Apocalypse Chapter 23: Night Rescue

Chapter 23: Night Rescue

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After the Great Crisis, it was the first time Jiang Rong used the car. In the trunk, he put a fuel tank and supplies. Worried about Chu Qiang’s family, he also brought some basic anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. After preparing his self-defense weapons, the vehicle slowly drove out of the garage.

The white SUV wasn’t traveling alone; it was towing the family’s forklift behind it. Jiang Rong parked the car in the yard and made final preparations before departure. The Hongda Gas Station was over twenty kilometers away from his home. With the current situation, there weren’t many supplies on the road. Once they encountered problems, it would be difficult to return.

Little Fairy watched Jiang Rong’s actions from the wall, swaying its thorns trying to get Jiang Rong’s attention. “Master Jiang~ Master Jiang~”

After checking the towing device, Jiang Rong raised his head. “Little Fairy, we’re going out for a bit. Can you watch the house?”

Little Fairy twisted its body. “No problem!”

Thinking about the situation at Chu Qiang’s house, Jiang Rong worried that someone might climb over their yard wall while he was away. After a moment of thought, he instructed, “Little Fairy, if someone tries to climb over our yard wall, you sting them. If you see mutant rats, sting them to death, okay?”

Little Fairy cheerfully responded, “No problem!”

Under the moonlight, the white SUV towing the orange forklift traveled on the mountain road. There weren’t many vehicles on the road near the Lingshan Reservoir, so Jiang Rong drove smoothly.

The sound of rustling from the back seat indicated Jiang Xiaoheng was arranging the snack bags. Jiang Rong glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Jiang Xiaoheng sitting in his safety seat, sorting through the snacks in his backpack. The child seemed to have a touch of OCD, always trying to flatten the puffed-up snack bags.

Considering they might be driving for a long time tonight, Jiang Rong gently said, “Son, if you feel sleepy later, take a nap. Daddy will wake you up when we arrive.”

Jiang Xiaoheng, holding his Beetle backpack, earnestly replied, “No, I want to stay awake. Daddy feels lonely driving alone, so I want to accompany Daddy.”

Jiang Rong’s heart softened, looking at his little son in the rearview mirror. His voice became even gentler, “Okay, if you feel sleepy, take a nap for a while.”

Jiang Xiaoheng tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Then… Daddy, if you feel sleepy, tell me, and I’ll sing to you.”

However, as they reached the town below Lingshan Reservoir, Jiang Xiaoheng started feeling drowsy. His little head leaned against the backrest of the safety seat, nodding off gradually. Jiang Rong turned down the car music to help his son sleep more peacefully.

This journey was destined to be anything but peaceful. Just after leaving the town, the road ahead was blocked. Jiang Rong saw several cars collided with each other, completely blocking the narrow township road.

The windows of these cars were covered in big-headed flies. When the light shone on them, the flies wriggled slowly, making one’s scalp tingle. Underneath the stacked cars, there were traces of a large amount of liquid flowing, and the dark liquid was also crawling with green-headed flies.

Jiang Rong parked the car from a distance and put on two masks from beside him. Opening the door with a bit of force, he accidentally woke up Jiang Xiaoheng. The young child curiously poked his head out from the backseat, “Daddy, the cars are all piled up.”

Jiang Rong rubbed his son’s hair. “Yes, Daddy needs to get out of the car and separate the cars. You and Lele stay in the car.”

Thinking of something, Jiang Rong took out two children’s masks from the driver’s seat and popped two scented beads inside. He then put the masks on his son, saying, “Be good, don’t take off the mask.”

Jiang Xiaoheng liked the cool mint scent of the scented beads. He obediently responded, “Okay, Daddy, be safe.”

After closing the car door, Jiang Rong skillfully moved to the rear of the vehicle. It was time to deploy the forklift. Connecting the orange forklift to the SUV’s rear, as soon as the towing device was released, the forklift would be ready to work.

Before setting off, Jiang Rong had already anticipated the large-scale traffic congestion on the road.

The Great Crisis came suddenly, and some people who were traveling on the road couldn’t make it back home. They collapsed in their cars, becoming obstacles on the road. After the Great Crisis, people in big cities had to find ways to make a living, so there were more vehicles on the road. With no rescue and obstacles everywhere, many vehicles had accidents and couldn’t reach their destinations.

Jiang Rong didn’t know where the cars in front came from or where they were going, but he knew that the people in the cars would never return home again.

The closer he got to the accident vehicles, the stronger the stench became, and even two layers of masks couldn’t block it. Being on the forklift without a windshield or air conditioning was extremely tormenting. Jiang Rong’s mind was focused on one thing: resolve the situation quickly.

Their forklift could bear a load of two tons, more than enough to handle ordinary private cars. As the fork smoothly lifted the SUV’s front, a yellow-green liquid flowed out of the car’s interior, and the green-headed flies attached to the vehicle dispersed with a loud “bang.”

At the moment the flies flew up, Jiang Rong saw the miserable scene inside the car. Even though he was mentally prepared, the sight before him still turned his stomach. The dense flies buzzed around, searching for light sources and random perches. Many flies landed on the forklift, but strangely, not a single fly landed on Jiang Rong.

This helped him immensely. If the flies landed on him, it would be a significant physical and mental challenge. In no time, Jiang Rong cleared a passage through the accident vehicles. He skillfully attached the forklift to the SUV again and continued driving forward. As the vehicles swiftly passed through the accident site, the flies, shaken by the movement, pelted against the SUV’s windows like raindrops.

Jiang Xiaoheng, who had never seen anything like this before, exclaimed, “Daddy, look, why are there so many flies?”

Jiang Rong’s body trembled slightly. His son had asked him the same question in his past life. At that time, he was driving from City C to the Peace Base with his son and Duan Jie, encountering many stranded vehicles along the way. During the journey, his son gradually understood: flies only gather around corpses. Where there are corpses, it means that there was once a living being here that had perished.

As the vehicle continued on its journey, the number of fly-covered vehicles increased. Jiang Xiaoheng went from being puzzled at the beginning to scared, and then to numbness, all within a few hours.

The young child became increasingly silent, and finally, when Jiang Rong cleared a path and continued forward, the child finally let out a soft sob, “Daddy, are they all dead?”

Jiang Rong originally didn’t want to answer this question, but his son was already in this dangerous world, and he had to make him realize the cruelty of life. “Yes, they are all gone.”

Jiang Xiaoheng sniffled softly and asked in a small voice, “Then… will Daddy die too?”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Rong cruelly replied, “Daddy will die too, but Daddy will try harder to live longer. Daddy doesn’t want to leave Xiaoheng. I hope to accompany Xiaoheng for a long, long time.”

With red eyes, Jiang Xiaoheng said, “Daddy, don’t die. Daddy is very strong, Daddy won’t die.”

The journey of over twenty kilometers, under normal circumstances, would take forty minutes, but Jiang Rong drove from nine in the evening until two in the morning. There was a section of road that was heavily congested, and Jiang Rong spent a long time clearing a path.

The car slowly stopped at the entrance of the Hongda gas station, and Jiang Rong’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster. On the way here, he had been worried that Chu Qiang and his family had left after sending the message, fearing that he had arrived too late and something had happened to them.

As soon as the car stopped, Lele couldn’t wait to scratch at the door. After Jiang Rong opened the door, Lele jumped out of the car. Jiang Rong patted his head, “Lele, find Chu Qiang’s car.”

Lele spun in place for a few circles, then wiggled its butt and walked towards several cars parked at the edge of the gas station. Jiang Rong followed closely behind with night vision goggles. Soon, Lele stopped in front of one of the cars and turned its head to look at Jiang Rong.

Seeing the condition of the car, Jiang Rong’s heart sank halfway: all the tires were flat, the front windshield was shattered, and if it weren’t for the familiar license plate hanging on the trunk, Jiang Rong wouldn’t have recognized this as Chu Qiang’s car.

There were some big-headed flies stuck on the car window. Jiang Rong reached out and wiped the window. After the flies and dust fell off, a small clean area appeared on the window.

The car window appeared grayish-blue through the night vision goggles, making it not very clear. Jiang Rong’s breathing became erratic, and he wiped the lens of the night vision goggles with his hand, but his hand was trembling, and after wiping several times, he couldn’t wipe it clean.

As he prepared to get closer to the car window, a big-headed fly outside the car suddenly collided with the lens of the night vision goggles. The suddenly enlarged insect face, under the enhancement of the night vision goggles, looked fierce and terrifying. Jiang Rong’s breathing became chaotic, and his body staggered, almost falling. He quickly grabbed the rearview mirror to steady himself.

Regardless of the outcome, he had to face it. After thinking of this, Jiang Rong took a deep breath and approached the car window.

There was no one in the car!

Jiang Rong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and his lips stiffly curled upwards: it was a good thing that no one was in the car, at least it proved that they still had the ability to act.

The gas station was located next to the national highway, with two or three dozen abandoned cars inside, and several residential houses nearby. Jiang Rong didn’t know if Chu Qiang and his family were hiding in one of the houses. Jiang Rong patted Lele’s head, “Lele, can you smell Chu Qiang’s family?”

Lele looked up at Jiang Rong dumbly. Jiang Rong knew he was making it difficult for the dog. The stench was overwhelming, and Lele’s sense of smell was becoming more acute, only making him dizzy.

Jiang Rong looked at the time, it was already two forty in the morning, and there was still a long time before dawn. He still had time to slowly search for Chu Qiang’s family. At worst, he would search around the gas station. Live to see people, die to see…

In any case, he had to find Chu Qiang’s family.

At this moment, sharp car horn sounds echoed through the entire parking lot. “Beep beep beep, beeeeeeeep-beeeeeeeep-beeeeeep,, beep-beep-beep…”

Jiang Rong looked over in surprise, only to see Jiang Xiaoheng sitting in his driver’s seat, his small hands pressing on the car horn diligently and persistently.

Jiang Rong quickly walked to the front of the car, “What’s wrong, son? Are you scared?” He must have been worried sitting alone in the car for so long while Jiang Rong was searching for Chu Qiang.

Jiang Xiaoheng was indeed a little scared, but he wanted to help Daddy, “Uncle Chu said, if I encounter danger and need help, I should press the horn like this or break something.” After a pause, he added, “Three long, three short. Uncle Chu said that if he hears this sound, he will definitely come to save me.”

Jiang Rong’s eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, why didn’t he think of that? He was too cautious and forgot that he could use the car horn to attract the attention of the living around him. The three long, three short radio distress signal was something Chu Qiang, who liked tinkering with electronics, had told him about. How could he forget?

 

 

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