SWDnovel Chapter 2 A Town Without Zombies
Chapter 2 A Town Without Zombies
Lorraine approached the dock without any surprise. During the several minutes of sailing, no zombies were spotted in the water.
"It seems that zombies can't swim at this stage, which is good news. I just don't know if they sank to the bottom or went downstream."
As Lorraine muttered to himself, he tied the small boat to a wooden post on the dock.
Lorraine stood on the dock with an oar, looking at the zombies scattered far apart. She stood where a railing had broken, and gently tapped it with the oar to lure the nearby zombies closer. Then, she swung the oar and smashed one of them into the water.
After that, he observed the movements of the other zombies while also watching the actions of the zombies that had fallen into the water. Seeing the zombies slowly sinking into the water, Lorraine understood that at this stage, the zombies probably couldn't swim.
He looked around and ripped a sturdy long stick from the broken railing. Lorraine swung it to test its strength, then used the same trick to knock the remaining zombies into the water, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Lorraine stepped out of the dock and looked at the devastated scene on the street. Without time to lament, she quickly searched the nearby vehicles for any useful supplies, but unfortunately, she only found a flashlight and two batteries.
Lorraine took out her data tablet, opened the map to confirm her location, and headed towards the gas station.
On the way to the gas station, Lorraine guessed that this intelligence module must be a cheat code from his time travel. If it was detected by radar, it shouldn't contain any unexpected guesses or information about the impending changes in the zombies.
But the immediate priority is to find fuel and then head to the factory. This unexpected windfall should make up for our current shortcomings.
Reaching an intersection, Lorraine checked the road signs for directions and then noticed a few police cars scattered along the road leading to the gas station. After observing the surrounding ruins and confirming there were no zombies lurking in the shadows, Lorraine gripped her pistol and cautiously approached the police cars.
Lorraine stood a meter away from a military vehicle, shining her flashlight on the police car to confirm there were no zombies inside before approaching and opening the slightly ajar door. Inside, only a few pools of blood remained.
Lorraine searched the police car and found signs of ransacking inside, but unfortunately, they hadn't taken much. Lorraine became even more cautious—this indicated the presence of a survivor organization in the vicinity.
Then, Lorraine noticed the two police cars that had rear-ended each other. Standing a meter away, she circled the two cars and found an entrenching tool left behind under one of them. Lorraine put down the wooden stick she was holding, picked up the entrenching tool, and swung it around a couple of times to get a feel for its texture.
Then, Lorraine, gripping his entrenching tool, looked at the last unexplored military vehicle. However, there was really no need to examine this one; the front was dented, and the door was open. Lorraine sighed, "If only we had a tow truck. This is all top-quality material."
Lorraine continued walking, and after about half an hour, she saw a bicycle crashed into a flowerbed not far ahead. Lorraine was overjoyed—her main purpose in coming out was to find tools.
A 10-kilometer journey would take nearly 9 hours to walk back and forth, not to mention the large amount of fuel that needs to be brought back to the ship. 15 units of fuel is no small amount; if carried by hand, it would probably take more than ten days to move it back.
Lorraine checked the bicycle's condition and decided to ride it to a gas station to scout the area and check for any large vehicles. Although he had never driven a truck before crossing over, as a driver with a C1 license and three years of experience, driving the bike was still easy. As for what he might hit, although it was a bit strange, he hadn't seen many vehicles stranded on the road along the way.
Lorraine rode his bicycle at breakneck speed and quickly arrived near the gas station. The good news was that there was a truck parked next to the gas station, but the small convenience store inside was teeming with people, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.
To prevent the pistol from accidentally discharging and causing an explosion at the gas station, Lorraine released the safety, rendering the pistol unfireable, and then, carrying an entrenching tool, crept towards the truck.
Lorraine first checked the cargo loaded in the carriage—it was a series of oil drums. After confirming that it was safe behind him, Lorraine decisively climbed into the carriage, shook the drums, and found that they were all full of oil.
Before he could even wonder why they were using oil drums instead of tankers, Lorraine jumped out of the truck and looked towards the driver's cab. The cab door was open, but he didn't see the key. The key must be in the gas station's convenience store. Lorraine looked into the convenience store and realized the zombies hadn't noticed anyone coming from the truck.
Lorraine quietly approached the small supermarket. The moment she pushed open the glass door, the male zombie standing inside suddenly turned around, seemingly attracted by the smell of fresh flesh and blood, and charged over with a strange cry.
Lorraine stood at the doorway, using the glass door as cover, waiting patiently. A downward shovel struck the zombie, knocking it to the ground. Lorraine decisively followed up with several more blows, only stopping when she severed its head. Suppressing her nausea, she dragged the corpse into the supermarket. Seeing the two cashiers stuck behind the counter, Lorraine could no longer hold back and began to gag.
After gagging twice, Lorraine suppressed her nausea, picked up her shovel, and killed the two zombies behind the counter. Then she tried to find the truck keys on the male zombie who appeared to be the truck driver.
After finding the car keys, Lorraine searched inside the supermarket for water and food, loading the remaining one and a half cases of water and about ten portions of shelf-stable food onto the truck. Then, taking the oil can she found in the small supermarket, she went to the gas pump and tried to fill it with oil.
Whether due to a power outage or some other reason, the fuel nozzle couldn't be removed. Lorraine wasn't too bothered; she sniffed it—no smell—meaning it was a brand new fuel can. Lorraine loaded the remaining unused empty fuel cans onto the truck, intending to use them as water containers.
Seeing the small gas station completely ransacked, Lorraine loaded the bicycles parked outside the gas station into the truck bed, then climbed into the driver's seat, started the vehicle, and prepared to leave the small gas station.
On the way back, Lorraine realized the roads were far too deserted, as if people had left the town before the cataclysm. But the horde of zombies he'd seen the night before couldn't be faked; logically, the roar of car engines should have attracted their attention. Could it be that zombies are only activated by the scent of flesh and blood during the day?
Six hours after leaving the ship, Lorraine returned to the dock with fuel and food. He parked the car, turned off the engine, engaged his pistol, and, grabbing a flashlight and entrenching tool, began inspecting the ruins around the dock for any zombies hiding there.
After half an hour of inspection, Lorraine determined that the surrounding environment was safe and began transferring the supplies.
Lorraine grouped the five oil drums together and tied them together with rope for easier transport. She first loaded the few empty drums onto the ship, then unloaded another small boat from the ship, connecting the two boats with rope to facilitate transporting multiple groups of drums at once. After four hours of effort, she finally managed to load all the supplies onto the ship before nightfall.