A week later.
Georgia, eastern United States.
West of Atlanta.
"Eh~"
The large trees on either side of the road creaked in the cold, biting wind. The snow on the road and the snowflakes falling from the sky were flying with the strong wind, covering everything around them, forming an overwhelming snowstorm!
At the end of Interstate 20, several dark shadows were vaguely visible, and then a large convoy gradually appeared. It included soldiers fully armed with guns, as well as civilians dressed in jackets and with their hands clasped together, trembling.
But at that moment, neither the soldiers nor the civilians were hiding from the howling wind and snow in the vehicle, instead walking in groups on both sides of the vehicle, stepping on the thick snow.
At the front of the convoy were dozens of soldiers and civilians with shovels, working hard to remove snow from the road on both sides to provide convenient passage for vehicles behind them.
In the convoy, there was only one assigned driver per truck and bus, moving slowly along the road cleared by those in front. Behind each truck or bus, an iron wire connected the rear of the vehicle to the front of the next. These cables dragged the damaged vehicles, which were evident by their condition.
"Hey! This weather is crazy. You won't dare to tempt fate today, will you?"
Stepping on the snow, Brian reached into his jacket pockets, bent down slightly and lowered his head, letting the snowflakes hit his face, and walked forward with one foot deeper and one foot shallower.
It had been nine days since they left Dallas. Based on normal driving speed before the disaster, it would have taken them less than a day to get there.
The heavy snowfall forced them to slow down, facing each section of the road cautiously to ensure both the safety and passability of the roads. In addition, they had to deal with constant attacks from infected people and a series of unexpected situations. After nearly ten days of arduous progress, they finally reached the outskirts of Atlanta. If it had not been for the luck of detecting several migratory groups of infected people in time and diverting in time, it is difficult to know how much longer it would have taken them to arrive.
Fortune rarely repeats itself, and misfortunes seem to come cascading. When good luck finally ran out, a series of misfortunes began to follow one another relentlessly.
The day had started with favorable weather when the convoy departed, but, soon after, strong winds began to blow and the snow increased dramatically, quickly becoming a fierce storm. No one understood the reason for this sudden change, but without a shelter nearby, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue moving forward.
However, they soon ran into congestion and destruction along the way, further complicating the situation. With the snowstorm hitting hard, it was impossible to move the vehicles.
Fortunately, they soon discovered that there was a ring road next to the road. If it could be avoided, it was better to avoid it. They took this path without thinking.
Unexpectedly, the convoy reached a stretch of road at a lower level, where the snow cover was significantly thicker than the rest of the way. It was not clear if the accumulated snow grazed the chassis of the vehicles or if there was another cause, but one after another they began to break down. The engines failed completely, and there was no way to get them back on track.
But they were halfway there when they noticed that the snow on the road was even deeper. Vehicles both in front and behind were beginning to fail. They could neither move forward nor backward. If the few vehicles that were still working broke down, all would be lost.
Everyone quickly got out of the vehicles to clear the way. However, with a limited number of shovels, they were forced to take turns while trying to move the broken down vehicles. Dozens of people pushed together, struggling to move forward amid the storm.
When the convoy finally got back on the road, the headaches had barely begun. Although the army had considered that the vehicles might malfunction and had some emergency repair parts, these parts alone were far from enough to repair so many vehicles.
They had no choice but to rearrange the order of the vehicles and let the intact vehicles tow one or two vehicles forward. To avoid failures, the snow clearing operation could not be stopped.
Since the vehicle was in charge of towing, other people could only advance on foot, so there was a scene like this in front of them.
Brian turned his head and looked at Sarah and Allan on the left, whose faces were pale with the cold, their hands folded over their chests, braving the wind and snow, and on the right side, Anna and Wilfred, who were supporting Sylvia to walk.
He could clearly notice that everyone in the convoy was moving slower and slower, and even lifting his foot was extremely difficult, as if he was hanging a heavy weight.
The bodies of some people have not even been able to bear it. If it weren't for the help of their peers, they might not even have the strength to keep walking.
If this situation continues, I'm afraid it won't be long before everyone is completely scattered and unable to walk, and will eventually freeze to death in the ice and snow.
At that moment, Brian saw a soldier climb into the front of a stuck car despite the strong wind, shouting something loud from the horn in his hand.
Although the howling of the wind and snow around him covered most of the sounds, because he was a little closer, he could still vaguely hear what the other party was saying.
"Everyone... Wait, there's still a little bit to go... We can reach the... city of the nearest county. Then... we will rest, please... wait...!"
The voice was intermittent, but from these words, Brian pieced it together a bit and roughly understood the meaning.
This gave him some encouragement, but worry soon overcame him. He knew well that a county town was much larger than a small town. The number of inhabitants was several times larger, and with it, the chances of facing another great battle against the infected increased considerably.
But this time they will no longer have a line of defense to garrison, and everyone's bodies are frozen and their condition is extremely poor. It can be said that once they encounter a large number of infected people, they will definitely be wiped out.
Brian didn't think the convoy commander hadn't thought about this, but he also knew that even if he knew there might be danger there, he now had no second choice instead of wasting all his energy on this snowstorm. Why not take a chance and bet that this snowstorm may cover their movements and infected people won't be able to detect them?
Although the howling of the wind covered many of the sounds, those who were closest managed to hear the news. They quickly began to discuss it with the people around them, and immediately the information spread by word of mouth. Before long, everyone knew what was happening.
In fact, the content was similar to what Brian had judged. A few hundred yards ahead, they would reach the nearest county seat, Douglasville, the county seat of Douglas County in western Atlanta.
After hearing this exciting news, everyone felt full of strength again, and their pace couldn't help but speed up a little.
Not long after, they saw a fork ahead and the sign marked the direction to Douglasville.
The crowd happily exited the road, but they soon remembered the threat of infected people and quickly slowed down.
As they walked down the road, everything around them, including the rooftops and streets, was covered in snow. All they had in front of them was a vast white expanse, but the strange thing was that not a single infected person could be seen here.
Everything the army had prepared was in vain, but it also made the people secretly relieved.
As a precaution, they could not get too far from the road. Fortunately, nearby was a large hospital that could house everyone in the convoy. In addition, it had a large underground parking lot where vehicles could be parked. As long as enough parts are collected inside the hospital, repairs could be made on site without major complications.
The motorcade slowly stopped at the entrance of the hospital. The electric gate at the entrance to the hospital was tightly closed at the time. The sign on display read Wells Douglas Hospital, and across the street was a large pharmacy.
The crowd gathered around the entrance of the hospital, but no one dared to run in. Although there didn't seem to be any infected people inside at the time, no one was that reckless. They had to remember that when the Cordyceps fungus was unleashed, the hospital was one of the first places where germs were concentrated.
Moreover, they had come into contact with those monsters more than once. If they rushed into rushing in, if there were a large number of infected people in these buildings, they would be in trouble.
The people looked at each other and finally turned their eyes to the soldiers. For some reason, the civilians looked at the soldiers without the slightest kindness. His eyes were full of joy and were not at all friendly like a few days ago.
Just as the crowd gathered around the entrance of the hospital, Commander Harry had already organized a group of soldiers, led by Captain Colbert, to enter the hospital to investigate the situation.
In fact, Justin should have been better suited for this operation. Both in terms of strength and skill, he was very outstanding, but his personality was too ... impulsive, so, to be sure, she decided to let Colbert go.
As for the civilians and soldiers on the street, they naturally could not continue to suffer from the cold. He ordered the doors of the bus to be opened so that everyone could enter and take advantage of the time to rest and regain as much strength as possible. The important thing was to keep silent at all times.
At the same time, Harry also mobilized some elite soldiers, with the hospital at the center, and dispersed in all directions, looking for places he believed were safe to hide, monitoring every move in the surrounding streets, and immediately reporting if any anomalies occurred.
And Colbert, who was leading a reinforced formation, after dispersing the crowd at the door, easily climbed over the electric gate of the door with a creak under his feet, walked into the depths of the hospital, and gradually disappeared.
Looking at the backs of the soldiers who were entering the hospital, Brian's heart began to beat violently for some unknown reason he felt erratic palpitations.
He reached out and covered his heart. He didn't know why he felt this way, but when he saw the people around him turn around and walk towards the bus, he followed the crowd and turned around, no matter what, he got on the bus.