Three hours pass by really quick. Oliver's lying on the bed, and all of a sudden, his vision goes dark again. Next thing he knows, he's right back in this zombie - filled world. The spot he's at is exactly where he teleported away from before, but those few zombies have wandered off who - knows - where. All of a sudden, Oliver thinks of a question: how on earth is the teleportation spot decided? But right now, it's around five in the afternoon, and the sun's starting to set. This definitely ain't a good place to ask Isabella.

Oliver looks around. This field has been barren for three years and seven months is all overgrown with weeds. There's not a single trace of any food. Oliver doesn't know where he is. He doesn't dare to go back to the town behind him, so he just keeps walking along this road. He's really hoping to find a safe place before it gets dark. He's praying to get through his first night in this apocalypse without any trouble.

This road connects a bunch of villages. Oliver avoided these villages.With this XR virus outbreak all over the world, almost every human on Earth got infected. The villagers here are probably no different.

There's at least two hundred people in one village. If they all turned into zombies, Oliver wouldn't stand a chance against them. Right now, Oliver's kind of kicking himself for not getting a gun to protect himself. When matrix upgraded his genes, it also made him a great shooter. And he can drive all kinds of vehicles too. It's like these skills are stuck in his head, like they're part of him.

Oliver walks along the road for an hour and a half. After going around three small villages, he finds a small open hillside. Standing on the hillside, he can see what's going on for hundreds of meters around. With this vantage point, he can spot those zombies coming from a mile away. Oliver's got good eyes. Even though the sun's completely gone down, he can still make out what's around him. He checks the place real careful, and when he's sure there aren't any zombies nearby, he picks a stone to rest on for the night.

Since he had a big meal at two in the afternoon, Oliver's not hungry. But he still goes and finds some wood for a fire. The longer he's in this apocalypse, the more he realizes he didn't prepare enough. Bedding, gas, a flashlight - he needs all these things, but he didn't bring any of them. Also, he thinks this one - cubic - meter storage space is way too small. He really hopes to get stronger so he can make that space bigger.

There are plenty of branches on the hillside. It only takes Oliver about ten minutes to gather a big pile. He takes out his lighter, grabs a pack of cigarettes from his storage space, lights one up, puts the rest in his pocket, and starts enjoying his smoke. Oliver's not really a heavy smoker. But right now, he's so stressed out, and smoking helps him relax a bit.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

By the time he finishes his cigarette, the night has fallen. Oliver lights the branches. He then moves three stones over and makes a makeshift stove. He puts the pot on it. But then, he realizes, to his embarrassment, that he didn't bring any water. This hillside is at least three hundred meters away from the river down there. That's a long way, especially at night in this apocalypse.

There's nothing he can do, and Oliver just takes out a few cans of Coke. "Coke with instant noodles?Hmm, this is a first," he mumbles. He opens the Coke cans and pours them into the pot, starting to cook.

There's not a lot of Coke, so the water boils in just a few minutes. Oliver takes out two packs of instant noodles from his storage space, rips the bags open, throws them in, adds the seasonings, and soon, a nice smell fills the air. Just as Oliver is about to start eating, he embarrassingly realizes that he doesn't bring any tableware.

"Oh no..." Oliver's annoyed at himself for not thinking this through.Is he really going to use the pot to eat directly? Oliver looks around. "Who cares? There's no one around to see me doing this dumb thing anyway," he thinks.

But before Oliver can do anything, he gets interrupted. He hears the sound of a car engine in the distance. Oliver puts down the noodles and hides behind a stone, peering out. He sees a car coming down the road towards him. The car's not driving fast, but it'll reach him in a few minutes.

Sure enough, soon the car's not far from Oliver. Two people jump out of the car, flashlights in hand, looking around warily.

It's a minibus. In the dim light, Oliver can see it's all rusty, and half of the windshield is broken. The two people who jump out are a man and a woman. The man's big and strong, and the woman is tall. The woman is wearing a tight - fitting coat that shows off her beautiful body curves.It's so dark that he can't make out the woman's features. However, judging from her body curves, she must be very sexy.

Both of them are holding guns, searching around in a ten - meter radius. When they're sure there are no zombies, the woman flashes her flashlight at the minibus three times. The door opens again, and seven people get out one by one.

Oliver frowns. He realizes these seven people are all old, weak, sick, or disabled. There are three old folks, three kids, and a guy in his thirties with his leg bandaged up. What surprises Oliver even more is that they seem to have picked this hillside too. They're helping each other up the slope towards where he is.

Looking at the little fire still burning on the stone, Oliver knows he's gonna be found. He thinks about running away, but after thinking it over, he decides not to. He's worried they'll think he's a zombie and shoot him.

The fire's really bright in the dark. This group spots it right away. The strong man rushes forward a few steps, points his gun at Oliver, and shines the flashlight on him.

"Who's there?" the man shouted loudly.If he senses any danger, he'll pull the trigger. He's learned from his many experiences on the road that being careless can get his partner hurt.