"Damn it, what the hell happened here? How did so many cars get stuck like this?"
Harry stood on the highway, rubbing his forehead as he looked at the road ahead, blocked by nearly a hundred cars in a massive pile-up. He was at a loss for words.
This trip was not going to be easy. They had barely started and already hit a snag. He turned to the soldier beside him and asked, "Where are we now?"
The soldier pulled out a map from his pocket and checked the markings. "Sir, we're about 3 kilometers from Hyde Avenue."
Harry gazed at the road ahead, flanked by steep slopes on either side. He considered whether to break through the guardrails and have the convoy detour around the blockage. But after a moment of hesitation, he sighed and abandoned the idea. Their military trucks would struggle with the inclines, let alone the buses and fuel trucks behind them.
After a moment of thought, Harry decided on a more straightforward approach. He waved his hand and said to the soldier, "Have all soldiers take up positions at the front and rear. Inform the civilians on the buses that we need all adult males to get out and help push these cars out of the way!"
"Yes, sir!"
Within minutes, soldiers on all the buses received the message via radio. On Brian's bus, the young female soldier, Tracy, stood up and addressed the anxious crowd.
"The road ahead is blocked by vehicles. We need all adult males to get out and help move the cars."
The crowd, which had been on edge when the bus suddenly stopped, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that it was just a traffic jam. But then Tracy's request for all adult males to help move the cars sparked discontent.
A young man with multicolored hair stood up from his seat, clearly unhappy.
"You're supposed to be escorting us to Atlanta. Why should we do the heavy lifting? It's freezing out there. If someone gets sick or catches a cold, who's going to be responsible?"
Others in the bus who had been grumbling in agreement now stood up to support the young man, cheering him on.
"Yeah! Why should we?"
"We're doing all the work. What are you guys even here for?"
"Exactly, why should we do this?"
Seeing the support he was getting, the young man's ego inflated. He crossed his arms, puffed out his chest, and looked down at Tracy with a sneer, acting like the leader of the group.
Tracy glared at the noisy group, her brow furrowing in anger. "Let's get one thing straight. We're not the only ones heading to Atlanta. Do you want to stay here? Even with the people on guard duty, we don't have enough hands. I think everyone wants to get moving instead of waiting here, right?"
Those who hadn't taken a stance yet fell silent. They realized that if they didn't help, the convoy might be stuck here for a long time, possibly even encountering infected. It was better to move the cars quickly and leave this place. Plus, it was a small task, and they still needed the military's protection. It was best not to cause trouble.
"I'll help," someone said, standing up without hesitation and nodding at Tracy before heading off the bus toward the front.
One person's action inspired others. As the first person left, a second and third followed, and soon more and more people got out to help. Even the few who had initially supported the young man felt uneasy seeing the growing crowd and quietly got up to join them.
"You... you..." The young man couldn't believe it. The people who had just been on his side were now leaving him behind.
Sarah, who had been watching the drama unfold, felt disappointed. "I thought there was going to be a real uprising, but everyone just changed their minds so quickly."
Brian, noticing Sarah's disappointed look, explained with a slight twitch of his lips, "No one's a fool. There's no benefit in fighting the military over this. Even those who didn't think it through at first, seeing so many people leave, would follow the crowd. This young man doesn't understand his situation. He dared to lead the trouble. He's bound to get punished."
Sure enough, once all the adult males had left the bus, Tracy turned her attention to the young man who had caused the trouble. She gave a disdainful smile and walked up to him, looking him up and down. She thought to herself that no matter where or when, even in the apocalypse, there would always be people like him.
Feeling the soldier's cold gaze, the young man realized he was in trouble. He took several steps back, his expression turning fearful. He regretted his impulsiveness. Why had he been the first to speak up?
"I... I'll help move the cars..." he stammered.
But Tracy, seeing his cowardice, didn't bother with him anymore. She quickly pinned him down in his seat, took out a restraint strap, and tied his hands behind his back.
Then she hauled him up with one hand and walked toward the bus door. Before getting off, she said to the remaining women and children, "You can get out and stretch your legs. If you need to use the restroom, soldiers are guarding the nearby woods. Just don't go too far."
Without waiting for a response, she dragged the young man off the bus and walked him over to a clearing where about a dozen other people were already kneeling.
"Let's get out and stretch, too," Brian said, seeing that they were allowed to move around. He grabbed his backpack and stretched his limbs.
Sarah, seeing the snow still falling outside, felt the urge to play and didn't want to stay in the bus anymore. She nodded and got up to follow Brian out.
As soon as they stepped off the bus, the biting cold wind seeped through the gaps in their clothes, making them shiver. They tightened their jackets, feeling the chill.
Outside, quite a few people had already gotten out to stretch, but soldiers were stationed around the perimeter, preventing them from wandering too far.
Not far away, a few children were playing in the snow with their parents, laughing and catching snowflakes with their hands.
Sarah ran over to join the children, making snow angels and catching snowflakes with her hands, her face beaming with joy. Brian hadn't seen her this genuinely happy since the Cordyceps outbreak, and he couldn't help but smile.
He then turned his attention to the clearing where the dozen or so people were kneeling. More troublemakers from other buses were being brought over by soldiers, and now there were at least thirty people on their knees.
Glancing at Sarah, who was having fun, Brian walked over to see what would happen to these people.
When he got closer, he saw a tall, burly soldier pacing back and forth around the kneeling group without saying a word. It wasn't until the last few people were brought over that he stopped and stared at them, finally speaking.
"You guys have some guts, leading trouble like this. It seems you don't want to leave, do you?"
The thirty-odd people on their knees, hearing this, realized they might be abandoned. Panic set in. They started crying and begging for mercy, promising they wouldn't do it again.
They knew the harsh reality: it was freezing, they were on a highway in the middle of nowhere, and the infected could appear at any moment. The thought of being left behind was terrifying.
"Hmph," the soldier responded with a cold laugh, ignoring their pleas. He folded his arms and resumed pacing around the group.
Seeing the soldier's silence, a shadow of fear crossed their faces. Each step he took felt like a heavy weight on their hearts. They stopped begging, and the scene fell silent. Even the onlookers held their breath, afraid that any noise would get them punished too.
After a few minutes of silence, the soldier stopped again and looked at the group with a smile. "Alright, you can relax. We won't just leave you behind in these special times. But you did something wrong, and there must be consequences. Do you agree?"