Chapter 48: Seeing a D2 Again!
Dawn was the best time during the day, and it was no exception during the apocalypse. Zhang Xiao Qiang drove the tractor on the main road, with WH City as the final destination. WH City was after all the capital, and there would be a stronger degree of importance attached to it as compared to the other prefectural cities. Coupled with the Armed Police Force, there would definitely a huge number of survivors stationed there.
The survivability of people in this apocalypse was really too low. Although an otaku didn’t need too many bonds or relationships with other people, one could not be sealed up in a mountain for his entire life. He would need society and a breath of air with others as well. More importantly, he needed things to do and spend his time. An otaku, after all, was termed as an otaku because there’s nothing else in his life. He just wanted to spend his time here on earth. An otaku didn’t fit in anywhere, and he would not care how others view him, as long as there was a space for himself in this harsh world.
An otaku liked to view the world from a bystander’s point. They might not be seen, or might be obscure, but they had their own place in life, their own ways of thinking, and it wasn’t forced upon on them. With their own world, they can ignore any authoritative thinking and can exercise critical reasoning. That was because they had their own culture.
However, even their own space could not be separated from the actual world. Most of them had to live like shut-ins, tolerating the looks and criticism of others.
Why was it that people were unaccepting of such otakus, yet the number of otakus was growing in the world? That was because otakus had begun to harbor thoughts of freedom, they weren’t willing to be judged according to societal norms. They might not be accepted in a large part of society, but they could live with themselves with a sense of identity.
The morning sun wasn’t particularly hot, and there was even a coolness in the air. As the wind blew on one’s face, it felt refreshing. Yang Ke’er was sleeping like a pig in the trunk, and even the noise generated from the journey could not affect her sleep.
Thinking back to her performance last night, Zhang Xiao Qiang thought: “What a fool!” Yet, the corners of his mouth were arched up in a smile, after all, her thought process had been centered around him. It felt gratifying, no wonder some of the otaku-seniors he knew liked to play games with developing relationships.
“There’s something!” Suddenly, he caught sight of something and brought the tractor to a sudden halt, pulling out his binoculars to take a look.
There was a small river about 300-400m in front, and there was a concrete bridge above the river. It was not huge, at most about 10m in length, and 8m wide. A long-distance bus had crashed into the fence on the left of the bridge, forming a sort of “人” character.
The right side of the fence and the bus had about a 3 to 4m gap, which was just nice for a small car to pass through. However, there were already several zombies there.
If it was before, Zhang Xiao Qiang would have gotten Yang Ke’er to go clear the zombies together with him. However, after the 2 near-death experiences, he became more wary and cautious. He got down from the car and went up to a small dune ahead to observe.
As he laid prone on the ground, the angle was clearer for him. He could see that the coach was a 12m-long King Long bus, its body painted bright red. The bus had slammed into the opposite end of the bridge, knocking off a chunk. The bridge was filled with about 50 zombies, although there were no evolved ones to be seen.
There was even a banner that read “From SZ City to J City”. After crossing the bridge, it would be a short distance before reaching J City. It must have been the driver’s intention to leave the public road to head towards J City through here.
Thinking back to the highway, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt depressed again. Just a day earlier, he had wanted to experience driving a tractor on the highway, who knew that after driving just a few li, he came across an exit, and felt like he had entered an abandoned car dump like in the movies.
All sorts of vehicles, regardless of make or model, were sprawled out all across the highway, with plenty of collisions as though they were ingredients in a pot of stew. Some of the crashes had resulted in a vehicle stack of about 7-8m high, and a few had burnt together, leaving only a charred exterior. There were zombies and bones everywhere, and it truly looked like a scene from an apocalypse.
Left without a choice, Zhang Xiao Qiang had then gone back to the old road.
As he observed the situation in front, he heaved a sigh of relief. As long as there were no evolved zombies, it wouldn’t be a problem. Just as he was about to get back up, he realized something was off.
Near the area where the road met the bridge at the opposite end, there were 4 or 5 cars in a collision, each of them looking like twisted metal. However, the doors of all the vehicles had been torn and thrown aside, at least a distance of a dozen meters. This was definitely not the strength of a normal zombie!
The temperature was slowly rising and perspiration dripped from his forehead. The longer he prone, the more stifled he felt. However, he did not dare leave to it chance, and continued to observe longer. He didn’t know the area well, and the map only showed this way towards the capital. However, he would go around it if he had to, rather than face the risk and go through the river.
The zombies at the opposite end of the bridge began to move, as though they were getting out of the way when suddenly a huge D2 appeared from the vehicles.
The moment the D2 appeared, Zhang Xiao Qiang’s heart turned cold. The previous encounter with a D2 was a nightmare he did not wish to revisit. He could never forget the terror as he was on top of the roof of the bus. He also could not forget the heart-pounding moment when the D2 had almost reached the toilet window he was getting out from.
He turned around and wanted to leave. He was terrified, and to him, facing the D2 was comparable to a karate expert facing a fleet of advanced tanks. Even the sniper bullet that could pierce metal only caused a scratch on the D2’s skin. He had no confidence of winning against it, not even the Beast Horn Spear that could pierce through diamond gave him the confidence.
The D2 walked up to the bridge and stopped. Zhang Xiao Qiang saw it sniffing the air when it suddenly bellowed in rage, which he could hear even from such a distance away.
“Shit.” He was shocked and realized that the wind blew his scent towards the D2, and it had already noticed his presence.
He leaped up quickly and ran towards the tractor, stepping on the accelerator and turned around to drive towards the road.
Zhang Xiao Qiang wanted to increase the speed, but suddenly, the tractor began to fail at this critical moment, its speed decreasing rapidly until it came to a stop and died.
“Fuck!” He remembered that he forgot to refuel when they left. They had always refueled when it was out of diesel, now there was no time for regrets.
He quickly woke Yang Ke’er up, who was still groggy, and grabbed the Beast Horn Spear and hoisted the bag of stuff as they ran towards the field.
“Uncle, why are we hiding,” Yang Ke’er asked curiously as she was pulled along by him.
“Zombie!” Zhang Xiao Qiang did not bother to turn around to see if the D2 did chase after them, even though there must be at least a 2km distance between them.
“Che! Uncle, what’s there to be afraid of? Watch me take care of them.” Yang Ke’er did not understand the situation and turned around to welcome battle.
Zhang Xiao Qiang’s strength could not match hers and was dragged by her. He became anxious, and spoke: “It’s an evolved, and it must be the 2nd time!” He could not help but try to explain the situation.
“How many?” Yang Ke’er paused to ask.
“1!” By now, he was beginning to feel embarrassed. After all, he had killed his fair share of zombies before, and now he was acting like a mouse, scurrying around.
“It’s really powerful, even arrows can’t damage him!” Zhang Xiao Qiang hurriedly piped in, covering his cowardice.
“Is it fast?” Yang Ke’er was beginning to understand, according to game logic, it was like meeting a boss. A strong and fast BOSS was not something they could provoke at this point.
“Not really! It should be at the same speed of a normal person’s jog!” He thought back to the first time he came across the D2!
“Then there’s no need to be scared! According to my gaming experience, as long as it doesn’t touch us, we can slowly grind it down!” Yang Ke’er was extremely proud of her own gaming and proceeded to walk towards the bridge.