Biological Armor in the Apocalypse

Chapter 4: Disappear Immediately

The once brightly lit gas station was now shrouded in darkness, with numerous vehicles parked end-to-end, forming a circle that enclosed the pumps and the convenience store within.

Old Cat leaned against a tree trunk, keeping watch, adjusting the position of his night vision goggles on his face, and couldn't help but recall the scene he had witnessed that afternoon.

The captain, along with Lei Xiang and four other team members, had taken over the gas station against all odds. It was an impossible feat!

This Lei Xiang was like a zombie radar, and the term 'zombie'... Old Cat had begun to accept this designation.

These creatures, still lively despite taking multiple bullets, were exactly like the zombies from novels and movies, except they didn't infect others. Wait, infection? Old Cat suddenly shivered, realizing they had overlooked an important detail—there had been no checks on the civilians. What if someone had been scratched or bitten? What if there was an outbreak among them?

Old Cat didn't dare to think further and quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie to call out, "Captain, Captain, this is Old Cat, I have a situation to report! In person."

"I'm on my way," came the reply through the earpiece.

Soon, Old Cat saw a figure darting out of the convenience store and rushing towards him. In a few quick moves, Han Ting climbed the tree and, with his g*n in hand, pressed against the trunk, cautiously observing the surroundings.

"What's the situation?"

"Captain, what exactly are we facing here? If these are zombies, are they infectious? What if someone among the civilians has been scratched or bitten and suddenly there's an outbreak? The consequences would be dire!"

Han Ting frowned and replied, "Old Cat, don't talk nonsense. We have no evidence to suggest this is a... biochemical crisis."

"How much more evidence do we need? We've tried numerous methods to contact our superiors and have gotten nowhere! The zombies we've been forced to kill, we can't just knock them down, we have to kill them..."

"I understand, but this mission is under my responsibility, and I gave the order to shoot. We can't just arbitrarily label them..."

"But being shot multiple times and still not dying unless you shoot them in the head? Having scars all over, half your face gone, guts hanging out, and still moving around to hurt people? And that Dr. Chen transforming right in front of you, jumping three or four meters high! Isn't this a zombie outbreak?"

Han Ting fell silent, not knowing how to respond to Old Cat's questions. He was also filled with doubts; everything they had encountered today had long surpassed his understanding.

"Captain, even if we can't individually screen the more than a dozen civilians we've saved, we should at least keep them separate from our people. We're down to just twelve of us... If we lose any more, we might never make it back to camp."

Han Ting looked up at the dark sky in the distance. He used to enjoy standing on high ground and gazing at the night scenery, admiring the sight of thousands of lights. But tonight, all he could see was darkness, not a single light, and the faint hum of vehicles was gone. Everything felt surreal.

"We can't isolate them. Notify the brothers to keep watch over the civilians at night, that's all we can do..." Han Ting finally couldn't bring himself to make the harsh decision.

Old Cat didn't speak, just held his sniper rifle in silence for a moment before slowly saying, "We must try to survive. We've grown up together, remember my sister is waiting for you to marry her..."

Han Ting lightly kicked Old Cat on the shoulder, turned around, and jumped down. The voice from below carried a hint of banter, "Flirting with a superior, you're punished! You'll be on watch in the tree tonight!"

When Han Ting pushed open the door of the convenience store and returned to the bonfire, all the team members stopped what they were doing and looked over.

"Fall in, arrange the next task!"

Han Ting walked to a corner of the convenience store, leaned against the wall, and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, beginning to search his other pockets.

Click. The sound of the lighter was crisp, and the orange flame made Han Ting squint his eyes.

Lei Xiang was grinning, holding the lighter, but his gaze was fixed on the cigarette in Han Ting's hand.

"Here, pass them out." Han Ting threw the cigarettes to Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang chuckled, distributed the cigarettes to the surrounding soldiers, and without a second thought, put the rest in his pocket, moving to one side.

"Tonight, we'll divide into three groups..." Han Ting had everyone sit down and start arranging the work, completely ignoring the cigarette thief, Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang sat to one side, rubbing his forehead. The number of times he had sensed things this afternoon was too many, and now his head was still throbbing painfully.

Knocking the cigarette pack, he put one in his mouth and stared absently at the swirling smoke.

"Mr. Lei, the captain wants you over there." A soldier smiled at Lei Xiang, who had proven to be a human radar during the afternoon's operation, and the soldiers who had participated showed him respect.

"Okay, thanks." Lei Xiang stood up, rubbed his temples, and walked over.

The other soldiers had dispersed, some going to sleep, others maintaining their weapons, but they subtly surrounded all the civilians in the middle, and in the shadows of the corner, fully armed soldiers silently watched the civilians by the bonfire.

"Sit." Han Ting didn't get up, still leaning against the wall corner.

"What's up?" Lei Xiang sat down next to him without ceremony, continuing to rub his temples, the headache getting worse.

"Your head hurts?" Han Ting noticed Lei Xiang's movements, "Uncomfortable?"

"I guess it's an overuse of the brain, my head hurts a lot."

"Thanks for this afternoon, you were very brave, did well." Han Ting was completely hidden in the shadows, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

"Don't mention it, who else is going to pay for my car if you all die?" Lei Xiang laughed, putting down his hands and taking out another pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lighting one up.

Han Ting was amused by him, kicked him lightly, and snatched the cigarette from Lei Xiang's hand, putting it in his mouth and then into his pocket.

Lei Xiang stared in disbelief at his actions, muttering under his breath, "That's not fair, how can you just take my cigarette?"

"Learn as you go, and besides, it was my cigarette to begin with!" Han Ting didn't mind, taking a deep drag.

"Officer, isn't smoking in the gas station inappropriate?"

"This gas station isn't even open yet, there's no fuel in the underground tanks, and the fuel truck in the back was drained by us, otherwise, we wouldn't even dare to light a bonfire." Han Ting explained.

Lei Xiang didn't respond, just took a deep drag on his cigarette.

"We need to speed up our journey, try to reach camp within a day, so we need you to act as a guide in the lead vehicle, using your abilities for navigation!" Han Ting said directly.

"No problem!" Lei Xiang nodded.

"We only brought three days' worth of rations. If it weren't for this convenience store restocking for its grand opening, our team wouldn't even have water. Tonight, everything we ate and drank was basically from the store."

"I noticed, I ate instant noodles tonight too, so who's paying for all this?" Lei Xiang nodded again.

"I'll leave my contact information, and once we get back to camp, I'll send someone over." Han Ting's forehead began to show black lines again. This Lei Xiang was entirely a small-town citizen, unaware that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures?

"Don't forget my car." Lei Xiang grinned, rubbing his hands together.

"Get out!" Han Ting couldn't take it anymore and threw the white box at Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang looked at the box and noticed it was already damaged. Was he supposed to pay for the box? Just as he was about to hand it back, he heard Han Ting say.

"Take the box with you. Tomorrow, ride in vehicle 1. If any uncontrollable situation arises, take the box and have Old Cat protect you back to camp. With your sensing ability, getting back should be easier. The box must be returned to camp; there are experts there who should be able to examine your sensing ability and see what's going on."

"What about you guys?"

"When necessary, we'll cover your retreat."

"Don't joke around!" Lei Xiang shook his head like a rattle, "With machine guns and explosives, you can't even get back, and you want me to go alone? That's suicide!"

"We're almost out of bullets, on average, each person has less than a full magazine left, the machine guns can barely prepare enough ammunition for vehicle 1, the rest are just for show, and we have explosives, but how many times can we use them? So, someone has to do this, and that someone can only be you." Han Ting stared at him seriously.

"... "Lei Xiang hadn't expected things to be so serious and couldn't think of a way to refuse for a moment.

"Go get some rest, we'll set off at dawn." Han Ting waved his hand and added, "Tonight, you'll sleep in vehicle 1, we'll start early tomorrow, and the box is in your hands. If you can safely deliver it, I'll apply for a cash reward for you."

Lei Xiang pouted, holding the box dejectedly stood up, and then turned around, looking at Han Ting with a hesitant expression.

"200,000! Disappear immediately from my sight!!!" Han Ting flared up, grabbed a water bottle next to him and threw it at Lei Xiang.

Lei Xiang twisted his body, dodged the water bottle, and ran off, disappearing into the night in a flash.

Han Ting spat, leaned against the wall corner, staring at the dark ceiling, and slowly fell asleep, his hand gently caressing a pocket watch he took out of his pocket...