Chapter 12 When people are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame.
The rain intensified, but the thunder subsided.
In the intervals between the sounds of rain, faint cries and shouts could be heard coming from all directions.
Lu Nange's phone screen kept flashing, and the message notification sound in the owners' group kept beeping.
The screen was filled with accusations and insults against the property management company.
Lu Nange quickly glanced around and saw that the third floor was already flooded!
Pulling back the curtains, I looked out and saw turbid waves surging, the streets already a vast expanse of water.
Numerous rescue boats paddled back and forth in the swift current.
Lu Nange took out a telescope from her system backpack and discovered various packaging bags and miscellaneous items floating on the water.
Many people in the community were standing on high places, holding long poles, nets and other tools, eagerly retrieving food floating in the water.
Lu Nange lay back on the sofa, the light from her phone screen illuminating her numb face.
She mechanically swiped the screen, switching between news pages of different cities, but every push notification was exactly the same, all about emergency reports of torrential rain.
Mudslides, landslides, flooding of coastal areas and cities, and panic over water and power outages spread through the streets and alleys.
Looking around, there were signs everywhere urgently needing rescue, but the scale of the disaster was far too large.
Amidst the raging floods and beneath the collapsed ruins, people did everything in their power to protect themselves and their families.
Everyone was too busy taking care of themselves to offer any help.
The whole world seemed shrouded in the shadow of the apocalypse, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
Lu Nange knew this was just the beginning!
When people are well-fed and clothed, they begin to know honor and shame.
When food becomes scarce and survival is threatened, the fragility and darkness of human nature may be magnified infinitely.
Survival became the fundamental goal!
The official appeal has never ceased: "Disasters are merciless, but humanity is compassionate; only by uniting as one can we overcome them."
Those lines of resolute text flickered and danced on the screen.
Many people still firmly believe that after the rainstorm, the sun will eventually break through the gloom, the city will regain its vitality, and order will be restored.
In the dimly lit living room, the light from the phone screen went out, followed by a soft sigh.
She was just an ordinary person, and it was good enough that she could keep Ah Ye alive!
Let's leave saving the world to the main characters!
***
The day after all the water, electricity, and gas were cut off.
Lu Nange glanced at her phone. It was 5 a.m., and the screen displayed a "No Service" sign, indicating a complete network outage.
She opened the cast aluminum armored door, found a ribbon, and tied it across the gaps in the stainless steel door.
After securing it, the cast aluminum armored door was closed, and it was pulled out through the gap at the top of the door.
He walked through the corridor, tied the ribbon to his front door, and attached a bell.
This way, if the stainless steel door shakes, the doorbell will ring, and she can notice it immediately from inside.
After finishing the arrangements, Lu Nange went to the rooftop.
Unlock the rooftop, push it open, and with a creak, the iron gate slowly creaks open, instantly piercing the ears with a heart-wrenching cry.
"You damned beast! You neighbor, you stole from my house! How am I supposed to live like this?!"
Lu Nange put on the hood of her raincoat, glanced at the large buckets on the rooftop that were full of rainwater, and put them all into her system backpack.
He took out a new batch, filled the place, turned around and closed the iron gate, shutting out the crying sound.
With only one apartment per floor, and a total of eleven households on the entire floor, crime had already begun to proliferate wildly.
She needs to go out tonight and use up all the check-in attempts she's accumulated.
In a day or two, people driven mad by hunger and greed may target them.
At that time, she would have to be with Lu Beiye at all times.
Downstairs, after the third floor was flooded, a family of five started knocking on doors from the fourth floor down the aisle.
The residents on the fifth and sixth floors kept their doors tightly shut, directly refusing the other party's request to enter.
Mr. Zhang looked at his family, exchanged a glance with his son, and then, along with his mother, daughter-in-law, and grandson, pried open the door to the seventh floor and moved in.
However, the seventh floor only underwent basic renovations, and the room was empty, without any living supplies.
Hunger soon struck, and they had no choice but to go out again, steeling themselves and knocking on doors to borrow food.
But when they knocked on the ninth floor, the doors remained closed, and no one answered.
The fifth-floor residents even used extremely offensive language.
The two men gave up and turned back to the seventh floor. That night, the little food left on the fifth floor was completely devoured.
***
Three in the morning, when I was most sleepy.
Lu Nange closed the door to her house.
Not long after, the door to the master bedroom was quietly opened, making a slight creaking sound.
Lu Beiye stood in front of the living room window, looking out through the glass. It was pitch black outside, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
In the dim, almost negligible darkness, he looked at the medicine displayed on the corner shelf.
His eyes were somewhat vacant, as if he were lost in thought.
Immediately afterwards, he strode to the bathroom in the master bedroom, reached for the cold water in the corner, and poured it over himself without hesitation.
The icy water instantly soaked through the clothes, making people shiver.
On the other side, Lu Nange, holding a fruit knife tightly in her right hand, silently arrived at the fourth floor.
After confirming that no one was around, he nimbly climbed out of the window.
Lu Nange was worried about Lu Beiye, who was home alone, and didn't dare to delay for a moment.
After using up all the accumulated uses near the neighborhood, I rowed the inflatable boat home.
Along the way, she could clearly sense that more and more people were coming out to look for food under the cover of night.
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