Current Situation in the Country
Ever since the explosion, the people in the unsafe area had fled in a chaotic and disorganized manner. The vast area had fallen into a state of chaos. There were refugees everywhere, and there were countless violent incidents.
Yuan Huawei and the others had been on the mountain from the first day of the first lunar month to the third day of the third lunar month. They were hungry and cold, waiting for the government and the army to rescue them. However, no one was there. The electronic devices on their bodies had long run out of power, so they were completely unaware of the situation outside. However, they still persisted for two to three days without enough clothes and food until the rain became less and less. Moreover, they were so hungry that they could not wait any longer. Only then did they go to the surrounding towns to seek help.
As one-third of the survivors were injured, it was impossible for them to leave together. Therefore, a few people had to stay behind to take care of the injured.
Yuan Huawei led more than ten young and strong people along the location in his memory to a village two mountains away. They took a detour and crossed a rapid stream. At noon, they finally reached the last mountain peak. Looking down, the small mountain village in his memory had been swallowed by the landslide caused by the super rainstorm two days ago.
The group of more than ten people stood on the top of this tall hill, and the surrounding ten miles entered their eyes. The trees that were far and near were almost bare branches, and the ground was in a mess.
One of them shouted at the top of his lungs, Was there anyone alive…
His voice echoed in the air. There was no response other than the echo of the valley.
It was already lunchtime, but the surroundings were still quiet. Other than the sound of the stream in the distance, there was no sound at all. It was so empty that it made people panic. It was not like there were so few people, because all the flowers, birds, insects and beasts in the forest seemed to have died. There was no sound.
The original path could not be seen in the places where the torrential rains and mudflows had hit. Or rather, there was no path at all. Everyone walked on the muddy mountain road with shallow steps.
Because of the rapid flow of water, the road along the east and west of the valley was blocked. They could only go all the way south, and the south was an increasingly dense mountain. It took them almost half a day to walk from the vicinity of Zhangjiahe to Pingshanba Village.
They continued south and passed by a few villages. They were still empty, and there were not many houses left. After walking for an entire day, the straight-line distance they covered on the map was only 18 kilometers. However, they still did not find a single living person within these 18 kilometers. In the end, they spent the night in a leeward area near a high mountain peak because they wanted to use the dark night to search for the light emitted by human civilization.
The darkness of the night gradually arrived, making the already cold winter night even colder. Everyone crowded around each other to keep warm, completely forgetting to care about the taboo between men and women. A few men would go out in pairs from time to time to climb up to the high ground to look at the dark night around them. They longed so much to find a glimmer of light in the dark night, but in the end, they found nothing.
In the past, the city's ever-bright lights had illuminated half of the sky, but now, the city that used to be bright was also pitch-black. One could imagine the destructive damage that the super flood had done to the city. There was a big city that was famous in the entire country, but now, there was no sign of its existence.
At eight or nine o'clock in the evening, after two or three hours of watching, their expectant hearts began to turn cold. A middle-aged man in his forties curled up and trembled. His wife and children had all died in the short period of time when the hail fell, leaving only him and his seriously injured old mother. Now, he came here to look for hope, while his old mother stayed in the camp where he first took refuge. He didn't know if the people in the camp would take good care of his seriously injured mother. He didn't know if his mother would be able to wait for him to move over to rescue her, or if she would be able to survive tonight. Thinking of this, he felt so helpless that he wanted to cry. However, he had already cried too many tears in the past two days, and all that was left was his body trembling.
His trembling accidentally affected a young man next to him. Because they were all from the same village, everyone knew what was going on in their families. He sighed and took out a cigarette box from his pocket. He lit it up and took a big puff. He choked and coughed several times. Then he handed the cigarette to the trembling middle-aged man. A few of the surrounding people sniffed the smoke and looked at the middle-aged man. They didn't say anything and just wrapped their bodies tighter.
The night was getting colder, and drizzles would fall from the sky from time to time. None of them had dried their clothes, and they had chosen to travel light when they left. They had left their wet quilts in the camp to keep out the cold. There was only a drenched military coat here, and everyone was trembling.
The young man suddenly said with a lighter in his hand," If only I could start a fire and roast it."
Everyone seemed to have received a violent stimulation and exploded in an instant. They began to search around for firewood that could be ignited and shouted to find firewood. In a short while, they had already collected a large pile and then started to light a fire. However, the dripping firewood and the sharp cold wind could not be ignited.
Everyone thought of a way together and took out the kindling that they could ignite. Half an hour later, the fire was finally ignited under the cover of the military coat. A pinch of yellow flame accompanied by thick smoke brought the only light to the night.
Everyone cheered and jumped around the fire like seven or eight-year-old children. When they were tired, they sat around the fire. Their clothes began to emit traces of white steam. Along with the warm fire and heat, their clothes were free from moisture for the first time.
The fire grew bigger and bigger. It rushed out of the mountain and became the only visible light in the surrounding ten kilometers. It was like the only torch in the surrounding area. This was deliberately done by everyone, hoping to be seen by the national rescue forces. However, no air or ground personnel came. After two hours of drying, everyone's clothes were dry. They also cooked some birds and small animals that were killed by hail. Although there were not many, they more or less filled their stomachs. Then, they dragged their tired bodies and fell asleep around the fire.
In the middle of the night, a woman woke up. In a daze, she suddenly shouted," There was light in the southeast direction, there was light in the southeast direction…
In an instant, everyone woke up and got up to take a look. As the fire here had lost much light, the light in the southeast direction was particularly obvious.
Yuan Huawei looked at the watch on a woman's wrist. It was almost five in the morning Beijing time.
Everyone had found a new target, and they were discussing the direction that should be Bridgeside Town.
At that time, someone suggested that they immediately set off to that place. However, it was still pitch-black all around, so they planned to go there at dawn.
Everyone was so excited that they couldn't fall asleep. They looked forward to having a good meal and a good sleep when they arrived.
Early in the morning, when the sky had just lit up, everyone excitedly headed southeast to Qiaobian Town. Because they had to cross a few rapid streams and rivers to the east, the road across the river was completely washed away by flash floods and mudflows. They walked down the river for almost an hour, but they still could not cross the other side. They had no choice but to let a few people who knew how to swim across first, and the others stayed behind to wait for help.
The river water in the early spring was bone-chilling and the river water was rapid. The six strong laborers who knew how to swim simply took off some clothes and slowly entered the water. One of them had a cramp in his leg as soon as he entered the water. His body tilted and fell into the river. In an instant, he was washed away by three to four meters. After flipping a few times, he disappeared. Before anyone could save him, he was gone.
On the shore, his wife instantly collapsed on the ground, crying and wailing. After seeing her husband disappear, she fainted. Everyone was nervous, but when they saw that she was fine, they were more or less relieved.
The rest of the people looked at each other, hesitating whether they should continue to cross the river.
While they were hesitating, Yuan Huawei took off his coat, wrapped a rock in it, and threw it to the other side. He also asked the remaining five people in the water to come up and exercise.
After the five people came up, they also threw their clothes to the other side and began to move their bodies.
Five minutes later, Yuan Huawei jumped into the water and splashed water on himself. Then, he suddenly dove diagonally downstream. He slowly approached the opposite bank along the current and successfully got ashore. It took about ten seconds, but he was already fifty to sixty meters away from the water entry point.
When everyone saw that one person had successfully reached the other side, another person followed his method and entered the water, and he also succeeded.
The third one was also successful.
The fourth and fifth were also successful.
The sixth man felt relieved when he saw that the previous few people had succeeded. He followed the same method and entered the water. However, he seemed to regret it the moment he entered the water. He wanted to swim back, but the more he wanted to swim back, the more he rushed downstream. The people on both sides shouted to him to stay on the shore, but he was already wrapped in the middle of the current.
The people on both sides chased him along the river for dozens of meters until he completely disappeared at the corner of the river. In the end, it was unknown whether he was alive or dead...
They had lost another young life. Everyone felt helpless, but what could they do? In order to survive, people were forced to accept many things that they were unwilling to do. Everyone was sad for a while before they began their own preparations. Those who stayed were prepared to return to the original camp and pick up some animals and plants that could fill their stomachs. They also agreed to light the fire at all times to facilitate rescue at any time.
Yuan Huawei and the other five continued on their way to Qiaobian Town. The road was muddy and difficult to walk on. However, in the evening, they finally saw the light in front of them again. The five of them hurried their pace and finally arrived at the valley where the fire was located.
The once calm river beside the bridge was now surging, and the river was more than five times wider. The water level on both sides of the river had dropped by at least 30 meters from its highest point. The town by the bridge was completely gone. Other than the surrounding mountains, it looked like this place. Otherwise, one would definitely suspect that everything was fake.
After the big explosion, there was a super heavy rain near the core area. The accumulated rainwater rushed through the mountains, and the river water in the entire Qiaobian River and the Qingjiang River basin further south rose sharply. Although the local reservoir management staff had been trying their best to release water, the rain and flash floods were too fierce. Hundreds of large, medium, and small reservoirs in the entire basin had all burst their dams. The fierce water rushed into the valley and took away everything that could be taken away. There were not many people living in this town at the moment. The entire world was in ruins. Only a few people were busy in the distance, as if they were burning something to eat.
Yuan Huawei and the other five people walked towards them. The seven of them also noticed the five people on their side at the same time. They stopped what they were doing and looked over curiously.
After Yuan Huawei approached the seven of them, he greeted them and began to chat with them.
Yuan Huawei: " We just came out of the mountains. Where can we find the rescue team?" We still have dozens of people trapped on the other side of the mountain.
The person opposite looked at the five of them strangely and said, Did you come from the mountains? How did he survive the weather of the Cataclysm? There was even a flood?
Yuan Huawei said,"When the explosion happened, we realized that something was wrong, so we hid in the forest on the mountain." There were only 30 of them left. Where was the rescue team? We still have more than 20 injured people who need to be rescued.
The other side replied,"There is only one company here, maintaining the order of three to four thousand people." Where did you come from?
Yuan Huawei said,"We came from Pingshanba Village…"
The people on the other side were very surprised because they knew that it was a miracle that the people there could survive.
As the other party spoke, he began to lead them to the camp.
Yuan Huawei answered their questions while following them. After a while, he saw many people inside and outside a highway tunnel.
This tunnel was also affected by the flash flood. However, after the flood receded, compared to the open space outside, this became the only place nearby to avoid the rainy weather. Three to four thousand people were squeezed into such a tunnel. Because they had nowhere else to settle down.
Yuan Huawei was brought to the side of a soldier at the entrance. He was briefly questioned about almost the same thing before he met the superior of this small unit.
After Yuan Huawei told them what they had encountered, the junior officer reported their situation to his superiors and comforted them. He gave each of them a packet of instant noodles and a glass of cold water and told them to find a place to stay in the tunnel after eating.
They finished their food and water in a few bites and continued to look at the army. The army signaled to everyone that they could only give out these things at a time and told them to find a place to stay in the depths of the tunnel.
Yuan Huawei and the others could only helplessly walk deeper into the tunnel.
It was getting darker and darker as they entered the tunnel. One side of the tunnel was densely packed with people, while the other side was empty. Some of the densely packed people only had simple bedding, while others had nothing. All of them were curled up, just like them.
When Yuan Huawei looked at them, some of them also looked at Yuan Huawei and the others. Their eyes were filled with helplessness and helplessness.
After passing through the weak lighting equipment, the shadow was elongated and shortened again and again. Finally, they found an empty space at the opposite edge. They sat down cross-legged against a thin old man. The old man did not move at all. If it were not for his weak breathing, he would have been like a dead man.
Throughout the night, Yuan Huawei and the others curled up like them, shivering. No one was interested.
They woke up a few times in the night, but their surroundings were dark. Occasionally, they would be woken up by the cries of losing their loved ones, and occasionally, they would be woken up by the sound of a dead person being found around them.
Through the faint light, Yuan Huawei saw a few people taking off the clothes of the dead, leaving only the last loincloth for the dead. Then, they carried the dead to the other side of the road. Except for those who had relatives to protect them, they left more clothes for the dead to cover their bodies. Everyone seemed to be used to it. They were unwilling to waste anything that could keep them warm.
The fear of the dead in the past was a joke here. The clothes that were once taboo against the dead were completely empty talk here. The social environment had changed so quickly that it was as sudden as this disaster.
Yuan Huawei looked at all of this helplessly and could only sigh softly.
He lay down again and straightened his curled up legs. He bumped into the old man who was also curled up beside him.
The old man didn't respond. Yuan Huawei flipped over and sat up. He gently moved the old man and shouted, but the old man still didn't respond.
He used his hand to check the old man's breathing. There was no more breathing. There was no more pulse. He was dead. He was so scared that he retreated to the side, waking up his two companions. He quickly told his companions that the old man was dead. His companions were also shocked.
Yuan Huawei pushed the 16-year-old boy beside the old man and told him that the man was dead. The boy was stunned for a moment, then he began to take off the old man's clothes, leaving only his underwear.
Yuan Huawei and the other five were stunned. After the boy took off his clothes, he handed over the cash and other valuables as well as a few pieces of clothes. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he handed over two more pieces of clothes and placed them beside Yuan Huawei. He only left behind two coats and slowly covered himself with them. It was as if he wanted to continue sleeping and ignore them.
Yuan Huawei sighed helplessly. He called his companions to carry the dead man whose name was unknown to them to the other side of the road and put him down. Then, he casually went to the toilet on the other side of the road and returned to sleep as if nothing had happened.
The clothes and money were placed beside him, but none of them had any intention of touching them.
He fell asleep as he thought about the matter quietly. He didn't know when he was woken up by the creaking sound. He looked up and saw three people riding a tricycle and preparing to move the body away. One of them took a photo of the dead old man with a camera, and the other gave the old man a full body examination. He also pried away a big golden tooth from the old man's mouth. Then, he carried the old man onto the tricycle with satisfaction. They followed the path to the next victim.
Yuan Huawei looked at the watch on his companion's hand. It was already six o'clock in the morning on the fifth day of the first month in Beijing.
He greeted his companion and was about to go out to take a look. Just as he got up and was about to leave, he was pulled by the boy next to him. The little boy used sign language to warn him to wait.
Since Yuan Huawei and the others had only been here for a night, they were still unclear about the situation here. They could only continue to wait for him to come down.
He spoke a few words to the boy, but the boy did not answer. He only replied with a few sign language. It turned out that he was a mute.
Half an hour later, a commotion came from afar.
Two pedal-operated tricycles were escorted by armed soldiers as they moved forward in the crowd.
Wherever he passed, the refugees who were originally curled up got up one after another. They picked up a disposable plastic bowl beside them, took a small bag of instant noodles and a bowl of warm water, and obediently returned to the place where they were originally standing under the guard of the soldiers with loaded guns.
The car slowly arrived in front of Yuan Huawei because they had been waiting with the boy. He was also given a pack of instant noodles and a new disposable plastic bowl.
Yuan Huawei went forward to ask the soldier if the army had sent anyone to rescue his family and fellow countrymen. In the end, he was pointed at by a gun and retreated back to where he originally stood.
The anger on Yuan Huawei's face slowly turned into helplessness. In the end, he could only cry silently...
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