Chapter 167: Plateau Destruction
The park is no longer what it used to be in peacetime. Various plants and weeds grow wildly and wantonly. The few buildings in the park are already covered with all kinds of green vegetation, making it look like a pristine woodland.
There are various quagmires that have turned into swamps among these woodlands. Some of them look like grass, but if you step on them, you will sink into them.
No one in the two teams dared to go too deep. Feng Lu drove into the park along the cement road and then stopped in the park's parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, everyone immediately felt that the ground was still shaking slightly, but the shaking was very weak and the movement gradually weakened.
The team members clinging to the car quickly jumped out, and the people in the car also pushed the door open and got out. Everyone felt alert for a moment and found that the earthquake had indeed stopped.
"This one is more severe than the last one, but it shouldn't be level eight, right?"
"Not yet." Feng Lu and Ke Chen shook their heads at the same time.
Definitely not. Even if they had never experienced it, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake would definitely not only cause the noise that happened just now. The earthquake only shook off some weak doors and windows along the streets they passed by. As for the collapsed buildings, they were already dilapidated and on the verge of collapse. Some of the more solid buildings survived.
The sky was getting darker, the helicopter that had passed over Zhangcheng in the sky before had already flown to other areas, and the sound of the air defense alarm was gradually getting smaller.
Is it really over like this?
Someone suddenly thought: "Is it because we are not at the epicenter of the earthquake? So, like last time, the magnitude of the earthquake was not that big?"
Some people also speculated: "Could this be just a small earthquake in the middle? The big earthquake that the authorities mentioned before has not come yet?"
Both speculations are possible, but they are currently disconnected from the Internet and have no way of knowing the official news. The situation is becoming a bit tricky. What should they do next? Should they continue to go back to the previous boarding point and wait?
There are many high-rise buildings nearby. If a large earthquake really happens later, they may be crushed by the collapsed buildings if they don't escape in time.
Moreover, will those boats and rafts really come back to Zhangcheng to rescue people?
Should we wait passively or find a way to evacuate proactively?
If they had a boat, they would definitely not choose to be passive. Even if they could not reach the deep water area where the giant ship was, they could at least head in that direction and get closer to there. Who knows, they might encounter boats or rafts in that water area!
As everyone was thinking and discussing, Ke Chen suddenly realized: "We have a boat!"
"Huh?" Everyone else looked at him, even his own teammates.
"It's not our boat, it's the boat of Jiuge's team. It's not a big boat, but a rubber boat. It can only carry 12 people. We can squeeze in. There is also a marine engine on it, but due to the lack of fuel, such a rubber boat is useless. In addition, the authorities came to rescue in person this time, and they also restricted the weight and number of luggage, so the rubber boat naturally cannot be taken away."
"Even if the rubber boat is still there, what's the use? Even if we take out all the fuel in the car, it won't be enough to get to the ship!"
Feng Lu also understood what Ke Chen meant by this time: "No need to go so far! We can go into the water and go to Wanzhen or Fangcheng in the east. I contacted the team in Wanzhen this morning before the network was interrupted. The other party said that their rescue time starts in the afternoon. According to the number of evacuees there, even routine rescue will take until the evening. As for Fangcheng, it will be even later than Wanzhen." As he spoke, he had already opened the car door and motioned Ke Chen to sit in the driver's seat.
Ke Chen understood that he wanted him to take them to Jiu Ge's place to get the rubber boat.
This time, it was Feng Lu who was holding on to the pedals and frame, with his whole body hanging outside the jeep.
After fixing his body, Feng Lu continued to speak to the people inside and outside the car: "According to the other party, at this point in time, the boats and rafts from Wanzhen for rescue must not have all left. The earthquake just now will also slow down their evacuation speed. As long as we rush there in time, we can take the boats there to leave!" As he said, he added: "If we are lucky!"
"Boss, even the nearest Wanzhen is still some waterway away from here. Our fuel won't be able to make it through, right?"
"If you can't make it, just row it manually!" Ke Chen, who was concentrating on driving, suddenly said.
The person asking the question: “…”
What's the matter? Are you guys from the Ice Dragon team so tough? It's stormy right now, and there's an earthquake every now and then. If you go into the water and there's a huge wave, are you planning to row to another city manually?
Perhaps because it was their leader who spoke up, the other members of the Ice Dragon Team immediately became more motivated and said, "Yes! There are more than a dozen of us! We can row over there!"
"If we row together, we can definitely make it!"
"Boss, you are so smart!"
Fire Dragon Team Member: ...
I finally understood why the other team was backstabbed.
**
The place where Jiuge stored the rubber boat was right where their team was staying. It was already deserted, and all the supplies that could be taken away were distributed equally to everyone, who had to carry them with them. But something as big as a rubber boat had to be left behind.
The group easily moved the rubber boat out and secured it on the roof of the car. They then stuffed a bunch of folding oars into the rubber boat and tied it up together.
The poor jeep was filled with people again, and then turned around, this time heading east of Zhangcheng.
In fact, with their current location, they are closer to the waters in the north, but if they go directly into the water from the east, they can save a long distance of land and water.
To go to the east of Zhangcheng, you have to cross a bridge. This is one of the few bridges left in Zhangcheng today. It has been preserved to this day because it is strong enough and high enough.
But now the water level has risen sharply. Now the bridge deck is only two or three meters away from the water surface below. At the current rate of water level increase, it is estimated that it will be submerged in a week at most.
But this road is indeed the fastest way to the east of Zhangcheng.
The bridge was very long. Before the car went on the bridge, Feng Lu took out two telescopes and handed one to Ke Chen. The two of them looked carefully for a moment and confirmed that the bridge was still intact.
"It should be fine. Several teams evacuated from there yesterday and took this bridge." Ke Chen said after the inspection.
Feng Lu also felt that there would be no problem with the bridge, but since an earthquake had just occurred, he still wanted to check it out.
After the jeep drove onto the bridge, the people in the car immediately felt that the speed had become significantly slower. Because the surroundings were empty and both sides of the bridge were full of water, the storm was intensified here, and the heavy rain was howling and rolling, hitting the car and the people outside the car with crackling sounds. Fortunately, the bridge was wide enough, so as long as they drove in the middle of the bridge, they would not be afraid of accidentally falling off.
The strong wind whipped up waves, which rose high and hit the bridge surface. The people clinging to the outside of the jeep had no way to escape and were drenched all over, getting even wet.
But they couldn't care about that now. It rained every day and they were used to the humidity. What they had to pay more attention to now was to hold on to the frame tightly and be careful not to be swept off the bridge by the waves.
When the car had traveled halfway, people inside and outside the car suddenly felt the bridge shaking.
At first they thought it was because of the strong wind. This was the center of the bridge, and the strong wind caused the bridge deck to shake. But soon, the shaking became more and more intense, and the entire bridge seemed to be shaking in the wind.
"Look behind you!" A team member lying at the back door of the jeep knocked hard on the glass window, attracting everyone else to look back.
In the direction they came from, on the other side of the bridge, a dilapidated high-rise building originally built near the bridge was tilting and falling to one side. Further away, in the west of Zhangcheng where the view was blurred by the wind and rain, it seemed that more buildings were tilting and collapsing.
It's an earthquake!
The earthquake is coming again! And this time it's coming with more force!
"Stop the car! Stop right here! Let's go into the water!" someone shouted.
"Here? Are you crazy?"
"That's right! Earthquakes will cause whirlpools and huge waves! Going into the water now is courting death!"
Along with the shouts of several people, a teeth-grinding metallic creaking sound came from the bridge. The violently shaking bridge deck finally broke one of the cables. Everyone only felt the car sinking heavily with the bridge deck, and the whole bridge began to collapse.
"No! Don't stop! Drive quickly! Go to the other side!" Even the person who had just shouted before changed his tone with a pale face.
If they go into the water at this time and the bridge really collapses, even if they are not killed by the cables and the bridge body, they will be killed by the huge waves formed by the collapse of the bridge.
"Open it quickly!"
There was no need for the people behind to shout. Feng Lu, who was driving, had already stepped on the accelerator to the bottom when the bridge began to shake. Unfortunately, there were too many people in the car, so even if he drove at full speed, he couldn't increase the speed much.
At the moment of life and death crisis, Feng Lu in the driver's seat suddenly shook his head. He always felt like he was hallucinating. Why did he see a strange interface appear in front of his eyes? No matter he looked forward or to the side, that interface always existed.
He stretched out his hand and waved it, trying to wake himself up, but his hand accidentally swept across a small grid on the strange interface, and then a silver and black round object appeared in the palm of his waving hand.
This is - he obviously shouldn't know what this is, nor how it came into being, but the moment he got this item, the name of this thing and how to use it automatically appeared in his mind.
This is actually a...
Everyone was clinging to the car and felt that the swaying bridge surface was like a huge suction force. They had obviously tried very hard to move forward, but there was always an invisible gravity pressing down on them. It was as if the bridge was alive, dragging their car downwards.
With the sound of metal breaking, the bridge deck began to tilt and sink a little bit, as if it was going to pull them into the water...
In front of their car, the situation in the east of Zhangcheng was not good either. As the distance got closer, they saw buildings collapsing and cracked ground there.
Cities, buildings, roads, bridges... everything in Zhangcheng, no! It should be said that everything in the northern plateau was collapsing, as if this piece of land had reached its limit and could no longer survive, and was about to fall apart, annihilate and sink in this great disaster...
The closer the car got to the shore, the more desperate everyone became, but even so, at this moment, the land on the other side of the bridge was their only chance of survival.
If they were to be carried down by the bridge and sink into the water at this moment, all of them would be dead. But if they went to the east of Zhangcheng, the inevitable death might be delayed a little.
At this point, they couldn't even utter the words "a narrow escape from death".
How could they possibly say it when they saw the land collapsing on the shore?
In fact, they all knew in their hearts that facing such a huge disaster, even if they survived the earthquake, they could not escape the tsunami that followed. It was just a matter of dying early or late.
But even so, they don't want to give up before the final end comes. This is the human instinct for survival!
Bang—bang—
From behind them, they heard the sound of something heavy falling into the water. That should be the sound of the collapsed and shattered concrete blocks on the other end of the bridge falling into the water.
The bridge deck below the car sank violently again.
"Don't look back, look forward!" Ke Chen's voice sounded, a low roar with a hint of despair and madness. There was a dead end behind them, and the bridge was collapsing. They couldn't turn back or stop, they could only rush forward.
The speed of the car could not keep up with the speed at which the bridge deck cracked. They saw cracks spreading from both sides of the car. Those cracks gathered in front of the car with terrible crisp sounds. Then, with a loud bang, a piece of the bridge deck not far in front of them collapsed, forming a dent.
"Hold on tight!" Feng Lu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke.
Then, the jeep suddenly began to accelerate, as if it had gained another power in an instant. The front of the car turned and sped away, quickly bypassing the sunken area on the other side of the bridge, and flew away from that area before a larger collapse formed in the sunken area.
The people clinging to the car had no time to look back at this moment, because the jeep quickly began to turn and accelerate continuously. They were like traveling on a suspension bridge high in the sky, bumping and shaking, and could fall into the abyss at any time. They had to use all their strength to hold on to the frame.
Some people have even closed their eyes and chosen not to see anymore. They just hope that when death comes, it will be quicker and more complete.
Soon, as the car passed over an uneven bridge surface, it finally rushed onto the land east of Zhangcheng before the entire bridge collapsed completely.
They heard the two captains' shouts again, yelling at everyone to get off the bus.
Thinking they were doomed, several people subconsciously jumped out of the car, only to find that their feet were standing on wet mud. The ground was still shaking violently, and behind them, there were continuous sounds of breaking of bridge cables. Looking back at this moment, they found that the bridge began to collapse from the middle. The central section of the bridge deck had completely fallen into the water, causing huge splashes.
Near the land on both sides, the bridge was still standing, but most of the cables and fences were broken, causing the entire bridge deck to tilt.
If they were still on the bridge at this time, they would be trapped on the bridge even if they did not fall into the water.
"Stop looking! Hurry up and get the rubber boat! Big waves are coming!" someone reminded.
On land, the shaking of the earthquake had not stopped, but the land on this side of the bridge was relatively empty, so they were not directly affected by the earthquake after leaving the bridge.
However, a large earthquake of this magnitude will trigger various subsequent disasters, and Zhangcheng cannot avoid it this time.
The tsunami will come soon, but the high-rise buildings and roads in the east of the city are collapsing. They can't go to high places, and staying on the rubber boat is the only way they can think of to survive.
But the tsunami had not yet arrived, but the huge waves caused by the collapse of the bridge had already arrived. The rubber boat on the roof of the car was pulled down by several people in a hurry. They had no chance to pump out the fuel in the car. Some people remembered to take the oars, while others held down the rubber boat and shouted for everyone to get on quickly.
The crowd dragged several wounded people and jumped into the rubber boat one by one. Someone shouted "Hold on tight", and the waves that hit the land were already approaching.
The waves were not actually very high. When they reached their location, they were only two or three meters high, but they were hitting them with great force.
They only felt a huge force pushing the rubber boat under them, and then everyone was instantly hit by the waves, as if someone had hit them hard on the head. In their daze, they only knew to hold on tightly to the safety rope on the rubber boat...
Soon, the entire rubber boat was carried down to the land by the backflow of waves. The water was full of turbulent waves and whirlpools. No matter how tight they pulled, the rubber boat still capsized.
Everyone fell into the water. Fortunately, everyone knew how to swim. They swam hard and finally floated to the surface. Heavy rain was still falling on the water. There were waves everywhere and the light was dim. They couldn't tell the directions at all.
Feng Lu looked back, trying to distinguish his teammates in the rising and falling waves. He quickly counted the number of people in his mind to make sure no one was missing.
Ke Chen saw the overturned rubber boat not far away, and was the first to swim over, holding on to the rubber boat tightly, and then shouted to others.
The waves were surging, and they didn't have the strength to right the rubber boat in the water. They could only temporarily climb onto the bottom of the overturned rubber boat. When they finally helped each other to drag themselves up, they heard a faint roar coming from far away on the water surface, like thunder, or the howling of strong wind and water vapor rubbing against each other.
"Sea, tsunami..." Someone wiped the water off his face and spoke in a daze.
Almost at the same moment, a boat with a dim yellow light came quickly on the turbulent water.
Strictly speaking, this is not a boat, but more like a flying saucer, and it is made of natural wood. There is a semicircular cabin in the middle, surrounded by a circular deck, and there is a circle of fence on the deck. At this moment, the fence facing them is opening quickly, as if to let them get on.
There was no one on this strange UFO boat, and it didn't seem to have any equipment or anything like that. They had no idea how it got here, or why it wanted them on board, and they didn't move for a moment.
Feng Lu half-knelt at the bottom of the rubber boat, steadying his body while looking at the strange boat in front of him in doubt. Finally, his sight fell on the glass windows of the semicircular cabin.
There was a piece of paper with large colorful characters pasted on each window, which looked so familiar that it dazed him.
Just as they were hesitating and dazed, a young female voice with a hint of anger came from the shelter in front of them. The voice seemed to be transmitted through a loudspeaker. Even on the noisy water surface, it was still clear and loud: "What are you standing there for! If you don't want to die, get up here quickly!"
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