"Someone like you, sir, as long as you're not dragged down by someone like me, you'll definitely be able to live easily in this world. I believe you have that ability."
"Let's part ways here. If I'm still alive someday, I'll repay you."
Bob forced a bitter smile.
"Let's go. We'll get a large vehicle—something that can smash through small cars."
"We'll try driving straight through. Don't underestimate us. Things haven't become so dangerous that we have to abandon you yet."
Having been strengthened by the gene modification serum and having killed quite a few zombies, Lux's confidence had increased significantly.
Even if they ran into a small zombie horde, they should still be able to escape under HK416's rifle grenade cover.
He couldn't bring himself to watch a responsible father die right in front of him.
On the other hand, Bob was a usable talent.
Someone with this kind of sense of responsibility naturally had strong team cohesion.
In the apocalypse, if he wanted to establish a survivor team, someone like Bob was exactly what he needed.
If a selfish person led the team, the survivors under them would flee at the first sign of danger. Such a team would never amount to anything.
But if someone like Bob led it, then with some time and guidance, he could turn survivors with backbone into a stable team.
Considering that he would need to establish a shelter in the future and have survivors mine resources for resource points, someone with strong cohesion like Bob was extremely valuable.
On top of that, Bob had previously been the head of security at a museum and had management experience.
Regardless of whether they managed to save his daughter this time, one thing was certain: Bob would be completely loyal to him.
For the sake of a future settlement, Lux decided to protect Bob as much as possible.
"Old Bob, can you hotwire a car?"
Before looking for a vehicle, he had to confirm this first.
"I know the theory, but I've never actually stolen a car. I don't have hands-on experience."
"That's enough. You can manage when the time comes."
Lux patted Bob on the shoulder.
Half an hour later, the four of them finally spotted a heavy-duty cargo truck with a ten-ton load capacity.
Judging from the rolled-down windows, the cab was clean. The driver was nowhere to be seen, but more than a dozen zombies were wandering aimlessly around the truck.
"Lux, what do we do? Keep looking for another one? With this many zombies, trying to grab it with just you alone would be pretty tough, right?"
MDR, who was in charge of scouting, asked.
Over the past half hour, they had run into zombies twice more. MDR had roughly judged that Lux could probably handle no more than five zombies at once.
And that was only possible because he used timing differences to keep small gaps between the zombies, allowing him to quickly kill one or two at a time.
In reality, once the number of enemies increased, the difficulty rose exponentially.
"We won't look for another one. Heavy trucks like this aren't common, and it's rare to find one this clean."
"HK, MDR, both of you open fire. Try to finish the fight within three minutes."
"I'm guessing the driver went to the shop across the street when the disaster broke out and never came back. If we're lucky, we should be able to find the keys on one of the zombies."
Lux said calmly.
"Gunfire will attract all the zombies in the area. Shouldn't we consider whether there's a better way?"
Bob hesitated as he made the suggestion.
"Combat start."
After receiving Lux's order, HK416 raised her gun without hesitation and pulled the trigger.
A zombie fifty meters away dropped on the spot.
That crisp gunshot was like poking a hornet's nest. More than a dozen nearby zombies immediately let out excited howls and rushed toward the four delicious human-shaped meals.
After HK416 fired for a few seconds, MDR raised her gun and began providing fire support.
This was to prevent both of them from reloading at the same time.
Mindless zombies charged straight into the dense rain of bullets without fear, one after another having their heads blown apart and collapsing in sprays of blood.
Bob gripped a boning knife that Lux had found in a butcher shop, nervously watching the rear to prevent zombies from sneaking up from behind.
He understood that a katana, which required a certain level of skill, would be far more effective in Lux's hands.
In less than two minutes, all the zombies around the truck were killed by HK416 and MDR.
"HK416, reload and stay alert for zombies from other directions. MDR, search the bodies and bring all the keys you find. Old Bob, get in the truck and hotwire it."
After shouting the orders, Lux immediately bent down to search a zombie's pockets for keys.
MDR also rushed over to the bodies to look for keys.
From time to time, HK416's crisp gunshots rang out.
After a loud rifle grenade explosion, HK416's usually calm voice came through Lux's tactical headset with rare urgency.
"Hurry, Lux! I can barely hold them back on my own anymore!"
"Come to the truck. I'll search the last two bodies. MDR, give the keys you've found to Old Bob, then provide fire support for HK416."
"Roger."
After firing another high-explosive rifle grenade to blast back the small zombie horde, HK416 turned and ran toward the truck without hesitation.
At the same time, MDR's rifle spewed flames, knocking down zombies that got too close to HK416.
"It started! It started! Get in, now!"
The roar of the engine and Bob's excited shout rang out at the same time. Lux immediately abandoned the last corpse and sprinted toward the truck.
By then, HK416 and MDR had already climbed into the sleeper compartment behind the cab, and Lux quickly jumped into the passenger seat.
Bob floored the accelerator. The heavy truck let out a deep roar and smashed straight through two zombies that had rushed in front of it.
Lux felt the truck shudder violently, followed by the sickening sound of bones being crushed beneath the wheels. The noise sent a chill down his spine and raised goosebumps on his forehead.
At times like this, the enhanced hearing from the gene modification serum was really not a good thing.
It was a sound he absolutely did not want to hear.