I Have a Post Apocalyptic Online Friend C17.1

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Chapter 17. Part 1

“Lu Yuan! Lu Yuan!”

Zhou An’an screamed without a second thought.

Lu Yuan, who had been sleeping soundly, immediately sat up.

The sunflower sensed the movement behind it and spun around to attack him.

Pfft pfft pfft—pfft pfft pfft—

Lu Yuan was pelted by a dense barrage of sunflower seeds, unable to open his eyes. He had to cover his head with the blanket and grumbled as he moved, “What the hell is this thing?!”

Zhou An’an, still in shock, stammered, “Y-Your sunflower is spitting seeds at us!”

Lu Yuan had already reached the sunflower and grabbed its stalk just below the flower head.

“Gaa—”

Zhou An’an blinked. “Did I just hear a duck?”

Lu Yuan showed no mercy despite his fondness for flowers. He yanked the sunflower out by its roots and threw it to the ground.

The plant’s life force was tenacious; it turned its flower head and continued spitting seeds.

Lu Yuan, wearing slippers, stomped his size 44 feet directly onto its flower head and twisted hard.

The flower head was crushed to a pulp. The stalk writhed on the ground like a snake in agony before finally going still a few minutes later.

Lu Yuan crouched down to examine the fragments of the flower head, and Zhou An’an stood over to watch.

“The plants have started to mutate,” he said.

Zhou An’an replied, “Doesn’t that mean we’re screwed?”

The forest had nothing in abundance except plants!

Lu Yuan tossed the fragments aside, dusted off his hands, and stood up. “Don’t worry. The mutation has likely just begun. There’s no lethal threat for now.”

“You said ‘for now’…”

Zhou An’an slumped onto the bed in despair. “Our good days barely lasted a few days, and now they’re over.”

She knew this day would come eventually, but she never expected it to be so soon!

While Lu Yuan checked the other sunflowers, Zhou An’an idly picked up one of the seeds and curiously cracked it open.

Inside, there was no kernel, but a tiny mouth lined with sharp, needle-like teeth. It was still too fragile, crumbling at the slightest pressure. But given time to mature, it would surely latch onto human flesh like a leech, embedding the seed deep within. Tearing it out would be impossible without ripping off a chunk of skin.

The image made her shudder, and she quickly threw the seed away.

The other sunflowers hadn’t started to mutate yet, but Lu Yuan didn’t want to keep so many potential dangers in the car. He uprooted them all, threw them out, and shoveled the soil from the vehicle until it was completely clean.

Seeing him drenched in sweat, Zhou An’an initially wanted to tease him. After all, he was the one who had insisted on planting the flowers in the car in the first place.

But he came from an ice age apocalypse, had never seen real flowers growing up, and his fervent love for them wasn’t unreasonable.

Besides, he was still injured, yet he had handled both planting and removing the flowers without ever asking for her help…

So, not only could Zhou An’an not bring herself to mock him, but her legs moved on their own, and she went over to help him with the work.

By the time the compartment was clean, the sky had brightened.

Only the three potted plants Zhou An’an had bought remained in the car.

As Lu Yuan hesitated, she spoke up. “Let’s throw these out too. It’ll be troublesome if they mutate and attack us.”

“No.”

“You can’t bear to part with them? If we get a chance to go to a mall later, I’ll find you some fake flowers, okay? Fake flowers are pretty too.” Zhou An’an felt like she was coaxing a child.

Lu Yuan was far more stubborn than a child, and he was a man of action.

He walked to the rear compartment and returned moments later with several wooden planks and a handsaw.

He placed the planks in front of the flowerpots, measured them, sawed them to the right size, and began hammering them together.

Zhou An’an guessed his intention. “Are you going to cage them?”

Lu Yuan nodded. “This will be a good way to observe the characteristics of plant mutations.”

Putting plants in jail, she thought. That’s a first.

Her interest piqued, Zhou An’an squatted beside him, handing him tools.

Before long, Lu Yuan had built a large cage and locked all three pots inside.

After working through the early morning hours, both of them were tired.

Zhou An’an heated up the last few frozen buns from the fridge for breakfast.

They hadn’t stockpiled many supplies to begin with, and after a week of consumption, the frozen food, vegetables, fruits, and eggs were all gone. All that remained were rice, flour, cured meat, and salted eggs.

When she returned with the steaming buns, Lu Yuan was observing the forest outside the window.

“Have the other plants started mutating?” she asked.

“Shh… Look.”

Lu Yuan pointed in a direction. Zhou An’an followed his finger and saw a small bird flying in from the distance, seemingly looking for a branch to perch on.

A swish echoed from the forest, and a vine shot out, coiling tightly around the bird.

The bird chirped in agony a few times, struggling futilely before being dragged into the foliage and disappearing from sight.

“Oh my god…” Zhou An’an felt a chill run down her spine.

“They don’t have the ability to deal with us yet,” Lu Yuan said, taking a bite of a bun. “But I don’t think that will last long.” He spoke with absolute resolve. “We leave after we eat.”

“Where are we going?”

The city had zombies, the forest had killer plants. They couldn’t exactly take to the sea—that would require a nuclear submarine.

And if plants can mutate, why can’t animals?

The more Zhou An’an thought about it, the more pessimistic she became. It felt like they were completely trapped.

Unfazed, Lu Yuan calmly unfolded the crumpled map and began his analysis.

“There are places in the world with few people and plants, like deserts. But the nearest desert is over two thousand kilometers away. Making such a long journey requires preparing ample supplies beforehand. Even after reaching the desert, we’d have to stockpile enough food and water. Otherwise, even if we escape the zombies and plants, we’d just be walking into a death trap in the desert.”

Two thousand kilometers… Even driving nonstop, that would take several days.

“So… the first thing we need to do is go back to the city to collect diesel, food, and drinking water.”

Lu Yuan folded the map, his objective set.

Zhou An’an looked wistfully at the lush green trees around them. “Are we really leaving this place?”

This peaceful, tranquil life… she feared they would never have it again.

“Hurry up and eat. If we don’t leave soon, those vines won’t be grabbing birds—they’ll be grabbing you.”

Lu Yuan’s words hardened her resolve. She quickly finished her bun and prepared to drive.

“Wait.”

Just as she was about to step on the gas, Lu Yuan suddenly got out of the bus. He opened the rear cargo door and pushed the motorcycle they’d found at the Ranger’s Cabin inside.

“The bus is too cumbersome and not agile enough. We can use this to escape,” he explained as he returned to the passenger seat.

Zhou An’an nodded, but her heart grew heavier. “Does this mean we could die at any moment?”

Lu Yuan leaned against the window, his expression as relaxed as if he were on vacation.

“Don’t worry. If we ever face real danger, I’ll make sure I die before you do.”

Was that a promise?

As long as he was alive, would she be safe?

Zhou An’an couldn’t help but glance at him.

Thanks to that thick beard, she still hadn’t gotten a clear look at his features.

But after this moment, no matter what happened in the future, Lu Yuan would be the person she trusted most.

Let’s go!

Without hesitation, Zhou An’an slammed her foot on the accelerator, and the bus sped back along the road they’d come from.

Along the way, they spotted numerous plants that had already begun to mutate.

Moss that had crept over the road overnight.

Morning glories that now preyed on insects.

Peach trees that used their resin as traps.

Fortunately, the plants’ targets were still insects and small animals for now; they hadn’t yet dared to attack the bus.

But as the bus passed through a bamboo grove, the vehicle suddenly lurched violently, instantly losing its balance.

Fortunately, Zhou An’an’s nerves were stretched taut, and she hadn’t dared to relax. She reacted at the first sign of trouble, gripping the steering wheel tightly and bringing the bus to a stop.

“What happened? Did we hit something?” she asked, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Lu Yuan had already rushed to a window in the main cabin to observe. “It’s the bamboo.”

“Huh?”

“A bamboo shoot suddenly shot up from the road…” Lu Yuan opened the window and tossed a metal basin out. Instantly, a bamboo shoot erupted from the ground, piercing straight through the sturdy stainless steel.

He immediately slammed the window shut. “We need to get out of here, fast. I think they’re trying to hunt us.”

They? Did he mean the entire bamboo forest covering the mountainside?

Zhou An’an couldn’t help but swallow hard, her palms growing slick with sweat. “Maybe… you should drive?”

She had completely lost her confidence.

Lu Yuan’s tone was firm. “You drive. Have you ever seen a racing movie? You be the driver, and I’ll be your navigator. Don’t worry about anything else—just follow my directions for steering and distance.”

Zhou An’an took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

“I’ll try.”

Lu Yuan placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Whether we make it out of here alive is all up to you.”

Zhou An’an was on the verge of tears. “If you keep scaring me, I won’t even be able to press the accelerator.”

“I’m not trying to scare you. I believe in you. You can do this.”

Lu Yuan turned to look out the window, his gentle expression instantly sharpening into intense focus.

“They’re coming.”

Zhou An’an felt her temples throbbing as she gripped the steering wheel tightly.

“Forward!”

“Switch to the left lane in three seconds!”

“Brake!”

Countless bamboo shoots erupted from the ground like swords. While they couldn’t pierce the bus’s chassis, if they punctured the tires or threw off the steering, the bus would flip, and they’d never escape this forest.

Zhou An’an blocked out everything else, focusing solely on Lu Yuan’s commands.

At one point, a bamboo shoot scraped past the driver’s side window so closely she could almost feel the murderous intent radiating from it.

Is this payback for all the pickled bamboo shoots I’ve eaten? she wailed internally.

The bus narrowly dodged countless bamboo shoots, finally reaching the outer edge of the bamboo forest.

The bamboo shoots seemed to be giving up, their assault weakening noticeably. But before Zhou An’an could even breathe a sigh of relief, hundreds more erupted in unison from the road ahead, blocking their path completely.

Her foot wavered on the accelerator, but then she heard Lu Yuan say, “Don’t be afraid. Ram through them.”

There’s nothing to fear in this world. If you fail, you just start over. If you die, it’s all over anyway.

I have to try.

As if she’d swallowed a calming pill, Zhou An’an slammed her foot on the accelerator without hesitation, charging straight into the barricade.

The bus lived up to its hefty modification fees, smashing through the bamboo shoots with unstoppable force and breaking them out of the encirclement.

Zhou An’an glanced at the rearview mirror, watching the bamboo forest recede into the distance. Her heart still pounded with lingering fear, but excitement surged through her even more.

“We made it out!”

“I told you you could do it.”

Lu Yuan patted her shoulder before returning to his seat in the passenger side.

Zhou An’an stole a glance at him, suddenly overwhelmed by an inexplicable urge to hug him.

He sensed her staring and touched his cheek. “What is it?”

“N-nothing…”

Flustered, she quickly turned her head back and secretly pinched herself.

I must be crazy.

The rest of the journey went smoothly. They left the forest and reached the national highway.

The number of zombies seemed to have increased significantly since they’d last been here. The moment they emerged, a dozen zombies swarmed toward them.

They couldn’t possibly catch the bus, so Zhou An’an ignored them and continued driving.

Following the same route they’d taken before, they returned to the industrial park.

Thousands of zombies wandered through the factory complex, their attention drawn by any slight movement or sound.

A large group of them blocked their path forward.

Should I just ram through them?

There must be over a hundred zombies on this road. If I hit that many in a row, will the bus flip over?

Unsure, Zhou An’an was about to ask Lu Yuan when he spoke first: “Is there a food factory in this industrial park?”

She carefully searched her memory. When she’d chosen their parking spot, she had taken the time to thoroughly scout the surrounding area.

Food factory… food factory… Got it!

Zhou An’an’s eyes lit up. “There’s no dedicated food factory, but there is a fast-food processing plant that supplies boxed lunches to schools and businesses.”

“The apocalypse started so long ago, the boxed lunches in the plant are definitely inedible,” Lu Yuan said. “But there are probably still a lot of unused raw ingredients, which would be perfect for our journey to the desert.” He then asked, “Which building is the processing plant?”

Zhou An’an searched her memory again. Fortunately, her recall was sharp, and she quickly found the information.

“It’s the third building in the fourth row. We’re currently at the second building in the first row. It’ll take five minutes at most to drive there.”

“Let’s go now.”

“Okay.”

Zhou An’an reversed the bus and turned into an intersection behind them.

Soon, the factory from her memory came into view. Compared to the surrounding electronics and machinery plants, this fast-food processing plant was relatively small. But the sign hanging over the main gate—”Jingxing Catering Co., Ltd.”—brought a surge of joy to them both.

Their joy lasted barely three seconds before worry set in.

The gate in the factory’s perimeter wall was locked, and inside, hundreds of zombies in employee uniforms roamed.

The zombies had been wandering aimlessly, but at the sound of the bus, they immediately swarmed behind the main gate.

The gate was an ordinary stainless steel barred gate, which the bus could certainly ram open.

But once they broke through, the zombies would undoubtedly surround the bus. Getting out to enter the factory and retrieve supplies would be a pipe dream.

“Should we look for a back entrance?” Zhou An’an suggested.

The bus’s engine was loud, and zombies from other factories were already starting to shamble toward them.

Lu Yuan watched the growing number of zombies and shook his head.

“It’s too late. We have to take a gamble.”

“How? Ram through?”

Lu Yuan bent down and pointed to an open door on the factory building’s ground floor, inside the compound. “See that door? When I give the signal, you ram the gate open. I’ll jump out to draw the zombies’ attention while you drive the bus over there. Remember, align the bus door with that factory door. That way, you can block the zombies outside and get directly into the building.”

Zhou An’an immediately rejected the plan.

“No way! Are you kidding me? There are so many zombies here. If you get out, they’ll devour you until there’s nothing left but bone fragments!”

“No more arguing,” Lu Yuan cut her off. “The longer we delay, the more zombies will gather. That’s when it will get truly dangerous.”

Zhou An’an remained firm. “If we can’t get the food here, then forget it. Let’s just drive away and find somewhere else.”

“Go where?”

She faltered. “Didn’t you say there’s more pre-apocalypse food than all the survivors could ever eat? That it’s everywhere…”

“It is everywhere,” Lu Yuan said, his face showing no trace of nervousness. “But you have to be skilled enough to take it. Trust me, I wouldn’t do anything that would get me killed. When I say I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. We’ve known each other this long—have I ever broken my word?”

Zhou An’an thought hard. It seemed he really hadn’t.

Whether it was convincing the acquisition company to pay one million or promising he would definitely come, he had always delivered… even if his methods seemed unreliable at the time.

She bit her lip, her eyes filled with worry. “Do we really have to do this?”

“Surviving the apocalypse is never easy. You need to adapt quickly.”

As Lu Yuan spoke, a sudden weariness flickered across his face, as if he had faced countless similar—or even more perilous—situations before.

Zhou An’an asked, “But how will you get away from them?”

“Get inside and guard the door. Open it immediately when I get back.”

“Okay!”

She nodded forcefully.

Lu Yuan watched her for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled. “See? You’re not so useless after all, are you? Whether I live or die is all up to you now.”

Zhou An’an wanted to say something, but a lump formed in her throat, and her eyes welled with tears.

“Let’s grab enough food so we never have to get out of this bus again unless we’re starving to death.”

Never again, she thought. Neither Lu Yuan nor I should ever have to face this kind of danger again.

Lu Yuan gently patted her head, then turned to prepare.

Just as he had when searching the Ranger’s Cabin, he wrapped his limbs and torso with aluminum foil tape. His only weapon was the short knife he always carried.

“Take the hunting rifle,” Zhou An’an urged.

“It’s too long and cumbersome. This knife is enough.”

Lu Yuan righted the motorcycle, sat on it, and tested it to make sure everything was working. “Alright, you can start. First, honk the horn. Try to lure out as many zombies from the processing plant as possible.”

Zhou An’an did as he said. After a series of loud honks, more than a dozen zombies stumbled out of the factory building.

When no more zombies emerged, she adjusted the bus’s position and looked back at Lu Yuan.

He nodded. Zhou An’an slammed her foot on the gas, and the massive bus hurtled toward the fence gate. The seemingly sturdy barrier shattered like brittle wood on impact, tearing open a wide breach.

The bus charged through the wall. The horde of zombies, long confined within, erupted into a frenzy, swarming the bus and pounding against its sides.

“Open the door!” Lu Yuan shouted.

Zhou An’an immediately pressed the button to open the rear doors.

As the doors slowly slid open, the motorcycle’s engine roared to life, deafeningly loud. It shot out like an arrow.

Once Lu Yuan was clear, she quickly closed the doors, sealing the zombies outside. Her eyes remained fixed on his figure, terrified that something might go wrong.

Lu Yuan didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he circled the area, ensuring he had drawn the attention of every zombie before speeding through the breach in the fence.

The zombies pursued him, their dense mass flowing like a black river.

Zhou An’an watched Lu Yuan’s figure shrink into the distance, wiped her eyes, and hurried to complete her own task.

The bus was huge and clumsy, making it difficult to park precisely.

Fortunately, Zhou An’an had practiced basic maneuvers like parking, reversing, and turning countless times. With the zombies now lured away, she had plenty of room to maneuver.

With intense focus, she slammed the bus’s door right up against the factory gate.

The bus’s body formed a perfect barrier; even if any zombies discovered her, they wouldn’t be able to get in.

Zhou An’an parked the bus, opened the door, and prepared to peek inside the factory.

Before her foot could even touch the ground, a horrifying zombie face lunged at her. It grabbed her shoulders and opened its mouth to bite her neck.

She instinctively shoved it away, scrambling backward desperately.

The zombie immediately lunged into the bus, clamping its hands around her leg.

Zhou An’an kicked with all her might, but she couldn’t break free. The stench of rot from its body filled her nostrils, and despair nearly overwhelmed her.

Lu Yuan is waiting for me to open the gate! I can’t die!

The thought spurred her into action. She scanned her surroundings and spotted the hunting rifle on the bunk bed.

“No one’s eating me!”

Zhou An’an roared, kicking the zombie away with a final, desperate shove. She scrambled to her feet, lunged for the bed, grabbed the rifle, and loaded a shell with lightning speed. Then…

BANG!

The zombie’s head exploded less than half a meter away. Bits of flesh and blood splattered across her face, but thankfully, she had clamped her mouth shut the instant the gun fired.

Finally, it’s over…

Zhou An’an’s tense body instantly went limp, and she nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

But Lu Yuan was still in danger.

She couldn’t afford to rest. Rifle in hand, she got out of the bus and quickly scanned the factory interior. After confirming there were no other threats, she returned to the bus and anxiously stared in the direction Lu Yuan had gone.

One minute… two minutes…

Time ticked by, second by second, but Lu Yuan still hadn’t appeared.

Could he have been… by the zombies…?

Zhou An’an’s hand instinctively tightened around the rifle. She desperately wanted to drive the bus to find him, but if she left and he happened to return, her efforts would be worse than useless.

He promised he wouldn’t break his word.

Zhou An’an could hear her own heart pounding in her chest.

Finally, the roar of a motorcycle echoed from the distance. She immediately placed her finger on the door-open button, her eyes fixed on the sound’s source.

Lu Yuan’s figure appeared. The motorcycle was fast and agile, and he had managed to put about ten meters between himself and the zombie horde.

However, more zombies kept lunging out from the sides, forcing him to swerve and dodge. It looked incredibly perilous.

“Come on… Faster…” Zhou An’an murmured.

When Lu Yuan was about thirty meters from the bus, he roared, “Open the door!”

Without hesitation, she slammed the button. The rear cargo doors swung open, and he sped inside at full throttle. The moment he crossed the threshold, he slammed the brakes, leaped off the bike, and tucked his head, rolling twice on the floor before coming to a steady stop.

The motorcycle flew sideways for several meters after he abandoned it, landing beside their bed. Its tires spun uselessly, unable to move an inch, filling the air with the acrid smell of burning rubber.

Zhou An’an immediately shut the doors behind him. The zombies, now locked outside, slammed futilely against the bus’s body.

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