vncnus Chapter 24
Chapter 24
As dawn broke the next day, some people in the camp had already gotten up.
The embers in the smokeless stove were stirred again, and the last spark licked the bottom of the pot before going out. The medic poured the water that had been boiled and cooled the night before into the canteens and distributed it to the team members who were emerging from their tents.
No one spoke loudly. The only sounds in this depression were the rustling of the canvas as the tents were dismantled, the dull thud of boots on the frozen ground, and the slight creaking of the winch as the cart axle was re-oiled.
When Perfit emerged from behind the tarpaulin in the corner of the large tent, he was fully dressed, with a breathing mask covering most of his face.
She checked the ropes and nets around the supply boxes to make sure they were tightened again, then had the flag captain count the number of people. Only after confirming that the missing box of hydrogen peroxide and the dry rations burned the night before were recorded on the loss list did she give the signal to depart.
The group set off again along the post road and continued northward.
The fog was thinner than yesterday, and we could see at least 30 or 40 meters ahead of us, but the depths of the swamp were still shrouded in white.
The horse-drawn cart wheels crunched over the thin layer of ice that had formed overnight on the frozen ground, producing a series of soft, continuous cracking sounds that were particularly jarring in this excessively quiet swamp.
After walking for about three hours, the reeds on both sides of the post road began to thin out, replaced by large areas of exposed frozen soil and low shrubs.
The ground gradually changed from soft peat to hard soil mixed with gravel and pebbles, and the wheels no longer had that unsettling feeling of sinking when they rolled over it.
Chertzov looked up at the sky and the gradually clearing horizon in the distance, and said to Pofikot, "We're almost out of the swamp. About an hour north from here, we'll see the first outpost in the Predelshinsk district—provided it's still standing, of course."
Perfit didn't reply, but simply picked up the binoculars and glanced north.
The fog had not yet dissipated, but the outlines of several low buildings could already be vaguely seen on the horizon, resembling a row of abandoned warehouses or barracks.
Just then, the knights in the reconnaissance team ahead suddenly stopped and made two hand gestures to their backs: infected person spotted, prepare to detour.
This was the first group they encountered along the way.
After the post road rounded a gentle bend, several corpses lay sprawled on the roadside.
To be precise, they weren't corpses, they were infected individuals.
They were all still alive, but they were twitching very slowly on the ground in a prone or supine position, as if they were consuming some remaining energy.
Some had broken hind legs and could not move forward. They struggled to lift their upper bodies but fell weakly to the ground. Their fingers turned up in the frozen soil, and their nails scratched deep marks in the mud.
Perfit counted them; there were four in total.
They posed no immediate threat to the expedition, but the trail was too narrow; at the closest point, the carriages could even see the color of their fingernails as they tried to pass through.
"Go around it," Perfitt gestured.
The flag captain led the reconnaissance team to a dry drainage ditch on the right side of the roadbed. The expedition team lined up and silently bypassed the few infected creatures that could not move along the bottom of the ditch.
As the carriage passed by, the nearest infected creature heard the noise, suddenly convulsed violently, turned its head toward the drain, opened its mouth, and made a few desperate, indistinct hissing sounds.
Perfit had one hand on the dagger, but it couldn't get up.
Over the next two hours, they encountered an increasing number of infected individuals.
They weren't in large groups, but scattered in small groups across the wasteland on both sides of the post road. Some were wandering aimlessly, while others were lying on the ground gnawing on something.
A few were standing on the road, their backs to the expedition team, seemingly waiting for something.
Perficott made the team take the longest possible detours whenever possible, even straying from the post road several times, before finally finding their way back thanks to the memories of Chertzov and several veteran Russian soldiers.
But some things were simply unavoidable—the wasteland on both sides of the post road had completely turned into mud pits, making it impossible for carriages to get off. Either the mud was severely silted up, or it was so frozen that it was slippery to the touch. And the infected people blocking the middle of the road were blocking the only passable road.
"Get ready to move." Perfitter put down his binoculars.
She really can't get around these few.
The flag captain drew his knight's sword from its scabbard at his waist, the blade flashing a thin blue light in the cold air.
The swords behind him and those of the Rose Knights also drew their swords and scattered, and several Romulus Knights under Ludwig also drew their swords and followed.
Everyone moved very lightly and deliberately slowed down. The blades did not collide, and the feet deliberately avoided the gravel ground, only stepping on the hard soil, like stealthy hunters.
Perfit ordered the soldiers with flintlock pistols to remain in place, and forbade anyone to fire.
Using cold weapons was not just to avoid alerting the infected people around them.
She had observed this clearly along the way: the knights were superhumans, with physical strength and explosive power far exceeding that of ordinary soldiers. Their sword speed and the force of each strike were far beyond what the resurrected, whose muscles had become stiff from infection could match.
They wore metal breastplates and arm guards, which wouldn't be easily broken even if an infected person scratched or bitten them—ordinary soldiers only had one layer of uniform, and being scratched meant direct contact with infection.
Another point is that the Knight's Sword is extremely efficient at decapitation. With one strike, it severs the cervical vertebrae, and the infected person immediately loses the ability to move, cleanly and efficiently.
A flintlock rifle shot can travel a long distance, which may attract more infected people.
The flag captain was the first to act.
He crouched low and moved close to the left side of the post road, then with a swift, clean slash of his sword, severed the cervical vertebrae of an infected person.
The infected creature collapsed before it could even utter a sound.
At the same time, several other knights also made their moves, each locking onto their targets.
Ludwig's Romulus knights flanked from the right, their swords making only a few very short cutting sounds as they sliced through the air, which were then replaced by the muffled thud of heavy objects falling to the ground.
Perfit stood beside the carriage, her hand on the dagger, counting—from the first one to the last, her fingers remained pressed on the hilt without moving, and none of the infected let out a howl that could be heard far.
The battle ended quickly.
The flag captain wiped the black bloodstains off the sword with a rag, then had his men carefully wipe off the splattered blood on their bodies with strips of cloth soaked in hydrogen peroxide. He then turned and nodded to Perfico.
Perfit walked over to the fallen infected and crouched down to look at them for a moment.
Cherzov followed, bent down and examined the tattered military uniform on the infected man. He found a piece of iron-gray collar insignia hanging halfway on the collar inside the collar. After rubbing off the dried blood scabs with his thumb, he revealed the number on it.
His expression changed.
"The 2nd Infantry Division of the St. Petersburg Garrison." He stood up and handed his insignia to Perfit. "These men are the garrison troops of the capital."