7 Chapter 7
In the early hours of July 13, a heavily equipped off-road RV suddenly appeared on an open space at the border of urban and rural areas.
The terrain here is slightly higher than the city center, and the surrounding area consists of abandoned factories. Tong Shu and Tong Songming came here two days ago to investigate and confirmed that there were no surveillance cameras or residences. They decided to wait here for the natural disaster to strike.
"Grandpa and Grandma, are you all dressed?" Tong Shu was checking the items in everyone's storage bags. Over the past few days, everyone had taken turns entering the island and accumulated a lot of Senbi (forest coins), so everyone's bags were now full.
"You're all dressed. The inner layer is a cooling vest that Xiaoli made, and the outer layer is a radiation protection suit. That's right."
Shuli has been researching a lot of functional clothing on the island these past few days. In addition to the magical fabric she had set aside as a spare and the leftover scraps from making anti-radiation clothing, she also made a cooling vest for everyone. Even though the outdoor temperature is now as high as 50°C, everyone no longer feels the stuffy heat that they used to feel.
Tong Songming was adjusting the radio inside the RV. After a disaster, when the internet and signal are lost, the government usually uses broadcasts to report on the situation. This is crucial for Tong Shu's family to stay informed about what's happening outside.
Time passed by, and the elders were getting sleepy. Tong Shu and her cousins persuaded them to go to sleep.
As dawn broke, the sun gradually rose.
Tong Shu stared intently at the thermometer, watching the mercury column slowly rise from 50°C. Everyone else woke up one after another, drinking water and eating breakfast while standing with Tong Shu, their expressions more tense and solemn than ever before.
Around noon, the thermometer suddenly stopped.
A flash of white light appeared outside the window.
The light made everyone squint, and when they opened their eyes again, they saw that all the green vegetation in the vicinity was withering and decaying at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When Tong Shu encountered a natural disaster in her previous life, she was in her room and talking to her grandparents on the phone, so she didn't notice that there was a white light outside.
Even though everyone was wearing cooling vests, it still felt stuffy and hot.
"drop"
Wang Jie turned on the RV's cooling system.
When everyone looked at the thermometer hanging outside the car window, the outdoor temperature had soared to 85°C!
Half an hour later.
A heavy rumble came from afar.
The RV is located in an area without tall buildings, offering a very clear view.
Looking out over the city, one can vaguely see rows of tall buildings leaning and collapsing, one after another.
Tong Shu remembered that it was in the direction of downtown Z City.
A short while later, everyone inside the RV felt a huge shaking.
In half an hour, I wonder how many people were scorched to death outdoors, and how many escaped from the collapsed building.
Witnessing a city that had prospered over decades turn into ruins in an instant, and thinking of the countless lives lost in such a short time, everyone felt very heavy-hearted. Holding onto the securely fixed furniture in the RV, they stared out the window, unwilling to look away.
"Oh God... what terrible things have happened..." Grandma closed her eyes, her lips trembling, and kept muttering something.
"Grandpa, take Grandma to the island," Tong Shu said softly.
Grandpa shook his head, turned his head away, rubbed his eyes with his arm, and remained sitting next to Grandma.
Tong Shu didn't want her grandparents to see these cruel scenes from the beginning, but the elderly had their own ideas and always hoped that it was all fake, that the experts were right, and that things would get better.
It's unclear how much time passed before the ground gradually calmed down, and the outdoor thermometer stopped rising and stabilized at 85°C.
"Sizzle... sizzle... sizzle"
"Attention all citizens! Attention all citizens! This is Z City Broadcasting Station. The current outdoor temperature has reached 85℃. All citizens are urged to immediately cease all non-essential activities and proceed to the nearest underground shelter for refuge!"
"Attention all citizens! Attention all citizens! This is Z City Broadcasting Station..."
...
"...Large-scale ground fissures have been detected in the city center, industrial areas in the east and south of the city, and transportation hubs. If there are any survivors nearby, please leave these areas immediately and seek refuge in the shelters in the west and north of the city..."
After hearing the broadcast, both the Wang and Qin families were terrified.
Both families bought school district properties in the city center for their children's education.
Thank goodness.
Shuli and Shuya stepped forward and patted Tong Shu on the head: "Good girl, your aunt didn't spoil you for nothing."
Shuhua also came over and hugged her sisters.
If it weren't for her daughter's death, the two older sisters would probably be...
Even now, as everyone sits safely in their RV, they are experiencing the feeling of surviving a disaster.
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"We must go back immediately."
Tong Shu crossed her arms and said seriously.
"Shushu, isn't it good as it is now? Although the north of the city hasn't collapsed yet, it's still kind of scary to live in such tall buildings..." Qin Jia had farmed all his life, and if it weren't for Qin Xiaoxiao's education, he would never have wanted to live in an apartment building.
"Uncle, look, the temperature is already dropping."
After Tong Shu finished speaking, everyone involuntarily turned their attention to the outdoor thermometer. Sure enough, although it was not obvious, the outdoor temperature was indeed slowly dropping.
"When the sun sets and the temperature drops to 50°C, how many people will run out of the city?" Tong Shu's words startled the elders who were still clinging to hope. "Since the radio can still be broadcast, it means that the country's order has not been paralyzed. If we drive this RV around swaggeringly, it won't be long before someone takes us away for investigation."
Tong Songming nodded in agreement from the side.
"So what should we do now?"
“We’ll drive back tonight,” Tong Shu said. “We’ll take out the car we’ve hidden in the abandoned factory, and I’ll bring the RV back to the island. Once the temperature drops, we’ll leave.”
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The sun didn't set completely until 11 p.m. that day, and the temperature remained at 60°C without dropping further.
Tong Shu and her group decided not to wait any longer and drove straight to their home in the north of the city.
Two cars carrying 11 people slowly drove into the underground parking garage. Even though the temperature was no longer as high as during the day, all the tires were still ruined. Wang Jianye and Tong Songming gritted their teeth and drove for more than ten kilometers, finally managing to drive the car back to the Tong family's neighborhood before the wheel rims were completely deformed.
When they got out of the car, everyone clearly felt that something was wrong.
The once quiet underground parking garage was now filled with whispers.
"Hey! You guys!" A loud shout came from not far away, startling Tong Shu and her group.
A beam of flashlight swept across everyone's faces.
"Hey?! Old Tong, it's you guys! What are you doing here from outside!"
The speaker was Zhu Cheng, the community director. He had a stubble beard, and his exposed skin was red. Some of the skin on his face was even peeling off, making him look quite frightening.
"Director Zhu, you..." Tong Songming was clearly startled by his appearance. "Are you alright?"
"Sigh... I'm lucky. When the temperature rose, I was only one step away from Unit 2. I rushed in and didn't get burned to death!" Zhu Cheng forced a bitter smile. "Two young men who patrolled with me, gone just like that... They had just graduated and were assigned here..."
Tong Shu and her group felt very sad after hearing this. They had been driving at night and the road was bumpy all the way. Fortunately, it was too dark to see anything clearly. Now, none of them wanted to think about what they had encountered on the road.
"...Our families had planned to go to the countryside to escape the summer heat for quite some time, and we had just set off yesterday when this happened..." Tong Songming slowly recited a prepared explanation, "so we hurried back before it got dark."
“It’s good that you’re back,” Zhu Cheng wiped his eyes. “There are government relief packages coming back... My parents are still in the countryside, there’s nothing there, I don’t know how they are…”
Tong Songming didn't know what to say, so he reached out and patted Zhu Cheng on the shoulder: "It'll be alright."
Wang Jie handed over a tube of burn ointment from the side: "Uncle, put some on."
Tong Songming pointed to Wang Jie and introduced him: "This is my nephew, he's a doctor."
"Oh, oh! Thank you so much, young man!" Zhu Cheng said gratefully. "Come with me to that air-raid shelter over there. Everyone in the neighborhood who's safe is there!"
As Zhu Cheng spoke, he led Tong Shu and her group towards the air-raid shelter: "The situation was urgent at the time, and many people panicked and took the elevator, resulting in numerous deaths..."
"Those buildings on the east side caught fire and have already burned down..."
"...Your house is in a better situation; those who could run have already come down the stairs." Zhu Cheng turned to Tong Songming and asked, "Is there anything you need? It's dark now, so going up the stairs isn't too dangerous. Once it's light, the house will be like an oven again!"
"Forget it, Director Zhu." Tong Songming waved his hand. "My house is too high up, and we originally planned to go out to escape the summer heat, so we brought a lot of camping equipment. It just so happens that we can use it now."
Zhu Cheng looked at the bags that each of them was carrying neatly and nodded: "Your family is lucky."
Inside the air-raid shelter.
Many blankets were haphazardly spread on the floor.
Many people spread their coats on the ground and curled up to rest.
The emergency candles flickered on and off, and the air was filled with the smells of burning, sweat, and a faint odor of blood, making one involuntarily hold their breath.
As this group of clean-looking people entered, they drew scrutinizing glances from the air-raid shelter.
Tong Shu pretended not to see them, expressionless, and led her family through the crowd, carefully avoiding the people lying on the ground. She slowly walked to an open space deep inside the air-raid shelter, and then took out a tent from her bag.
After laying out the moisture-proof mat, Tong Shu called her grandparents to go inside and rest. The two elderly people were also exhausted, so they didn't say much and lay down with the help of their grandchildren.
The others tacitly took out their sleeping bags from their backpacks, arranged them around the tent, and began to close their eyes and rest.
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