Chapter 123 The Miracle They Created
After hanging up with Mo Chen, Little Freckles immediately called the next person.
I tried calling several times, but the call failed each time.
She was unsure whether something had happened to the other party or if the call simply couldn't be connected.
Power outages also affect the operation of communication networks; without power to base stations, phone calls naturally cannot be made. Therefore, they had a long list of contacts, all ordered according to local power supply hours.
You can only make a phone call when there is electricity in the area.
Even so, when countless people are making calls and browsing the internet at the same time, the signal channels become extremely congested, often resulting in situations where a call is finally connected, only to be interrupted after a few words.
This is even with Fangzhou able to communicate with the outside world 24 hours a day.
Little Freckles sighed silently, already able to imagine how difficult it must be for people trapped outside of school to contact their relatives and friends.
It's no different from contacting someone using a message in a bottle.
She dared not think any further, made a mark, and rallied her spirits to continue dialing.
Inside the meeting room, many other students were doing the same thing.
After hanging up the phone, Mo Chen quickly started composing a message in the chat group to recruit volunteers.
...
That morning, as power was restored in several regions across the country, countless people, like Mo Chen, flocked to the internet as soon as communications were restored to check the latest news.
Then, they both caught a glimpse of a post.
[@FangzhouRescue v: The Fangzhou volunteer team is accepting requests for help from all over the country! We will dispatch local team members with available time to the scene as soon as possible. Requesters should fill out the form below according to the format and send it via private message to @SparkMutualAidDocument, @LighthouseRescue, @ACityLocalRescue, @WenwenWantsToBeStrong (24-hour reply to private messages)... account backend.]
All the above accounts accept submissions 24 hours a day. After your submission is registered in the background, you will be notified by private message. Please do not submit the same content repeatedly to avoid wasting resources.
We apologize for the limited manpower. If the problem has been resolved, please update the submission account promptly. Thank you for your cooperation.
This account will update resolved help requests in real time, but will not accept submissions.
Please note that you must specify the available power supply time and the situation of infected persons that you can observe. If any information is withheld, the volunteer has the right to leave on the spot and keep a record for future accountability.
See the image below for specific requirements and format...
The "Fangzhou Rescue" account tagged more than a dozen accounts in one go, and these were only the ones that could be contacted from last night until now.
Some of these accounts, such as Spark Documents, were created after the apocalypse, while others were originally accounts of civilian rescue teams. Still others were personal bloggers and influential figures in other fields who, after the outbreak of the virus, devoted almost all their time to forwarding requests for help, using their personal influence to help people who had nowhere else to turn to for help to speak out.
All the accounts that received the contact agreed to Fang Zhou's request without hesitation.
They organized their team overnight, arranged the shift schedule, and opened the private messaging channel that same day.
At the same time Fangzhou published this post, several of the largest platforms in the country used their algorithm recommendation functions to recommend @FangzhouRescue's account to countless users.
Since this account is not an official account, it cannot use methods such as pinning trending topics to the top; this is already the maximum promotion they can provide.
At the same time, @FangzhouRescue's account received tens of millions of views!
But it wasn't over yet; @FangzhouRescue posted several more updates.
The first measure is to mobilize civilian volunteers to help confirm the situation of requests for help that cannot be verified or for which no one is responding, by using drones or driving to the vicinity to observe from a distance.
The requirements are naturally to have radio communication equipment, drones, and protective gear, and preferably relatively sturdy vehicles such as off-road vehicles.
These people don't have to go into battle themselves; they stay in the car the whole time, thus avoiding most of the dangers.
Although there are many zombies on the streets now, they are far from reaching the level of a zombie horde that would block the entire street in the late stages of the apocalypse.
Moreover, Fu Qing had warned the military in advance that zombies have the characteristic of gathering. Once a large group of small zombie hordes is discovered, the armed police or soldiers patrolling the streets will disperse or kill them on their own.
As long as you don't run into a horde of zombies, driving on the street is relatively safe.
This task is perfect for those well-equipped civilian rescue teams that are not good at dealing with zombies.
In his second post, Fang Zhou expressed his willingness to provide free remote guidance to volunteers, and those who need it can contact him directly via private message in the background.
At present, Fangzhou can only help with those requests for assistance that are submitted according to the specified format.
Many more people are completely unaware of this channel for seeking help.
Many civilian rescue teams scattered throughout the streets and alleys of various cities have more information, but these people may not be professional enough or have enough experience. Even though they know that someone is trapped and facing danger, they lack a clear rescue plan and therefore dare not take action.
With remote guidance from Fang Zhou, the power of these people can also be utilized.
As long as you avoid encountering evolved zombies and take proper precautions, dealing with basic zombies isn't actually that difficult.
As for mentors, every student in Fangzhou can take on this role.
The requests for remote guidance were also collected and registered by the publicity team volunteers, and uploaded to the wristbands, which could be picked up by those who had time.
Since there's no need to go out or find teammates, you can just find a chair on campus, which is perfect for filling the gaps between other things.
The third post is a reminder.
[To reiterate: Non-professional teams should not go out for rescue operations. Follow home safety recommendations and prioritize your own safety!]
Although all residents were required to stay home on the very day the virus broke out, in practice, the control measures implemented by higher authorities were not that strict.
Firstly, the virus outbreak occurred over the weekend, when countless people went out, and many people are still missing and trapped outside.
They want to go home, so they have to go out into the streets.
The authorities have no way of distinguishing who was outside from the beginning and who escaped later.
Secondly, many communities and residential areas do not have enough manpower to supervise residents staying at home. In many cases, like Shi Guangyao's community, not only is there no one on duty at the neighborhood committee, but even the security guards have run away.
The community gates are wide open, allowing unimpeded entry and exit. There are quite a few people like Jiajia's parents who go out to search for their relatives.
While zombies are terrifying, they fear the lives of their loved ones being threatened more than the risks they face themselves.
Therefore, advice regarding staying at home has always remained at the level of "suggestion".
No coercive measures were taken, and there were no penalties for going out.
Starting from the fourth post, it contains archives of all the requests for help, big and small, that Fang Zhou resolved from yesterday to this morning.
Some students took photos before leaving and uploaded them with their faces blurred, while others recorded the general situation and the number of people successfully rescued in writing.
The posts were followed by numerous comments from those rescued and their relatives, who left messages of gratitude and shared the posts, further increasing the credibility of the account.
Enthusiastic users followed suit and shared the message.
#FangzhouRescue# In less than half an hour, it soared to the top of the trending topics and firmly held that position.
Countless trapped individuals saw a glimmer of hope in this, and after carefully reading the submission requirements, they began filling out the forms with trembling hands.
Countless submissions from all over the country were sent to the back-end of those dozen or so accounts. Volunteers who had received basic training quickly categorized them according to factors such as region, urgency, difficulty of rescue, and number of people trapped, and then forwarded them to Fang Zhou's email address.
*
A village in Jianghe County.
The couple huddled together, their terrified eyes fixed on the door.
With another loud bang, the dilapidated wooden door shook violently, and the metal hinges creaked under the strain.
The zombies outside kept scratching at the door, the sharp sound of their fingernails scraping against the wooden door sending chills down one's spine.
"Don't cry, don't cry."
The wife was holding a baby in her arms, and perhaps sensing her parents' anxiety, the baby kept crying, which made the zombies outside the door even more agitated.
The husband cursed, his eyes bloodshot, and was about to get out of bed to grab a knife: "I don't care! I'll fight it to the death!"
This is the fourth day that the whole family has been trapped. They ran out of food two days ago, and the only thing they had left was the baby formula they had stocked up on. Neither of them dared to touch it.
If this continues, we'll either be eaten by zombies or starve to death.
The husband instructed, "I'll lure that infected person away and lock them up somewhere. You can take the opportunity to go next door and find some food, take a lot, and when you come back, close the door. Don't open it for anyone."
The infected person was their neighbor, an elderly man living alone, who probably still had some food stored at home.
They were hiding inside the house when they witnessed him being bitten by another infected person and collapsing helplessly at their own doorstep.
Now, it's his turn.
The wife held the child, her eyes brimming with tears, and nodded vigorously with her eyes closed.
Don't open it for anyone.
She knew her husband was prepared for the possibility that he might not come back.
"I will definitely protect Xiaoman, don't worry," she said, her voice choked with emotion.
The husband said no more, kissed the child's forehead, and resolutely picked up the knife and walked towards the door.
Just before he unlocked the door, the sounds outside suddenly disappeared without warning.
The husband paused for a moment, then moved to the window next to him and looked through the glass towards the door.
A young woman was sheathing her sword, dusting off her hands, and said casually, "Just one zombie? This mission is way too easy."
She blinked as she met the eyes of the people inside the window, then bent down and moved the zombie blocking the doorway aside: "Alright, you can come out now."
"I have something to do, I'll be going now."
The infected person who had trapped them for three whole days was dealt with so easily.
They didn't even have time to let out a dying scream.
The girl waved and jumped into a car parked on the side of the road.
The husband stared blankly as the car drove away. The fierce expression that had appeared on his face when he was determined to die with the zombies faded, the knife in his hand clattered to the ground, and his hands instantly lost their strength.
He knelt down with a thud and embraced his wife, who had stumbled over, as they wept.
*
A supermarket in City S.
A group of people hid behind the shelves, watching the zombies wandering between them, nervously swallowing their saliva.
They were all trapped in the supermarket on the day the virus broke out.
The area outside the supermarket was too open, so they had to hide in the nearby staff break room to survive.
However, there was not much food in the rest room. After being hungry for several days, the group finally couldn't bear it any longer and ran out to find food.
But they soon realized how foolish this decision was.
There were roughly dozens of zombies inside the supermarket.
In addition, the complex layout of supermarkets and the obstructed view by shelves make it almost impossible to retrieve food without attracting attention.
After finally managing to move a few dozen meters from the staff break room, a group of zombies blocked their way, trapping them between the shelves.
As some zombies staggered closer, the group broke out in a cold sweat.
Supermarkets are nothing like home; they can't even find suitable tools. They're unarmed, and if they really run into zombies head-on, they won't be able to fight back.
"I should have gone around to the meat section and grabbed a knife first," one person said in a breathy voice, on the verge of tears.
The others: "..." Right, why didn't they think of that?
After being hungry for so many days, my brain is sluggish.
The guy next to me was about to yell, "Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner!"
"I was just thinking that the food shelves weren't far away, so I could just grab some and go. Otherwise, I'd have to take a detour to get to the meat section..." The man covered his head and sullenly, filled with despair.
The zombies were getting closer, their heavy breathing almost touching my ears.
One person dared not wait any longer, turned back and gave a pre-arranged signal, and the rest of the people held their breath, the next second—
"run!!"
It was someone who shouted.
In an instant, everyone turned and ran, startling all the zombies in the supermarket, who roared and surged toward them.
In the chaos, some people knocked over shelves, scattering goods all over the ground. Some bumped into teammates or zombies, letting out a scream as they pushed the other away and continued running without looking back. Others got lost and ran in the wrong direction, not even to the location of the staff break room. They ran for a while before realizing they were lost, and their hearts sank.
The supermarket was in complete chaos.
Just then, a dozen or so people rushed in from the entrance and saw a group of people scattering in panic, followed by zombies baring their teeth and claws.
They quickly joined the battle.
The situation quickly shifted from one-sided to the other.
However, whether they were too engrossed in running or too panicked, they didn't have time to assess their surroundings, and some people didn't even notice the students' arrival.
These people ran while screaming, crying and begging, but no matter how hard the students behind them tried, they couldn't get the zombies' attention.
Students: "..."
The student in the lead, with sharp eyes, spotted the pyramid of bottles stacked up next to him. He took off his backpack and threw it, causing the bottle tower, which was as tall as a person, to crash to the ground.
The wine spilled all over the ground, filling the air with its aroma. The loud noise finally brought everyone in the room, including the zombies, back to their senses.
"Shut up if you don't want to die!" he snapped, unable to contain himself any longer. "Even zombies can't keep up with your shouts."
The trapped people stared blankly at the group of students who had appeared out of nowhere, as if they had seen divine intervention.
Are they... saved?
...
The same thing is happening in countless corners of China.
Students poured into the streets and alleys, in high-rise buildings, in dark basements, in crowded department stores, and in remote mountains, rescuing one trapped person after another.
Before death came, someone found them first.
He refused all thanks, handed them over to officials, and then rushed to the next scene.
Unable to express their gratitude elsewhere, they could only go online as soon as they regained their strength to leave grateful replies.
This suddenly appearing, unknown group set an incredible rescue record in just one day.
As time goes by, the number of people rescued continues to rise.
On this day, countless people remembered Fang Zhou's name, the team of students, and the miracles they created.
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