Chapter 55: The Escape Out of Town

25 September, 16:00

Lao Wu, currently 34, was only two years older than Xiao Mo, but looked much older than Xiao Mo, a lot more haggard too.

He was carrying a child in his arms. The child still looked very young. He may be five or six years old. He was Wu Xiao Yuan, Lao Wu’s only child. Xiao Mo saw him before playing around in the shop several times.

Lao Wu was followed by many other people. One of them was his wife, and Xiao Mo recognised her. The others he wasn’t familiar with, but they seem to know each other.

Lao Wu’s eyes were red with joy when he saw Xiao Mo, he moved his lips to say something, but no one dared to speak at this time, and there was no time for them to chit chat.

Xiao Mo gestured to him: Follow up! We’ll wait until it’s safe.

Lao Wu also knew this reason. He waved to his family and let them run with him. This was their last chance!

There was no need for Lao Wu to gesture to them. When they saw so many people, their faces were so excited. Everyone ran fast for fear of being left behind.

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Xze Ew fwpv ayd y qlo pvlrp, pweeldzu tyhl vbl nbkze vs bkp okql, vwadle yaswde yde ayd cynj.

Dkys Ys pyo kv yde kxxlekyvlzu clnyxl osaakle!

Ebyv kp Nys Ew eskdt?

Dwl Nk Tsdt pyo vbyv Dkys Ys’p prlle pzsole esod yde oydvle vs pll obyv byrrldle vs bkx.

Mbl vos tkazp, obs olal rasvlnvle cu vblx, olal ps ydmkswp vbyv vblu tzyale yv vblx. Xdzu Dwl Nk Tsdt ktdsale vblx. Mblu tlpvwale vs zlv vblx oykv kd vbl pyxl rzynl yde oldv cynj vs qkde Dkys Ys.

Nys Ew ayd cynj vs vbl cwkzekdt bl bye fwpv nsxl swv sq yde nyaakle yd sze osxyd swv sq kv.

Nys Ew yrszstlvknyzzu xswvble Dkys Ys: Yu xsvbla.

Dkys Ys qlzv blzrzlpp. Zsw nyd’v zlv rlsrzl zlyhl vblka xwx clbkde, nyd usw?

The old lady probably didn’t want to drag her son down. She wanted to stay in the building and die, but her son turned back.

The old lady shed tears of gratitude.

Yuan Yuan, Lao Wu’s wife, asked her son to climb on her back and ran out of the building at the same time as her family. Now she never looked back at a group of people who had run away and bit her lips. There was Lao Wu’s eldest son and Lao Wu’s eldest brother!

Xue Li Hong patted Xiao Mo and stared at him: What are you waiting for? Come on! Don’t dawdle!

Xiao Mo replied with a sorry smile, hastening to speed up.

16: 10 

They had traversed the whole city and were about to run to the east edge of the city. Right now, they could see half of the ancient city wall, which used to be a popular scenic spot.

Their destination was just outside the city wall, but they must run another five kilometers!

Most people could run ten kilometers an hour, but half of them have been running for more than two hours. Although they had a short rest previously, many of them were currently too tired to lift their feet.

Lao Wu had severe asthma. When he couldn’t run, he took something out of his pocket and put it into his mouth, chewed it slowly before swallowing it. After a while, he regained his strength again and carried on running.

His wife, too, when she was tired, she secretly took something out of her pocket and stuffed it into her mouth. It seemed that it can replenish physical strength, and it worked quickly.

Xiao Mo deliberately wanted to take care of his acquaintances. From time to time, he looked back to see if the four members of the family had been left behind. Fortunately, they all keep up with each other, which made him surprised at the physical strength of the couple. They all carried people on their backs!

Xiao Mo originally wanted to help carry the children or the old lady over, but he didn’t say much when he saw that they could support themselves. He already had a mission target to protect. It would be inconvenient to carry another person on his back. He would rather be relaxed.

It was unsure if there were too many people in their team, but it has attracted more and more people along the way. Old Wu was no longer the only one with elderly and children.

All the children who ran out were bound with cloth or stuffed with cloth by adults.

Xiao Mo even saw a young woman holding a baby!

The baby was strapped to her chest by his mother, with a pacifier in his mouth. There were strips of cloth on both sides of the pacifier, which were tied to his head to prevent him from spitting out the pacifier.

Seeing the baby, many people ran past their mother and son in a hurry, and some even showed a look of despair.

The young mother ran fast, and her face was even more desperate. But she didn’t give up. No matter how much other people disliked her or didn’t want her to go close to her, she still followed everyone behind with her children on her back.

“Squeak!” A mouse ran past Xiao Mo’s feet.

Xiao Mo almost jumped up in fright and he swig his axe and chop the mouse reflexively.

The girl saw it, covered her mouth and opened her eyes to the extreme.

“Zhi –!” The mouse screamed and was cut off by Xiao mo.

The girl didn’t even have time to be surprised at Xiao Mo’s speed and accuracy. She gasped and looked around in panic.

Xiao Mo looked back and saw that the mouse was just a common grey mouse. He immediately gently breathed out a breath, pushed the girl and motioned her not to stay.

Just at this time, a large number of people rushed out of the corridor of an antique three-story hotel by the side of the road. They tried their best to wave their hands to the men in military uniform, and their faces looked ecstatic.

They were all a group of people who ran out of the hotel after a group of angels were cleaned by fighter planes in the morning, but they were not allowed to come here. However, because there were too many angels, they had to run into the hotel temporarily to wait for the chance.

Just now, they were still arguing about whether to take the chance. Otherwise, when the 17 o’clock bomb comes, everyone will not live.

But there are also many people who disagree, because some angels seemed to know that there were a lot of prey in this hotel, and they had been wandering around and refused to leave. That’s why they’ve been forced to stay.

Now, the opportunity had arrived.

But these people in the hotel found that none of the people who were running stopped, and few even looked up at them.

Those that were smart and quick in reaction immediately ran downstairs, wanting to keep up with the brigade. People always had a fluke mentality. Although they understood that more people were more likely to attract angels, they could not help thinking that the angels would not necessarily target them when there were so many other targets and that they might be the lucky ones that escape.

The people on the first floor and the second floor were the happiest. Before, they were the least safe. But now they were the first to run out of the hotel. Instead, those with high status and strong influence were all blocked on the third floor.

On the third floor, the reaction of the people was a little slow, and the people who saw others running also rushed downstairs, but these people didn’t move in an orderly manner. All at the same time, they scrambled for a staircase, jostling and bumping, almost fighting each other.

A man, about 50 years old and well dressed, was blocked by a crowd at the entrance of the stairs. He ran to another staircase, where things were just as bad.

Looking back, the man saw that the two men in uniform in front of him had run away, and those who followed him could only see their tails. He immediately became anxious. He rushed to the other end of the corridor, explored his family background, and waved to them desperately.

No one looked at him one more time, and it seemed as if they didn’t see it.

The man was about to go crazy. He turned to look at the two staircases, which were still jammed. Looking back, the tail of the team was almost out of sight, even the person who just ran out of the hotel had already ran away.

In fact, he didn’t have to be in such a hurry. There were so many people in front of him to attract angels. Maybe he had a better chance of escape.

But when people are in a hurry and panic, they usually leave out 80% of their judgment, and only 20% are left at this time. If they are not too calm and wise at ordinary times, they are more likely to commit to rash actions, such as this man.

The man’s face changed from despair to madness.

Why wouldn’t you wait for me? Why block the stairway? Why didn’t the person who got down first remind me in advance?

If I can’t live, neither of you can escape!

The man leaned forward, opened his mouth, waved his hands, and used all his strength to shout: “Wait! Wait for me! Don’t go! I know where the second granary is, and I know the password for warehousing –! “

“Shua!”

“Shua Shua!”

The man’s cry is too shrill, and the place was wide open. Xiao Mo had already run far away but still heard the man’s cry loud and clear.

Dodge!

Xiao Mo yelled in his heart.

For the first time, he and Xue Li Hong each pulled a girl to rush to the surrounding hidden place, and at the same time, they made a good offensive and defensive posture back-to-back.

At the same time, the crowd was like a frying pan dripping with water.

But it was still too slow!

Xiao Mo looked up and saw a transparent angel with huge wings in the sky. The angel could see the outline through the rain curtain. The snow-white wings fluttered in the air, again and again. It was so cruel, but the scene looked so holy and beautiful.

The sounds of angels were not not so good, but their shrill calls were more terrible!

“Creak -” the harsh cry penetrated the whole city.

“Squeak!” Many rats sprang out from everywhere.

These rats were completely different from those killed by Xiao Mo just now. They were not only bigger in body, but also stronger in hind legs. Their four claws were longer and sharper than the ordinary rat. Their sharp teeth protrude from their mouths, and their eyes were a purplish red!

These were first-order mutant rats!

“Ah ah!” Someone screamed when they got bitten by a mutant rat.

Xiao Mo waved to the Wu family to keep up with him.

Wu Wu Fan and his wife learned from Xiao Mo and Xue Li Hong back-to-back, put their mother and son behind them, and waved their weapons to resist the mutant rat, while moving closer to Xiao Mo. But they were not experienced soldiers after all. Even after trying so hard, they were still bitten by the mutant rat, especially the family members on their backs.

The child’s mouth was blocked, and he couldn’t make a sound, so he could only cry. The old lady had already made a terrible cry. She waved her hands to kill the rat but fell from her son.

Yuan Yuan shed tears, she was also afraid of those mutant terrible rats, but for her son, she fought!

Xiao Mo took his time to take out the nail gun from his backpack and threw it to Lao Wu.

Lao Wu was not far away from him, and he caught the nail gun.

Lao Wu wielded a kitchen knife in one hand and shot a nail gun in the other. Although he was a little less accurate, he could still protect himself.

At this time, they could no longer cover their mouths. Many people screamed because they couldn’t resist the rats or because they were afraid.

“Squeak!” The angels kept calling in the sky.

Xue Li Hong kept pulling the trigger to shoot the nail gun. While attacking the angel, he whispered to Xiao Mo behind him: “the angel is organizing the attack. We can’t stay here! Move with me.”

“Ok!” Xiao Mo put the Wu family aside for a while, waving an axe, while distracted, whispered to the two girls, “Follow us closely, don’t scream!”

Among the two girls, the one with the hammer was screaming, and the other shot with a semi-automatic crossbow. The girl with the crossbow looked really calm and accurate. Even the girl who screamed was not slow to beat the mutant rat with the hammer, despite the loud cry of others. Try not to let the mutant rat get close to herself and the girl with the bow nearby.

Xiao Mo had nothing else to ask for the performance of the two girls. They had helped him a lot just by protecting themselves and not creating trouble.

Xue Li Hong grabbed a plastic ball from his pocket, grabbed the hammer girl beside him with an action too fast for people to see, hauled her by the neck, and shoved the plastic ball into her mouth.

The girl shed tears, but instead of trying to get the plastic ball, she continued to fight the mutant rat.

The other girl looked at Xue Li Hong before refocusing on the mutant rat. She didn’t have many arrows left.

“Be quiet!” Ni Wei, who was next to Zhang Di, kept shouting. He wanted everyone to be quiet, but he didn’t even notice that his cry was also a kind of noise that attracted angels.

The army of mutant rats came, and the old man and the children were the first ones to be unlucky. The children kept crying in fear, and even the cloth in their mouth couldn’t stop them crying. Which parents were willing to block their children’s mouth, what if they suffocate?

“Find something to stop yourself! The more you scream, the more you can’t get rid of them.” Zhang Di was also anxious. Seeing that the situation was out of control, he raised his wrist to look at the time and immediately nodded to his companion.

His companion understood what he meant and seized Ni Wei, who was under his charge. While driving away the mutant rat, he pulled him to run.

Zhang Di no longer shouted to remind others. The angels noticed him and were directing the mutant rats to attack him. This was only a level 1 mutant rat. When the next level comes out, he may not be able to escape, let alone escape with people he was supposed to protect.

Thanks to the cleaning this morning, the level 2 and level 3 mutant rats were probably badly injured. They have not seen a level 2 or above mutant rat.

Zhang Di waved to the other two young men who were still fighting, indicating that if the mutant rat didn’t jump on them, they would just follow his team.

A member of the lighting mercenary team wanted to keep up with them, and just turned around, he was grabbed by the angel who dived down from the sky and carried him up to the sky.

When the gunshot rang out, the angel released his paw, and the member fell from a height and died on the spot.

Zhang Di saw it and roared with grief.

More and more people were killed by the mutant rats and angels, and you could hardly recognised the corpses. Wherever the mutant rats went, these corpses and some injured people who could not run would swiftly be turned into white bones.

Xue Li Hong kicked away two mutant rats and made a move to Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo saw that; he pulled the girl he was protecting and rushed to the underground passage not far away! Zhang Jian was also pulling another task target Ni Wei and rushing towards there.

He cleared the way in front, two girls running in the middle, followed by Xue Li Hong.

The woman holding the baby also ran to them with several mutant rats hanging on her body. The woman was bitten so bloody that she could cover her baby’s pacifier with one hand and fasten the baby with the other. She didn’t care about the mutant rat that bit her or chased her. Only when the mutant rat jumped on her baby, she would wave those mutant rats away.

Xiao Mo admired the woman and could not help taking more care of her.

When the woman fell, Xiao Mo pulled her up and cut a fat mutant mouse in half with an axe.

Xue Li Hong saw what happened and gave Xiao Mo a glare: “Meddlers die early, you know?”

Wu Wu Fan’s family also ran into the underground passage. The old lady was covered with blood. Other people disliked her very much. Old Wu was the only one willing to run with her on his back.

Xue Li Hong just hoped these people wouldn’t drag them down.

Xiao Mo felt sorry for Xue Li Hong in his heart, but… he couldn’t ignore them as if he hadn’t seen it!  If it’s their relatives or when they were out in danger and unable to resist, who doesn’t want to have a helping hand to help themselves, even if it’s just a little help!

16: 25 

Xiao Mo and the others rushed into the underground passage.

The underground passage was not long. The farthest exit from the street was about 300 meters, replacing the original overpass and connecting the subway.

There were a lot of mutant rats rushing into the underground passage, but without the command of angels, they were no longer as scary, and their attacks were no longer organized.

A bright light broke through the darkness. Xue Li Hong took out the miner’s cap from his backpack, put it on and turned on the wolf’s eye lamp. This was not for himself, but for others. Light would always bring hope to people.

“Wheeze, wheeze…” several people’s violent gasps echoed in the passage.

Xiao Mo and Xue Li Hong were still busy killing the mutant rats.

They didn’t stay where they were, killing and running in the direction of the exit. They saw Zhang Jian and the young man Ni Wei.

After that, many people ran into the underpass, and many more people were attacked by mutant rats, and then they couldn’t get up again.

Xue Li Hong wanted to get rid of them.

There were way too many people. The angels have been watching them. If they gather again, they will be easily rounded up again.

But the light source he lights up was also a problem. Human beings have phototaxis. When they see the light, they will run with them. Fortunately, they came in early, and there weren’t many people who could follow them closely.

Xiao Mo was also clear about the situation. He glanced at the street exit not far ahead, and then turned to see the dark subway entrance.

He had a map in his head. Even if he walked underground in complete darkness, he was not afraid to get lost. But! There were more mutant rats in the subway. Although there was no angel’s command, their combat effectiveness had been reduced, it was still not only a matter of courage to break through the rat group.

Mutant rats liked darkness, hated strong light, and didn’t like to go out in the daytime. Now was still daytime. They can avoid these mutant rats by walking up if they don’t disturb the angels.

What should I do? Is it on the street or off the subway?

“Scavenger, I suggest you again…”

Xiao Mo roared in his heart, hoping to drag the system out of his body and smash it with a hammer, if he could find it.

The system insisted on giving out its opinion in its rigid voice: “You should give up this task. You shouldn’t have listened to that bastard at the beginning, or you should give up when he intends to give up. He dares to take this temporary task because he dares to give up at any time, but you don’t have his cold-blooded decision, so I don’t recommend you take other tasks on the way to completing the mission. Over.”

Xiao Mo shook his head hard. He no longer had any strength left to reply.

Xue Li Hong had already made a choice for him. He went straight to the exit of the street.

Zhang Jian also hesitated to get off the subway. Seeing Xue Li Hong, he stamped his foot and pulled the youth to change direction.

Let’s fight! I hope the angel didn’t notice the exit. Xiao Mo gritted his teeth and ran to the exit of the street with the girl he was protecting.

At the exit, Xue Li Hong turned off his headlights, put it back into his backpack, and stood on the stairs to replenish the nail gun with bullets.

No one crossed over Xue Li Hong.

Xue Li Hong glanced at Xiao Mo, and Xiao Mo felt his other side. He stepped on the steps, step by step, and slowly got up against the wall.

Xue Li Hong pointed his nail gun to the sky and followed him closely. He first looked at the top of the wall that Xiao Mo was sticking to, and then quickly turned to other directions.

Everyone else stayed where they were, including the two girls and Zhang Jian.

Xiao Mo had reached the top of the stairs. He hid under the wall and breathed in and out lightly.

Xue Li Hong asked him with his eyes.

Xiao Mo looked up at the sky and didn’t see the angel. He looked straight ahead of the steps, but just as he was about to shake his head, he suddenly raised his hand, and his head shrank.

Xiao Mo points to the direction of the underground passage, indicating that there was an angel on it.

Xue Li Hong made a pressing gesture behind him.

All the people that follow behind lean down and shut up.

There were mutant rats attacking them, and they could only drive them away in silence.

A mutant rat jumps on the shoulder of the girl protected by Xiao Mo, but the girl can’t beat it off. The mutant mouse wants to go to the girl’s chest.

“Well…” The girl’s scream was blocked by a plastic ball in her mouth. The girl with the bow beside her smashed the mutant mouse away with a bow.

Xiao Mo clung to the wall tightly, waited for a while, then slowly poked out his head, and then quickly retracted.

The angel was still there!

As time goes by, everyone can only wait for the angel to leave. Xue Li Hong shot the mutant rat with his nail gun from time to time.

Fortunately, angels were the most sensitive to human sounds, but they were not so sensitive to other sounds. Even the screams of mutant rats before they die could not disturb them.

The young man and the two girls were sweating. They were very anxious. The young man had a watch in his hand and kept looking at the time.

The girl holding the hammer gradually showed despair. She bumped her feet and seemed to want to rush out like this several times.

The time was 16:30hrs, the stopped rain began to fall again.

There was a lot of sweat on Xiao Mo’s head. Half an hour later, the east wall was in front of him! The shelter was just five kilometers from here!

According to Zhang Di, the army would set up bunkers in the compound of the Grain Bureau to meet the survivors and deal with mutant rats and angels.

If they run another 5000 meters!

The girl hasn’t moved yet, but Ni Wei, who kept looking at her watch, can’t wait any longer. He didn’t wait for Xue Li Hong to give instructions and he rushed up regardless.

Xiao Mo’s eyes widened when he saw it!

Xue Li Hong noticed something wrong and he wants to catch the young man!

This fool!

Xue Li Hong caught Ni Wei, but the girl with a hammer who wanted to run before rushed over them and ran out of the passage.

Xiao Mo had no choice but to risk throwing an axe to beat away the angel.

“Squeak!” In the distance came the call of other angels.

In the rain, the angel staying above the passage seems to turn his head.

The girl rushed to the top of the stairs.

“Shua!” The angel who stayed at the top of the passage flew up and flew in the direction of the crowd.

Xiao Mo’s feet softened and almost fell on the ground.

Xue Li Hong threw away the struggling Ni Wei and reached for Xiao Mo’s arm. His nail gun had been aimed at the angel before Xiao Mo, but he was not sure that it would die with one blow. This angel had a very annoying characteristic that no matter how you kill it, it will scream before it dies.

Seeing that the girl was OK outside, Ni Wei stared at Xue Li Hong and ran up. Zhang Jian and the girl with the bow follow closely.

The girl with the hammer took out the plastic ball and yelled to Xiao Mo with the shape of her mouth: Quick! Come on! It’s too late!

Xue Li Hong had no time to get angry with the three children. He makes a dash to Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo understood that, so he pointed to the front wall and ran.