***


    Meanwhile, at a distance of five hundred meters from the community site, a car stops in front of a military blockage. From that car, the door is opened by the driver, who is Petre, and has come in here to stay in the community since the safe zone have approved his leave and relocation to the community.


    Petre opens the car doors from the back, takes from there a backpack he has taken after his leave from safe zone and walks toward the big gate of the community, that is getting opened by people inside, but not only for him, for a military truck that is heading to a scouting mission. When Petre saw the truck leave the community, he looked at the driver, who driver looked back at Petre, slowing the vehicle speed and looking at the soldier.


    "Where are you going?" asks Petre at the soldier with a smile, sign that tells Petre may know this soldier a long time ago.


    "I am heading to Oe?ti." says the driver. "Want to come along?"


    Petre left the backpack on near a tree chunk, he walks on the back of the military truck, with his assault rifle on the back. Petre sees there are only four soldiers in there, and three survivors who have volunteered to come along. From these soldiers there are two people Petre knew from yesterday, Gancea and Daniel, both ready for their first job.


    ***


    While the truck was going through the road that leads to Oe?ti, dodging any barricade in the way, any blockage and any wrecked vehicle in the way, people from the backside of the truck, are looking back, on the zombies who are coming after them. They could not fire their weapons to these creatures since this would attract more creatures coming, all they could do would be to stay in there, and attack any zombie who would manage to jump in the truck.


    The truck goes with a speed that is about thirty kilometres per. hour, a slow speed, enough to not make the zombies grab the truck and try to climb in. But as they were going for about thirty minutes on the road, none of the zombies have managed to grab the truck, and most of them who were trying, either missed, their hand was torn apart from grabbing the truck, or they were running over.


    Looking back, Gancea and Daniel, seeing the familiar buildings they''ve encountered on their survival time here. All they see is places who are still standing, others who have been collapsing, and houses, who were burned to the ground.


    "Never thought I would come back to this village." says Daniel to Gancea, who sits next to him.


    "Me neither." says Gancea looking on the back, seeing the group have passed the sign that says "Welcome to Oe?ti!".


    "I wonder if anybody from there is still alive." says a soldier preparing his guns.


    "Hardly to tell." says Petre to the soldier who asked this question. "Yesterday, the two survivors from here," looks at Gancea and Daniel. "Plus, other people, were escorted from here from a microbus. Where sadly about ten corpses have been found, plus the driver of the vehicle."


    "That sucks." says the soldier. "Hope we''ll find something valuable here. I''ve already heard the people from Curtea de Arge? have found stashes of clothes from a store."


    "Really?" asks Petre. "They''ve already finished it. The two soldiers asked me this morning to go along with them, but I refused, told them I was heading to community. Taking my duty as a watchtower."


    "You sure?" asks another soldier. "Then why you''ve come along?"


    "I felt bored. And I wanted to help."


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    "Guys!" says the driver who is slowing the speed of the vehicle, we cannot go further.


    "Why not?" asks Petre.


    "Look." says the driver of the truck, showing Petre the reason he cannot advance further.


    Looking on the wind shield of the military truck, Petre and the other people from the back of the truck notice how in their way to the centre of Oe?ti there is a gigantic transmission tower that is blocking their road to Oe?ti. On the other side of that transmission tower, there hundreds of zombies who are climbing the tower, or going through the narrow escapes, walking toward the military truck.


    None of the people present in there know how did this happened. How can a transmission tower like that could fall from about a hundred meters from the road, and still block it? But the soldiers and volunteers did not stick too much to question this, because Petre sees the gate to the barn is opened. The man gets out of the truck and tells his people.


    "Come on! We''ll stay in the barn and see if we can find a shortcut!"


    A zombie is walking toward Petre, it is at seven feet''s from him. Petre sensed the zombie, he turns around and takes three shots of his assault rifle, hitting the head of the creature, letting it fall on the old and cold asphalt. Petre continues to march toward the barn, where two soldiers and the two survivors are following him. The other soldiers, and the driver, are turning around the truck, and leave this place, start to search for a shortcut that would lead them to Oe?ti main point.


    Thankfully the soldiers and the survivors have left the truck taking some fire-weapons, otherwise their chances of survival would have been low.


    "Head to the barn!" says Petre to four people he is in a squad with.


    "Yes!" says Gancea.


    Petre and the two soldiers, seeing more zombies are coming after them, they remain on the back, and open fire on those nasty zombies. Killing each of these creatures, one by one, using their assault rifles. Gancea and Daniel are running toward the barn that Petre indicated, they see the door is opened, and they walk in there. The two keep the door opened for the soldiers and Petre to come in.


    When all of the soldier has entered the barn, Gancea and Daniel are pushing the door, and are closing them, moving the locker of these wooden gates, then with the soldiers are moving the three tractors from there, near the door, to sue them as some sort of barricade in case the doors will fall. Thankfully, all the tractors were having their keys in them, making them a convenient for the survivors.


    "Good." says a soldier looking at the barricade and at the gate who is continually getting kicked and punched by the zombies outside. "We are saved."


    "For now." says Petre to the soldier, now we need to wait for them to disperse.


    "It''ll take a while."


    "At least we''ll have some time to analyse the zone." says Daniel who''s taking out from his vest pocket a piece of paper, that resembles a map.


    "You''re drawing the map?" asks Petre looking at Daniel who is looking at an old map.


    "Not yet." responds Daniel to Petre. "We need to see where are we."


    Daniel checks the map for a few seconds, then he sees the barn where they are in, it is drawn in the map. It was easily spotted because of the crops around the barn, and of the road they were taking to Oe?ti.


    "I see…" says Daniel studying the map for a few more seconds.


    "What?" asks Petre.


    "There are a few ways to go in Oe?ti. This will be useful in case the bridge across Arges River falls."


    "It has fallen." says a soldier from the group who is staying on a wooden chair from this barn. "I was there days ago. With a group. When we arrived in there, we saw the main bridge falling, we were thinking to go other way, but the village''s roads were blocked and infested with zombies."


    "The river has risen?"


    "I don''t know." says the soldier. "I am not a local. But it was supposed to be around three meters deep?"


    "Three meters?!" asks Daniel looking shocked at the soldier. "How the fuck can he raise up that much? Only he bridges has fallen, right?"


    "There were also several of convoys vehicles on that bridge. Somehow it collapsed, mostly due to the weight and formed some kind of den."


    "That''s bad." says Daniel. "Bad for the zombies on this area."


    "What do you mean?" asks Petre to Daniel.


    "I am thinking to use the water on these creatures. We make the bridge tall enough, and the we will open it when it will be enough to wash off all of these zombies."


    "Doesn''t sound to be a good plan." says a soldier.


    "I know." admits Daniel. "Unrealistic and all, but we need to find a way to let the water from there loose, it''ll create a bigger threat for us and for the environment."


    "Plus, we cannot reach the main centre of Oe?ti." says Petre, then he hears something. He whispers to his men. "Quiet. Zombies are walking outside."


    All of his men nod their head, and now they are staying in quiet. All of them. Daniel however, is still looking into the map of Arges county, hoping he''ll find a route to their destination.