Chapter 47: The Provisional Battalion Launches an Assault (3)

This area was truly a disaster zone. When the incident occurred, it was just about to be rush hour, and the government had called for everyone to return home as soon as possible. The platform was crowded with people waiting, and once the apocalypse hit, the ratio of people turning into zombies was extremely high, with many being devoured. The large residential complex was some distance away, so there weren’t too many zombies coming from that direction.

Li Fengyi couldn’t think of a good solution, so he simply led everyone back up onto the wall. They climbed the northern wall and arrived at the city rail gate, which stood at the intersection of Sun Palace Bridge and Central Park. There was an underground passage here, its entrance not very large. Under the bridge was a bus stop, and zombies were constantly drifting up and down.

But there was a government-run public benefit stall in the form of a carriage at this spot. Li Fengyi ordered the underground passage to be blocked off first. The shield bearers pressed their shields close to their bodies and lined up on the south side to block the zombies pouring from the subway entrance, while the others quickly pushed the carriage over to the mouth of the passage. The large carriage fit perfectly, sealing the entrance. Then they broke the carriage’s wheels with steel pipes to stop the zombies from moving it.

Li Fengyi gave another order to get back on the wall and dashed west. With no targets to chase, the zombies in the underground passage stopped pushing the carriage, but those in the subway kept coming in waves.

Now, aside from the subway entrance, the entire central park of Heping Street was sealed off.

Li Fengyi knew that the subway entrance at Guangximen was surrounded by densely packed high-rises and zombies. If they didn’t block off the subway, the pressure of clearing the area would be enormous. But leading his men into open combat was far too dangerous. He had noticed that zombies moved at human walking speed until they were within forty meters—then they would sprint like athletes, generating such force that even a shield bearer couldn’t withstand it for long.

He led his team at a run, making the subway zombies lose their target, and arrived at the large residential complex. The first company commander was still sitting atop the steel arch. The zombies swarmed together but hadn’t managed to pile up high enough to form a wall of corpses. They jostled and leapt, stretching their arms as high as they could, striving to pull the commander down, but they were still about two meters short. All they could do was jump, again and again. Behind the zombie horde lay several bodies that had been killed.

About two hundred zombies clustered at the gate. Using a diversion tactic, Li Fengyi split his group: some headed south, some north—those going north were to be careful not to attract subway zombies. The horde split into three groups. With most of his team, Li Fengyi targeted a weak spot in the zombie line and drove into the mass with long steel pipes, clearing the area at the gate, then rolled cars over from the road to block the entrance.

Seeing the two diversion groups were safe, he hurried to assist the first squad leader.

From afar, he could see the squad leader was in grave danger. He wasn’t firing—he was out of ammunition and grenades. Zombies were piling up underneath him; he had emptied all his bullets into the heap at his feet, taking down a few, but now the zombies had formed a mound. They were less than a meter away. He no longer dared sit on the steel arch, so he stood, but the pile of zombies was almost as tall as a concrete gatepost, leaving no escape. His face was a picture of despair.

Meanwhile, Yang Ziqian darted back and forth in the distance, pursued closely by zombies.

There must have been three or four hundred corpses at the squad leader’s feet.

Things were urgent. Li Fengyi ordered, “First, second, and third squads, down the wall! Split into three groups and draw the zombies away!”

The three squads leapt down in unison, attacking the horde at the complex’s gate from three sides. Li Fengyi, with his guards, stood atop the wall, directing.

The zombies in the rear fell quickly, but those inside were unmoved. With a person within reach, they pressed harder than ever. Outside the complex, the zombies were even more aggressive, focused solely on the squad leader above them.

“Use the long steel pipes! With me!” Li Fengyi commanded his guards. The three of them hefted their steel pipes and charged toward the steel arch, standing at the outer edge of the horde and stabbing down the zombies already atop the gatepost, one by one. The wall was narrow, so as soon as a zombie climbed up, it would fall off again. Soon, they’d closed in on the gatepost.

The three men stood atop the gatepost, stabbing desperately in all directions, forcing back the southern zombies below the steel arch. The first squad leader, seeing hope, felt his hands strengthen around the steel pipe.

First squad made the fastest progress—their leader was right above them, after all. With the zombies’ attention divided, it took less than half an hour to wipe them all out. The squad leader collapsed, exhausted, atop the steel arch. The ordeal had been too tense, too intense.

The company commander quickly organized the men to form a barrier with several cars found in the yard.

Yang Ziqian also made it back.

Everyone sat down in the yard to eat, drink, and rest, boasting and teasing each other about their nerves. Someone joked that the squad leader had nearly wet his pants; the squad leader’s face turned crimson as he tried to defend himself.

“There’s still the Guangximen subway exit left,” Li Fengyi said, pointing at the map for the company commander. “Zombies are constantly pouring out there—there are so many, and they hit hard. We can’t hold them for long.”

“There’s a parking lot between the subway exit and Central Park,” the company commander said, pointing at the map. “Let’s first isolate the exit and the park. No matter how big the tree, we’ll chop it down one stroke at a time.”

“Good, let’s do that. Once we’ve separated them, we’ll push carts in to block the way,” Li Fengyi replied. “First, let’s take care of the remains of those two fallen soldiers.”

The men fell silent at once.

He arranged for the teams to do some lighter work, gathering the bodies of the soldiers. The large residential buildings were a maze, so they didn’t go in yet, only clearing out a smaller complex nearby. In three buildings, they rescued 289 survivors. It had been less than a week since the apocalypse began; although the residents were short on food and water, they weren’t in dire straits yet—most households still had some supplies on hand.

They called for the special committee to send people to escort the survivors away. Suddenly, Li Fengyi remembered that the training platoon had been disbanded, which was highly inconvenient. He used the radio to contact Commander Liu and Li Qiang. Li Qiang’s progress was going smoothly—the roads were packed with cars, so there were no zombie-free corridors. They both agreed with Li Fengyi’s suggestion and told him to pull one squad back, preferably composed of active-duty soldiers.

The squad leader, having distinguished himself at a critical moment, was chosen by Li Fengyi to lead the team. He ordered the company’s soldiers to wait for the special committee to arrive and then withdraw together to form the new training platoon.

Gazing at the high-rises, Li Fengyi thought the place would make an ideal crematory, so he called Sun Xiaoshan over to evaluate it.

At 14:00, after a rest, Li Fengyi led the company out the west gate of the complex, advancing to the parking lot. They formed up, separating the parking lot from the subway entrance. Zombies surged endlessly from the subway, soon filling the narrow open space.

Wave after wave, the zombies crashed against the barricade of cars. The two rows of vehicles were wedged tightly together. The company faced the zombies directly. Their eyes were bloodshot, their exposed skin blackened, and their clothes hung in tatters.

“Push the cars in!” Li Fengyi shouted.