Rotting Land: Survive

The two vehicles traveled in order along the highway, maintaining a distance of nearly 200 meters to prevent any sudden incidents.

As the view was decent, coupled with continuous communication via hand-held radios, Old Xu wasn’t worried about the rear vehicle losing track.

The only concern Old Xu had was that Derek was the guide.

Being new to the area and unfamiliar with the roads, combined with the urgency of the action left no time to plan a route map.

Thus, all routes to the school were entirely dependent on Derek’s guidance.

Old Xu just hoped the young man would be as kind-hearted as he appeared.

But frankly, if he dared to play any tricks, Old Xu didn’t mind.

After all, the escort vehicle’s defense capabilities were right there, unless the opponent had heavy weaponry, it was unlikely police equipment could damage the vehicle.

On the contrary, using the shooting ports of the escort vehicle, they could counterattack from inside the car. It’s possible they might even annihilate the enemy in one go.

After about 15 minutes of travel, Tang Xiaoquan, noticing that the destination hadn’t appeared yet, couldn’t help feeling something was strange.

"Hehe, Little Derek, aren’t we there yet?"

Derek, who was fully focused on guiding Old Xu, heard Tang Xiaoquan’s inquiry from behind, instinctively glancing back.

Derek had a somewhat favorable impression of the young man in the back seat; after all, last night, amidst the unfriendly pressure from the others, only this young man treated him kindly, speaking up for him several times.

If Derek knew that Tang Xiaoquan’s kindness was just part of a scheme to "win him over," would he still think so?

"Almost there, about 10 minutes left," Derek estimated after glancing at the car’s clock.

"10 minutes," Tang Xiaoquan nodded silently, while quickly calculating in his mind.

Adding the previous time spent, it totaled a full 25 minutes...

With this in mind, Tang Xiaoquan gave Derek a meaningful look.

"Little Derek, such a long road, how did you get here originally?"

No doubt, if the other party had used a vehicle, Old Xu’s night search team shouldn’t have completely missed any traces.

In other words, if Derek mentioned any vehicle, it would almost certainly mean he was lying.

As for why he would go to such lengths to lie... Tang Xiaoquan’s hand lightly reached for the edge of the seat, and upon touching the cold blade, he moved up to grasp the handle.

Needless to say, if Derek’s answer was unsatisfactory, Tang Xiaoquan would resort to force to get the truth out of him.

However, unexpectedly, Derek didn’t directly answer the question but casually lifted his foot, took off his shoe, and placed it in front of Tang Xiaoquan: "I relied on this to make the journey."

Speaking, Derek pulled out the four embedded wheels from the shoe’s sole: "I mentioned before, I have two big hobbies, one is playing with cars; the other is extreme sports; skateboarding and skating are among them. Since returning to the mainland, driving was inconvenient due to license issues. So I used these shoes to get around. Didn’t expect them to come in handy in the apocalypse."

With a bitter smile, Derek seemed a bit helpless.

What Derek didn’t know was that Tang Xiaoquan, having listened to his explanation, felt a similar sense of helplessness.

The rich are indeed different; even though Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t guess how much Derek’s shoes cost, just from the point that the shoes remained undamaged after half a year into the apocalypse was enough to affirm their value.

With doubts alleviated, Tang Xiaoquan’s previously suspended heart relaxed a bit as he placed the tightly gripped Steel Blade back in its place.

Everything returned to normal; Derek put on his shoes, turned back to continue guiding Xu Renjie.

Just as Derek estimated, the convoy continued for about another 10 minutes before a tall building emerged on the horizon.

Considering the wide-open surroundings, to avoid exposing their target, Old Xu stopped the vehicle.

"Is that the school you mentioned?" Old Xu asked, pointing at the tall building across from them.

"That’s right, right there. It’s a school built in cooperation between Huaxia and the U.S., with many foreign exchange students coming to the country for their studies."

Old Xu wasn’t particularly interested; prior, to verify Derek’s claims, Xu Renjie had privately consulted with Old Zhao about a few things.

The most crucial point was whether Old Zhao’s daughter was a student of that school.

Undoubtedly, this was extremely important because, regardless of how much Derek’s description of the school girl matched Old Zhao’s daughter,

if she wasn’t a student there, then...

Old Zhao confirmed that his daughter was indeed not a student there, but she’d mentioned before the vacation about visiting a friend.

However, Old Zhao wasn’t sure if the friend mentioned was Demmi.

Retrieving his binoculars, Old Xu carefully surveyed the surroundings.

The area within 300 meters mostly consisted of internet cafes, restaurants, and such small shops, with plenty of zombies wandering outside.

Watching those wandering zombies, Xu Renjie couldn’t help feeling a headache.

It wasn’t difficult to deal with them, but to do so without alerting the zombies inside the school was a whole different level of difficulty.

Even if Old Xu and his team managed to take out the wandering zombies, the process would likely consume much time.

"Hey, how do you usually get past those zombie blockades?" Setting down the binoculars, Old Xu turned his gaze towards Derek in the passenger seat, believing that since this young man had managed to reach their camp alive, he must have a way to traverse the zombie barrier.

Indeed, after Old Xu finished speaking, Derek pointed ahead.

"There, the entrance to the Furious Internet Café, 50 meters southward, you see those two dead bodies on the ground?"

Upon hearing Derek’s response, Xu Renjie quickly raised his binoculars, looking in the direction indicated, and indeed saw two corpses in the distance.

"Hmm, I see them, what about it?"

"Did you notice the manhole cover next to the corpses?"

"I see it!"

"From there, you can directly access the school’s interior."

"Are you sure?" Old Xu doubted as he turned his gaze back, eyes locked intently on Derek.

Feeling slightly uneasy under Old Xu’s piercing gaze, but knowing that avoiding it would only arouse suspicion,

Derek replied firmly while meeting Xu Renjie’s eyes: "I’m certain, that’s the way I’ve always used, and if you’re not at ease, I can lead the way up front."

Nodding, Old Xu saw the young man’s unwavering gaze and sincerity.

However, even so, he didn’t dare let his guard down.

After all, it was their first time in this area; in terms of knowledge of the geography, Derek certainly held the edge.

Thus, they had to be cautious to avoid falling into any traps set by the young man. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)