Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 534: Buses and Trucks

"Mhm... Wait, what?"

Xiaoyun's brain was caught a little off guard, as it had been auto-piloting the conversation for a while now.

"What? Don't look at me like that. You never had sex with an older woman before?"

"Of course I did. My wife is the same age as me." Xiaoyun instantly answered with no hesitation, not wanting to be looked down on by Jianguo.

"Then you know what I am talking about... Man, my back is going to break after I get back home."

As Jianguo stretched out his back a little, Xiaoyun's brain was still a little confused by what he was trying to imply. But he wasn't willing to lose face by asking it.

"Actually, speaking of age, how old are you?" Jianguo curiously asked.

"I'm... Thirty-nine years old."

"Thirty-nine? That's three years younger than me... You don't mind me calling you Brother Songming, right?"

Hearing Jianguo call him a younger brother, Xiaoyun was a little annoyed, but he didn't really want to ruin the mood.

"Of course not, Brother Jianguo... Woah, be careful." Xiaoyun warned as a few abandoned wheels lie right in the middle of the road.

"I know, I know."

The car quickly fell back into silence as Jianguo shifted his attention back onto the road, ending the gossip.

Fifteen minutes later...

As the two of them drove past the security checkpoint, they had finally arrived in Guangzhou proper.

"You can just drop me off here. I can get back to Luoping myself." Xiaoyun stated as they stopped at an intersection.

"Are you sure? I can just drive you there. It won't take that long," Jianguo offered as the light changed back to green.

"It's fine. You don't want to be late for your wife's anniversary any longer, right?"

After a short consideration, Jianguo pulled the car over to the side before looking over at Xiaoyun.

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate what you have done for me today."

"I should be the one to say that. Thanks for the drive... Here's a gift before I leave. Take it as a payment for those villagers."

"No, no, no. You don't have to——"

Before Jianguo could say anything, Xiaoyun had already hopped out of the car, blending into the crowds of people who had gotten off from work.

"There's no need for that..."

Jianguo sighed as he turned the car key again before looking over to the passenger seat, a backpack that Xiaoyun had left behind as a 'gift.'

"Whatever... I need to get back home first."

---

"That should probably be enough to pay for those villager's medical bills... Jianguo's wife will probably be pretty happy seeing that, too, right?"

As Xiaoyun stood in a line behind a bus stop, his mind wandered back to the short afternoon adventure he had had.

Even though he wasn't able to capture the full experience of the village or find an answer to the city of Changsha's past, he was still happy with it.

First, people were still happy with the status quo, at least in comparison to the outside world from which many of the refugees came.

Secondly, the lack of job opportunities had pushed people into farming, especially outside of the major city under his control.

Third and most importantly, the gas shortage was clearly hindering every aspect of life and all the progress he was trying to make.

"Why is it rationed that severely... Didn't we still have a month of fuel left?"

Xiaoyun murmured himself as he thought back to the talk he had with Yuqi. He could even clearly recall the exact report sheet.

"Yo bro, are you taking this bus or not?"

"Oh, sorry."

The voice behind him quickly snapped Xiaoyun back to reality as he took out his wallet before putting a few NRC dollars into the bus fare machine.

After paying, he took a few steps inside before realizing the entire bus was full to the brim, leaving barely any room to move, let alone sit.

"So many people..."

"Of course, there's a lot of people. This is the last bus to Luoping for tonight."

Turning around, a young man with a few dimples on his cheeks was right behind him—the same voice as the one who made him move earlier.

"Really? But doesn't the bus run until nine o'clock usually?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"Look at the sign over there. What do you think?"

As Xiaoyun looked over to where the man pointed, he saw an announcement sign that stated the bus schedule was being cut.

Two hours of bus operation were lost, from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM, with one hour lost at the start and the end.

"You guys didn't hear about the gas shortage? There's even a rolling blackout implemented in certain areas."

An older woman on the left answered, chiming in as all three of them stood right next to each other at the front of the bus.

"Is it that bad?" Xiaoyun questioned, his face starting to look a little concerned.

"It's almost worse than the oil crisis my parent lived through back in the 70s. I can't believe I'm going to live without having light back home."

"Just a month, and we'll be good at least. The newspaper already said the oil refinery is starting back up."

The young man replied, his voice sounding much more optimistic than the old woman's pessimistic tone.

"Yeah? And what's going to happen when they run out of oil to refine?" The older woman questioned back.

The young man on the right fell into silence, unable to argue back as he knew the answer he gave was a temporary solution. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"I'm sure Governor Chen will figure it out." The young man desperately answered back.

"Yeah, right. A man in his twenties that has no experience in governing a country will figure that out."

"Hey you, what do you think about this oil crisis?"

The young man questioned, looking over at Xiaoyun, who had been silent after asking the question at the start.

"It should be fine... The last time I heard from my comrades, they told me that they were heading towards Zhanjiang."

"Zhanjiang? What's so special about a fourth-tier city?" The older woman questions with doubts.

"Wait, wait, wait. I get it! Wushi oil field! I remember seeing it on CCTV when I was a kid!"

As the young man's face filled with excitement, the older woman's face darkened as she fell into silence.

"Whatever."

"Yo, do you guys mind quieting down? It's a little distracting."

The bus driver's voice instantly made both of them fall into silence, more so for the older woman, who looked a little embarrassed.

It was almost as if she was starting to realize she was debating someone young enough to be her son.

"Oh, look like I'm at my bus stop. Thanks for the talk."

As Xiaoyun hopped out of the bus, his poker face instantly turned into a deep frown as he thought back to the conversation earlier.

It was clear that something severely wrong had happened while he was gone, something that had gone drastically off the rails.

Walking down the streets, he still couldn't think of a reason that could have led to this severe gas shortage.

For a second, a reasoning came up in his brain. An answer that could fully explain where all the gas had gone.

"Fuck. Did that trip really take all the gas?"

Not wanting to leave the troubles for himself later, Xiaoyun immediately turned around and began heading the other way.

---

A few minutes later...

As Xiaoyun arrived at the military storage unit, he asked one of the guards at the front where the car storage was.

After being led to a massive open-air parking lot, he could see hundreds of cars before him.

The majority of them were filled with a dried, red stain, the same ones he had left in Changsha a day ago.

Walking through the modified sedans and SUVs, he finally found a semi-truck in the back that looked barely scratched.

Fortunately, the semi-truck wasn't locked, allowing him to enter straight into the driver's seat with no problem.

"Where's the key... Here it is."

Taking the car key out of the glove box, Xiaoyun inserted it before giving it a little turn. With the engine roar, he knew the truck worked.

"Now I just need to drive this out of Luoping carefully..."

Digging through his memories, he eventually found one that showed how he once had sat next to a semi-truck driver.

With the gear switched and a downward press, the semi-truck finally began moving with its single bar of gas left.

"Have to make this quick... God damn, this thing is hard to manage. Come on! Just believe in yourself."

Hearing a sudden loud roaring sound from the engine made him feel a little uncomfortable. Still, he continued driving, pushing the gas pedal.

"The back of the truck is fine... The back of the truck is fine... You don't have to look. Just don't look at it."

The cramped parking lot started to make Xiaoyun regret it as every turn felt like pushing tofu forward without breaking the corners.