Chapter 116 Wei County
The cold and dark tunnel is particularly lively today.
Some people saw the snail noodles as if they had seen their relatives, and they couldn't wait to get them and cook them. Others couldn't stand the smell of snail noodles and took their food and hid far away. But the unique smell of snail noodles wafted in the tunnel and couldn't be dispelled at all.
Some people had to stuff paper balls in their nostrils to block out the smell, while others, unable to beat the crowd, joined in, tried a bite, and were amazed by the smell.
Liu Shuang and Cheng Yu's team also cooked snail noodles, while Shu Fu took out her dehydrated vegetable bag from her backpack and cooked a pot of vegetable soup. She opened a can of each dish and then opened all the ration bags that Cheng Yu and his team had left for them. She placed them all on the camping table where the team ate, indicating that today was New Year's Eve and everyone in the team should have a good meal. The two of them would be on duty as sentinels and waiters.
Except for Liu Shuang and Han Lan, the other team members all turned around and looked at Cheng Yu. They had each received a bowl of snail noodles and thought that dinner time was over, but now they were told that it had just begun.
Shu Fu had already taken Cheng Yu's stainless steel lunch box, filled it with rice, put some vegetables on it, and placed it in front of him: "Keep eating, finish it all. In addition to the rice, you should also drink the soup well."
Next, it was Liu Shuang and Han Lan's lunch boxes, which she filled as well. She then went to get stainless steel cups and started serving soup to them one by one.
On the other side of the table, Yao Ruoyun was also serving food to Wenrou and the others: "Finish it all. Don't think that my senior and I don't know that you secretly took out half of your compressed biscuits and soaked them in water to feed the wounded members of the rescue team over there...Also, Sister Wenrou, is your shoulder injury healed? If it's not healed, then why don't you take your medicine properly? Give the medicine to the wounded, right..."
As she spoke, she took out half a box of anti-inflammatory drugs from her pocket and placed it next to Wenrou's lunch box, indicating that she was watching her today and asked her to take the medicine after her meal.
Gentleness that was criticized by name: …
"Let's eat. Today is a special day. Everyone, eat well. This is an order." Cheng Yu said, and was the first to pick up the spoon and lunch box. Then he glanced at Shu Fu and slowed down his voice. "You guys sit down and eat too."
Liu Shuang had already taken another stainless steel lunch box and put some rice and vegetables into it. He reached out and pulled Shu Fu over, asked her to sit next to him, and directly stuffed a spoon into her hand: "Be good, let's eat together."
Across the table, Yao Ruoyun also sat down. Awen served her rice and soup, and Wenrou pushed the rice and soup in front of her with her left hand.
The camping table is not big, and people didn’t usually eat around the table before. After all, each meal was just a few bites of compressed biscuits and some water, which could be solved while standing. Twelve people all sat around the table at once, which was actually a bit crowded. No one dared to move too much for fear of crowding the people next to them.
But this meal was the most enjoyable one everyone had after taking refuge in this tunnel.
Before midnight, a survivor turned on his cell phone and, without caring about using up the last bit of battery, set an alarm on his phone and counted down one minute with the person next to him.
By the fire next to the armored vehicle, the team members looked at their watches together, counting down to the last minute of the year.
When the New Year came, the sound of mobile phone alarms rang in several places in the tunnel. The sounds of the alarms gathered together, like the bells welcoming the New Year.
Many people close their eyes in the sound of this, and make sincere wishes, hoping to be reunited with their families in the new year, to go to a safe city, to have a house that can shelter them from the wind and rain, and to have hot meals every meal...
**
I don’t know if it was because there were too many people making wishes, but on the morning of the first day of the new year, the storm that had been like a high-pressure water gun for several days finally subsided and the thunderstorm stopped completely.
Although the rain did not stop, it was not a problem to move on foot with this level of rainfall. However, not everyone in the team had rain gear. Even if some of the wounded, women and children were allowed to get on the armored vehicles, half of the remaining people did not have rain gear.
They have been studying the nearby map over and over again in the past few days. This place is close to the Yinsha River, the area is remote, the mountain road is narrow, there is a steep and bare rock wall on one side, and a cliff slope on the other side. Except for Wei County, there are no other counties nearby, let alone rescue points.
After looking around, the nearest rescue station is still the one planned before. To get there, you have to cross a bridge. In addition to the collapsed bridge 30 kilometers away, the other nearest bridge is 50 kilometers away. That bridge is more solid and should not be damaged in the previous disaster.
But you need to go back, and after crossing the river, you will be farther away from the rescue station, so the total distance is about 100 kilometers.
Before the rain stopped today, everyone else assumed that this route was the fastest way to escape. But after discovering that the rain had subsided today, I felt that walking over a hundred kilometers would take too much time, and I was afraid that the weather would suddenly turn bad halfway through, leaving me with nowhere to hide.
"Can't we send a car over there to explore the way? This way we can call for help directly, and maybe even bring back supplies." Someone in the rescue team raised a suggestion.
"There's not enough fuel. If we go there, we won't be able to come back. Besides, we don't know the situation at the rescue point yet. If we don't have fuel or food..."
"What about calling for a drone rescue like before?"
"If we're just short of fuel, that's certainly possible given the current weather conditions, but what we lack now is a car." Han Lan sighed. They had also thought about calling for help.
But to solve their problem now, drones alone are not enough, unless we send several manned helicopters to take all the people away directly.
However, at the current stage, Xizhou Province is unable to take care of itself. After the satellite call was made, the other party made it clear that if they wanted to mobilize a manned helicopter from Xizhou Province, they would have to wait at least half a month.
Given the current weather, drones for airdropping supplies can be arranged. As long as the weather conditions do not deteriorate, they can be dispatched within 48 hours.
But these 48 hours are too long. This is a canyon mountain road, and next to it is the Yinsha River. Although the current rainfall will not cause the water level to rise to flood the mountain road, if we stay any longer, it will continue to rain heavily.
A normal person can walk for about 24 hours to reach the distance of more than 100 kilometers, but if they continue to stay in the tunnel waiting for 48 hours, in case of weather problems again and the drone cannot come, when they want to move two days later, they may be so hungry that they don’t even have the strength to walk.
It’s different now. They just found supplies yesterday, had a full meal, and the rain is light. It’s a good time to move.
Moreover, there are places to shelter from the wind and rain along the way. This area is mountainous. After turning on the way, they will pass through two shorter tunnels and bridge holes on the shore across the mountain road. These places can serve as their resting points.
The normal walking speed of a human is five kilometers per hour. As long as the weather does not deteriorate, they will reach the bridge after nightfall today. If they want to rest for a night, there are houses such as rest houses for staff or distribution rooms near the bridge, so they can always find a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
By the time we successfully crossed the river and reached the southwest highlands the next morning, the transfer was half completed.
In addition, they had checked before and found that the rock wall on one side of the mountain road was bare and desolate, so at least they didn't have to worry about disasters such as mudslides, and they wouldn't encounter a chain disaster if they moved on foot.
The area on the other side of the river is at a slightly higher altitude, with a flat and gentle terrain. There are also other county towns and villages near the rescue station. Once you arrive at the rescue station on the other side of the river, you can usually find some supplies.
Even if the situation there was so bad that there was no food at all, there were always some cars and fuel, and they could send a car to the nearby counties to look for them.
If there is really nothing, then just stay where you are and wait for the airdropped supplies.
In short, going there is better than staying in this empty mountain tunnel.
One choice is a foregone conclusion, and the other choice still has a 50% chance of success. For the members of Cheng Yu's team, no one will choose to sit and wait for death.
"Captain, they are right. It is too passive to continue waiting here. We should set off immediately while everyone has the strength to walk!" A female member of the rescue team spoke up.
The voice sounded familiar. Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun both looked at her for a second and found that she was the one who stayed behind when everyone in front of the clinic building had evacuated and calmly bandaged Wenrou's wound.
She left a deep impression on Shu Fu. She was able to endure injuries and shoot with high accuracy, and she was also able to keep her composure and treat injured teammates when everyone was fleeing in panic. She was brave, resourceful, smart and capable.
"Captain, Wen Yi is right. Even if we want to wait for drones to drop supplies, we can go to the rescue station on the other side and wait. That side is also a small county town. At least the housing problem can be solved. There must be hospitals and clinics there. The equipment should all be there. Xiaofeng and the other two really can't stand waiting any longer..."
The Xiao Feng mentioned by this teammate is the two people who were injured when the supply warehouse was robbed before.
The leader of the rescue team looked at his teammates, then looked back at the ambulance, and nodded to Cheng Yu and the others: "Agree to transfer immediately!"
"We agree too!" On the other side, the four remaining team members at the rescue station also nodded.
"Okay, notify everyone in the team and set off in fifteen minutes!"
The survivors in the tunnel didn't have much supplies with them, so they packed up in a few minutes. Their current fuel basically came from the supply from Cheng Yu's team, so when they drove a few cars on the road, the survivors had no say in who got on the car.
It was precisely because of the lack of all kinds of messy noises that Liu Shuang and Han Lan completed the arrangements quickly and orderly within five minutes.
There are five people in the entire team under the age of fourteen and over the age of sixty, two of whom are seriously injured and unconscious, one is in the recovery period from serious injuries, and eleven are in the recovery period from minor injuries.
If these people squeezed together, they could fit everyone in the back compartment of the ambulance and the armored vehicle. Then came Cheng Yu and Wen Rou. Both of them had not recovered from their injuries and there were seats in the driving area, so there was no need for them to walk in the rain.
Wenrou entered the rear compartment of the armored vehicle and coordinated the discipline inside the compartment.
Awen and Cheng Yu entered the driving area. Awen's leg injury was almost healed, so he had no problem driving. He was familiar with the car and was the steadiest driver in the team.
The other team would arrange two people at the ambulance driving area, so there were still about thirty people left who had to walk.
There were about twenty pieces of rain gear for all people in total, which was definitely not enough. However, Liu Shuang and Han Lan did not force the rain gear to be given to the weaker people. It was basically based on voluntary principle.
If you have rain gear, wear it. If you are willing to give way to others, give way. If you are not willing to give way, don’t.
The same goes for the team members. They don't have to make sacrifices just because they are rescue workers or military personnel. Now everyone is trapped here, everyone is a survivor, and their own lives are equally important. They have to save themselves first before they can continue to save others.
Fortunately, the temperature has risen in the past few days. At the moment, the temperature outside is between thirteen and fifteen degrees. It is a little cold, but not bitingly cold. Many people's clothes are waterproof. They just pull up their hoods and endure it.
Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun also planned so. They had taken a lot of things out of their backpacks recently, so it was not appropriate for them to take out a full set of raincoats and rain pants.
But the jackets and pants they were wearing were given by Cheng Yu before. They were large in size, had large hoods, and were extremely waterproof. In addition, the ski goggles could also keep out the rain, and the snow gaiters could be worn from the boots to the knees. They were originally used to keep out snow, but now they were also used to keep out rain.
**
Fifteen minutes later, the two teams were ready to set off.
The ambulance drives in the front. If they cross the river smoothly, they will speed up to the rescue point county town, find a hospital or clinic first, and accommodate the seriously injured in the car.
The pedestrians walked in the middle, with the armored vehicles following behind.
Before the car started, Cheng Yu got out of the passenger seat and asked Qi Kai to get in. Qi Kai was good at computers, but his physical strength was the weakest in the team. Cheng Yu pulled up the hood of his jacket and walked two steps behind Shu Fu.
Behind him, Han Lan, who was walking next to Liu Shuang, sighed: "Why did he let Qi Kai get in the car? If he really loves her, he should let the little girl get in the car..."
Liu Shuang gave him a look that said "You know nothing" and was too lazy to even speak.
Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun both carried their waterproof backpacks in front of them, making it convenient for them to "take out" things at any time. However, although their backpacks looked big, there was actually nothing heavy in them, so they were not tiring to carry.
As the ambulance slowly drove out, everyone also stepped out of the tunnel where they had been hiding for many days. Three consecutive days of heavy rain had changed the outside world drastically. When all the survivors came here, it was still a cold winter with ice and snow outside, but now it was a world of water again.
On the rock wall on one side of the mountain road, there were several streams of water rushing down. They were all rain water that had not had time to drain away from the mountains above. Like a waterfall, it flowed down the bare rock wall, passed through the mountain road where they were, and went towards the cliff slope on the other side.
Below the cliff, the water level of the Yinsha River, which was originally very low, also rose sharply by several meters. Even if you didn't stick your head out, you could see the surging river water rushing from the northwest.
The sounds of rain and flowing water were everywhere, making it very noisy.
They traveled northwards towards the upper reaches of the Yinsha River. It was a long journey, and it was still raining, so everyone had a hard time walking.
But for Shu Fu, walking is much safer than taking a car now.
The Yinsha River is the dividing line between three regions, separating Xizhou Province, Xiangzhou Province and the Southwestern Plateau.
She didn't know where her boundary line was, and she had been guessing what form of task the last 5% of the progress bar would take.
During the days she was stranded in the tunnel, because she was with Liu Shuang and Han Lan day and night, she saw the other party's white light bar flash twice. The progress was not fast. Liu Shuang still had a quarter of the way to go, while Han Lan still had a third.
Shu Fu analyzed the differences between the two of them and Yao Ruoyun and the other two, and felt that the white light bar should be related to the trust level in her.
After all, they are warriors and soldiers. It is indeed impossible to gain their 100% trust as easily as Chen Fa, Lu Zheng and Yao Ruoyun.
Moreover, before they awakened and revealed their positions, she really couldn't treat them without reservation. In the past, Lu Zheng, Chen Fa and Yao Ruoyun might not care about this kind of reservation, or even not notice it at all, but they are different, their intuition is more acute.
Therefore, it is a paradox to have to hold back while wanting the opponent's white light bar to fill up quickly.
Fortunately, Shu Fu was not in a hurry about this. She knew very well that the only important thing at the moment was to upgrade the raft to level 5 as soon as possible. She had a hunch that when the raft was upgraded to level 5, everything would undergo a qualitative leap.
More than an hour later, the group trudged through the rain and passed the fork in the road leading to the provincial road and Weixian, and continued to walk along the winding canyon mountain road. Shu Fu used the backpack to cover up and secretly looked at the map. This fork in the road should be the only intersection near this mountain road. The next closest intersection is the river bridge 50 kilometers away.
Two hours later, they successfully arrived at the first bridge tunnel. After resting for twenty minutes, eating some compressed biscuits and drinking some water, they set off again.
The journey in the afternoon was a bit difficult because the rain got heavier and the wind picked up. Waves of rain hit everyone, not only their bodies, which were already soaked anyway, but their faces as well. They were walking against the wind, and the rain blurred their vision, poured into their mouths and noses, making it difficult for them to see the road ahead clearly.
An hour later, the wind was getting stronger and stronger. Gao Shan, the short team member walking in front of the survivors, turned around to cheer everyone up. Behind him, the walking members of Cheng Yu's team all responded loudly.
In fact, the members of the Wei County rescue team and the survivors all knew that if it were not for them, even if the other elite team lost one vehicle, the remaining armored vehicle would be enough to carry all their members and the two girls on the road easily.
If they didn't want to, they didn't have to pay any attention to this group of old, weak and disabled soldiers. They distributed food to everyone and shared the fuel. Even though the indifferent female captain reminded them again and again before departure that everyone was a survivor and no rescue worker or troop member had the obligation to make sacrifices, and let everyone save themselves first.
But she also did not get into the armored vehicle. Instead, like other team members, she gave her seat to the wounded.
They knew very well that they were a burden to this team and the other side was sacrificing themselves to save their lives.
"Thank you..." Someone spoke with a choked voice in the wind and rain.
After the first one, there was a second one. Soon, the voices of the survivors became louder. Some said thank you, while others cheered each other on.
Amid the voices of mutual encouragement, everyone regained their fighting spirit and tried to quicken their pace.
Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun were actually very tired, but this was not the peaceful times of the past. Over the past year, both of them had experienced and grown, and soon readjusted their breathing and pace with the encouragement of those around them.
"It will take about an hour to reach the next rest stop." Cheng Yu, who was walking two steps behind Shu Fu, spoke.
Shu Fu turned around and looked at him. Although he seldom spoke to her since they set out, he was always within her sight, as if he could always reach out and give it to her as long as she needed it.
Shu Fu pointed at his arm and asked, "Are you okay?"
"It's all right now." He smiled.
The last armored vehicle in the team suddenly stopped, Wenrou got off the vehicle and helped another team member who was walking at the end to get on the vehicle. Soon, several more people got off the vehicle, all of them were injured, including members of the rescue team and ordinary survivors. They gave up their seats and let the few survivors who were walking at the end with heavy steps and physical exhaustion get on the vehicle.
“You—” The panting survivors were confused.
"Our injuries are not that serious. Come down and walk for a while. After you have rested, come down and replace us!"
Qi Kai and Awen also got out of the car. They originally wanted Cheng Yu and Shu Fu to get in, but Cheng Yu finally asked Liu Shuang to drive, and Shu Fu asked Yao Ruoyun to sit in the passenger seat for a while.
"Senior sister——" Yao Ruoyun refused.
Shu Fu pushed her up directly: "You sit, I can walk."
It wasn't that she didn't want to take the ride, but she didn't want to disappear in front of Liu Shuangchengyu. There was only one mountain road in the canyon, and if she was "trapped in a wall" in the car and suddenly appeared on the mountain road behind the team, the scene was "indescribable" just thinking about it...
The ambulance in front also stopped. The only lightly injured survivor in the back car got out, and another lightly injured team member in the passenger seat also got out, letting two people with wet clothes and pale faces get in.
These people may have once been strangers to each other, and may have blamed and accused each other during the disaster period.
But at least they did not cross their bottom line in the difficult situation, and did not go down a path of no return like others.
Along the way, they experienced freezing rain, blizzards, extreme low temperatures, avalanches, hail... They were trapped in buildings by meters-high layers of snow, trapped in tunnels under the attack of freezing rain and huge hail, and experienced several attacks by gangsters and food crises... Everyone stumbled together, accompanied and relied on each other in difficult situations, and today, they all have developed a revolutionary friendship.
Because of this bond, they pay more and more attention to the people around them. They hope that all of them can transfer smoothly together and don't want anyone to be left behind.
More than an hour later, they arrived at the second rest point - a tunnel where you can see the other side from one end. This time they only rested for fifteen minutes and set out again. It was already past three in the afternoon, and there was still about 20 kilometers of road ahead of them. If everything went well, they would arrive in four hours.
They wanted to reach their overnight stop before it got completely dark.
After that, everyone took turns to rest and ride in the car. Because of the good coordination, the walking speed was even faster than in the morning. However, even though they walked faster, they still couldn't catch up with the speed of darkness.
The sky was gloomy on rainy days, but around five or six in the afternoon, it was completely dark all around. The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the surroundings were filled with the noisy sound of water. Everyone could hardly hear the voices of the people next to them.
The street lights in this area had been out of service for a long time. I didn’t know if it was because of a power outage or the lights themselves were broken, but the light on the mountain road was dim.
The ambulance and the armored vehicle quickly turned on their lights. The ambulance turned on its high beam to show the way to the pedestrians behind, while the armored vehicle only turned on its basic lights to avoid blinding the people in front.
But even with the car lights on, it was becoming increasingly difficult for everyone to move forward. The rain was already turning into a downpour, with water continuously flowing down the mountain wall at the side, as if countless streams were falling beside them. Even the mountain road they were walking on was formed into clusters of flowing water, making it slippery everywhere.
Someone slipped and fell on the mountain road, and was swept to the side by the current for a distance. Fortunately, a team member on the other side grabbed him.
The other people hurriedly helped the man up. After he stood up, his legs were still shaking. It was unclear whether he had fallen or was afraid. This mountain road was not wide, and most of the sections did not even have guardrails. If he had been pushed forward a little more by the current, he would have been directly washed down the cliff.
Below is the Yinsha River!
Even though the water level is high now, he may not fall to his death, but his swimming ability is so-so, and the current in Yinsha River is so fast that he will probably die if he goes in.
Several people turned around and wanted to continue walking, and wanted to walk closer to the inner side of the mountain road, but the female team member who first grabbed him took two steps in the opposite direction. She looked towards the river below the cliff, but turned her head in the direction they came from.
The person who fell naturally knew the female team member. Her name was Wen Yi, and she was from the rescue team. He asked her what happened.
Wen Yi maintained that posture, motionless. After a moment, she even took off the hood of her windbreaker, as if she wanted to hear some sound more clearly. She quickly took out a flashlight and shone it towards the river.
A few people nearby were just walking back. They all saw the water surface illuminated by the flashlight and immediately exclaimed: "Oh my God! When did the water level become so high!"
At first, the water level of the river was about twenty meters away from the mountain road on the cliff.
It had been raining heavily for a few days. When they set out this morning, the water level had risen, but it was still more than ten meters away, about the height of a three or four-story building. But now, it was only two or three meters away, and the entire sloping cliff slope was almost gone.
The movements of these few people soon caused the other walkers to stop, and finally, the two cars also stopped one after another.
Han Lan was closer and was the first to walk to the cliff slope. He also discovered the water level.
But Wen Yi, who first noticed something was wrong, spoke up at this time: "There's something wrong with this river water!"
"Something is wrong. The water level is rising so fast!" someone nearby replied.
"No." Han Lan reacted, "This is the Yinsha River. It should have flowed from northwest to southeast, which is the opposite of the direction we are walking. But now - the river is flowing in the same direction as we are walking... This, this river is flowing backwards!"
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