Soil and mud were blasted off the ground and spewed into the sky like fountains with countless body parts mixed in between. The chaos mixed of soil, body parts, and fragments dropped down like rain and isolated the space within like a brown wall, with only the bright and dazzling flames caused by the explosions visible.
By the side of the eight thick beams of light were several thin beams, some faster, some slower. The dense lights varied in brightness as well, cutting the edge of the sea of zombies like thin blades. Uncountable zombies fell under these lights, while even more zombies stepped on the bodies of their fallen comrades and reinforced the fringe.
“Bang….bang….” Two 70mm incendiary bombs exploded 10 meters apart from each other within the zombie horde, producing an empty circle of 10m radius. The wave of zombies was disrupted temporarily as 10 off-road vehicles suddenly charged in and stopped 100m away from the edge. The machine guns on the fired endlessly against the horde while 40 combat team members quickly unloaded from the vehicles, carrying jerry cans of reserve gasoline closer to the zombies before pouring the contents out.
The two large spaces formed by the explosions were quickly covered up in two minutes. The chaos of zombies at the edge of the horde formed up once again and moved towards the team members in unison. When the frontmost zombie was 30 to 40 meters away from the members, 10 Type-S zombies suddenly pounced towards them. The ordinary zombies behind were stirred as well, although the dense firepower of the HMGs had ripped apart the other zombies around, their speed increased and even started swinging their claws outwards.
Seeing that the zombies were closing in, the survivors threw the jerry cans down and retreated. Right beneath their feet was gasoline, preventing them from using their firearms. One of the newer members saw the wall of zombies approaching and was instantly enveloped in fear. His legs turned weak as he retreated with his comrades, but accidentally tripped over a jerry can thrown by another member. In that instant, the slippery jerry can flew out as he lost his balance. He fell to the ground and twisted his leg.
He tried to climb back up but realized that he could no longer apply strength in his right leg. As he laid on the ground, he saw a Type-S zombie pouncing straight towards him. He screamed in despair but used the last bit of clarity left in him and found a lighter on his body. His current spot was on withered grass covered in gasoline and he was more willing to be burnt to death than to be eaten and ripped apart by the zombies.
He managed to draw the lighter out as he used his trembling thumb and attempted to draw a flame when something suddenly pulled on his leg. His body was instantly hauled along the slippery floor as the sudden force caused the back of his head to hit the floor. His trembling right hand accidentally dropped the single-use lighter as it dropped onto the grass.
His body continued sliding without his control. He turned and looked at the lighter that was moving further and further away, and screamed.
“Fuck…. Damn zombies, why don’t you fucking die….”
When the unfortunate guy fell to the ground, Zhang Xiao Qiang’s heart tensed up. There were more than 10 Type-S zombies behind the man, followed by an uncountable number of ordinary zombies behind. The others had lowered their heads and retreated, obviously this single member was doomed, but his decision to draw out the lighter had been caught by Zhang Xiao Qiang.
“Move there, move there….”
Zhang Xiao Qiang shouted in the vehicle. He was not willing for the member to be burned alive and would rather shoot the man dead himself. This way, he would feel less pain. His off-road vehicle drove straight towards the horde of zombies, leaving the other two in the dust. Seeing that Zhang Xiao Qiang’s off-road vehicle was driving off, they followed behind.
The HMG in Zhang Xiao Qiang’s hands was the Type-24 Maxim HMG and it was the most common weapon found in army camps. The number of other models in total still numbered less than the Type-24. In the past, the country mass-produced Type-53 HMG and gave it to Vietnam, while keeping these old weapons to equip the civilian army against Japan and in the civil war.
Ever since the water-cooled HMGs were installed onto the off-road vehicles, Wang Le modified them, their originally small water base were swapped for larger tanks, automatic water refiller was installed when the amount of water inside the barrel was below a specific light. The Maxim HMG was durable and so long as the rifling within the barrel was maintained, it could fire continuously. As long as the gunner could ensure that the firing pin and shells did not cause any issues, this machine gun could keep on firing.
Since the unlucky member was still far from the HMG’s furthest range, Zhang Xiao Qiang naturally carried on firing.
A robust and muscular member suddenly turned and ran back. He ran over to the member with the sprained ankle, lifted and supported the sprained leg and started retreating. Seeing the teamwork, Zhang Xiao Qiang could not resist but shout out a compliment. When the member turned his body, Zhang Xiao Qiang immediately recognized him. He was the driver that had charged into the horde with him and was the rider that rushed back in the afternoon to ask for rescue.
The speed of the man pulling the team member was naturally slow. In the blink of the eye, the Type-S zombie was catching up. The man did not even look back and focused on supporting the other as they ran, while the man with the sprained ankle started struggling when he saw the zombie catching up.
“Xiao Bu, just run, leave me behind. I’m grateful to you, but if you don’t run now, we will both die…”
The man called Xiao Bu did not reply. He did not have the additional energy to speak and focused on running. In the distance, an HMG fired behind him and protected their rear. It was a pity, aside from three zombies that were shot, the other 10 zombies were already close on their tail.
The team member with the sprained ankle stopped struggling. He laid on the ground and looked up towards the sky as bullets flew past like shooting stars in the sky. He quietly counted down his remaining time left. Although 10m was not far, it was the furthest distance to them at that moment.
A black figure appeared at the corner of his eyes. A Type-S zombie had arrived before them. Another one appeared, and a third one caught up. He quietly counted the seconds with guilt overwhelming him. He felt guilty that he had pulled Xiao Bu down with him. The zombies were right behind them, but Xiao Bu continued sprinting and gasping as he avoided the angles of the machine guns.
Three zombies took action at the same time and pounced towards them. Behind the Type-S zombies, even more, hideous zombies appeared. The member did not close his eyes and watched as the zombies pounced onto him.