◎Happy 149th Day: Tunnel Exploration◎
The downward force carried a terrifying sense of being out of control, and the friction between metal and building materials was sharp and shrill.
The sense of crisis honed by the experience of life and death made Jiang Muyun lower his head and avoid it as if possessed by a ghost. Then the car body shook and the downward trend suddenly stopped.
Someone's flashlight fell to the ground, and it flickered a few times before coming back on, illuminating the dim carriage where the lights had gone out.
Jiang Muyun turned his head to look to his side and saw a bent steel bar stuck in the connection between the roof and the truck bed, which happened to be stuck in the air together with the concrete block on the other side.
Even Jiang Muyun couldn't help but feel his heart beating wildly when he saw this scene.
If she hadn't dodged that move, it might have been her skull that got stuck in the steel bar instead of the car body.
In the tunnel filled with muffled noises, Jiang Muyun could clearly hear his own heart beating.
However, before she could catch her breath, a loud bang exploded in everyone's ears.
There was a huge dent in the roof.
Captain Wang said that this car was sturdy, and now Jiang Muyun saw how sturdy it was.
Even though the roof was sunken inward by thirty to forty centimeters, the vehicle's roof did not appear to be damaged.
But the shaky car body could not withstand the force of this collision.
A teeth-grinding squeak sound reached everyone's ears, and then the car body tilted forward sharply, and Jiang Muyun was hung in the air by the restraint belt.
Bang--
Smoke and dust rose up, and at the moment the car body fell down with a loud bang, Jiang Muyun lifted himself up uncontrollably and his body fit back into the seat.
Then, in just half a breath, she fell heavily.
The two forces collided, and Jiang Muyun's face turned purple due to the straps, and he almost vomited.
But the shaking had not stopped yet, and no one dared to move. She could only let herself be hung in the air, trying her best to keep her body steady.
Jiang Muyun cursed inwardly.
According to Captain Wang, all the tunnels that have been repaired in the capital have withstood the test of multiple earthquakes.
However, according to the rule he summarized over the years that "the more extreme the winter and summer temperatures, the higher the earthquake level", Jiang Muyun and his friends were unlucky and happened to catch up with the unprecedentedly terrifying cold wave this year, so the earthquake level really went up.
For a moment, it was hard to tell whether it was the mysterious bloodline leader Wang who had come true and brought them trouble, or whether these unlucky guys had suffered along with leader Wang and the others.
Jiang Muyun exerted force with his arms and pulled himself up a little, finally taking a breath from the pain that felt like his spleen was about to burst in the next second.
His waist, abdomen and arms took turns to bear the strain, and he had to worry all the time about what might happen to the shaky car. Beads of sweat on Jiang Muyun's forehead dripped down and disappeared in the repeated shaking.
Fortunately, their car did not continue to fall until the main shock passed.
This car is indeed strong enough, and it can be seen that earthquake hazards were taken into consideration when it was designed.
Jiang Muyun estimated the gap between the roof and the truck bed. Even if the roof had been severely damaged several times, the gap between the two was still large enough for an adult to get out.
Jiang Muyun lowered his voice: "I'll go out and see what's going on."
"no."
Several voices sounded simultaneously in the carriage.
Captain Wang was still panting as he spoke: "It's too dangerous. I, I'll go and see."
"Only I can go." Jiang Muyun let out a long breath.
The car fell vertically to the ground. From the angle they were currently suspended in, they could tell that the car body was almost at a right angle to the ground. It was possible that the car body could flip over again at any time, and it might even cause the surrounding rubble to continue to collapse.
Jiang Muyun was the lightest person among all the people present, except Professor Chen and Chen Cheng, and he also had enough experience in moving around in earthquake ruins.
Only if she does this will the danger be minimized.
Not only for her, but also for everyone in the car.
Chu Buwen's left hand loosened the railing again, and cooperated with Jiang Muyun to untie the straps on her body, and then held Jiang Muyun's waist.
"Go ahead and don't worry." Chu Buwen said.
Jiang Muyun nodded, pushed his arms upwards, and easily poked his head out of the gap.
The smoke and dust were so thick, coupled with the dim environment, Jiang Muyun choked and coughed twice, unable to see anything clearly.
Before Jiang Muyun could say anything, a beam of light appeared from her waist.
Chu Buwen touched the flashlight on her waist, turned it on and handed it to her.
Jiang Muyun lowered his head and bit the end of the flashlight.
With the help of the tactical flashlight's highly penetrating beam of light, Jiang Muyun could barely see the situation around him.
There was a lot of construction debris on the ground. When their car fell, the front of the car touched the ground, and now the front part of the car was almost crushed into a pancake.
The sticky smell of blood was mixed in with the diffused dust. Jiang Muyun knew without thinking who the owner of this bloody smell was.
The good news was that their car was not stuck straight on the ground, but half leaning against a pile of rubble, thus not triggering the state of being isolated and helpless.
The bad news is that the ground where the car is currently standing seems to be about to collapse.
Jiang Muyun was less than a meter away from the car body and vaguely saw the traces of the curved track and the obvious hole left by the ground collapse.
Jiang Muyun looked up again at the sky filled with smoke and dust.
Above her head was a huge concrete block that was swaying back and forth. She could even see the hideous steel bars exposed at the edge of the broken concrete block, as well as the occasional falling building debris.
With a deadly sword hanging above and below, they are like the piece in the middle that can be stabbed into a pulp with just a little force, right?
Jiang Muyun closed his eyes in despair.
How many floors are there underground?
Could it be that the uphill slope they just walked on just happened to be the top?
"Captain Wang." Jiang Muyun leaned slightly against the car's hull, using it to gain leverage. With one free hand, he removed the flashlight from his mouth and tucked it over his shoulder. "Do you know what's down there?"
Captain Wang sighed softly. "It should be Line 13. This was originally the transfer point for Lines 2, 4, and 13. After the earthquake, a section of this line collapsed so badly that they haven't had time to repair it yet."
Jiang Muyun pursed his cracked lips.
No wonder there were obvious cracks and a lot of construction debris on the ground where their car was touching.
Their car is not made of diamond, so how could it possibly create cracks in the ground?
It was obvious that these were the remnants of the previous earthquakes, and they just happened to be caught up in them now.
"We have to get out." Jiang Muyun's voice was still a little hoarse.
Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid to disturb the concrete block hanging above her head.
Jiang Muyun didn't think the car could withstand the concrete block on top of her head.
If they don't get out of the car now, they may be turned into a pool of minced meat when the next wave of aftershocks comes.
Jiang Muyun said this without waiting for the people in the car to respond. He directly exerted strength from his waist and abdomen and raised his legs to step out of the truck bed.
Captain Wang was so frightened by her actions that he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Don't be impulsive! It's safest for us to stay in the car and wait for rescue!" Captain Wang growled.
After several attempts, Jiang Muyun found a few footholds on the ruins where the car body was leaning.
"The ground is crumbling." She placed her left leg on a fulcrum not too far from the car, and supported herself with her right leg against the wall, securing herself between the two. She spoke to the others in a low voice, "Things hanging from the roof won't be able to withstand aftershocks. If we want to leave our bodies intact, we'd better leave before the next wave of aftershocks arrives."
When Jiang Muyun said he wanted to go out, Chu Buwen had already reached out to untie the straps on his body.
"Can I leave here?" Chu Buwen ignored Captain Wang's obstruction and looked up to ask Jiang Muyun.
Jiang Muyun shook his head: "You don't have a suitable fulcrum there, so you can only come out from me."
There was a place to sit under the window on Jiang Muyun's side.
A little higher is the edge of Chencheng. Adults of normal height cannot land normally and have to jump down.
In this situation, Jiang Muyun was afraid of shaking the place if he spoke loudly, let alone causing someone to jump down.
If it were a little lower, that would be where Chu Buwen was sitting.
The landing is quite easy, but it requires a bit of flexibility. If you are not careful when lifting your legs, you will tear your hips.
Chu Buwen responded, "I understand."
After saying that, he used his left hand to flip over and hung in the same position as Jiang Muyun.
"Chen Cheng, get out of your scarf." Jiang Muyun said.
Chen Cheng nodded, without asking any more questions, he retracted his arms and pulled them out from under the scarf.
Chu Buwen put his foot on the back of the car seat for leverage, held Chen Cheng's armpit with one hand, and dragged her to his location.
Jiang Muyun bent down and stretched out his arms, then grabbed Chen Cheng's raised hands and carried her out of the car.
Chen Cheng tried his best to control himself and relax, keeping his legs hanging down obediently, without kicking randomly in search of a fulcrum.
Chen Cheng remained calm throughout the entire process. However, when she was in Jiang Muyun's arms and was placed on the relatively intact ground at the back by Jiang Muyun, she could see clearly what Jiang Muyun was talking about as "the thing hanging on the roof".
Chen Cheng held his breath unconsciously at that moment.
"Grandma." Chen Cheng murmured softly.
"Don't be afraid, just stand here and don't move, okay?" Jiang Muyun soothed.
"Okay." Chen Cheng stood where she was, not daring to move. She raised her arms to wipe the tears from her eyes, and hugged herself with her arms, trying to use this method to stop her body from shaking uncontrollably.
In the carriage, Captain Yu also untied his restraint belt and crawled towards Chu Buwen, imitating Chu Buwen's behavior.
The two medical staff responsible for guarding Professor Chen gritted their teeth and helped each other find leverage inside the car.
If possible, they also want to wait for rescue in the car.
But Professor Chen couldn't hold on.
The feeling of being hung in the air by a strap is unbearable even for strong young men like them, let alone the weak Professor Chen.
The oxygen tube had fallen off in the previous vibration. The two medical staff worked together to untie the straps on Professor Chen's body. Chu Buwen and Captain Yu held Professor Chen at the head and tail.
Chu Buwen looked up at Jiang Muyun, then turned to the company commander and the two medical staff and said, "Help Professor Chen. I'll go out and help Muyun."
Captain Yu agreed and, with the help of the two medical staff, held Professor Chen in his arms with one arm.
At this time, even Captain Yu found it difficult to bear the weight of two people with one arm.
In the earthquake just now, everyone used all their strength to stabilize themselves.
Captain Yu could still hold on, but the two medical staff were really unable to.
Their hands were shaking as they untied Professor Chen's restraints, their arms so sore they didn't feel like their own. Being able to move around in the car at this moment was a sheer act of sheer determination.
It was a blessing that the two of them were able to save themselves from falling and causing trouble to others. It would be pure wishful thinking to ask Professor Chen to provide any help to Captain Yu.
At the moment when Chu Buwen climbed out of the car body, the muscles of Captain Yu's right arm, which was holding the railing, bulged, and beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead and slid down to his temples.
"Hand Professor Chen over." Chu Buwen and Jiang Muyun had almost the same posture, one foot on the wall and the other on a relatively flat concrete block, and said to Captain Yu in the car.
Upon hearing this, Captain Yu let out a low cry and pushed his arms upwards.
He was now holding Professor Chen with one arm and was unable to lift Professor Chen up while maintaining stability. He could only use his right arm to try to lift them both up at the same time.
But it was already difficult for him to keep the two of them from falling, and now they had to go upwards. The energy required would more than double.
Captain Yu's face flushed, veins bulged on his forehead, and his facial muscles twitched slightly.
He clenched his back teeth tightly and gripped the railing so hard that he almost left fingerprints on it.
Professor Chen must be sent up.
Captain Yu had only this one thought in his mind at the moment.
But as sweat oozed out of his palms, Captain Yu felt that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to exert force.
He even felt that at this moment, not only was he unable to get closer to Jiang Muyun, but he was sliding back a little.
"Hold steady." A hoarse male voice sounded in the company commander's ear.
Captain Yu's nostrils flared, as he seemed to smell a hint of blood on Captain Wang.
Captain Wang's face was pale. He held Professor Chen's feet with one hand and used his waist and abdomen to push Professor Chen upwards.
Professor Chen coughed twice, and used his last bit of strength to slightly raise his hands, trying to facilitate the movements of several people.
Jiang Muyun immediately grabbed Professor Chen's hand.
Chu Buwen leaned forward and grabbed Professor Chen's armpits just as her shoulders were about to protrude from the car body, lifting her out of the car.
However, just as Professor Chen was leaving the car, the car suddenly slid forward.
It was just a short distance, less than ten centimeters, but it almost made Jiang Muyun's heart stop beating.
"The ground is about to collapse, come up quickly!" Jiang Muyun took Professor Chen over.
Professor Chen, however thin and small, was still an adult, weighing at least eighty or ninety kilograms even with her cotton coat on. Jiang Muyun strained to maintain his balance while also trying to steady Professor Chen, trying not to burden her frail body. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead.
Fortunately, Chen Cheng behind Jiang Muyun had successfully calmed himself down.
She remembered Jiang Muyun's words, and nailed her legs firmly in place. She only bent her waist to cooperate with Jiang Muyun's movements, helped Professor Chen sit against the wall, and gently fanned Professor Chen with her sleeves to disperse the dust around her nostrils.
"Make room and come over here." Jiang Muyun held the flashlight on his shoulder and pointed the way to Chu Buwen.
Everyone in the car escaped one after another, and everyone broke out in a cold sweat after seeing the concrete block hanging on the roof.
No matter how Jiang Muyun described this scene, it was not as terrifying as seeing it with their own eyes.
"Old Li..." Captain Wang came out and saw the miserable state of the car, his voice choked with sobs.
They are old partners, and they have a life-and-death friendship that they formed in the apocalypse.
The person just shattered here silently.
Jiang Muyun waited for him quietly for a few seconds, then held the flashlight on his shoulder and said lightly: "Follow me."
Chen Cheng nodded and stood up to make way for Jiang Muyun.
Chu Buwen, who was at the back, moved his backpack to the front and carried Professor Chen on his back with the help of Jiang Muyun and Captain Yu.
"We need to go to the section of the tunnel ahead that hasn't collapsed and wait for rescue." Jiang Muyun took out a mask and put it on Professor Chen. Then she brushed away the dust in front of her eyes and walked forward carefully along the wall, trying to control her pace so that Chen Cheng and Chu Buwen, who were following behind her, could see clearly where she was stepping. "Remember, wherever the person in front of you steps, you should follow. Don't make the wrong step."
There was a tunnel ahead with no signs of collapse above or below. From any perspective, it was the safest place they could find.
However, before Jiang Muyun finished speaking, everyone felt dizzy again.
"Get down!" Jiang Muyun shouted.
There was a loud bang, and everyone felt the ground beneath their feet tremble twice.
Then, there was an even more violent tremor, and everyone's body was thrown off the ground uncontrollably several times and then fell down. The continuous loud rumbling noises represented the collapse of one tunnel after another.
No one has the energy to think anymore.
Everyone lay there numbly, afraid that the ground would collapse right under them in the next second.
An unknown amount of time passed before the tremors gradually subsided. A small stone scraped past Captain Wang's face, leaving a faint trace of blood.
Captain Wang turned around and looked behind him, only to see that the huge block of concrete that had fallen on top of the car body had disappeared.
Turning back, he found that the flat land and tracks that were right in front of him were gone.
There seemed to be a hole in front of them as well.
Captain Wang lowered his head and saw that his hands, which were supporting himself in front of him, were trembling.
The shoulders of the medical staff lying in front of him were shaking violently, and Captain Wang could vaguely hear sobbing.
The capital suffered a severe drought after the earthquake. The ruins on the ground were directly buried in the yellow sand, and no one dared to move on the ground.
The most they had done was walk through the post-earthquake debris while clearing subway tunnels.
But those were all cleaning and repair work done in relatively intact areas, which is nothing compared to the current situation where we are standing directly on a pile of ruins that may collapse at any time.
"Are we still leaving?" A young man's voice with a tearful tone sounded.
Jiang Muyun stood up with the help of the wall, the flashlight beam moving in front of him.
Jiang Muyun could barely make out the outline of the building in the dust, and then said firmly, "Let's go."
There was no telling how many aftershocks there would be and how severe they would be. Staying in the already damaged tunnel would only make it more dangerous.
"Crazy, really crazy." Captain Wang murmured, covering the bloody wound on his waist.
"Follow me closely." Jiang Muyun said no more.
She brushed away the dust in front of her eyes, wet her gloves with the water in the space, covered her mouth and nose with the wet gloves to take a deep breath, and then continued to move forward.
She started out from Xishi with nothing and had to dig through all kinds of ruins to survive.
Jiang Muyun had plenty of experience walking on the ruins of buildings after an earthquake, and she had encountered the unfortunate situation of aftershocks in the center of the ruins twice.
Jiang Muyun stepped over a twisted steel bar, tested a few places with his feet, and then lightly supported himself on the concrete block beside him to pass sideways.
If the dust hadn't obstructed her vision, she could even use her eyes to identify a relatively safe passage instead of carefully testing every road condition in front of her like she was doing now.
After Jiang Muyun had found several safe footholds, he licked his dry lips excitedly and raised his hand to wipe off the gravel hanging from his dead skin. "We're almost there. There should be an uncollapsed tunnel ahead."
The next second, Jiang Muyun heard several sobbing sounds behind him.
Chu Buwen held the flashlight on his shoulder and drew a smiley face in front of Jiang Muyun with the beam of light: "Thank you for your hard work."
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