Dr2616-10-29,am9:16
A team is hiking on a rugged mountain road in the northern part of the Red Rock Mountains.
Surrounded by barren mountains, the red rocks stand tall and bare, with only weeds growing in the gaps or covered with dry moss.
This team has different costumes, including men and women, old and young. It does not look like a team working in the mountains, but more like tourists traveling outdoors.
But there is no scenery to see here, only endless red weathered rocks.
Walking at the front of the team was a tall man wearing a camouflage vest, showing the strong muscles of his arms. His head was wrapped in red cloth, a combat dagger was tied to his chest, and an assault rifle was hung across the large bag on his back. He looked like a mercenary who often walked in the wild.
Behind the man was a blond girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with two braids on the back of her head and an Uzi submachine gun hanging on her chest.
Like the man in front of her, she was carrying a huge luggage. The luggage looks very heavy and leaves deep footprints wherever it goes. In comparison, it was a bit out of place with her slender figure. It's easy to see that she's more evolved than the rest of the team.
Although the others were also carrying bags, they were nowhere as big and heavy as hers.
The girl's eyes are sharp, and even in this barren stone mountainous area, she is still looking around, full of curiosity.
Walking behind the girl was a woman in her early forties. She looked a little tired. There were beads of sweat on her forehead. She took out a handkerchief to wipe it from time to time. Although his face and clothes were stained with a lot of red dirt and looked a little embarrassed, he could still see his pampered nobility.
Behind them are two men and two women. The older man is dressed as a butler, followed by a handyman, a maid and a cook.
Perhaps they were all a little tired from the long journey. No one in the team spoke, and they all walked silently.
While passing by an abandoned mine, a faint sound suddenly came from the dark mine.
The man at the front immediately raised his palm to signal the people behind him to stop, and then leaned forward to check.
"Hululu, hululu..."
The sound became clearer and clearer, like heavy and turbid breathing.
"Ah!" The middle-aged maid in the back exclaimed loudly because she was too nervous and stepped on a stone and fell.
Suddenly, a low roar sounded in the mine, and footsteps were messy, as if something was rushing out.
The man's expression changed greatly. As he unloaded his bag and picked up a gun, he shouted back: "Living corpse, it's a living corpse, get ready to fight!"
The others hurriedly threw down their bags and looked for cover, but the girl looked excited and jumped directly onto the raised rocks with her bags on her back to occupy the commanding heights.
"Whoa whoa!"
In the blink of an eye, a large number of living dead poured out of the mine. Their skin was shriveled, their eyes were sunken, and they wore broken safety helmets on their heads. They threw themselves at the team with outstretched hands.
The sallow skin sticks to the bones, the knuckles are distinct, and the nails are black and sharp, reflecting the cold light in the sun.
"Come back quickly, it's dangerous ahead!" The lady hurriedly took out a small pistol from her handbag, hid behind the rock, and shouted anxiously to the girl. As a mother, you worry about your children at all times.
"Old woman, just take care of yourself!" The girl looked at the living dead rushing out and said without looking back, "Don't shoot yourself or hit me."
The living dead roared and rushed over, their mouths wide open to the limit drooling, their faces hideous and terrifying.
"Come on, big silly dog!"
The girl screamed, picked up the Uzi submachine gun and fired wildly.
The hot bullet hit the living corpse, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. The helmet on the head was smashed to pieces, and corrupted plastic pieces were scattered on the ground.
As one of the most classic firearms, the Uzi submachine gun is still one of the mass-produced firearms after the Cataclysm. The reliable design, compact gun body, and large-capacity fifty-round magazine are deeply loved by female warriors.
On the other side, male soldiers held assault rifles and continued to fire. The zombies rushing in front were shot in the head and fell straight down.
Compared to the girl's random shooting, his shooting was much more accurate, relatively save on ammunition, and efficient.
After one round of shooting, one-third of the living corpse fell.
"Kakaka..."
After firing the bullets, the girl quickly took off the magazine, took out a new one from the side pocket of her backpack, loaded it, and continued shooting.
In less than three minutes, all the living corpses were eliminated. A few scattered ones rushed out of the mine, and were killed by the male soldier who stepped forward to check with his pistol.
"It's a living corpse in the mine."
The male warrior judged.
During the cataclysm, many people who were infected with the zombie virus but had not yet become ill were driven into abandoned mines and then blown up section by section, burying them alive inside.
The method is very cruel, but it is a helpless move.
After a long period of time, these living corpses dug through the soil and crawled out.
The red earth world is very large. The equator is close to 120,000 kilometers, which is 2.9 times that of the earth. Therefore, the population in its heyday was very large.
According to historical records, the total human population before the cataclysm reached 50 billion.
After the catastrophe, only 70 million people remained. In other words, nearly 50 billion humans died during the Cataclysm.
According to a rough statistics made by the Human Survival Committee, excluding those killed and devoured by undercurrent creatures during the cataclysm, or those killed by humans themselves after the outbreak of the zombie virus, the number of living zombies in existence is close to 700 billion.
That’s right, that’s 700 billion.
Because in addition to the 35 billion living corpses produced by the red earth world itself, there are also living corpses of humans from other worlds brought here by the undercurrent of time and space.
There is such a description in the history books.
"The stiff corpses poured out of the alien space like a flood, like the Styx in hell."
"The entire city was covered and destroyed with corpses, and the subways and sewers were filled with corpses."
"People have become accustomed to the smell of corpses, as if it's just part of the air."
“The crows swarmed like locusts, covering the entire sky.”
"Some of the corpses came to life. They grabbed the crows that had no time to fly away and stuffed them into their mouths. Blood and black feathers were scattered everywhere."
"If this is God's punishment for humans, it would be too cruel..."
Hundreds of billions of living corpses are hidden in the soil and ruins, appearing from time to time.
Due to the huge number, scattered distribution, and full of various uncertainties, as long as there is no major incident, the local governing body will not send people to clean it up, which is a waste of manpower and material resources.
This thing is just like post-war mine clearance, which is extremely difficult and can only clear areas with densely populated areas, while uninhabited areas are usually ignored. To achieve complete cleaning, the amount of manpower and material resources consumed is absolutely astronomical.
There are 700 billion living corpses, and the current population is only more than 3 billion. You can use your toes to think that cleaning them up is impossible.
However, it is precisely because of these large and ubiquitous living corpses that they support a large number of low-level mercenaries and corpse dealers. After all, mutated creatures are generally powerful, but living corpses are relatively weak. Living corpses are hunted and sold to corpse merchants, who then send them to factories to refine low-level evolution potions.
These evolution potions will be sold back to mercenaries, thus forming a complete industrial chain.
Moreover, living corpses are also the main food source for mutated creatures. Without these living corpses,
Corpses, mutated creatures can only eat humans.
"Further ahead is the border between Chiyan Principality and Red Dragon Principality. There are intermittent network signals there."
The male soldier took out a simple map and checked it while saying, "There will be no signal after crossing the border. Send emails as soon as possible. There is a large refugee village twelve kilometers away. We will try to get there before dark."
"Is it safe?" the lady asked worriedly.
"Who knows." The male warrior shrugged.
"I must remind you, Mr. Brooke, that your answer is a bit perfunctory." The lady said seriously, "Don't forget, you promised Miss Ghost Fox to deliver us safely to our destination."
This group of people was Ursula, her daughter Margulies and four servants who escaped from the Ice Blue City according to the arrangements of the ghost fox.
And this male warrior named Brooke was entrusted by Ghost Fox to escort them to Orchid Town as their guard and guide.
According to Guihu, her previous man was a second lieutenant of the Royal Guards of Ice Blue City. He was later killed by his so-called friend. Guihu avenged him, so he was dismissed from his post and exiled to the Black Death Continent. Brooke is her man's cousin, and because of this relationship, he is more reliable.
"There is no absolute safety in the wilderness." Brooke said, "If you can bear not taking a shower for a few days, and you won't complain about mosquitoes at night, we can just find a place to camp."
Mrs. Ursula thought for a moment, glared at this free and undisciplined guy, and said, "I hope you keep your promise and don't play tricks."
"Madam, what tricks can I play? Your daughter is already a quasi-guardian, what can I do as an elite?" Brooke said with a grimace. Along the way, the other party was so suspicious that it almost drove him crazy.
"That's because she is diligent enough and inherited her father's noble bloodline." Mrs. Ursula raised her chin with pride on her face.
"Yes, yes, you are saying..." Brooke echoed, turning his head and making a face, without much awe.
Although Lady Ursula is the widow of an earl and has a high title, her actual status is not very high because her husband, Earl Ursula, is only an honorary noble.
Honorary nobles refer to nobles without fiefdoms, and there is an essential gap between them and powerful nobles. For example, although the head of the Ye Yang family, Ye Yang Zhengxiong, is only a viscount, he has actual control over several streets in Gray Corner City and can continue to generate benefits and maintain the family's operations.
The Ursula family, relying purely on wages and title subsidies, could not afford to support many people.
Although their titles are high, their actual status may not be as high as that of the mayor of an edge town.
"Ignore her, she's just an old antique." Margulies patted Brooke on the shoulder and caught up from behind.
"Madam's worries are not entirely unreasonable. We just need to be careful," Brooke said.
"What a boring guy." Margulies rolled her eyes with a very unhappy expression, then took out a square candy bar, tore off the wrapping paper and threw it into her mouth.
"Snapped!"
As the pink bubbles exploded, Mrs. Ursula's voice sounded from behind, "Margulies, how many times have I told you, bubble gum is not something a lady should touch."
"Oh~"
Margulies was perfunctory and quickened her pace. She had quasi-guardian strength and disappeared in a flash.
"This kid is really pissing me off!" Mrs. Ursula stamped her feet angrily, and the old housekeeper and maid hurriedly came forward to comfort her.
"The young lady is still in the rebellious stage of youth, madam, don't be angry." "Yes, yes."
"When you see her master, you must let him take good care of him. If you don't take care of this guy anymore, it will be a disaster." Mrs. Ursula said, rubbing her forehead.
