Chapter 17: So Close Yet So Far

So Close Yet So Far

Zhang Xiao Qiang was shaking and looking in all directions, trying to find a way out. Numerous zombies from both ends of the streets were closing in on him. He blamed himself for not being careful enough. Seeing the zombies getting closer to him, he grew more anxious.

To get away from the S zombies behind him, he had to go forwards into the group of normal zombies on the street. His eyes were fixed on the group of zombies and when he noticed a bus in the corner of his eye, his eyes lit up.

It was a luxury bus but the front had smashed into the corner of a building. The body had the words “XX City Port Group” printed on it. There was a pickup truck behind the bus. The 4m height of the vehicle would allow him to temporarily escape the zombies. The S zombies behind him were getting closer and closer so he didn’t hesitate and ran to the bus.

Zhang Xiao Qiang got onto the back of the pickup truck. He climbed onto the roof and jumped onto the bus.

“Ping”

He landed on the edge of the bus. His backpack affected his landing. The top half of his body was on the roof but his lower half was scrambling to climb up but his backpack was causing him to start to slip off.

“I’m going to die because of this bag sooner or later” Zhang Xiao Qiang scolded as he was trying to climb onto the bus. The S zombies were almost there. One hard push on the bus’ windowsill gave him the little bit more force he needed to get onto the bus. Just as he pulled his legs up, he heard a bang sound. It was the body of the bus being rocked.

Zhang Xiao Qiang looked below. An S zombie was on the ground. Looks like it just rammed into the bus. Zhang Xiao Qiang lied on the roof, staring at the gloomy sky with the backpack to one side. His chest rising and falling quickly. The possibility of death just then had consumed a lot of his energy. The feeling of hunger struck once again.

Sitting up and opening the backpack he took out a few packets of instant noodles and ate them dry, leaving no time to even drink water. Zhang Xiao Qiang’s rolling on the ground didn’t seem to cause any damage to the military water bottle. There were just a few places where the paint had worn off.

“<<Blue Sky Internet Club opening promotion, 30/12/2012 to 1/1/2013 It will be half price. All are welcome.”

“FUCK” Zhang Xiao Qiang scolded. Couldn’t it be a bit earlier or a bit later. It just had to be the day that the virus outbreak occurred! No wonder so many zombies burst out.

That D zombies was currently circling around the bus, allowing Zhang Xiao Qiang to closely observe it. It was almost 2m tall, taller than other D zombies by a large portion. The other zombies dare not be close to it. Its complexion was like unprocessed bronze, dark and thick, with the texture of metal. The muscles on its body were toned, with visible intertwining veins. He could can feel the bus shaking with every step it took.

“Could it be that this is a D2 zombie from legends[TLN: I thought he came up with these names on his own?], except I don’t know how many people it had eaten to become like this.”

Zhang Xiao Qiang aimed his sniper crossbow at the D2 zombie. Its threat was too big so he had to get rid of him first.

This time he was using a crossbow bolt. Originally there was only 6 but one of the arrows also had undergone wear and this time its likely that he wont be able to get the bolts back.

“One must use their resources where it counts. You have to spend to achieve” Zhang Xiao Qiang mused, relaxing himself. The sight of the crosshair trained on the D2’s head. He puled ins finger.

“bang…”

The bolt disappeared.

“AAOOOOO…” The D2 wailed, with a dent in its forehead. It laughed at Zhang Xiao Qiang.

“Wheres the bolt?????” Zhang Xiao Qiang looked all over the D2 trying to find it.

“plop…”

A normal D zombie fell to the ground, with the bolt piercing it from the bottom of its right ear, sticking out of its left temple. The downed D zombie was immediately flocked by the zombies.

Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at the crazy D2 and wanted to cry but there were no tears, “this is bullying, could it be that its head had armour plating???”

The crossbow firing exposed his positio and the D2 rushed towards the bus. The zombies in front of it were knocked down. “Dang…” was the sound that the bus made. There was a huge dent in the side of the bus, the widows shattered and the shards fell onto the ground. Zhang Xiao Qiang who was on top of the roof was shaken and couldn’t stand.

“I tried to get an advantage, but only ended up worse!”

The bus rang out as it was struck again and again. Zhang Xiao Qiang who was on the rooftop was scared by the shaking of the bus. He looked around trying to find an escape but the bus continued to be rammed by the D2. “Tong” rang out. It was holding the window’s with both hands and shaking the bus, as if it was riding a mad cow. The bus didn’t stop moving. Eventually it started moving and many zombies were crushed by the moving bus, getting ground up.

Zhang Xiao Qiang was getting desperate. “Does this world still have a Heaven?” he didn’t believe in Christianity but began to think about life after death.

Zhang Xiao Qiang looked up at the sky, wanting to look at the sky once more before he died. Too bad the sky was blocked by a protective grill, “Its already an apocalyptic world. There’s nothing left to fear” Zhang Xiao Qiang couldn’t see the sky and was filled with resentment.

“Protective grill???” Zhang Xiao Qiang’s mind started to think, “Maybe its possible!!!” He then made his decision.

He loosened the rope on his bag. The rope was tied to a blanket in his bag, then the other end of the rope will be tied to the iron hammer’s handle. The bus was constantly shaking. He almost fell off the bus several times.

“Could it be that this the car shake of legends??? [TLN: Maybe he’s referring to movies where people are trapped on cars]” his hands were busy, letting his thoughts wonder. “Done” Zhang Xiao Qiang had tied the rope to the hammer. Then he started swinging it in the air above his head. The bus shook once again and the iron hammer flew off, smashing the head of a nearby S zombie, knocking it into the ground.

“No hurry no hurry! I still have a few minutes before the bus falls apart” Zhang Xiao Qiang encouraged himself as he threw out the hammer again.

“Dang…” the hammer hit the steel rails then it flew back at him quickly, hitting him between the legs. Zhang Xiao Qiang touched his crotch with his trembling left hand and after a while, he let out a sigh of relief.

The bus shook again, making Zhang Xiao Qiang risk killing himself when throwing the hammer out again and again. “Ding…” the hammer finally struck between the columns. He grabbed the rope and swung to the wall, looking to make sure his feet landed on the wall but his centre of gravity was affected by the weight of the backpack. He hit the wall, smashing his forehead. There was blood trickling down, continuing to fall on his collar. The pain of the impact almost made him left go.

“Must be an imported bus. If it was Chinese made, I’d be dead already.” He felt while climbing. Zombies started to crowd at his feet from the smell of blood. He looked down at the densely packed zombies. The several near death experiences had made his heart numb. He was no longer afraid of the zombies below. Few situations scare him anymore.

Like this one!

After being thrown with the hammer so many times, the rope had become loose. Zhang Xiao Qiang could clearly see the rope slowly slipping off the hammer. He was anxious! He started to climb faster.

Finally, when there was only 3cm of the rope left on the hammer he grabbed onto the grill. Zhang Xiao Qiang stood on the grill and looked down. The zombies were still pushing and shoving. The D2 had already split the bus into spare parts and started to head in his direction.

“Today was too unlucky. Everything went wrong but no way the grill that I’m standing on right now will fall right?”

Zhang Xiao Qiang anxiously looked at the screw which connected the grill. Luckily they were firm. He let out a sigh of relief.

Now stuck in midair, Zhang Xiao Qiang began to lament today’s experience.

If he ever had children, Zhang Xiao Qiang will tell them: “The closest I ever got to losing you was 0.01cm.” If I can find a woman for the rest of my life then Zhang Xiao Qiang will tell her: “The farthest I’ve ever been from heaven was 3cm.”

The D2 zombie downstairs was growling at him. Zhang Xiao Qiang was dangling in the air as he spoke his thoughts: “Any superhero, come and save me please!!!!”