Inside the zoo, a great escape to victory was underway.
Over a hundred students began desperately running forward under the cover of more than a dozen warriors.
Their goal was the other side of the zoo's fence, where the wire had been cut open by engineers. As long as they could run there, large trucks with Red Guards waited for them to get on and leave smoothly.
About a hundred meters away, at the zoo's entrance, over thirty Red Guards had formed a defensive circle, sniping at the zombies continuously surging out of the campus.
Xiao Fan did not follow the students to escape first, but stayed behind to command.
"Don't attack indiscriminately, focus on the agile zombies!"
"Flamethrower warriors, pay attention. When the zombies are about to overwhelm you, ignite the traffic flow immediately. Most vehicles here have gasoline, and will explode."
Gunshots thundered continuously, knocking down the charging zombies.
The agile zombies were indeed formidable. Their movements were extremely fast. Even first and second stage mutants were not so easy to kill. They often required several warriors to cooperate, such as first breaking a leg to slow it down before killing it.
Xiao Fan's gaze locked onto an agile zombie covered in dense scales.
This was the third stage mutant Smith had mentioned. Not only was it very fast, but ordinary rifles and light machine guns did little damage to it.
Although focused fire had hit it twice, its speed was barely affected as it continued to nimbly dart through the traffic, even dodging.
"Damn it! I don't believe this. Heavy machine gun group, lock onto that zombie and take it down no matter what!"
The heavy machine gun group was on a jeep, with the machine gun set up and on standby.
Upon receiving the commander's order, group leader Niu Ben immediately opened fire!
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
The heavy machine gun roared to life, spewing a torrent of metal!
No matter how fast the agile zombie moved, it was still no match for the heavy machine gun. A mistimed leap led to its leg being shot off immediately.
This was the opportunity sniper Wang Yuan had been waiting for. He fired a single shot!
Blood and gore sprayed as the agile zombie's head exploded!
With the agile zombie down, an enormous armored zombie continued its relentless approach.
This zombie was even more difficult to deal with. Aside from sniper rifles and heavy machine guns, other guns could only leave white marks on its body.
But Xiao Fan had no intention of fighting it out. He immediately ordered the traffic flow to be torched.
The two flamethrower warriors who had been itching for action immediately opened fire.
Enormous dragons of fire swept half the street as ignited cars began exploding one after another!
The horde of zombies was engulfed by the fiery explosions. Nearly half the city was shaken.
"Retreat! We can't stay here. Let's go home!"
All the Red Guards immediately retrieved their guns and retreated in an orderly fashion. In just one minute, the zoo entrance was completely empty.
They swiftly made their way back along the path they came from, through the zoo. Soon, Xiao Fan's group met up with the main force at the zoo exit.
Xiao Tian had been placed under top priority protection, in Xiao Fan's vehicle.
Xiao Fan opened the car door and got into a brand new Dongfeng Mengshi military jeep.
Xiao Tian held Xiao Fan's hand and nestled against his shoulder without a word.
Xiao Fan also did not say much, simply ordering the car to move out.
The vehicles rolled away from Chishui County's zoo, heading towards Yanshan Town.
On the way, Xiao Fan pondered that with so many people now, it would be impossible for them all to stay at the hotel. It looked like he would have to find another place for them to settle down.
Moreover, Yanshan Town was clearly not a long-term location either. He still had to choose a base as soon as possible, one where they could survive long-term. After all, as the Red Guards system, not having a base was out of the question. Just the construction of those buildings alone would likely overwhelm Yanshan Town.
With these issues on his mind, the troops continued their swift journey back.
********
Yanshan Town.
Scout Xu Qiang had already returned with some warriors, transporting large quantities of mutated beast meat to the police station building in Yanshan Town.
The building had been abandoned. There were some weapons inside but Feng Zhenxiang's group had already ransacked them clean earlier.
Overall though, the place was still relatively tidy and clean. With three floors total, it was just right for temporary lodging.
The police station was less than 300 meters from the hotel. Some people couldn't sit still when they saw Xu Qiang's group return and enter the police station instead of the hotel.
Like Wang Dajiang.
As the former propaganda minister of Yanshan Town, Wang Dajiang was quite ambitious.
Especially after the apocalypse outbreak, when all the leaders who used to restrain him disappeared, he felt he should be the number one person in Yanshan Town.
But the reality was not so. Xiao Fan had returned and immediately taken control. Now everyone had to listen to him.
It wasn't that Xiao Fan being in charge was unacceptable, but Wang Dajiang felt he should have more power.
So he had covertly contacted some people to band together.
Some were Feng Zhenxiang's remnants, some had conflicts with Xiao Fan's father, and some just looked down on this young whippersnapper managing so many people.
They gathered around Wang Dajiang, looking for an opportunity to have a good talk with Xiao Fan.
Unity is strength, after all. No matter how overbearing Xiao Fan was, with so many voices, he would have to consider carefully, right?
Moreover, the fact that Xiao Fan could lead so many soldiers back showed the external situation wasn't too dire. The main forces would come to take over sooner or later.
How could Xiao Fan not worry that someone might speak ill of him then?
Wasn't he afraid of being dealt with by superiors?
As for calling himself the Commander-in-Chief, Wang Dajiang scorned it.
A college graduate of just a few years, he was probably just a squad leader at most, not some big shot.
What he needed to do now was to patiently wait for an opportunity, while continually winning people's hearts.
Today, when he saw Xu Qiang bring some people back, pulling several large trucks of supplies, and head to the police station instead of the hotel, Wang Dajiang felt the chance had come.
He brought some people to the front of the police station.
"On what basis? What gives you the right to not let us in?"
"That's right, you've brought stuff back, so why can't we know? All this time, we've done whatever Xiao Fan says, working just as hard as anyone, but what are the facts? The truth is the good stuff here all goes cheap to Xiao Zhenyuan and his cronies. Are we supposed to be discriminated against?"
"Yeah, we demand equal treatment!"
"Finders keepers. Bring out the goods."
With over forty people behind him, Wang Dajiang thought he had caused enough of a commotion for Xu Qiang the soldier to compromise.
But Xu Qiang didn't bother debating with them at all. He directly pulled out his gun to block the police station entrance: "These supplies are for the Commander-in-Chief to allocate. No one else has the right. Anyone who causes trouble will be shot on the spot!"
Swoosh swoosh!
Shen Guangming, another scout left to guard the place, also brought people over, with over a dozen guns pointed at the crowd.
Silence instantly fell over the scene.