บท 58: Chapter 54
A week later.
Eastern United States, Georgia.
Western Atlanta.
"Hoo~"
The biting cold wind whistled through the trees on both sides of the road, and the snow on the road and the falling snowflakes danced in the strong wind, covering everything around in a blanket of snow!
At the end of Interstate 20, faint shadows could be seen, followed by a large convoy gradually appearing. They consisted of fully armed soldiers with firearms and civilians wrapped in down jackets, shivering together.
At this moment, whether soldiers or civilians, none of them sought refuge from the howling snowstorm in the cars. Instead, they walked in groups on both sides of the vehicles, treading through the thick snow.
At the forefront of the convoy were dozens of soldiers and civilians wielding shovels, diligently clearing the snow on the road to create a passage for the vehicles behind.
Inside the trucks and buses, there was only one driver each navigating the slow progress on the cleared road. Every few trucks and buses were connected by tow ropes, pulling each other forward, as it seemed all the vehicles had malfunctioned.
"Sigh! This weather is really outrageous. Can't we catch a break today?"
With a step into the snow, Brian tucked his hands into the pockets of his down jacket, bending slightly as he let the snowflakes hit his face, trudging forward step by step.
It had been nine days since they left Dallas, and under normal circumstances before the disaster, they could have reached their destination in less than a day. However, due to the snow forcing them to reduce speed and the need to navigate through various areas to ensure road safety, along with the attacks from infected individuals and other complications along the way, it took them nearly ten days to finally arrive at the outskirts of Atlanta. If they hadn't been lucky and avoided encountering groups of migrating infected individuals several times, who knew when they would have arrived.
But as luck would have it, when their luck ran out, misfortune followed.
The weather was fine when the convoy set off this morning, but not long after, strong winds began blowing, and the snowfall increased rapidly, turning into a snowstorm in no time. No one knew why this sudden change occurred, but there was nowhere nearby to seek temporary shelter, so they had no choice but to brave the elements and continue forward.
However, they soon encountered congestion and damage ahead, which caused headaches for everyone. It was impossible to transport vehicles under such heavy snowfall conditions.
However, someone quickly found a small road beside the highway that they could use to bypass the congestion. Without hesitation, they turned onto this side road.
But to their surprise, this road had a low-lying section where the snow layer was thicker than on the highway. One after another, vehicles broke down due to the snow scraping against their undercarriages, or for some other reason, causing a series of malfunctions, and the engines could no longer start.
However, they were already halfway along this small road, and with deeper snow ahead and vehicles malfunctioning both in front and behind, they were at a loss. If the remaining functional vehicles broke down, they would all be finished.
So everyone quickly got out of their vehicles to help clear the way ahead. However, due to the limited number of shovels, they could only take turns. Meanwhile, dozens of people pushed the malfunctioning vehicles forward together.
When the convoy finally returned to the highway, the headache had just begun. Although the military had prepared for the possibility of vehicle malfunctions, bringing some emergency repair parts, these were far from enough to repair so many vehicles. Moreover, there were no towns nearby.
They had no choice but to rearrange the order of the vehicles, letting the repaired vehicles tow one or two others forward. To prevent further malfunctions, they couldn't neglect clearing the snow either.
As the vehicles were responsible for towing, the others had no choice but to proceed on foot. Thus, the scene before them unfolded.
Brian turned his head and saw Sarah and Alan on his left side, their faces pale from the cold, huddling together and shivering as they walked forward. Anna and Wilfred were supporting Sylvia on the other side.
He could clearly see that the speed at which everyone was moving forward was getting slower and slower. Even lifting a foot seemed extraordinarily difficult.
Some people were already exhausted, and if it weren't for their companions' support, they probably wouldn't have the strength to continue walking.
Continuing at this pace, it wouldn't be long before everyone completely exhausted themselves and couldn't move any further, ultimately freezing to death in this snowstorm.
At this moment, Brian saw a soldier climbing onto the hood of a stalled vehicle against the howling wind, holding a megaphone and shouting something loudly.
Although most of the sound was drowned out by the howling wind, as he was closer, Brian could vaguely hear what the soldier was saying.
"Everyone... hold on, we're almost... at the nearest... county... town. When we... get there, we'll... rest. Please... hold on...!"
The voice was intermittent, but from these words, Brian could roughly piece together the meaning.
This slightly uplifted his spirits, but soon worries arose. After all, a county town was much larger than a small town, with a population several times larger, so there would undoubtedly be fewer infected individuals. Who knew if they would have to face another large-scale battle with the infected?
However, this time they wouldn't have a defensive line to hold, and everyone's bodies were frozen stiff, in extremely poor condition. Once they encountered a large number of infected individuals, they would definitely be wiped out.
Brian didn't believe that the convoy commander hadn't considered this, but he also knew that even if they knew there might be danger there, they had no other choice now. It was better to gamble that this snowstorm would cover their movements, and the infected wouldn't detect them.
Although the howling wind masked the sound of the megaphone, those who were closer heard it and began telling others about the news they just heard. Soon, everyone knew.
The content was indeed similar to Brian's judgment. It was indeed true that they would arrive at the nearest county town in a few hundred meters. It was Douglas County's county seat—Douglasville, located in the western region of Atlanta.
Hearing this uplifting news, everyone felt full of energy again, and their footsteps unconsciously quickened.
Not long after, they saw a fork in the road ahead, with a sign indicating the way to Douglasville.
The crowd cheered and went down the side road, but soon remembered the threat of infected individuals and slowed their pace.
As they progressed along the road, everything around them, whether rooftops or streets, was completely buried in white snow. However, it was strange that not a single infected individual could be seen.
All the preparations made by the military were rendered useless, but it also made people breathe a sigh of relief.
Out of caution, they couldn't stray too far from the road. Fortunately, there was a very large hospital nearby. It was large enough to accommodate everyone in the convoy, and there was also a large underground parking lot to park all the vehicles. As long as enough parts were gathered from there, repairs could be carried out on the spot.
The convoy slowly stopped at the entrance of the hospital. The electric gate at the entrance was tightly closed at the moment. The sign displayed the name "Wells Douglas Hospital," and
opposite the street was a large pharmacy. All around were various hospital buildings, all seemingly part of the same hospital.
The crowd gathered at the entrance of the hospital, but no one dared to rush in. Although there were no infected individuals inside at the moment, no one was foolish. During the Cordyceps outbreak, hospitals were hotspots for the spread of the virus.
Moreover, they had encountered those monsters more than once. If they rushed in recklessly and there were a large number of infected individuals inside these buildings, they would be walking into a lion's den.
The people looked at the soldiers, and for some reason, there was no goodwill in the civilians' eyes towards them. Their eyes were full of schadenfreude, devoid of the friendliness they had shown to each other just a few days ago.
As the crowd gathered at the entrance of the hospital, Commander Harper had already organized a team of soldiers led by Captain Colbert to enter the hospital to investigate.
Actually, Justin should have been more suitable for this operation. Both his combat skills and physical abilities were excellent, but his temperament was too... impulsive. Therefore, for safety's sake, Harper chose Colbert.
As for the civilians and soldiers on the street, they couldn't continue to endure the cold. Harper ordered the doors to be opened so everyone could get in and rest, trying to recover their strength as much as possible. But one condition was that they must remain quiet at all times.
At the same time, Harper also dispatched some elite soldiers to disperse around the hospital, keeping watch on the surrounding streets. If anything unusual was noticed, they would report immediately.
With a reinforced formation led by Colbert, the crowd dispersed from the entrance, and easily climbed over the electric gate at the entrance, their footsteps crunching as they disappeared into the depths of the hospital, gradually fading away in the snowstorm.
Watching the soldiers entering the hospital, Brian's heart inexplicably began to beat violently, and he felt a palpitation.
He placed his hand over his chest, not understanding why he felt this way, but seeing the people around him turning to walk back to the cars, he followed suit. Regardless, it was better to take shelter from this snowstorm for now.
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