Chapter 41: Subway Horror
The background of the characters in this world is very simple.
She is 30 years old, an orphan, and a single woman.
She came to this company as a clerk after graduating from college. Her position before being fired was the assistant to the director. The reason for her dismissal was that the market was sluggish and they needed to reduce the number of employees.
She was not very capable at work, so she became the first batch of employees to be fired.
But Youxi understood that this kind of company said that the market was sluggish and they wanted to reduce the number of employees, but in fact it was because she had worked in the company for many years, and her salary and benefits had accumulated and climbed. For the same job content, it was far less cost-effective to hire a freshly graduated college student.
But even if she knew, there was nothing to argue about. The characters in this world were set to be gentle and they thought their work ability was average. It was not surprising that they were fired. It was just that she felt lost when she was 30 and suddenly lost her job.
The damp smell she smelled in the air just now was not an illusion. This is a very developed port city.
It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side. Because the mountains block the cold air from the north, the temperature is very suitable all year round. It is not cold in winter and not hot in summer.
It is winter now, and the daytime temperature is around 15 or 16 degrees Celsius.
The world is slower than the native world in terms of development. It is still the era of paper money and credit cards.
The waiter came forward to hand over the menu, interrupting her thoughts. Youxi casually ordered a cup of hot latte. The other party smiled, took the menu, and put down a glass of water for her.
Everything around her seemed normal. The characters in the previous world also went online every day and had never seen anything wrong in the news, so she couldn't tell what kind of apocalypse it would be. If it's
near the sea, tsunamis? Impossible, the chance of encountering a repeated apocalypse is very small.
Mountains, volcanoes? Probably not.
Earthquake?
Earthquake should not be considered a mid-level apocalypse, not to mention, she remembered that there was a word "fusion" in the types of apocalypse.
She had experience with this, which meant that this apocalypse was formed by the fusion of fragments of two worlds.
At present, all the settings and backgrounds were fine, and Youxi decided to go back to her residence first.
After leaving the cafe, she went to a public restroom in a nearby green park. It was two or three o'clock in the afternoon on a weekday, and there were few people on the street, and no one in the restroom.
She entered the toilet cubicle and dumped all the miscellaneous items in the briefcase except for the wallet, mobile phone and keys into the cardboard box, and then stuffed the accumulated cardboard boxes into the Star House warehouse.
The house rented by the world character is about 15 or 16 kilometers away from here. There are still 47 hours before the end of the world. She is not in a hurry to go back, so she does not plan to take a taxi. She plans to take the subway as the world character usually goes to work, in order to observe the surrounding environment.
**
This is a large city called Hairu City. Because it is a port city, it is a relatively developed city in the entire country. The subway was built very early and there are many underwater tunnels.
But because most of the subways were built a long time ago, the subway stations look very old, some escalators are narrow, and the lights inside are a bit dim, which gives a bad overall feeling.
To go home, you need to go through two undersea tunnels, one of which is 2.3 kilometers long, and the other is even longer, 4.1 kilometers, which is the longest undersea tunnel in the entire Hairu City.
After crossing the sea, you have to transfer to the subway, and finally walk one or two kilometers.
There are not many people waiting for the subway at this time, and there are also empty seats on the subway. Youxi found a seat near the railing and sat down, scanning the route map inside the subway. The new lines and the old lines, the subway lines that crisscross vertically and horizontally are as dense as a spider web, and even the undersea tunnels have several crisscrossing lines.
The interior of the subway was also very old, and the seats and railings were obviously used for a long time.
After passing a few stations, there were more people on the subway. Youxi checked the route and found that after leaving this station, she would enter the first undersea tunnel, which was 4.1 kilometers long. Before
the subway door was about to close, someone quickened his pace and rushed in. The man was tall and had long legs. Seeing that the door was about to close, he did not stop and directly stepped into the car in two steps. The subway door almost closed against his back.
In the suspicious eyes of others, the other party just lowered his head and found a seat in a corner without saying a word.
Youxi only took a glance and then retracted her gaze, but soon, she felt that there was a gaze fixed on her in the direction where she had just retracted her gaze.
She turned her eyes to the side, and saw that the man who had just entered through the subway door was staring at her. He was wearing a peaked cap, and the lowered brim of the hat blocked his eyebrows and eyes, leaving a reflection on his nose.
She couldn't see his face clearly, but even so, she knew that he was staring at her.
She didn't know him, or rather, the world figure didn't know him.
In the world figure's memory, her interpersonal relationships were very monotonous, she went to the same place every day, and she had few friends.
What's more, if the other person was really the person in the world figure's memory, he would appear, and some image information of him should have emerged in her mind.
But there was nothing.
When Youxi was wondering, she suddenly heard a strange sound. Before she could figure out what the sound was, the subway, which was running at a constant speed, suddenly shook. The strange sound instantly magnified, and it was a tooth-grinding creaking and friction sound. She could even hear the sound of sparks.
Everyone in the subway fell to one side out of inertia because of the sudden emergency brake. Because most people were sitting, they avoided falling, but they could not avoid bumping into others. Some people were drinking drinks, some were using headphones to video chat with others, and some were watching computers. At once, everything in everyone's hands fell over.
Drinks spilled on others, mobile phones fell to the ground, and computers hit people's feet... The whole subway car was in chaos.
When a girl next to Youxi rushed towards her, she quickly supported her. At the same time, she raised her eyes slightly and found that the man in the duckbill cap diagonally opposite her also reacted quickly.
He had stood up from his seat, leaning against the railing with one hand.
Because of the angle, she saw his face clearly this time. He was a young man in his twenties, with a delicate face and dark pupils, but she was sure she had never seen him before.
The subway stopped, and the people in the car looked at each other and started complaining, not understanding why the train suddenly stopped when it was running well.
Soon, the broadcast on the subway sounded, and it was the voice of the driver in front.
He told everyone not to panic, saying that there was a minor problem on the track ahead and that they had to stop here temporarily. He said that the relevant personnel at the previous platform had already known about the situation here and would rush over immediately.
"Minor problem? What minor problem requires stopping the train?"
"This is an undersea tunnel! Is there something wrong with the tunnel?"
"Oh, people have complained about it many times before, saying that this tunnel is too old and has fallen into disrepair. If it is not stopped for maintenance, problems will occur sooner or later--"
Perhaps in response to this sentence, a crackling sound suddenly came from above their heads.
The sound was very dull, but it made people's scalps numb when it sounded at this time. Almost everyone knew what the sound was.
"Bang--" With the sound of the first heavy object falling, the people in the carriage quickly panicked and fled to the corners of the carriage far away from the sound, but it was obvious that there were more than one crack on the top, and the sound of heavy objects falling became more frequent.
Youxi frowned and looked at the top. In his memory, he knew about this submarine tunnel. The tunnel was built by the immersed tube method in the early days. The precautions were very good at that time. But so many years have passed. If there is a problem... But it is unlikely. There are still 47 hours before the end of the world. How can it be so early?
The movement of the carriage made Youxi think. Maybe the other co-driver at the rear of the car was notified and was restarting the subway at this moment, intending to return to the platform at the other end of the tunnel.
But everyone's heart was not at ease. Suddenly, a huge noise came from the top of the carriage. With a heavy blow, the entire roof of the car was dented.
There were teeth-grinding creaking sounds and dull sounds of concrete blocks falling, one after another. The subway that had just been running was stuck and forced to stop. Almost
everyone screamed in fear, and the radio in the car sounded again. It was the voice of another co-driver, asking everyone to evacuate to the rear of the car immediately and in an orderly manner, and said that rescuers were coming quickly and asked everyone not to panic.
Although they said so, how could everyone not panic? This was at the bottom of the sea, and there was another collapsed section above. Who knew what would happen next!
The ground in the car was flat. You Xi took off her high heels and quickly followed the others to retreat to the back. No matter how strong her physical condition was now, if the tunnel really collapsed, she would probably not be able to escape.
The young man in the duckbill cap was half a step behind her, with his arms slightly outstretched, intentionally or unintentionally blocking the person who wanted to push him from behind.
People who didn't know would think he was deliberately protecting her, but in fact You Xi didn't know the other person at all.
But at the moment of escaping, she didn't care to think too much.
Fortunately, there was no problem when everyone evacuated, and there were not many people on the train to begin with, so soon everyone on the subway evacuated to the last car. The co-pilot followed the instructions of the rescue team, opened the door, and arranged for everyone to stand on the path next to the subway track.
You Xi knew that the way down was not easy to walk, so she opened the briefcase on her body and took out a pair of wrinkled leather flat shoes under the cover of the bag.
She didn't take her sneakers because they were too big and her briefcase wasn't that bulgy. She took out her sneakers and saw something wrong with them. Flat shoes were much better, a pair of soft shoes that fit perfectly in her bag.
She put on her shoes and found that the young man in the duckbill cap hadn't gotten off the bus yet, and seemed to be waiting for her.
She didn't say anything, got off the bus in a few steps, and followed the crowd. Not
long after the group walked, someone in front of her suddenly shouted, "There's water! There's water! It's leaking here!"
Soon, several people around him moved aside.
Youxi shone the flashlight of her mobile phone at the top, and it was really leaking. Although the amount of water was not large, the area was large. There was no crack on the top, and she didn't know where the water was seeping from.
She quickly moved aside, but because the leak was so large, she was still inevitably dripped with some.
Youxi smelled that damp fishy smell again, which was much stronger than the one he smelled in the air in the afternoon. It seemed to be the smell of water.
How strange! Even seawater shouldn't have this smell...
Everyone quickly passed the leaking area. Not far ahead, a light was faintly lit. The passenger in front said in surprise: "It's the rescue team! We're saved!"
The people in front were indeed the rescue team. The collapse of the undersea tunnel was a big deal, so people came very quickly.
Someone asked the driver about the situation and immediately led the way. Someone in the middle of the team helped to turn on the lights to check if there were any injured people. Someone else led people who looked like technicians to the place where the accident happened behind them.
Youxi looked back at those people and caught up with the team again.
**
Two hours later, Youxi, who had left the subway station and taken a taxi to go around a long way, finally returned to the house rented by the world figure.
Although the undersea tunnel has areas for ordinary vehicles in addition to the subway, she was still worried and did not want to walk under the sea again, so she would rather take a detour.
This accident was extremely thrilling when it happened, and she always suspected that it was the beginning of a terrible incident, but the subsequent evacuation was normal and orderly.
Maybe it was because she had been in two apocalyptic worlds, and it was obvious that safe evacuation was what would be discovered under normal circumstances, but she always felt that it shouldn't be.
Why shouldn't it be?
The community in front of her is not new, nor is it very old. The location is not very good, and it is far from the bustling city, but the rent is cheap, and it is very quiet to live alone.
Because the characters in the world are set to be introverted and not sociable, she would rather spend more than two hours on the road every day to and from work than to share a house close to the company.
As soon as she entered the community, all the settings related to the house automatically jumped out of her mind.
The house is not very big, on the fourth floor, with one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, and a small balcony facing south without glass windows.
For Youxi, it is a good thing not to share a house with others, otherwise she will have to find another place to live.
It was already past six o'clock in the evening, and Youxi was going to take a shower, change clothes, and then eat.
After the accident in the afternoon, there was always a faint damp fishy smell lingering at the tip of her nose, and she didn't know if it was her illusion.
Is it because her five senses have been enhanced, so she is so sensitive to the smell of the air in the coastal city?
She passed the living room, turned on the TV and tuned to the local news channel, then took out a set of cotton long-sleeved home clothes from the space and went into the bathroom next to her.
She took off her black-framed glasses without prescription, untied her hair, and planned to wash her hair and take a shower. When she reached for the shower door, her fingertips accidentally slipped on the sharp iron sheet, which immediately opened a small cut. The wound was not long, but it was very deep, and blood immediately seeped out.
Because things happened so quickly, You Xi didn't feel much pain, but another feeling that made her scalp tingle overwhelmed everything.
There was indeed some itching on the scalp, spreading little by little from the center of the hair to the forehead, as if... something was moving?
All the hairs on Youxi's arms stood up. Ordinary people might not be able to feel it, but she could clearly feel the very subtle movement.
She immediately took out a flashlight, pointed it at her scalp, and moved closer to the mirror.
Probably due to the strong light, the slight tingling sensation stopped at the hairline. She looked carefully and saw a very thin black line at the root of her hair. The "line" was only slightly thicker than her hair and was about one centimeter long.
If someone has naturally thicker and darker hair, they may not be able to tell the difference between the two.
No!
This is not a line!
It's squirming!
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