novelsite Chapter 349 A Feeling of Fear Upon Returning Home
Chapter 349 A Feeling of Fear Upon Returning Home
Chapter 349 A Feeling of Fear Upon Returning Home
As soon as Anglu finished speaking, the young nobleman Abel, who was lying in the back seat, instinctively opened his eyes.
However, he didn't speak. Instead, he quickly closed his eyes again, maintaining the posture to continue listening to the conversation between Johnny and his son.
Listening to his son's reflections, Johnny couldn't help but think back to everything from the past.
A game, a flight—who would have thought that such an ordinary journey would lead to the separation of husband and wife?
Thinking of this, Johnny took a difficult breath and then nodded slightly.
"That's right, Anglu, that's that old guy Burns' hot dog stand. It's been in Cape Cod for 22 years, it's the old place he and his wife settled in when they first moved to Cape Cod."
"Unfortunately, it looks like this shop hasn't been maintained for a long time."
"Honestly, at this moment I would rather see old Burns' zombies rushing towards us from the house. At least that way, we would still have a chance to send him on his way ourselves."
As soon as he finished speaking, Johnny's eyes gradually shifted from nostalgia to worry.
The saying "the closer one gets to home, the more apprehensive one feels" is not just a casual remark.
Moreover, the saying "feeling apprehensive when near home" only applies to those in a world that hasn't yet experienced the apocalypse.
And now—
Thinking of my hometown, which is so close, only about 15 kilometers away.
Johnny was overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions.
Indeed, the reason why the father and son traveled thousands of kilometers during this apocalypse was to return to their hometown and find their wife and mother.
Their goals are extremely clear, and their willpower and drive are unparalleled.
But now, they're almost home.
But will they really get what they want?
After all, a full three months have passed since the beginning of the apocalypse!
In the past three months, their son Anglu broke his leg, and their father Johnny broke his hand and ribs. Both of them also have one or two knife wounds on their bodies, and Johnny has a long, narrow knife scar on his face.
Even though they went through countless hardships, they returned too late.
Suddenly, Johnny's eyes, which were looking out the car window, became moist.
In a daze, he seemed to see the orange tree in his yard, and under the tree, the lover he had been longing for was walking towards him.
But in the next instant, the lover's figure seemed somewhat ferocious!
"call----"
Johnny gasped in shock, then shook his head frantically.
His movements were so forceful that he lost his grip on the steering wheel, causing the car to wobble slightly.
With this kind of movement, Abel wouldn't be able to sleep.
If he's asleep, that's fine. You can drive however you want; he won't feel it if he's asleep.
But he's awake!
Moreover, he went through countless hardships to survive a full hundred days in the apocalypse, not to lie in a car and get into a car accident with others!
"Wow wow wow!"
Suddenly, Abel snapped awake, looked at Johnny with a helpless expression, and said...
"Johnny, are you tired? If so, it's my turn to drive, buddy!"
"Uh—no, no need, I'm just—my mind is a little muddled, I'll be home soon."
Johnny quickly responded and gripped the steering wheel to steady the car.
Seeing the car back to normal, Abel breathed a sigh of relief, then rubbed his face and said calmly.
"Almost there? I understand. No one can stay absolutely calm in a situation like this, especially after they've traveled thousands of miles through the apocalypse."
"You told me your stories, like the cod pods, the lobster restaurant you owned, how you met your lover, and especially your last phone call."
"I have great respect for this, because if I were in your shoes, I'm sure I couldn't do what you do, just like I still don't plan to go back to my hometown."
"Of course, it could also be because I live far from my hometown, since my home is in Paris."
At this point, Abel released his hand from rubbing his cheek and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
Looking at the writing on the cigarette pack.
Abel suddenly laughed.
Cheap, low-quality cigarettes—I would never have put such things in my mouth, much less inhale the smoke into my lungs.
They don't deserve it!
But now—
Abel skillfully pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a satisfied expression.
suck----
Whew~~
Thank God.
Abel exhaled a puff of smoke comfortably, then couldn't help but cover his nose uncomfortably.
Damn it, I don't know when it started, but the air is filled with the smell of decay.
The smell wasn't purely the smell of rotting protein; rather, it was more like the stench of blue mushrooms or rotten tree roots—not overly foul, but with a touch of natural decay.
If the air was filled with the smell of rotting flesh, Abel felt he might as well be dead, at least he wouldn't have to suffer any longer.
But the smell is still tolerable, especially after smoking a lot, I'm not as sensitive to many odors as I used to be.
In the passenger seat, watching Abel puffing out smoke, Anglu couldn't help but grin and say something.
"Stop smoking, buddy, the smoke is getting into my eyes!"
"Then please bear with it for a little while, just as you have been enduring the world becoming filthy. After all, no matter how pungent my smoke is, it can't compare to the feeling that the apocalypse brings us."
At this point, Abel completely ignored Anglu's dissatisfaction and leisurely exhaled two more puffs of smoke.
After finally finishing the entire pack of cigarettes, he couldn't help but look around at his surroundings, and then said to Johnny, who was driving slowly in the driver's seat at a speed of less than 30 kilometers per hour.
"Johnny, why are you driving so slowly? Are you trying to avoid hitting the wind?"
"If so, then you are truly a gentleman, even my brother who loves to boast about being an aristocrat could never do that."
Don't laugh at me!
Hearing Abel's words, Johnny snorted and gave Abel a disgruntled look.
Then, he pointed to the scattered buildings on both sides of the road and said.
"Take a good look around, you arrogant young master. This is Cape Cod, and there's only one road in and out."
"If you look closely at a map, you'll see that the shape of Cape Cod is like a fishhook, curving abruptly near the coastline and leaving a loop of sea nearby that is quite scenic."
"Don't forget the survival lessons broadcast by the Alliance. No matter what, our first priority should be where we are, and we should also make sure we can see the surrounding terrain and environment clearly."
"In terrain as slender as a fishhook, if we venture in and trigger a horde of zombies, we simply won't find a second way to distract the zombies that have gathered on the road."
"So, this speed is the only way we can keep the volume as low as possible. If you don't like it, why don't you fire a shot into the sky and then wait for the two of us to die with you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Johnny froze in place.
After a brief silence, Abel shrugged listlessly.
At the same time, Johnny took a deep breath, then turned around and looked at the road ahead through the observation hole left in the welded iron front window.
Then, he whispered to Abel.
"Sorry, I was just—a little agitated."
"It's alright, I understand completely."
Abel nodded slightly, then sat sideways in the back seat, lazily holding his rifle.
His suit was already torn, but apart from the tears, his collar and cuffs, though dirty, were still impeccably neat.
The rifle magazine rested diagonally on his shirt, while Abel looked past the muzzle of the gun at the brilliant sun on the horizon.
The car continued to move forward in silence until—it suddenly stopped near a shop with a lobster sign.
Only then did Johnny finally push open the car door and carefully step onto the road covered with branches and leaves.
In the passenger seat, Anglu took a deep breath and then patted Abel's arm.
"Abel, let's go together."
"Of course, we're friends, aren't we?"
Abel nodded gracefully, then opened the car door and stepped onto the ground with his leather boots, which were so clean they were almost reflective.
Skillfully and naturally dodging several obstacles on the road, Abel, carrying his gun, went to the car to wait for the immobile Anglu to get out.
Although Anglu was using a cane, he had to admit that he walked very fast, leaving the paused Abel behind in just a few steps and running towards the lobster restaurant.
Hearing the sound of his cane hitting the ground, Abel opened his mouth helplessly, then shook his head with amusement, muttering to himself.
"cautious?"
While making jokes, he continued to look around.
Fortunately, Sturgeon Point is a well-known tourist attraction in Boston, and the area is full of resorts and forest parks, so although there are a few buildings, there is mostly forest and beach.
As for the zombies, Abel only saw one zombie wandering around outside a barbershop about 200 meters away.
Having survived so much in the apocalypse, Abel wouldn't care about a zombie just over 200 meters away.
Johnny and Anglu are reliable guys; they won't make any loud noises that could trigger a zombie outbreak.
So instead of going into the room, he simply stood in front of the mailbox in the house and took out another cigarette to smoke.
Leaning against the mailbox, he smoked seven cigarettes in a row, watching the zombie in the distance stagger from the barbershop more than 240 meters away to within 80 meters of him.
The door to the cheese lobster restaurant was finally pushed open.
Splash—
The sudden sound attracted the zombies in the distance, causing them to turn around and face them alertly.
Abel, bored, threw the cigarette butt from his mouth to the ground, then drew his cavalry saber from his waist.
This cavalry saber was the reason he rushed to America before the end of the world. It was to buy this cavalry saber that Napoleon had used at an auction that Abel left his family's estate and set foot on this damned land!
So much so that whenever Abel drew this sword, his expression would involuntarily change from calm and collected to—slightly ferocious!
Inside the shop, seeing Abel's actions, Johnny, who had been looking sad and confused, suddenly became alert and immediately stopped Anglu behind him.
He pulled out the pistol Gavin had given him, and followed Abel's steps, approaching the zombie.
After a brief moment of alertness, the zombie quickly identified its target.
The next moment, the zombie, covered in mushrooms that had pierced through flesh and blood, sprinted toward Abel's location.
Those nauseating mushrooms could no longer stir any ripples in Abel's heart.
After all, the Newcomer Alliance broadcast it many times: when zombies come into contact with moisture from outside the body, they will grow mushrooms, and those mushrooms will become harder as the amount of fungi growing outside the body increases!
Eventually, it can even become as tough as a rubber tire!
In other words, even if zombies are not submerged in water, but only get drenched in a heavy rain, they will still grow mushrooms.
The key components that originally supported human movement, such as tendons and ligaments, especially neurons, etc.
These parts will also be gradually replaced by the mycelium inside the zombie body.
Therefore, Abel understands zombies. He not only learned about the different types of zombies, but also how to identify and deal with them.
The zombies he was facing were just ordinary zombie hunters.
The reason he could tell at a glance was that, as zombies appeared longer, a simple glance at the distribution of mushrooms on a zombie's body was enough to grasp the key to how a zombie was infected, maintained, and strengthened by fungi.
Those with patches of mushrooms around their throat and head are usually howlers, while those with more mushrooms on their limbs and joints are the most common hunters.
As for the resident ones, their mushrooms mostly grow on their feet, because only they stay in one place for a long time, and the mycelium on their legs and feet also takes root in the earth.
In short, Abel's decision not to run away when he saw zombies was not impulsive or reckless.
As time went on, the survivors had almost figured out everything about the zombies they had ever seen.
And so, armed with his knowledge of zombies and the experience he had accumulated in the apocalypse, he...
Abel swiftly swung twice, taking down the hunter with almost no loud noise.
As for whether there are more zombies around?
Perhaps there are, but there is at least a 30-meter gap between each pair of buildings in this area, meaning that there are no more than a dozen houses within a few hundred meters.
Given the number of houses, Abel didn't think he had anything to worry about, and subsequent developments did indeed confirm his suspicions.
No more zombies emerged from the surrounding area.
Perhaps his brief struggle with his pursuers was overshadowed by the relentless, fierce sea winds of Cape Cod.
Or perhaps the cries of the seagulls approaching the three on the horizon drowned out the other sounds.
In short, looking at the seagulls gradually gathering on the horizon, Johnny glanced at the dead zombie and said softly.
"I finally ran into an acquaintance, my distant cousin, who runs a repair shop six kilometers away from my home."
"If I didn't know him, I really wouldn't have imagined that these zombies would have walked such a long distance even without anyone disturbing them."
"Oh? That's truly heartbreaking, Johnny. I'm deeply saddened by the loss of your loved one, and honored to have freed him from his zombie form!"
Abel agreed, then wiped his saber, and then sheathed it.
After adjusting his belt, Abel turned to Johnny and continued to ask.
"So where do we go next, sir? Do you have any suggestions?"
"Let's go to my in-laws' house. It's in a more remote location, right in the countryside, which will make it convenient for us to stay temporarily!"
Abel answered decisively.