"Xiaotian, did you know of someone with any special skills or materials that could allow him to deal with the large number of zombies that should be around?"

"... No. Noone comes to my mind. I don't think the town had anything that could do that... Both people and materials."

"If you think so, then I would be inclined to say that it could be the work of a beast. But it's too clean. There should be some remains around... Unless it was some kind of herd or swarm that ate everything..."

Xiaotian paled at the idea, and s.h.i.+vered in fright. A group of zombies was already bad enough. A group of things feasting on both zombies and humans was even worse. Lius.h.i.+ noticed the effects of his words on her and put a rea.s.suring hand on her shoulders. She calmed down and smiled shyly, nodding in grat.i.tude.

'And to think that yesterdayI was planning to make some automated drones... It would have been quite useful now... I should also make some kind of radar, a long range detector.'

Lius.h.i.+ returned his attention to Xiaotian's home. The wall was not high, and the s.p.a.ce was also not big. Some kinds of flowers were inside, and there was a vegetable patch in the corner with a row of gray porous bricks, some chives had been planted there and looked very well. In the cement ground, there were some moss and finely weeds planted by perennial water against the wall. The two-layer buildings had a 90's style. But the old windows were clean and bright.

'There is no signs of struggles or break ins. Either they are inside and turned, or there is n.o.body inside.' "You stay here, I'm going to check first. Be ready to drive backward."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm the only one with proper protective gear. Until you have your own, it's best for you to stay inside when we are checking out a place." 'Besides, it's best if I'm the one discovering your parents if they were turned or killed.'

He quikly got to the back to put on his armor, took his machete and a needler, and got out of the truck. He slowly approached the door of the house... and rang the bell.

He waited for 30 seconds, weapons ready to strike or shoot. Nothing happened. He slowly opened the door, staying low in case there was someone inside ready to bash any intruder's head, or worse, shoot him with an old hunting rifle. No sound came from inside aside from the bell, so he cautiously opened the door and called.

"Mister and Miss Wen?"

Still no answer and no other sound. He looked around as he moved deeper into the house. Meanwhile, Xiaotian was waiting in the Doomsday Ride, worried about her family, and worried about Lius.h.i.+. After a few minutes he came back with a pensive expression on his face.

"There was n.o.body inside, no signs of struggles, but signs of recent occupation. The kitchen was devoid of food. It looks like there was still someone healthy after the outbreak, but they left recently. There was a used bucket in the bathroom, recent food residues in the garbage bags and an abandonned quilt on the ground. If your family is alright, then they are somewhere else at the moment."

Xiaotian released a sight of relief, and her shoulders relaxed. She hadn't realised how tense she was until she heard Lius.h.i.+'s report.

"Do you have any idea about where they could have gone? A place nearby that could be more secure than their home?"

"I don't know... A farm wouldn't be more secure than here... Maybe one of the workshops in the outskirts of the town. They would be a bit tougher than the regular buildings and in a less populated area."

"Then let's move. Besides, it's not good to take the truck in narrow areas like here, I should stay in more truck-friendly areas. Before we leave, do you want to leave a message here, in case your family came back while we are away? A message that only your family would understand of course. The next person to come here may be a stranger."

"Yes, thank you. I'll be back soon."

Xiaotian left the truck and went into the house. Lius.h.i.+ stayed outside, ready to move in if he was called. A few minutes later, she came out, and both returned to the truck. Then they left for a more convinient place to settle.

It wasn't long after they stopped near the outskirt of the town that the peacefull atmosphere fadded. It started with a low humming sound, so low Lius.h.i.+ and Xiaotian missed it. It was brought to their attention when the security programm caution alarm pinged. Lius.h.i.+ reacted instantly and was in front of the screen. The camera at the rear of the trailer had caugh several figures moving toward the truck. Xiaotian joined his side and both looked at what was coming.

There were more than 20 of them, cat sized creatures with transparent wings moving at such speed they made the humming noise that only now did they register. Their bodies were mostly black, with some yellow and a bit of red. Xiaotian paled, and Lius.h.i.+'s expression grew grim.

"Mutant bees..." Xiaotian whispered in shock, fear growing in her heart.

They remembered when they entered the town, the tall trees she said was used by beekeepers every summer. One of the nest mutated, and the result was moving toward them.

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"... Now I'm really happy to have added some automated defenses. It's okay, we will be fine in the truck."

*vrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

The security programmed had armed the mounted rifles, and their gears were running, ready to shoot. Once they entered the range of the weapons, the security program engaged them. The mutant bees were spread out, making it harder to hit with concentrated fire. Furthermore, the current turrets had a limited angle of fire; only 2 of the 3 turrets could hit them. On top of the 2 previous problem, the mutated bees proved to be more agile and durable than zombies. After the first ones were struck down, the rest started to move more eraticaly toward them. They weren't taken down as fast as Lius.h.i.+ hoped, and even though they probably wouldn't be able to damage the armor, they could still damage the equipment on the roof.

"This could turn out to be quite annoying" Lius.h.i.+ muttered.

While he was thinking about minor damage to his truck, Xiaotian was thinking about her family: her father, her mother, and most importantly her little sister. She couldn't help but think of the possibility of them having been killed and devoured by the mutants beasts. She was also reminded of their encounter with the mutant boar and how dangerous it had been. She stood next to Lius.h.i.+, frozen in worry, horror and fear. She unconsciously gripped Lius.h.i.+'s arm, turning his attention to her.

"Don't worry" he said while stroking her hand. "We will be fine in here."

A few of them managed to reach the truck, and went directly for the driving c.o.c.kpit. Normal bees already had good senses, even capable of detecting magnetic fields. These mutant bees had even better senses, and were capable of detecting humans quite well if there weren't enough dampening or concealing material around them.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

"KYAAAAAAA!!!"

They struck the windows with enough force to crack them, but they held. The winds.h.i.+eld didn't receive any noticable damage. But Xiaotian was quite alarmed by the event and fell back on her b.u.t.t after screaming in fear. The turrets were able to deal with the mutant bees striking the driver window, but they couldn't hit the one striking the winds.h.i.+eld. Lius.h.i.+ restarted the engine, took the wheel, and moved around a little to put the remaining mutant bee in the sight of the turrets. After 30 seconds, all threats were eliminated.

"It's over for now" Lius.h.i.+ said while sighting. He turned to Xiaotan. "Are you felling better?"

"I-I, I'll be alright. I just need a bit of time to calm myself."

"Then wait here. I'm going to take one of them here to inspect it. We need to know more about what we are dealing with."

Lius.h.i.+ left the Doomride, and moved around the corpses. The mutant bees had a sh.e.l.l around their head and thorax, which required several shot to break. The head had 2 big eyes and 3 small ones on their foreheads. The front legs had scythes like a prayer mantis, and left marks on the truck. A creature one wouldn't want to face on his own without a strong firearm or a tough blade, the skills to use either of them, and a good armor. Lius.h.i.+ had noone of those 3 at the moment, and was reminded of the martial arts manuals he had aquired but not yet studied and practiced.

Lius.h.i.+ moved around, stopping here and there. He was looking for the corpses that weren't too damaged, but also for mutant cores. However, the Sta.r.s.eed didn't detect a single one among them. When he asked the Sta.r.s.eed why that was, it answered that the mutant bees were too young and immature to have a core. He took one corpse into the trailer and returned into the truck.

'These mutant beasts are going to be a major threat in the near future.'