The sudden, violent manifestation of Su Xiao’s subconscious power had left the small administrative office in dusty shambles.
Shattered glass lay across the concrete floorboards like a layer of coarse salt, glinting under the weak morning light.
Despite the initial panic that had rippled through the soilders, the imdiate dical crisis demanded cold precision. They were not completely helpless; their trucks carried advanced dical equipnt and a robust supply of specialized ergency pharmaceuticals from their long journey.
For nearly three grueling hours, the crossroads outpost beca a makeshift triage center.
Zhou Ming, the unit’s specialized combat dic, worked in seamless synchronization with Lin Qing, whose sharp, efficient movents showed no trace of hesitation.
They hooked Su Xiao up to a portable vital-signs monitor, the small machine emitting a steady, rhythmic beep that cut through the tense silence of the room. Ard with high-potency antipyretics and baseline cellular stabilizers designed to mitigate the agonizing thermal spikes, they thodically managed the child’s soaring temperature.
Slowly, the terrifying, dry heat radiating from the little girl’s skin began to recede. The deep crimson flush on her face faded back into a pale, exhausted complexion.
By the third hour, the monitor indicated her vitals had plateaued into a stable, non-lethal zone. She had not yet regained consciousness—her small, five-year-old body was trapped in a deep, protective comatose state, a necessary biological hibernation required to process the massive genetic restructuring of her newly awakened telekinetic strain.
"She’s stable enough to travel," Zhou Ming reported, wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead as he packed the monitoring leads away into his kit. "Her cellular structure has accepted the strain. The rest is just physical exhaustion. She’ll survive the ride."
With the dical ergency managed, the order to mobilize was given. The soldiers moved with the practiced, silent efficiency of elite operatives, hauling their heavy gear and toolboxes back out to the courtyard, securing every latch manually.
Before the heavy armored gates were swung open, Han Zheng approached Sergeant Kwang. The local outpost commander looked incredibly tired, his face lined with the grim reality of defending an isolated crossroads with dwindling resources.
Han Zheng reached into his vest and pulled out a rare, heavily sealed package: a collection of intact, premium spices, salt, and dried seasonings. In a bleak, gray apocalypse where survival usually tasted like unflavored, nutrient-dense paste, actual flavor was a massive luxury—a profound morale booster for a squad of isolated n.
Sergeant Kwang’s eyes widened slightly as his calloused hands took the package. He swallowed hard, offering a deep, profoundly respectful salute. "Thank you, Commander. May the road ahead clear for you."
"Stay alert, Sergeant," Han Zheng replied simply, turning back toward the vehicles.
The convoy rolled out past the concrete barriers and back onto the open highway.
Inside the SUV, the atmosphere was thick with hyper-vigilant tension. Han Zheng steered the heavy vehicle with absolute concentration, his sharp eyes constantly scanning the gray, ruined horizon. Lin Qing sat in the passenger seat, a regional topographical map spread across her lap, her fingers tracing their projected route. In the back seat, Gu An sat quietly, her hand resting gently on the sleeping Su Xiao, who remained curled beneath a thick wool blanket, her pink cartoon backpack tucked safely at her feet. Beside them, Han Ye sat perfectly upright, his mind quietly analyzing the structural stability of the convoy.
Hours bled into one another as the tires humd against the asphalt. The research center was now less than a single day’s drive away, yet a deep, unsettling dread began to perate the cabin.
The highway was entirely, unnaturally empty again.
For miles, they hadn’t encountered a single low-level infected. There were no stray wanderers shuffling along the shoulders, no lesser variants trapped in the drainage ditches, and no signs of recent feeding frenzies.
The absolute lack of zombies was a terrifying anomaly. In this world, an empty territory didn’t an safety; it ant a territorial apex predator had either cleared the land, consud the lesser dead, or drawn the entire local population to a single, centralized point. Every soldier in the communication loop was on high alert, their fingers resting tightly against the triggers of their weapons.
By mid-afternoon, the ominous silence manifested into a tangible obstacle. As the convoy rounded a wide, sweeping bend near an abandoned suburban transition zone, the lead transport truck ground to a sudden halt, its brake lights flaring red.
A massive, complex barricade completely choked the highway. It wasn’t an accidental pile-up; it was an intentional, reinforced blockade consisting of flipped civilian buses, rusted construction scaffolding, and heavy concrete dividers dragged across the asphalt lanes. To keep making ti toward the research center, they had no choice but to clear a path manually.
"Periter watch, step out," Han Zheng’s voice crackled over the short-range radio. "Clear it fast."
The division of labor was instantaneous. The soldiers possessing physical and elental powers stepped forward to handle the heavy lifting. Xiao Li activated his ’Stone Armor’ power, his skin turning into a dense, gray mineral layer as he braced his massive shoulders against a flipped civilian car.
Lieutenant Chen used his thermal manipulation to heat the twisted structural steel of the scaffolding, rendering it malleable and soft so Da Yong could hook it to a heavy tow winch and drag it out of the lane.
The non-powered specialists ford a strict defensive periter around the vehicles, their rifles raised to cover the surrounding tree lines and the empty highway embanknts. Lin Qing stepped out of the SUV, remaining close to the vehicle’s fra, her eyes tracking the lines of the printed map against the actual terrain.
They had cleared nearly eighty percent of the debris, creating a narrow lane just wide enough for the heavy transport trucks to squeeze through, when a sudden, chilling shift occurred in the ambient air.
Inside the SUV, Han Ye’s eyes snapped open, his body going entirely rigid. His mind, deeply attuned to the distinct, foul frequency of mutated energy, detected a sudden, massive wave of hostile intent originating from the dense woodland sector just beyond the highway exit. The sheer volu of malignant presence was staggering, far eclipsing the standard chaotic noise of a regular human horde.
Simultaneously, out on the asphalt, Han Zheng’s senses flared violently. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, a primal, evolutionary instinct screaming at him that a massive, overwhelming threat was closing the distance at terrifying speed. He snapped his head toward the eastern tree line, his eyes narrowing to slits as his perception of ti slowed under the sudden rush of adrenaline.
Lin Qing, completely unaware of the invisible sensory alarm, was looking down at the regional map. Her thumb slid across a green, grid-marked sector located just half a mile off the upcoming highway ramp. Her eyes locked onto the printed label: Municipal Wildlife and Zoological Conservatory.
The realization hit her mind like a physical blow. A zoo. A concentrated population of baseline physical predators, all potentially exposed to the initial viral downpour without human constraints.
Before she could even lift her head to relay the critical information to the squad, Han Zheng’s booming, authoritative voice echoed across the open highway, shattering the silence with absolute panic.
"Back in the vehicles! Now! Abort the clearing! Get in and start driving!"
The sheer urgency in the Commander’s voice triggered an imdiate, instinctual reaction. The soldiers dropped their tools and scrambled backward, diving into the cabs of the transport trucks. Lin Qing threw herself back into the passenger seat of the SUV, slamming the heavy armored door shut just as Han Zheng twisted the ignition, the powerful engine roaring to life with a desperate growl.
Up ahead, Da Yong slamd the lead transport truck into gear, gunning the throttle to force the massive vehicle through the unfinished, narrow gap in the barricade, scattering smaller pieces of loose debris across the road.
But they were already too late to avoid the collision entirely.
The dense tree line along the highway embanknt didn’t just rustle—it completely exploded outward. Heavy pines snapped like toothpicks under imnse physical pressure, and the chain-link periter fences were flattened instantly into the frozen dirt.
Through the cloud shattered bark, and dust, a small, terrifying army of zombified animals ca tearing onto the asphalt, moving with a frenzied, unnatural speed that defied their natural anatomy. These were not human infected; these were massive, structurally augnted beasts with rotting, gray flesh hanging from exposed muscle tissue, their dead, milky-white eyes locked onto the moving convoy.
A massive, mutated black bear with exposed rib cages led the charge, its jaws dripping with black fluid, flanked by a pack of skeletal wolves and the terrifyingly agile fras of infected big cats, their jaws distended and snapping. The zombified stampede roared onto the highway, a horde of apex predators turning the empty road into a chaotic, living nightmare as they tore straight toward the defensive line of the vehicles.
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