boyutpedia Chapter 303 Annihilation and Capture
Chapter 303 Annihilation and Capture
Victor jumped out of the car in despair.
The moment I landed, a sharp pain shot through my old, injured knee.
He stumbled, but didn't fall.
He knelt on the bridge and quickly stuffed three plastic explosives into the expansion joints beside the bridge, then swiftly inserted the detonators.
Meanwhile, the mutated deer herd behind them had already rushed onto the bridge.
Without hesitation, he stood up and ran.
But with every step he took, his knees ached as if pricked by needles. Even so, he gritted his teeth and persevered, limping toward the bridgehead.
He quickly ran across the bridge.
Behind them, the sound of the mutated deer's hooves grew closer.
The vibrations from the ground traveled through my feet and spread throughout my body.
This distance wasn't considered safe, but it was too late. He had no choice but to resolutely press the detonator.
boom--
The bridge deck broke in the middle, and concrete fragments and steel bars flew out like a rainstorm.
The shockwave from the explosion threw Victor away, and he crashed heavily to the ground, his ears ringing.
He lay on the rubble and looked back.
The bridge is broken.
The mutated creature that had already climbed onto the bridge plunged into the river along with the broken bridge surface.
The one-eyed giant mutant deer stood at the other end of the cross-section, its white eyes staring at him.
It did not jump.
It stood there for only a few seconds, then turned and walked back into the woods.
Victor lay on the ground, his face pressed against the scorching asphalt, panting heavily.
Just then, he heard the sound of brakes behind him.
The armored truck and the school bus stopped. Danny ran over and helped him up.
"I told you not to look back," Victor said.
"You're talking nonsense." Danny's eyes reddened.
Victor leaned on Danny to stand up and glanced back at the other side of the bridge.
Then they began counting the number of people.
Three cars, twenty-nine people.
From forty-seven to twenty-nine.
Eighteen people, just like that, gone.
A little girl was crying by the window of the school bus, calling out for her family.
Victor turned his head away, unable to bear the cruel scene any longer.
"Let's go," his voice was hoarse. "Keep going."
The convoy restarted and continued along the road.
Forty minutes later, they saw a gathering place.
It's called a gathering place, but it's actually just a large gas station surrounded by abandoned vehicles and barbed wire.
You can see people moving around inside; I estimate there are fifty or sixty people.
There were two armed sentries at the entrance.
Victor had the convoy stop fifty meters away, and then walked over himself, leaning on a makeshift iron bar.
"We are the survivors' team."
He called out to the sentry, "We've been attacked by mutated creatures. There are wounded, elderly people, and children. Please take refuge."
The two sentries exchanged a glance, and one of them turned and ran inside.
After a while, a fat man wearing a baseball cap came out. He looked Victor up and down, then glanced at the three beat-up cars in the distance.
How many people?
"Twenty-nine."
The fat man shook his head: "No."
Victor thought he had misheard: "What?"
"We can't afford to support extra people here."
The fat man put his hands in his pockets. "We only have so many supplies, not even enough for our own people. You'll have to go somewhere else."
Victor stared at him: "We have wounded. Someone is bleeding."
"Who isn't bleeding?" The fat man shrugged. "These days, there are dead people everywhere. I can't care about that."
"We have elderly people and children."
"That's even less likely." The fat man's tone even carried a hint of impatience. "The elderly and children are just a drain on resources, and we don't accept burdens here. If you're a single, strong person, I might consider it."
Victor gripped the iron bar tightly, his heart filled with helplessness, yet he knew full well that this was reality.
People are selfish. Along the way, very few people would have taken in these elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people like he did.
He really wanted to hit him with a stick.
But he was too tired.
His knees were swollen like loaves of bread, and every movement reminded him that he was already fifty-two years old.
Danny, who was behind them, had already walked over and overheard the conversation. The young man's face turned bright red, and his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Victor reached out to stop him.
"Let's go."
"Victor—"
"Let's go." Victor turned around and limped back. "This place isn't worth staying."
The convoy resumed its journey.
As the saying goes, there's always a way out. Just when Victor and his companions were wandering aimlessly, not knowing where to go...
They received a looping broadcast signal from the radio inside an abandoned military jeep.
The signal was weak and intermittent, but the content was clear enough.
"...This is Raccoon City...A call to all survivors...We offer shelter, food, and safety...Coordinates below...Repeated...This is Raccoon City..."
Victor and the others watched the frequency indicator light on the radio fluctuate.
Danny asked, "Where is Raccoon City?"
Victor opened the map and measured the distance with his finger.
"It's not exactly close to us, probably over 500 kilometers away..."
The carriage was silent for a few seconds. More than 500 kilometers...
"Can you get there?" Danny asked.
Victor folded the map and put it in his pocket.
"Whether we can get there or not, it's still a hope, but we have to survive today first."
The little girl on the school bus who had lost her mother stopped crying. She pressed her face against the window, looking out at the dark purple woods and the gray sky.
Nobody knows what she's thinking.
……
However, they were unaware of this.
The cluster of gas stations that refused them was besieged by a horde of mutated animals shortly after they left.
The barbed wire was torn to shreds, and the wall made of wrecked cars was smashed down.
Of the fifty or sixty people, not a single one managed to escape.
……
Raccoon City.
Lin Fan stood in the monitoring room of the municipal building, with the real-time footage transmitted by the drone displayed on the screen in front of him.
The picture quality is not very clear, and the signal is intermittent.
But it's clear that something is happening in the wilderness about 80 kilometers southeast of Raccoon City.
To be precise, it is the animals that are changing.
The drone's camera captured a herd of deer, or rather, something that used to be deer.
They were noticeably larger than normal deer, their skin color was darker, and their movement was becoming abnormal.
In another scene, a grizzly bear stands by a stream.
A row of bony protrusions grew on its shoulders and back, making it look like an incomplete evolution.
It caught a fish in the water, but the fish was three times larger than a normal rainbow trout, and its scales reflected a metallic sheen.
The grizzly bear took a bite, the fish struggled in its mouth for a few moments, and then it swallowed it whole.
"It's faster than you expected."
Standing behind Lin Fan, Night Owl watched these scenes and couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes, it was somewhat unexpected."
Lin Fan stared at the screen, sighed in agreement, and then said...
"Insects and animals are almost synchronized, but the mutation cycle of animals is longer than that of plants, so it appears to be a few days later."
"Where is that person?" Night Owl asked.
Lin Fan did not answer.
The owl didn't ask any more questions.
After about five seconds of silence, Lin Fan turned around and said, "Call everyone over here."
……
Twenty minutes later, in the conference room on the second floor of the municipal building.
Those present included Night Owl, Zhao Lei, Howard, and several newly joined core members.
Lin Fan stood in front of the table and placed the footage captured by the drone onto the laptop on the table.
"Take a look at them all."
The crowd gathered around, and after they finished looking, no one said a word.
But everyone wore expressions of shock, clearly not expecting the mutation Lin Fan had mentioned to happen so quickly.
"The second wave of mutations has now begun."
"Animals in the wilderness are mutating. Theoretically, any mammal, reptile, bird, amphibian, or insect could undergo varying degrees of change in the next few days to weeks."
Howard raised his hand.
Lin Fan glanced at him and said, "Speak."
"Will the mutated animals attack humans?"
"It depends."
Lin Fan thought for a moment and said,
"After wild animals mutate, they will most likely become aggressive towards humans. After all, they were afraid of humans before. After mutation, their physical functions are enhanced, but their intelligence may not increase at the same time. Fear will be transformed into an aggressive instinct."
Zhao Lei frowned: "What about inside Raccoon City? We still have a lot of stray cats and dogs in our city, rats in the warehouses, and even in the sewers—"
"That's why I called you here today to talk about this."
Lin Fan interrupted him.
"Starting now, immediately launch an animal search operation throughout the city. Find all the cats and dogs you can, and put them under centralized custody."
A hint of doubt flashed across Howard's face: "Why not just kill them? What if they mutate—"
"Have you ever owned a dog?" Lin Fan asked in return.
Howard paused for a moment: "I've owned one. A Labrador."
"Does your Labrador recognize you?"
"Of course I agree."
"What if it grew two sizes bigger, its claws hardened, and it ran faster, but still recognized you? Would you kill it, or ride it into battle?"
Howard opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Although Lin Fan's words were a bit of an exaggeration, it was undeniable that if that were the case, he would be extremely happy to accept it.
"Mutation does not equal loss of control."
Lin Fan explained to everyone,
"The reason why wild animals get out of control is because they have no relation to humans in the first place."
But domesticated animals are different; they have emotional bonds and behavioral memories with people.
Theoretical calculations suggest that domesticated animals have a relatively high probability of retaining their original memories and obedience after mutation.
He paused.
"In other words, a mutated military dog might be more effective than an armored vehicle."
The meeting room was silent for two seconds.
Zhao Lei was the first to react:
"So we're not collecting animals, we're collecting...weapons?"
"Weapons, mounts, sentries, call them whatever you like."
Lin Fan leaned against the table. "But the premise is that we have to control them before they mutate. It's a completely different story to catch them after they've already mutated."
"Understood." Zhao Lei stood up. "I'll take some men."
"Three search teams are operating simultaneously."
Lin Fan held up three fingers.
"Zhao Lei is in charge of the city center and residential areas, Howard is in charge of the outer warehouses and industrial areas, and you decide on the personnel for the third group, Night Owl, who will be in charge of the sewage system and basements in the East District. There's no need to catch rats or anything like that; just kill them with fire."