Now there was both good news and bad news.
The good news: the sightseeing boat’s control panel was idiot-proof. It was a bit like an automatic car—one steering wheel, a few gauges, and buttons labeled “Forward,” “Reverse,” “Stop,” and so on. After a little figuring out of what the letters ant, even an amateur like Everly could get it moving without much difficulty.
The bad news: according to the gauges, the boat had only 18% fuel left. Everly searched the entire vessel but couldn’t find any fuel cans.
If she wanted more fuel, she’d have to find it elsewhere.
The Chata River originated in Kitka State, ford by the lted snow atop the Abanaqi Mountains. Flowing from north to south, the river was still swift as it passed through Radyard City. Everly’s original plan had been to head upstream to Sandy City, so she could put as much distance as possible between herself and Radyard.
But with so little fuel, there was no way the sightseeing boat could travel upstream for more than a dozen kiloters.
Of course, she could let the boat drift downstream. But that would an floating past the city’s eastern and southern districts first, before finally leaving the urban area. Everly couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t run into trouble along the way—after all, in so zombie movies, the zombies can swim.
Moreover, if she went downstream and left Radyard, the Chata River would pass through a large, uninhabited area, and it wouldn’t be until near the river’s mouth that she would encounter another city. Downstream, the river’s current slowed. Without enough fuel, who knew if the sightseeing boat could even keep moving!
Everly examined the control panel and discovered that the sightseeing boat ran on diesel.
Diesel was widely used in the U.S.—many vehicles and large industrial machines ran on it. In areas without natural gas pipelines, households also used diesel for heating.
Recalling the hot dog stand she had visited during the day, Everly gritted her teeth and decided to go there while the park was still free of infected—hoping to find so diesel, and at the sa ti, grab so food to keep her going.
Just in case, she pulled Misha into the cabin, handed over the keys, and had Misha watch the sightseeing boat while she tucked so cash into her pocket and sprinted along the road toward the hot dog stand.
The stand was very close to the boat dock—about 200 ters in total. Walk straight along the road, round a corner, and you’re there. This short distance was also why Everly dared to go alone.
The hot dog stand sat at the junction of several branch paths in the park, and business was decent. Even though it was already past six in the evening, six or seven tourists were still sitting on the chairs in front of the stall, chatting and laughing while enjoying their food under the colorful, atmospheric lights.
Everly ran up to the stall and asked the vendor if he sold diesel. She explained that her car couldn’t start without it. The vendor was a little surprised—why would anyone co into the park to buy diesel?—but he was friendly enough to point her in the right direction, telling her that the park’s storage warehouse was nearby, the warehouse manager hadn’t left yet, and it should have exactly what she needed.
“Thank you… and please sell so bread and sausages too. I don’t need them cooked—I’ll take them ho and prepare them myself.”
Everly thanked the vendor and pulled out a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
The hot dog stand used “pre-made hot dogs”: the sausages and buns were ready-made. After an order, the vendor would grill the sausages, then place them into buns filled with sauce, lettuce, and other vegetables, producing a complete hot dog.
What Everly wanted were just the raw sausages and the outer bread crusts. She was willing to pay the regular hot dog price, and the vendor didn’t refuse—especially since the weather was warm, and leftover ingredients could spoil easily. This way, he could clear out his inventory before closing.
Unfortunately, after a full day of business, the stand didn’t have much raw material left. He rummaged through his supplies and managed to scrape together only enough ingredients worth about 200 dollars.
Before long, Everly had a bag full of hard, frozen sausages in her hands, along with two bags of unopened hot dog buns.
“You’re still five sausages short. Wait a mont—I’ll see if I can find so more…”
The vendor bent down, rifling through the fridge.
Everly was about to tell him she was in a hurry and didn’t need the rest when suddenly, from the direction of the park’s main gate, a wave of panicked screams echoed through the air.
“Ahhhhhh! Help!”
“Run! Soone’s killing people!”
The screams were followed by chaotic footsteps and animalistic growls.
Since there were no gunshots, the people at the stall didn’t feel imdiate fear. Most assud it was so prank. Including the vendor, nearly everyone stood up, casually turning their heads toward the gate, peering curiously, with expressions screaming “I want to see the drama.”
Only Everly tensed instantly.
—It’s spreading too fast. How long has it been? The infection has already reached the park!
In most U.S. states, including Dwight State, the law requires individuals to be at least 21 to legally carry a handgun. Neither Everly nor Misha t this requirent. On top of that, since this trip wasn’t self-driven but on public transport, the two of them hadn’t brought any guns to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Under these circumstances, going alone to a warehouse at an unknown distance, not knowing if infected were nearby, to buy diesel—and then carrying heavy barrels back to the dock—was far too risky.
After a brief mont of thought, Everly decided to abandon the plan and flee imdiately.
“Quick! Tell everyone—those are zombies! They have keen hearing, they eat humans, and anyone they bite will beco infected and turned. Only a headshot can kill them. Everyone, try to escape!”
Lowering her voice, Everly quickly explained the situation to the hot dog vendor. She grabbed her bread and sausages and sprinted back along the road she had co from, disappearing from sight in no ti.
By the ti the vendor finally saw a blood-covered, staggering zombie approaching nearby and realized that Everly’s warning had been true, she had already deftly unlocked the iron chain securing the boat at the dock and successfully boarded the sightseeing vessel.
“Misha, start the boat!”
“Got it!”
In the cabin, Misha already knew how to operate the sightseeing boat. Hearing Everly’s command, she pressed the start button, turned the wheel, and first engaged the propeller to push the boat away from the shore into the middle of the river. Then she adjusted the boat’s orientation so that the cabin faced forward. Once the river’s current carried the boat a safe distance, she shut off the engine, letting the boat drift downstream on its own.
In just that short ti, the fuel gauge had dropped from 18% to 17%.
Looking at the numbers, Everly couldn’t shake a sense of unease. But returning to shore to locate the park warehouse the vendor had ntioned, retrieve the diesel, and bring it back was far too risky. Unless absolutely necessary, Everly wouldn’t make such a reckless choice.
Fine… she would take it one step at a ti.
Listening to the cries, growls, and screams echoing from the distant shore, Everly let out a long sigh. To pass the ti and shift her focus, she decided to organize the supplies on the boat while there was still enough light to see.
The boat’s electrical system ran on diesel. To conserve energy, after dark, only a single bow light would remain on—enough to illuminate the water ahead, avoid sudden rocks, and prevent the sightseeing boat from drifting off course toward the shore.
Misha drove the boat while Everly sat by the window, using the last rays of the setting sun to take inventory of their supplies.
First on the list was drinking water. Aricans especially liked sugary, carbonated drinks, and the vending machines along the road were mostly stocked with these.
Misha emptied one of the machines and brought back eight 500ml bottles of mineral water, seven 500ml bottles of soda water, and fourteen bottles of various sugary drinks—carbonated, juice-flavored, and so on.
The soda water contained high-fructose corn syrup. Not only could it not quench thirst, but it also increased the osmotic pressure in the blood, making people feel even thirstier. Strictly speaking, the only beverages that could actually hydrate them were the eight bottles of mineral water.
Radyard was located quite far south, and the temperature was generally above 30°C (86°F). With weather like this, eight bottles of water between two people wouldn’t last more than a few days.
Of course, if necessary, river water could also be drunk.
Everly had brought a portable outdoor water purifier. It was a small pump-like container with a handle; pumping it would draw dirty water into the tank. Inside, multiple layers of filters and mbranes could remove most sand, bacteria, and microorganisms, releasing clean water from another outlet.
But the filtering precision of such a purifier was tied to its size. To save backpack space, Everly had chosen a compact model. Its small filter cartridge could not remove all bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms. After so use, the cartridge had to be replaced—otherwise it would fail to purify properly and could even contaminate the water further.
Moreover, zombie outbreaks were generally caused by viral infections, and Everly could not guarantee that the virus wouldn’t survive in water.
Thus, theoretically, bottled water was still the safest option.
Compared with water, food supplies were actually more plentiful.
From the vending machine and the toll station, the two of them had collected four bags of potato chips, one bag of cheese balls, and one bag of cheesy savory crackers. Everly spent 200 dollars at the hot dog stand to grab 28 hot dog buns (the vendor had given her three extra) and 20 grilled sausages from the hot dogs. Besides these, both Everly and Misha had one compressed military-style biscuit about the size of a block of tofu in their backpacks. With all this food, they shouldn’t go hungry for a while.
However, with the weather being so hot, the sausages could spoil easily.
Everly examined the sausage packages carefully in the daylight.
Luckily, the sausages were already cooked; they had just been frozen for storage. The packaging indicated that for long-term storage, they needed to be kept at -18°C. Everly figured that once the sausages were unwrapped, they wouldn’t last long—but perhaps she could dry them into jerky.
That, however, was a task for tomorrow. It was too late now—she definitely couldn’t open the sausages today.
To extend the sausages’ shelf life as much as possible, Everly removed the seat cushions from the boat cabin, placed the frozen sausages (still in their packaging) in the thick center of the cushions, covered them with several layers of dust cloth, and pressed heavy objects on top. With any luck, the sausages would still be cold by tomorrow morning.
After organizing the food and water, Everly began searching the sightseeing boat for other supplies.
Unfortunately, probably to prevent “freebie hunters” from helping themselves, the boat had almost nothing useful onboard. Aside from orange life rings hanging on either side of the hull, a pole with a small net on the top, and a bucket of unknown purpose, there was nothing of practical use.
Even the boat’s toilet was just a plank with a hollowed-out hole—there wasn’t even a tank to supply water for washing or flushing. Definitely a fail!
Everly walked all the way from the stern to the bow, and when she finally entered the cabin, she made a new discovery—she found a fire axe stored in the fire equipnt box, a just-opened box of dental floss, and several packs of disposable raincoats!
These thin, transparent plastic raincoats could serve more than one purpose. Besides keeping her dry, they could be used with a bucket and the sun to collect distilled water.
Water obtained through distillation was far cleaner than even filtered water!
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