Rotting Land: Survive-Chapter 435 - 433: Delivery as Promised

Early the next morning, the survivors began a new round of resource transportation preparations as usual.

The personnel remained unchanged as usual, with Wang Zhongyu driving, Xu Renjie leading the team, Tang Xiaoquan as the observer, and Lei Tong and Hua Biao as attackers.

However, while the routine was the same, the mood of the participants varied.

Along the way, Wang Zhongyu, who usually liked to joke, remained uncharacteristically serious because he knew that this journey might become the end of his life.

The car sped quickly, not only due to Wang Zhongyu’s outstanding driving skills but also because the number of zombies roaming the roads was surprisingly few today. To be precise, the survivors barely saw any.

It should be noted that this was something that never happened before, and as the distance to the gymnasium shortened, the scarcity of zombies became more pronounced.

This couldn’t help but make the survivors in the car feel a sense of unease. Of course, it’s not that they regretted or were not used to the absence of zombies but rather that this sudden change gave them an unsafe feeling.

This feeling is an instinctive intuition for survivors in a post-apocalyptic world, hard to describe in words because only those who have been through life and death can gradually understand these survival skills.

Wang Zhongyu watched the road ahead warily, consciously slowing the originally fast speed of the car.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste, especially in such a strange environment. He felt it was safer to slow down.

About five minutes into their journey, the iconic dome design of Yuhuan Gymnasium gradually appeared clearer.

But as the gymnasium became clearer, the survivors’ hearts sank to the bottom.

As far as the eye could see, countless "terrifying figures" were wandering around as if holding a party.

How could this be? That was the initial reaction of the resource delivery team members upon witnessing the scene before them.

Undoubtedly, zombies couldn’t have gathered in one place for no reason. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Could it be that something happened at the gymnasium?

This might be the most plausible explanation currently, but Tang Xiaoquan did not voice his thoughts.

Because he felt that doing so seemed a bit cruel, at least to Xu Renjie, who had high hopes.

So...

"Commander Xu, this road is completely blocked by those beasts! We can’t keep taking risks. It’s too dangerous! I think we should take a detour!"

Turning his body, Tang Xiaoquan leaned his body toward the front of the car using the railing at the rear to let Xu Renjie in the passenger seat clearly hear what he was saying.

Xu Renjie’s eyes furrowed tightly. Indeed, as the young man said, the whole street leading to the gym’s South Gate was blocked by those creatures. Forcing a breakthrough would not only fail to achieve the targeted goal but could also doom the entire team.

Therefore, after weighing options, Xu Renjie decided to change course.

"Xiao Wang, turn right at the intersection ahead! We’re going to the North Gate!"

"OK!" Nodding in response, Wang Zhongyu then stepped on the gas, heading north.

The road north was also quite challenging, with wandering zombies everywhere. As a local, Wang Zhongyu, familiar with the routes and with his skilled driving, managed to navigate through by detouring 2 or 3 kilometers until he found a relatively clear alley to turn into.

Through 5 minutes of arduous traversing, the city management vehicle finally broke through the encirclement and came back to daylight.

Returning to the main road, the path instantly widened, but naturally, it brought along creatures that made people feel nauseated.

These relentless flies, the moment they saw the management vehicle appear, immediately began an excited roaring.

However, the survivors were not particularly interested in their welcome.

Thankfully! Thankfully! The density of zombies here was much less than at the South Gate! Tang Xiaoquan thought to himself.

Soon, the vehicle approached the North Gate.

From a distance, the sharp-eyed Wang Zhongyu saw an abandoned military truck at the North Gate, which seemed to have been attacked judging by the broken glass.

Instinctively, Xu Renjie clenched his fists. The continuous unusual occurrences made him uneasy, and various ominous thoughts continuously surfaced in his mind; he wished he could immediately rush into the gym to find out what was happening.

"Ah! The North Gate is closed! The base should be fine!" As usual, it was Wang Zhongyu who exclaimed, his eyesight as a professional racer was much better than the average person.

His words also brought some hope to the dejected Xu Renjie, who, upon hearing this, urgently waved and said, "Quick! Quick, get the car over there! Get the car over there!!"

Without needing Xu Renjie to say more, Wang Zhongyu steadily parked the vehicle in front of the North Gate, skillfully knocking down some wandering zombies during the process.

Once the vehicle came to a complete stop, Lei Tong and Hua Biao immediately jumped out with their weapons and assumed defensive positions.

"Hey! Brothers in the base! We’ve brought supplies!" Tang Xiaoquan took a deep breath and shouted out loud.

Yet his shout was like a stone sinking into the sea, as there was no response.

In response, Xu Renjie quickly got out of the car to help, and the two began shouting towards the gym’s top, empty of any people.

They put so much effort into calling, but after a minute or so, the inside of the gym remained silent.

This inevitably made the already bad situation even worse.

And just as the survivors were pondering what might have happened inside the base, their calls received a response.

The impact was quite sudden, and almost before the survivors could react, the North Gate was being hit like a battering ram, producing continuous thuds.

By this point, if anyone was still unsure about what was happening at the base, they were either fools or unwilling to accept the reality.

"Commander Xu! We have to temporarily abort today’s mission. We must retreat until we clearly understand the gym’s situation!" Tang Xiaoquan said resolutely because once the creatures at the North Gate broke through, it could mean the end of all their lives.

However, the final decision still lay with Xu Renjie. At least without his command, Lei Tong and Hua Biao would not move.

Even if a democratic decision was made, with a result of 3 to 2, Xu Renjie’s side would still hold the initiative.

Time ticked by second by second, with everyone’s gaze focused on Xu Renjie.

There was no exaggerating that his upcoming decision would directly relate to the life or death of every member here.

To retreat or not to retreat?

Xu Renjie gazed ahead, knowing that his soldiers were beyond that door, and if the base was truly overrun by those creatures, their lives were in imminent danger.

If they were still alive, the sooner he went in, the more hope they would have of surviving.

But going in now, what measures could he take to save them?

Xu Renjie sighed lightly, then slowly gave the command, "We retreat!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read it at m.qidian.com.)