Chapter 29: Troubles and Heavy Rain
"Get out!" Wang Yiyi and Zhu Mulin echoed.
Finally, with the dagger opening the way, the three returned to Wang Yiyi and Su Ke's room.
"Fuck! Those bitches, who spoiled them like that?" a man with a scar on his face spat.
"Boss, forget it. She has a knife in her hand and has joined the rescue team." A yellow-haired younger brother behind the scarred man was a little timid. In the past, he had only followed his big brother to fight in groups and take revenge on people with knives... He didn't have the courage.
"So what? I don't believe that two women and a pretty boy would really dare to kill anyone. Even if they do, it's just a broken dagger. Am I afraid of it? I must teach them a lesson." The man with the scar touched the "merit" on his face, his eyes full of malice.
The thirty-ninth day of doomsday.
At six o'clock, everyone was ready to set off, and Qiao Qiao and Tang Mingli walked at the end alone.
"Sister Tang, I will not join the Special Management Bureau for the time being, but you can always come to me if you need any help." Qiao Qiao said.
"Okay. Don't feel burdened. I was just asking casually." Tang Mingli had no objection to her choice. Everyone has different ideas. It is normal for strong people to hate being bound.
"Thank you, sister." No matter what, Qiao Qiao was still very grateful for Tang Mingli's invitation.
As usual, they picked up Wang Yiyi and the other two, and nothing unexpected happened along the way.
However, Jojo discovered that many boats appeared in the community, and each boat was full of people and was heading towards the federal building.
"What is this?" She couldn't help but ask.
Tang Mingli glanced at it and explained, "We didn't have time to contact the staff of the Federation Building a few days ago. Now that we are officially short of manpower, they naturally have to go back to work. However, it is only because there are many employees in the nearby communities that the Federation will release ships for free. If other areas lose contact, they will lose contact."
Qiao Qiao was naturally happy about this situation. The more people working, the more stable the order. As long as there was still food to eat, there would be no trouble for the time being.
This is also the reason why she chose this community before the end of the world. The closer to the Federation, the safer it is.
When passing by a large shopping mall, we saw many official personnel carrying supplies inside, and even people in diving suits carrying supplies from underwater.
It turns out that in addition to the rescue workers, there are also people who specialize in searching for supplies.
Thinking of this, Qiao Qiao touched the tip of his nose with a guilty conscience. He wondered if they would go to that mall, and what their reaction would be if they saw the empty mall.
Unlike these volunteers who work 12 hours a day, real soldiers and police officers work 24 hours a day and may only be able to take a nap when the ship is sailing.
Searching for supplies, rescuing people in disaster areas, selecting resettlement sites, and subsequent distribution of supplies are all problems.
Looking at these people, she felt both admiration and heartache.
The people in Yangguang County were rescued yesterday, and today's destination is also a county near the new district, Zhangjia County.
Qiao Qiao is very familiar with this place because her biased grandparents and snobbish uncle and aunt live here.
She glanced at Qiao Xinghe calmly, and seeing that he looked normal and greeted her with a smile, she realized that her father no longer cared about these so-called relatives.
Although everyone knows that Qiao Xinghe is a decisive person, no one can guarantee that he will really do nothing when seeing his blood relatives in danger.
She secretly decided in her heart that if they really were not living well, she would at most give them some supplies for the sake of their blood relationship, but nothing more would be possible!
It would be even better if I couldn't see it.
Zhangjia County has always been the best developed place among the surrounding counties. In recent years, there have even been rumors that it will become a district and be incorporated into City A.
So compared to Sunshine County, the buildings here are higher, the damage is less severe, and there are more survivors.
What you fear will come true.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, when approaching a six-story building, Qiao Qiao used his excellent eyesight to see his uncle Qiao Xinghai standing at the window and waving a red flag.
“Help!”
“We are here!”
Tang Mingli pulled the rubber boat over. After a day and night of heavy rain, the water level had risen to half of the sixth floor, and it was only a stone's throw away from being completely submerged.
"Don't worry, everyone will be rescued, it's just a matter of time. Now the old people, children and women should come down first!" Qiao Qiao stood on the boat and used the loudspeaker to give orders, while others took out their life jackets and prepared.
What was beyond their expectation was that the people here did not follow the instructions to line up. As the rubber boat approached, some people jumped into the water and swam towards the lifeboat, hoping to be rescued faster.
Little do they know that this behavior not only poses a danger to themselves, but also a threat to the safety of others.
"Ah! Who pushed me?"
"Don't squeeze me!"
"Ahem, gurgle, gurgle."
The water surface is dirty and there is a lot of garbage around. If a wound touches the sewage, it is very likely to get infected. In the current situation where hospitals are closed and medicines are scarce, if you get infected, you may just have to wait for death.
They only thought about swimming over to get on the boat and get rescued faster, and ignored the situation underwater.
The surface of the water looks calm, but in fact there are undercurrents surging underneath. If you are not careful and get sucked in, you may never get out again.
More than a dozen people jumped into the water almost at the same time, and naturally there were collisions and crowding accidents. In just two minutes, one-third of the people disappeared in the water.
No matter how anxious Tang Mingli and others were, they did not dare to jump down to save people.
"Everyone calm down!" Tang Mingli held the loudspeaker and tried to drown out the surrounding noise. "The water is dangerous, don't jump in! Follow the instructions, everyone can be rescued!"
However, due to long-term food shortage and heavy rain, panic had taken over, and several people ignored Tang Mingli's warnings and continued to jump into the water.
These people rushed to get closer and climbed onto the rubber boat. Qiao Qiao and his friends could not push the victims off, so they had to pull them up. When the people upstairs saw this, they hurriedly jumped off, fearing that the boat would leave once it was full of people and never come back.
The scene fell into chaos for a while.
Tang Mingli held the tiller tightly, her brows furrowed. She knew that if the situation was not controlled quickly, it might lead to tragedy.
She turned to Jojo, "We have to take action."
Qiao Qiao nodded and picked up the loudspeaker: "Please pay attention, we will give priority to rescuing those who abide by the rules. Any attempt to forcibly board the ship will make it impossible for us to continue the rescue."
Her words seemed to have some effect. Some people began to hesitate, but some still tried desperately to approach the rubber boat.
Several more people disappeared into the water. Tang Mingli had to make a decision.
He ordered everyone not to let anyone get on the boat, but just threw down a dozen life jackets. He also drove the rubber boat away from the chaotic crowd and stopped it a little further away.
He picked up the loudspeaker and announced loudly: "Attention everyone, we will temporarily stop the rescue until order is restored!"
"We must make them understand that we are not here to rescue people in a disorderly manner." Tang Mingli explained, grimly glancing at the six people who had been rescued aboard the boat earlier, "As for you, you will be rescued last."
A man was soaked all over, with some yellowish dirt on his body. When he heard that he would not be among the first group to be rescued, he instantly became furious and wanted to rush up to argue.
"Why? You were just sent by the Federation to rescue me. I haven't settled the score with you for coming so late yet."
"That's right, which department are you from? I'm going to complain to you for coming so late!"
"Hurry up and get over there, there are so many people in the water!"
When others heard the man's words, they also echoed him. Seeing that there were only two men and two women on the lifeboat, some even tried to grab the rudder.
Tang Mingli was already troubled by these people's actions of jumping into the water on their own initiative, and he became even more angry when he saw this person's unscrupulous behavior. He no longer showed mercy and threw the person into the water with an over-the-shoulder throw.
"You...Gulu, help!" The man didn't have time to react. He just felt dizzy and then struggled in the water.
Just as one hand touched the lifeboat and was about to climb out, Tang Mingli stepped on it.
The man screamed in pain and drank several large mouthfuls of dirty water, "Ah! Loosen your legs!"
Tang Mingli glanced coldly at the others who were frozen in fear and said, "I'll say it again, only those who obey orders can be rescued. Otherwise... the rainstorm is too heavy, and there are many disaster victims who cannot hold out until they are rescued."
When the troublemakers heard this, their faces turned pale, they looked at each other and then stayed still to avoid becoming like the person struggling in the water in front of them.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down completely, Tang Mingli nodded to Qiao Qiao and prepared to drive.
Qiao Qiao received the signal, bent down and pulled hard, and pulled up the man who had lost his strength underwater and gave up struggling.
"Cough cough!" The man spat out a few mouthfuls of water. After he recovered, he dared not say anything. He sat behind the crowd, fearing that he would be thrown into the water again.
Only after experiencing death can you know how terrifying it is.
In the distance, the crowd who jumped into the water were stunned for a moment when they saw the lifeboat leaving. After they reacted, they frantically grabbed the life jackets in the water.
"Get out of my way, this is mine!" A man held the life jacket in his arms and pushed away the people around him who wanted to snatch it.
"Ah! Stop fighting!" Several people were scrambling for a lifebuoy. In the chaos, a short boy was pressed into the water. By the time the crowd dispersed, he had already stopped breathing.
"Calm down! There are enough life jackets, stop fighting over them!" Someone tried to restore order but it was in vain, no one would listen to him.
Ten minutes later, most of them were killed or injured.
The survivors saw the lifeboat parked in the distance, neither approaching to rescue nor leaving. Only then did they calm down and recall what Tang Mingli had just said.
"Go back." Tang Mingli gave the order only after the crowd had completely calmed down.
"Yes." Qiao Qiao and others drove the lifeboat towards the small building.
When they were almost reaching the crowd in the water, Qiao Qiao turned on the speaker and played the previously recorded sound in a loop.
"The rescue team will give priority to rescuing the elderly, the weak, women, children and those who obey the rules. People in the water will be rescued last. Please obey the command!"
"The rescue team will give priority to rescuing the elderly, the weak, women, children and those who obey the rules. People in the water will be rescued last. Everyone obey the command!"
…
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd, which had been a little agitated again when they saw the lifeboat coming, suddenly quieted down.
After experiencing the rescue team's practice of leaving as soon as they were told to, people realized that this group of people was different from previous federal rescue teams. If they continued to act on their own, they might not be rescued.
Qiao Qiao took the opportunity to continue, "Now, we will give priority to rescuing the people staying upstairs." He turned his head and looked at the people soaking in the water. "As for you, go back upstairs first and wait for everyone to be rescued."
"Why..." The man was covered by his mouth and his microphone was shut up before he could finish his words. "Okay, you must keep your promise and come back to pick us up." said a muscular man.
"As long as you obey orders, we will not give up on anyone." Tang Mingli stood in front and made a promise.
At this time, people still had awe for the police. The others in the water felt reassured after hearing this and climbed in through the windows. A few people were still unconvinced and wanted to continue arguing, but were subdued by others.
"Start the rescue now, and give priority to rescuing the elderly, the weak, women and children first!" Qiao Qiao said again after everyone went upstairs and order was barely restored.
"Qiao Qiao! It's Qiao Qiao, right?"
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