Chapter 46

The young man's name was Zhou Yan. When the apocalypse broke out and the guard zone was being converted into a base, he arrived here at once, bringing many of his company's employees with him.
He had no particular skills and still hadn't awakened any special powers, but because he'd rounded up his staff he was doing fairly well in the base.
This scrawny kid in front of him was one of his employees too, a newly graduated intern, small and timid, always hanging back and doing the bare minimum. Zhou Yan had been thinking of throwing him out for dragging the team down, but a few days earlier the kid had turned strangely different. The strangest thing was when Zhou Yan had bumped into him that morning: the kid stared at him for ages, then shouted excitedly, “Zhou Yan! You're Zhou Yan!”
Imagine that, after months of calling him 'Boss Zhou,' the kid didn't even know his name? And he acted as if he'd been searching for him for centuries and finally found him.
Zhou Yan was a sharp operator and paid close attention. He noticed that this intern, Xu Tianjin, had changed in other ways too, as if he were a different person. The look in his eyes was odd: part fear, part conflict, part fawning.
The oddest thing happened today: when the rain started, Xu Tianjin's expression suddenly changed and he insisted, almost desperately, that they return to the base. The rest of them wanted to take shelter and wait for the rain to stop before moving, but Xu Tianjin was so insistent and agitated that Zhou decided to see what was going on and agreed to head back in the rain.
The result was that the rain-soaked zombies went berserk, as if on steroids; they all rose up. Thankfully the group moved quickly, or they'd have been swallowed by the horde.
Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes and patted the shell-shocked Xu Tianjin. “Relax. We're back now. The base walls are solid.”
Xu Tianjin looked at him and came back to himself. “Yeah, yeah. Very solid.”
By then, most people outside the base had made it in, but zombies were still appearing in dribs and drabs. The base began to close its gates.
It was a five-meter-tall gate built from thirty-centimeter-thick steel plates, set into ramparts seven or eight meters high made of even thicker reinforced concrete. The whole structure looked imposing, and when it shut the hum of electricity and the heavy grind of pulleys gave a powerful sense of security.
At that moment a vehicle hurtled through the rain from a distance and someone on it shouted, “Wait, don't close the gate!”
The two gate-guard squads that had already assembled halted. A middle-aged man in a raincoat at the head of them stood inside the gate and called out loudly, “Show your identification. You'll be allowed in after verification.”
Ye Xiao jumped down from the vehicle, soaked through by the rain, and pushed forward. “I'm not from the base. I'm Captain Ye Xiao, leader of the special operations unit codenamed 23***N11. This is my officer ID. A convoy from Yang City is three kilometers out and about to arrive. We request the gates be opened to let us in.”
The man took the soggy officer ID, glanced at it, then looked back at Ye. “I'll verify your identity later. The convoy from Yang City, was it the one led by Major General Xing?”
“No. We split into two groups. The one led by Major General Xing is further behind.”
A subtle change crossed the man's face. “How many people are in this convoy?”
“153,000 people.”
His face fell. “Sorry, every person entering the base must undergo strict checks. Conditions don't allow that today. You can find somewhere to settle for now and come back when the rain stops.”
He began to turn away, but Ye Xiao's eyes went cold and he stepped forward to block him. “This rain is heavy, where do you expect all those people to go?”
The man replied, “That's your problem. If I let you in without inspection, who knows whether someone in your convoy is infected? I have to be responsible for the millions in this base!”
"Report! From the direction of the Ning City, a large horde of zombies is closing in!" someone suddenly shouted. "The commander orders the gates shut immediately!"
The middle-aged man was about to step through the gate: "Close, "
Ye Xiao grabbed him. The man's face changed. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ye Xiao said, "Who is your commander? Let me speak to him."
When Xing Guoliang left, they'd said several factions were fighting for the final leadership spot, now it looked like a result had been reached.
The man snapped, "Who do you think you are?" he barked. "Close the gate!"
Ye Xiao twisted his arm and slammed him into the thirty-centimeter-thick edge of the gate; the man's face hit the cold metal, pressed painfully.
Swish, swish, swish, several guns were suddenly trained on Ye Xiao's head.
The gate hissed as it slid shut; the two men were trapped between the doors' center. If the gates closed fully they'd be crushed. The middle-aged man panicked, "Let go of me! Shoot him! Kill him!"
The gunmen glanced at each other uncertainly. Ye Xiao didn't wait for their hesitation; he waved his hand and a gust of wind knocked them to the ground. Still holding the man, he said coldly, "Let me talk to your commander."
The man gritted his teeth. "Fine. Stop the gate. You, go request permission from higher up to speak."
The person he called was the same private who'd received the order to shut the gate; he had a working radio and hurried to follow the command.
Ye Xiao took the chance to glance into the base.
Inside the gate was a large open area, though not big enough to hold their whole convoy. To the left a broad road led toward what must be a parking lot; as far as the eye could see there were vehicles and a sizable empty field.
The private swiftly relayed the situation, and the request to speak was approved. Ye Xiao still had one hand on the man as he took the radio and repeated his earlier introduction: "I don't have time. Before military channels went down I notified Major General Min that we'd be arriving at Ning City base. He should've been informed. There are 153,000 people in the convoy, plus a number of individuals specifically named by Major General Min for protection. We must enter the base."
After a moment of back-and-forth, Ye Xiao held the phone up to the man's ear. The man nodded obediently and then ordered, "Open the gate. Raise it."
The huge, heavy gate slid aside again. In the downpour the electric sizzle was barely audible.
Ye Xiao released the man. He glared at Ye Xiao fiercely, then reluctantly ordered, "Everyone, provide cover for the convoy as it comes in."
Ye Xiao also explained the situation over his own radio. Within two minutes the serpentine convoy could be seen through the rain; lines of headlights strained through the sheets of water, brightening the storm-darkened sky a little.
Standing in the rain outside the gate, Ye Xiao directed each vehicle through, and over the radio he instructed, "After you pass the gate, turn left into the parking area. Park as tightly as you can to free up space for the vehicles behind you."
In the Fifth Battalion, three people watched the screen anxiously. The blue marker for the front of the convoy had already passed through the base gate, but a long line remained. The yellow arrows representing the zombies were multiplying and drawing closer.
"Hurry up! Move faster!"
Lin Tantan watched those arrows and broke into a cold sweat, if the convoy wasn't fully in, the horde would arrive first...
Ahead, Bai Cheng of the Fourth Battalion saw the same display. He did the math: time was probably running out. The base showed no real eagerness to welcome them; their so-called cover amounted to a few shots from the wall. They still had to rely on themselves.
He grabbed his radio and commanded calmly, "All gun trucks, fall out."
The convoy did include gun trucks; the most powerful was the armored vehicle they had taken from Xing Guoliang. Besides that, under Xu Qin's leadership they’d modified more than twenty others, some fitted with machine guns, some with grenade launchers, some with makeshift cannon barrels. Each unit had two to three.
They'd run into zombie packs on the road before. Their response had been to bunch the convoy together, form a truck perimeter as the first line of defense, with the gun trucks as a second line, hurling munitions into the horde, their firepower had been considerable.
Back then there had been no retreat; everyone had followed orders and stood together. Now, once inside the base they'd be safe. The crews of the gun trucks were ordinary people, who would willingly peel off from the convoy at a moment like this and stay behind to the end...
Sure enough, after Bai Cheng gave the order, only half of the gun trucks obeyed.
Bai Cheng sighed. Fine, you can't force people. Everyone's life is their own; no one can be compelled to give it up for someone else.
The armored vehicle he rode in, of course, fell out.
It was actually an armored personnel carrier with ample space for ten men. It had originally been for Xu Qin, who later ceded it to Bai Cheng; Bai Cheng used it as a mobile command post.
Of course, as a transport vehicle it differed from the assault armored cars, it had no turret, only a single machine gun mounted on the upper left.
Under Bai Cheng's command, a dozen or so gun trucks of varying makes deployed in a straight line on the convoy's left flank, facing the Ning City. As the first wave of zombies began to emerge from distant buildings and closed in fast, the improvised munitions were launched first.
A dark shape arced through the rain and landed in the mass of zombies, exploding into countless fragments, tearing down swathes of the horde or blasting up chunks of wet earth and sending the zombies flying.
Only then did the Fifth Battalion begin to enter the base.
Inside the cargo hold, Lin Tantan and Mei Baisheng exchanged a glance. "Are we going?"
"Let's go."
Saying that, they opened the rear of the cargo hold and rain came pouring in. The pickup truck behind them jolted in surprise.
Jiang Xiaotian watched them and said, "Be careful."
Mei Baisheng waved at him, then grabbed Lin Tantan and leaped out of the vehicle, moving so quick and nimble that they darted away from the convoy.
Jiang Xiaotian sighed, a little envious, if only he had powers. He glanced back and saw the rain nearly soaking his precious equipment, and hurriedly fumbled to shut the door.
Mei Baisheng and Lin Tantan reached the armored vehicle in a flash. He climbed up first and hauled Lin Tantan up with him. One of the men on the armored car, gripping a machine gun and watching for zombies to come into range, jumped in surprise.
Bai Cheng, who poked his head out of the command turret to the right of the machine gun, was startled too. "What are you doing here?"
"Cut the crap," Mei Baisheng said. "Any guns? Give me something heavy-hitting."
Lin Tantan, with a frank shake of her head, said, "I don't want a gun. I'm a terrible shot."
Bai Cheng eyed them for a moment, then climbed down to fetch a gun for Mei Baisheng, a machine gun, ridiculously heavy, the kind whose belts of ammo could wrap around your shoulder several times; it belonged to the armored vehicle.
By then the first wave of zombies had been mostly knocked down by a burst of ammunition, but more kept coming without end.
Lin Tantan wore a baseball cap pulled low to keep the rain out of her eyes. She squinted at the shapes of zombies materializing through the sheets of rain.
Some sagged with necks dangling like they'd fall off, some missing arms or with legs broken, faces pallid and rotted, bellies ripped open with entrails spilling out.
They kept coming in a rumbling, relentless tide.
Lin Tantan tried to marshal the rain all around her, but it wouldn't work, her water abilities weren't strong enough. She could move the rain, but it wasn't lethal. And in a downpour, fire powers were out of the question.
There was also earth.
Huh, better stick with metal for now.
She flicked her fingers and countless slivers of metal light sliced through the rain, stabbing into the skulls of the zombies. Wave after wave fell, her reaping was devastating.
Mei Baisheng hoisted the machine gun and stood rigid on the vehicle, rattling off a fierce spray of bullets. He looked ridiculously badass, and even let out a few throaty roars to hype himself up.
One wave fell, then another swarmed up, endless, and not coming from a single direction. Some charged the convoy, but more were heading straight for the base. A settlement of millions looked, to the zombies, like a chunk of meat so tantalizing it smelled from miles away.
Gradually, ice users arrived, then lightning, earth, wind…
One ability-user after another stepped out of the convoy. Some ran out of energy after a few volleys and fell back; others held out longer. A few squads fanned out and used their guns to suppress the horde with raw firepower.
"Meimei!" Lin Tantan shouted suddenly.
The armored vehicle was on the outer edge of the convoy, farthest from the base and taking the brunt of the attack. Besides the wave that had broken out from the Ning city direction, another group came up from the flank. With the zombies overwhelming them, some were about to be pushed inside the safe perimeter by that flank.
Mei Baisheng glanced over, set the machine gun down, sat cross-legged on the vehicle facing the horde, took a deep breath, and let out a ferocious shout. An absolute black spread out from his palms, radiating from him and forming an irregular, viscous dark field stretching thirty meters ahead.