for complete detoxification. According to the drug's calculation, the zombification process is extended and will enter zombification in 90 minutes. Note: Repeated use of antidotes is ineffective, and the effects do not accumulate."
"Damn it!" Roddy cursed loudly.
"What's wrong?" Qiao Qiao immediately walked over.
Roddy waved his hand and backed away, "Don't come near me!"
He took a deep breath, looking serious, "The system said the antidote isn't strong enough, it can't detoxify completely, but it has extended the zombification time to 90 minutes."
"..." Qiao Qiao looked at Roddy in shock.
Lun Tai's heart had completely sunk!
You should know that the antidote that Xia Xiaolei just exchanged for Roddy was a "high-level healing potion"!
This is already the best antidote you can exchange for in the system!
Based on Lun Tai's experience, this kind of high-level healing potion has almost perfect curative effects for almost all toxins. Yet, the poison that Roddy is afflicted with right now can't even be completely neutralized by the advanced antidote from the system! It can only alleviate it!
So, it can be said that the toxicity of this poison is absolutely terrifying!
The members of the bus team fell into a fearful silence for a moment.
Lun Tai, realizing the urgency, immediately shouted, "Don't panic, everyone! Since it's a copy, where there are toxins, there must be an antidote! We still have time! The top priority right now is to get out of danger! Be cautious, everyone! Roddy!" He called out to Roddy, took a deep breath, and looked at him, "Don't worry, we will definitely find the antidote for you!"
Roddy's face remained grim, but he nodded firmly. He added, "Everyone, don't come near me; I'm worried it might infect you."
Lun Tai nodded, "Alright, from now on, no one is allowed to have any physical contact with Roddy."
Just at that moment, Qimu Xi at the back of the car let out a scream, "There's something coming from behind!"
Lun Tai was startled and immediately ran a few steps to the back of the car, picked up night vision goggles, and looked...
In the direction behind the car, on the road, among the cars involved in the accident, several figures had risen again, staggering towards the bus!
"Left side too!" Qiao Qiao exclaimed.
"Right side! Ah, there are zombies on the right side too!" Xia Xiaolei cursed, "Damn it, what are these things!"
On both sides of the bus, left and right, those dreadful decaying zombies appeared.
By a rough estimate, there were more than twenty of them, staggering towards the bus.
Their speed wasn't too fast, but it wasn't slow either. They didn't move like the slow, stumbling zombies in movies but walked at a pace resembling that of normal people.
Lun Tai's forehead broke into a cold sweat.
However, he immediately shouted, "Don't panic! Take out your weapons! Prepare to fire! Follow the positions set, everyone in their places!"
In the darkness, a group of zombies rapidly approached the bus from the rear and both sides.
After a minute of silence inside the bus, Lun Tai's furious roar echoed, "Don't let them get close! Open fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rat-a-tat-tat...
Gunshots rang out simultaneously from both sides of the bus!
And Lun Tai was already standing next to Qimu Xi, raising the butt of his rifle and smashing it against the rear window. With a crash, the glass shattered, and Lun Tai rested his rifle on the seat back, pulling the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
Lun Tai's marksmanship was evidently impressive. After two shots, one of the zombies fell, but before Lun Tai could catch his breath, he saw the zombie staggeringly get back up and continue moving forward.
Lun Tai clenched his teeth and fired again, this time directly hitting a zombie's knee!
The zombie swayed and knelt on the ground, but its hands continued to crawl on the ground, inching its body forward!
Lun Tai's sweat was pouring now!
"Headshots! If you have good marksmanship, aim for the head! Don't shoot the torso!"
Although Lun Tai shouted like this, the young team members in the bus weren't all rigorously trained in military tactics. While they had received some firearms training at the base, becoming a sharpshooter, hitting headshots consistently, was not something these young individuals, who had only been exposed to firearms for a few days, could easily achieve.
Even individuals like Qiao Qiao and Roddy, who had experienced the Tokyo sub-instance battle, didn't have such remarkable marksmanship.
After a series of shots, a few zombies were hit and fell to the ground, but they quickly got back up and continued moving forward.
The zombie horde was getting closer and was now less than twenty meters away from the bus!
Bang!
Lun Tai once again blew a zombie's head off with a shot and then took out a grenade from his bag.
He attached the grenade launcher mounted on his gun and fiercely fired one...
He immediately crouched down and pressed Qimu Xi down as well. There was a deafening explosion, and a wave of heat swept over them!
Looking up, several zombies had fallen in the explosion, and one at the center of the blast had been torn apart, with its head and arms flying in all directions.
But what worried Lun Tai was that there were still a few zombies that, after swaying for a moment, got back up and continued moving forward.
How troublesome!
Lun Tai's heart sank!
The firepower of the firearms was evidently not sufficient!
He noticed some details: all these zombies were Awakened!!
Yes, all of them!
Every single zombie was wearing protective clothing!
Because of the protective clothing, even if they were shot, it would absorb a lot of the bullet's power.
Shots to their arms and legs didn't stop them from moving forward.
Only a direct hit to the head had a chance of killing them!
The Meteor Rock Guild joined the fight, with Qiao Qiao gritting her teeth and firing an M6, while Xia Xiaolei stuck his body out and tossed a grenade.
However, even after an explosion, only two zombies fell, and the rest continued to approach!
Roddy had already run to the back door of the bus, smashed the glass, and had the second-best marksmanship in the group after Lun Tai. Despite firing many shots, he had only managed to directly headshot three zombies.
Seeing that more than ten zombies were still closing in, Lun Tai knew they couldn't hold on!
But... trying to escape?
Once these zombies got close, even if their slime contaminated them, they would become infected, just like Roddy!
Lun Tai felt helpless, and even an experienced veteran like him couldn't think of a solution in the moment.
Just then, Roddy suddenly shouted from the back, "Lun Tai!"
"What?!"
"Break out! I'll clear the way! Run behind me!"
With that, Roddy suddenly kicked the door wide open and jumped out of the bus, tossing away his gun. He pulled two daggers from the sheaths on his back.
"Roddy!!" Lun Tai exclaimed, watching Roddy jump out of the bus, discard his gun, and draw two daggers from behind his back.
"Since I'm already infected, I'll lead the way! Follow me, but don't get too close!"
Before the words even left his mouth, Roddy had charged into the midst of the zombie horde!
With the first swing, Roddy's machete sliced through the neck of a zombie, sending its head flying into the air. Roddy kicked the zombie away without caring that its green slime sprayed on him. He then swiftly moved on to another zombie, but this one managed to dodge a bit, and the machete didn't hit its head but got stuck in the creature's protective clothing. Roddy cursed loudly, but he rammed into the zombie, sending it flying with a loud crash. He retrieved his machete and used it to kick the zombie's head off.
Roddy continued his fierce assault, slashing down three more zombies with a flurry of strikes. He cleared a path on the right side of the bus, and he turned and shouted, "Come out quickly!!"
Lun Tai's heart was heavy as he shouted, "Everyone, come over here! Abandon the defensive position; we're leaving!"
Lun Tai carried Qimu Xi, whose head was covered in blood, and was the first to jump out of the bus. He then cleared the way at the door, crouching on the ground and starting to fire shots. He hit a zombie running towards them with one shot, and then he waved, "Get off the bus! Quickly! Qiao Qiao, protect Will! Xiaolei, cover our rear!"
Roddy was already about twenty meters away, having taken down seven or eight zombies. He was very careful, ensuring that each time he struck down an opponent, he kicked the zombie as far away as possible, creating a clear path for escape.
"Be careful not to step on that green slime! Hurry and come with me! Run!"
Qiao Qiao had already picked up Will, who had turned pale with fear, and ran with him, while Soo Soo followed. After Soo Soo, it was Qimu Xi, then Xia Xiaolei and Lun Tai took up the rear.
The two of them continued to fire shots and knock down the pursuing zombies. Xia Xiaolei's marksmanship was subpar; each shot only managed to deter the zombies rather than kill them, but it slowed their pace.
However, this was already sufficient. With Roddy leading the way, the Meteor Rock Guild quickly returned to the highway and ran northward. A few minutes later, they had left the area behind.
Though the zombies behind them were pursuing, they didn't seem to be capable of running. Their fastest pace was just a normal walking speed like that of regular people, so the Meteor Rock Guild gradually pulled farther away from them. A few minutes later, the team could hardly see the zombies behind them anymore. Lun Tai and Xia Xiaolei finally caught up to the front, where they glanced at Roddy.
Roddy's entire body and face were covered in that disgusting green slime. When Lun Tai approached, Roddy immediately took a few steps back and solemnly warned, "Be careful, don't get too close to me!"
Lun Tai nodded, saying, "I understand. Roddy, are you okay? You got quite a bit of that stuff on you again. Did it worsen your poisoning?"
Roddy gave a bitter smile but shook his head, "It seems not, there was no notification from the system."
This was finally a piece of good news, and Lun Tai breathed a sigh of relief.
However, he furrowed his brow and said, "We need to find a way to detoxify. Damn the system, it didn't give us any hints."
Roddy's expression darkened for a moment, but then he suddenly spoke up, "Lun Tai, something doesn't seem right. Have you noticed that all those who turned into zombies were Awakened, not ordinary people? Look at all those cars involved in the accident grouped together. I suspect it might be a team of Awakened who collectively got poisoned. In this instance, causing an entire team of Awakened to be poisoned is not an easy task."
"Could it have been the Thornflower Group?" Lun Tai thought for a moment but shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. It's not their style to do something like this. Thornflower Group is ruthless, but I haven't heard of them doing something this devious."
Roddy shook his head, "Let's not dwell on that for now. We need to leave this place immediately. The bus is gone, and we can't just walk. We need to find some means of transportation."
Lun Tai's face looked grim.
Transportation?
In the face of such trouble, in this situation, the safest means of transportation right now would be to have a Thunderstorm Battle Tank!
With that kind of tank, they could just drive through everything without caring about the zombies.
But the problem was, the Thunderstorm Battle Tank was stored in the new storage wristwatch owned by Chen Xiaolian.
The old storage wristwatch, which Chen Xiaolian had previously given to Lun Tai, originally contained two vehicles, a bus, and an off-road vehicle.
The off-road vehicle had been used in Jerusalem when Lun Tai and their group had set out during the first phase to find the target individual. They had encountered the Thornflower Group halfway, who were assassinating other Awakened. Everyone had abandoned the vehicle to escape the battlefield, resulting in the loss of the vehicle.
As for the bus... it had just been scrapped.
Lun Tai pondered for a moment and then said, "The Stonemason Mountain Industrial Park is up ahead. Let's go there and find a vehicle; there should be one available."
He calculated the time, "It's the closest place to us now, and an industrial park is bound to have some means of transportation. Let's pick up the pace and get there."