Chapter 80 Riverside Family
"Stay still here, I'll go up and take a look."
During several conversations, Jiang Qian and the other two actually found several people with the same destination as theirs.
The other party was obviously also looking for someone, and after hearing their destination, he came over.
The man who was obviously the oldest and in charge looked at Jiang Dong and said, "Brother, how about we team up?"
Jiang Dong glanced at Jiang Qian and Ren Ru and nodded in agreement.
After introducing themselves, they found out that the other family's surname was Fang and they were all native to City B.
The Fang family had three brothers. The eldest and second brothers, who had greeted Jiang Dong, had both married and had children locally. Only the youngest brother had not returned after graduating from university in City N. He married a high school classmate and settled there. They went to City N this time to find the youngest brother's family.
The younger brother of the Fang family and his family of four are all in City N. They have not been in contact since they last called home on the third day of the rainstorm. The Fang family in City B is not aware of their current situation and can only go to the community to see if anyone is still there.
Although both brothers were tall and strong, there were only two of them, so two close cousins also accompanied them this time.
Besides the Fang family, while they were waiting for the train on the platform, they had also run into the Qian family and their wife, who were also on their way to the Hepan Renjia neighborhood to look for their only daughter. Now, the three families combined made nine people.
The three families reported the building numbers they were going to and found that the building where the other family and the younger brother of the Fang family were located were both in the southwest corner of the community, close to the south gate of the community, and were relatively close. However, the building where the Ren family was located was near the east gate of the community, separating them on both sides of the community.
But no matter where in the community we are, it is still one place. Since we have decided to act together, we must share information.
The Fang brothers enthusiastically shared their impressions of the neighborhood, the nearby buildings, and the routes. The Qian couple, who came to visit their daughter, took a copy of the neighborhood floor plan given by the sales office when they bought the house. Jiang Qian was also generous and took out a simple map of the neighborhood that she had drawn earlier.
The three families spent a long time choosing the train stop location based on the station sign, and finally decided to enter together from the south gate of the community.
While they were discussing, Jiang Weimin had already sat in the driver's seat.
I thought that since I had traveled back and forth between City A and City B several times before, I shouldn't be so nervous sitting in the driver's seat again. But I was still nervous.
But Jiang Weimin was an experienced driver after all. After adjusting his mood, he focused all his attention on the train.
Jiang Qian had already asked the system to place the bus stop in City N in advance. Now the icon of the new station was marked on the big screen. When the departure countdown in the upper right corner of the screen returned to zero, Jiang Weimin slowly pulled down the joystick.
The people who were discussing something in the rear carriage felt a slight vibration and saw that the scenery outside the window had changed.
The train gradually left the brightly lit platform and hovered above the city. Then, it slowly accelerated and flew away into the distance.
The people in the car looked out through the window, watching the familiar city with twinkling lights being left behind, and looking at the road ahead with almost no light, their hearts began to lift little by little.
Perhaps because everyone knew that the place they were going to was not very safe, a solemn atmosphere gradually spread in the carriage, and the carriage gradually became quiet and silent, with only a few whispers coming from the corner occasionally.
Jiang Qian sat alone in the window seat, looking at the city outside the window and comparing it with the map on the system page.
The train gradually left City B, and the twinkling lights completely disappeared from her sight due to the distance. She could only vaguely see the town below the train with the thin moonlight in the sky.
Darkness, endless darkness...
It was still midsummer, but Jiang Qian felt a chill penetrating into her bones.
Are there still people living in those places covered by darkness?
She didn't know and could only look forward.
After a while, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the darkness ahead. As they got closer, Jiang Qian realized that they had unknowingly left the territory of City B and arrived at the northernmost tip of City N.
The river shimmering in the moonlight is the Lanjiang River that runs through N City.
The surging river water that had been seen in the news before has disappeared. The river has returned to its established track and the flow has become slow and gentle.
With the moonlight reflected from the river, she saw the leaning trees on both sides of the river, but in most places, there was still invisible darkness.
The train followed the direction of the river, passing over the buildings one after another. Occasionally, in the gaps between the buildings that flashed by, she could see the stars of lights in the distance.
Time ticked by, the train drawing ever closer to its destination. The train gradually grew noisier, and more and more people gathered at the windows, gazing at the bottomless darkness of the city below, their hearts growing increasingly uncertain.
Most of the people on the bus were from City B.
Because City B hadn't experienced flooding, its power and communications systems had been functioning normally from the start of the rainstorm until today. Even in the half-month or so before the rescue team arrived, they'd only experienced a few days of hunger due to a lack of supplies, but hadn't experienced any significant inconvenience.
But today, seeing another city so close to them almost completely silent and shrouded in darkness without a single ray of light, most people began to panic.
They were even a little grateful that the infrastructure in City B was more complete and that they did not have to go through these dark and hopeless days.
Not long after the car passed the tallest building in the entire city of N - the radio signal tower, it began to slowly descend.
After everyone in the car sensed this, they all put on their backpacks and picked up their weapons. They looked out intently, and even though it was still pitch black outside the car window, they still tried to see more clearly and prepare for safety after getting off the car.
There was a slight vibration and the train landed.
A few seconds later, the car door slowly opened, and three steps were automatically erected under the door of the car, which was originally one section above the ground, connecting to the asphalt road below.
The streets were quiet at night. They looked out of the car door for a while, and after finding that there was no danger around, they lined up and got off the car one by one.
Jiang Qian and Jiang Dongrenru got off the train among the crowd, and when no one was paying attention, they gestured to the driver's cab in front of the train.
The crowd gradually dispersed and rushed to their respective destinations.
Jiang Qian and the other two, along with the Fang family, crossed the road and headed towards a house on the riverside not far away.
Although the river had receded, the city's roads were far from clean. Some low trees had fallen and lay scattered across the road. Besides that, there was a lot of garbage and rotten leaves on the ground, and even some rotten fish and shrimp left behind after the river water receded.
The stench of decay wafted over from time to time with the night wind, making people feel sick.
As I continued to walk, the noisy footsteps of other passengers behind me gradually disappeared, and the surroundings became completely quiet. Only the trees on both sides of the road were startled by the wind, and rustling sounds were heard from time to time.
The nine people gathered together at a certain distance, held their breath, stared at their surroundings, and slowly moved forward with flashlights in hand.
Fortunately, perhaps because most of the residents in the area had been relocated before the incident, they encountered no zombies along the way. However, even just the six or seven hundred meters took them a full ten minutes to reach the south gate of the Riverside Residence.
The gate of the community, which was always tightly closed and only opened for weddings, was now wide open. Looking inside the community from the gate, the electric bikes and bicycles that were originally neatly arranged downstairs of each community were now spread out in a haphazard manner. They must have been washed down by the water during the heavy rain.
The group carefully avoided obstacles and after entering the community, they split into two sides at the fork in the road, one heading east and the other west.
After separating from the Fang family, Jiang Qian followed Ren Ru and Jiang Dong and walked towards the building where Ren Ying's house was.
Riverside Home is considered a high-end residential complex in City N. Its green area is almost among the highest among all residential complexes in the city, and the garden-style landscape design within the community was a major feature when it was sold.
However, this dense forest, which usually only makes people feel beautiful, now looks eerie and terrifying after losing all the light.
Their shoes made a continuous crackling sound as they stepped on the dry branches and leaves on the road. Jiang Qian and the other two kept their guard up as they walked forward, fearing that a zombie might rush out from any corner and attack them.
"Building 21, is this the one?"
Jiang Dong used his flashlight to illuminate the number plate on the signpost under the building and asked Ren Ru beside him.
Although he had been to his aunt's house, it was not many times and he had never lived here, so Ren Ru knew it better.
"Yes." Ren Ru glanced at the number on the sign and pointed to the door of the unit inside. "It's in that unit inside."
The three of them moved away the overturned electric bike that was blocking the road and entered the unit door from the path in front of the building.
Although the water receded, it still left traces on the walls of the corridor. The water marks extended upwards, and the originally clean and tidy walls became dirty and mottled.
Jiang Dong walked in front of the three people, holding an iron rod with a kitchen knife tied to it.
Slow but clear footsteps sounded in the corridor. They held their breath, walked lightly, and tried not to make any noise.
The doors on the first and second floors were closed, so they couldn't tell what had happened. But when they reached the third floor, they found obvious bloodstains in the corners of the walls and on the ground.
Ren Ru panicked when she saw the bloodstains and wanted to rush upstairs impatiently, but was stopped by Jiang Dong who was blocking the way in front of her.
Jiang Dong asked Jiang Qian to hold Ren Ru and said to them, "Stay still here. I'll go up and take a look first."
After saying that, without waiting for the two to react, he went upstairs.
【Author’s words】
The next chapter will be updated the day after tomorrow, which is the 5th, and the next chapter will be on the 6th.
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