Chapter 218: Exploration is not optimistic
Since the previous two cold waves hit in the middle of the night, the vanguard team was scheduled to depart in the afternoon.
After the team members were confirmed, it was almost time for lunch.
Boss Gu provided lunch for Rongzhen and his team, and also prepared a bag of emergency supplies for each of them to carry with them when they went out, just in case.
None of the twenty team members refused. The situation outside was unknown, and bringing more supplies would provide more insurance. Now was not the time to be pretentious and humble.
After dinner, they left the building amid everyone's worried and expectant farewells, their figures gradually disappearing in the icy mist above the sea ice.
They didn't think much of it when they were living on a high place and looking down, but it was only after they actually entered the ice fog from below that the twenty members of the vanguard team discovered how powerful this fog was.
First of all, the temperature inside is much lower than that in the building. Even though they are fully armed and wrapped tightly, they still feel the coldness drilling into their bones. They shiver with cold and every step feels like walking on the edge of a knife.
Secondly, the white icy fog completely blocked the view. It was impossible to distinguish between humans and animals at a distance of three or four meters, not to mention the farther distance, where it was basically impossible to see any human figures.
In this situation, even the telescope is useless, and they can only rely on groping on foot, and at the same time, they have to prevent themselves from getting separated from the team members.
Rong Zhen and Zhu Yan walked at the end of the team, looking at the white world in front of them through goggles. It was as if they had traveled to a different time and space. It felt very unfamiliar and they subconsciously became alert.
Boss Gu's men were leading the team in front, holding a paper map in their hands, but considering the ice fog blocking their vision, the map probably wouldn't be of much use.
Fortunately, the building is located in the city center, and you can find many supply points by walking around it.
Unfortunately, many of them are frozen under the sea water. There are some buildings exposed outside like the building they are in, but who has ever seen supermarkets, restaurants, etc. opened on high-rise buildings?
Even if there are, there are survivors inside. Why should they let you take away the key to their survival?
So they could only walk as far away as possible and look for high-rise residential buildings where no one was left and there must be daily necessities left behind.
They had to search as many places like this as possible before the temperature dropped too low and before the survivors in other surrounding buildings reacted.
After spending most of the estimated time, the group finally found a suitable high-end community.
The gate of the community had long been submerged under the sea ice. Only a few buildings with only four or five floors left were exposed on the ice. They stood in the ice fog and were blown into a mess by the cold wind. It didn't look like anyone was still there.
The team leader looked at the place closely and gestured to the teammates behind him to stop one by one. He sent a few people to check those buildings first. If there were no unexpected situations, the rest would go over to search for supplies.
This is to ensure that we do not get involved in conflicts with other groups.
We had found some suitable buildings to search for supplies in the places we had passed before, but we had given up because they were already occupied by other groups.
After all, everyone in there is fighting to the death for supplies. If these outsiders rashly get involved, wouldn’t that be simply being tactless and courting death?
As soon as they arrive, people might unite and face the outside world together, venting all their internal conflicts and anger on them.
In order to prevent such incidents from happening, the team leader always carefully sends investigators in to take a look, always putting everyone's safety first.
They came out to find supplies to survive, not to sacrifice their lives selflessly.
"Captain, we don't see anyone inside." The results soon came out from the nearest building.
The leader then assigned five people to go in and search, and agreed on a time to meet up. At that time, the items would be placed on their homemade sled and pulled away.
Rong Zhen and Zhu Yan entered this building, and together with three other teammates, they broke into the building through a window next to the corridor.
It just so happened that the exposed part of the building had five floors, and they each had one floor.
Rongzhen and his teammate were together, so they simply took the top two floors, and were thanked repeatedly by their three teammates.
Because it is time-consuming and laborious to transport things to the top two floors.
Rong Zhen and Zhu Yan don't need to worry about this. They can just move everything into the courtyard and then tell others that no one lives on the two floors upstairs, so naturally there won't be many supplies.
But the actual situation is that the two floors upstairs are duplex houses with many households and a lot of leftover items. Apart from the fact that collection is a bit troublesome, there are no other disadvantages.
After opening the door of a house and seeing the residents frozen to death inside again, Rongzhen still subconsciously looked away, unable to bear to look any longer.
The skin of those who died of freezing was grayish green, some still had their eyes open, their bodies were covered with frost, and their postures were different.
Those who were sitting there calmly were basically unable to react when the cold wave came, and were frozen into ice sculptures in an instant.
There were also those who curled up and survived the cold wave, but were unable to adapt to the low temperature environment after the cold wave and also lost their lives.
Finally, for those who took off their clothes naked before dying with a smile on their faces, Rongzhen and Zhuyan would cover them with blankets according to gender, preserving the last bit of their dignity as human beings.
Of course, they would definitely take away the things they left behind.
The two men found the food, clothes, bedding, and even furniture and appliances that were frozen in the ice and stuffed them into the space.
Zhu Yan squeezed it into the small courtyard, while Rong Zhen divided it in half, taking care of both the small courtyard and her gray space.
Half of the reason why she took the risk was for this. If she didn't seize the opportunity to smuggle supplies now, when would she wait?
Zhu Yan thought that she was slow, so she only made so little each time.
To this end, he took on most of the collection work and only left her a small part.
Rongzhen: ...Thank you!
After searching all the rooms, it was getting dark outside and it was time for them to go back.
The two men made a simple drag sled out of bed sheets, put a few bags of rice and a pile of frozen meat, two boxes of wine and bottles and jars of seasonings on it, and pulled it downstairs to hand in the task.
Fortunately, everything was frozen into lumps of ice, as hard as stone. Otherwise, if they had continued to toss them around like that, the bottles would have been broken into pieces.
The team leader saw their harvest, counted it and recorded it, and was quite satisfied.
He doesn't care whether there are any small items hidden on his body.
Since they are all the suicide squad taking risks, it is impossible that they will not give any benefits at all. As long as it is not too excessive, he can pretend not to see it.
The others came out one after another after them. The change in the weather was so obvious that they didn't dare to stay any longer. After finding what they wanted, they hurried down to gather.
Therefore, there must be something left inside, left for the exploration team coming later.
Their vanguard team had already memorized the route to the supply point and brought back a lot of supplies, which was considered to be exceeding the mission.
On the way back, they encountered a strong wind and the team members were almost blown away and lost. In the end, they relied on the team leader's desperate shouting to recall the teammates who had scattered not far away in time, thus avoiding a disaster.
After that they were more cautious.
Rongzhen and his companion kindly provided two rolls of rope, which they took out from their bulging clothes, tied themselves and their teammates to the sled, and while pulling the supplies against the strong wind, they tried hard to distinguish the black ink that was scattered on their feet when they came down, and tried to return to the building by the same route.
If they accidentally get lost in the icy fog, they might not be able to survive tonight's cold wave.
Because they were carrying all the stuff, the way back was much harder than the way there, but no one complained. They all walked forward silently with their heads down, pulling the rope from time to time, checking to see if their teammates in front and behind were still there, and then looking after the supplies on the sled.
When they finally returned to the Dibiao Building, it was completely dark, and they had all turned white. Except for their mouths and noses, their bodies were almost completely covered with frost. At first glance, they looked like a walking snowman.
"Thank you all for your hard work!" Boss Gu personally stood at the entrance to greet them, with the crowd waiting eagerly behind him.
Seeing that all of them returned safely and brought back a lot of supplies, everyone couldn't help cheering, thinking that the situation outside was not as serious as they had imagined.
But the report from the team leader quickly dispelled their hope.
The situation outside is not only serious, it is hell on earth.
The building they were in was a mess before, wasn't it? But compared to the situation and environment in those buildings outside, theirs was nothing, a paradise.
So you can imagine what the situation is like outside now. Don’t be too ignorant when you go out and hurt others and yourself.
Everyone listened seriously, and the joy on their faces faded.
Seeing this, Boss Gu changed the subject and distributed all the supplies brought back by the vanguard team to the team members who ventured out to explore the way. He also gave some to everyone and began to gather the people who would go out tomorrow.
With tangible things in hand, many more people signed up than before.
After today's trip, Rong Zhen's team has developed some tacit understanding. They agreed with Boss Gu to continue to be pioneers in exploring the way. They agreed to set off early tomorrow morning to explore in another direction to find supply points and government rescue.
After searching for an entire afternoon, they all understood one thing.
The supply points are easy to find. After all, the buildings and things are there. It just takes a little more time and effort, and you will find them sooner or later.
They didn't know where to get government aid, and they wandered around outside for most of the day without seeing any sign of it.
This can't help but make people have a bad guess.
I hope it's not the worst.
After returning to his residence, Rongzhen prayed silently in his heart like everyone else.
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