Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 469 A Difficult Journey Forward

The waterproof fabric is military green, similar in color to the training uniform, but the material is completely different. It is a rubber-coated canvas with a smooth and tough surface.

You have to bend over to squeeze through. When Xu Xiaoyan bent over, her knees were bent at a ninety-degree angle, and her backpack hung down in front of her, almost dragging on the ground.

She had to lift her backpack up and use her chin to support it.

A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the tarpaulin. As people crawled through, dust fell in gushes, causing the people behind to cough repeatedly, the sound of coughing echoing in the tunnel.

Blue Moon was choked by the dust, tears welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth and nose with one hand and fanned her eyes with the other, her movements somewhat flustered. She muttered a curse under her breath.

Her voice wasn't loud, but in the enclosed space of the tunnel, every syllable was amplified and carried to the ears of people within a range of at least ten meters in front and behind her.

No one responded to her, not because they didn't hear her, but because in this environment, no one had the energy to respond to a complaint that had no substance.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't say anything. She simply used her backpack as cover to take out two N95 masks from her spatial storage and handed one to Lan Yue.

Lan Yue quickly took it, pinched the metal nose clip of the mask with her fingers to make the mask fit her nose better, and then hung the elastic bands on both sides over her ears.

The passage narrowed behind the tarpaulin, and her right shoulder rubbed against the wall, while her left shoulder rubbed against the wall on the other side. If she hadn't been wearing a coat, her shoulders would have been scraped raw.

Later, it became so narrow that Xu Xiaoyan had to turn her body completely to the side, almost touching the wall, with her backpack squeezed between her body and the wall.

No one knew how much longer it would take, and no one asked.

Deep within this labyrinth of rock and concrete, asking "how much longer?" is pointless.

Because you have no other choice, you can only walk until you no longer need to walk.

"Who told you that? Is your information reliable?"

"Whether it's reliable or not, do you have a choice?" No one answered the last question.

Xu Xiaoyan remained silent, listening intently and trying to sift through the cacophony of voices to extract any useful information.

The chatter at the back of the group gradually grew louder, and their discussion focused on the "destination," which was a concern for everyone.

Someone mentioned the term "Qing City Base," saying that it has a complete power supply system, groundwater purification facilities, agricultural planting areas, and a well-organized defense force.

The person who spoke spoke with absolute certainty, as if he had seen the base with his own eyes, his tone carrying an unquestionable conviction.

Those listening couldn't help but ask how far Qing City was from here, what the road conditions were like, and how to get settled after arriving.

The people who spoke gave their answers one by one, and the answers sounded reasonable, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that none of the answers can stand up to scrutiny.

The distance figures came from "hearsay," the road condition descriptions came from "estimations," and the resettlement plans came from "speculation."

It's all secondhand information, all unverified speculation.

Some people say that the road to Qing City is fraught with danger, as it passes through several completely chaotic cities.

The speaker lowered his voice, as if he were telling a secret that could not be made public.

When the names of those cities came out of his mouth, the people around him held their breath in unison.

Before the apocalypse, those names were just inconspicuous marks on the map, some of which were even unheard of. But after the apocalypse, every place name took on a new meaning.

Those disordered cities are said to have lost all effective human social organization, and their attitude towards outsiders is one of "distrust" and "hostility".

When official information is delayed, rumors will quickly fill every information gap.

Every so often, information about the road conditions ahead would come through the walkie-talkie, and then Captain Gu would stop and wait for instructions and confirmation.

Sometimes it only stops for a minute or two, sometimes it stops for more than ten minutes.

Everyone stood still, afraid to sit or lean against the wall. The walls and floor were so dirty, and you had no idea what was underneath that layer of dust.

Some people started complaining in hushed tones, their voices very low, as if afraid of being overheard.

The complaints were nothing more than things like "Why did it stop again?", "How much longer do we have to walk?", and "This awful place is no place for a human to live."

The person complaining knows that complaining is useless, but some things feel uncomfortable if they don't say them. Saying them can at least divert their attention from their sore legs and dry throat.

Someone secretly took a sip of water in the dark to moisten their throat; the movement was so subtle that the sound of unscrewing the kettle lid was almost inaudible.

But you can see them raise their hands to mouth level in the dark, pause for a second or two, and then lower them.

Time seemed to drag on in this constant stopping and starting.

An hour passed, and the passage remained unchanged, with no sign of an exit.

Another hour passed, and the passage remained unchanged.

You have no idea how much longer you have to walk, but you can't stop because there are people urging you on from behind.

The temperature in the tunnel also changed; it was cool at first, but it started to get cold as you walked.

Someone pulled all their clothes out of their bag and put them on: a T-shirt, a fleece, and a windbreaker.

After putting on all the clothes, I looked a size bigger and my movements became clumsy, but at least my lips stopped turning purple.

Some people walk with their hands under their armpits and their necks hunched, a posture that looks ridiculous, but in the zero-degree underground passage, no one is in the mood to laugh.

Lan Yue's face grew paler and paler under the dim light of the tunnel, and her walking posture changed from standing tall and straight to walking with a slightly hunched back.

Xu Xiaoyan chose to show her actions instead of words. She silently adjusted the luggage for the two of them, taking the heavier items for herself and leaving the lighter ones for Lan Yue.

The walkie-talkie rang again, and this time the sound was clearer than before, probably because the tunnel's structure had changed, and the signal attenuation wasn't as severe.

The geological structure of the tunnel is constantly changing. In some sections, the rock layer is thicker, so the signal is weaker, while in other sections, the rock layer is thinner, so the signal is stronger.

This tunnel clearly belongs to the latter.

A voice came through the walkie-talkie: "There is a collapse 500 meters ahead, so it is not passable. You need to turn back 200 meters, take the right-hand branch, detour through section B-7 to section C-2, which will add 1.2 kilometers to the journey."

After listening, Captain Gu remained silent for a moment, then turned to face the team.

"Everyone, turn back 200 meters along the same route, take the right-hand passage, and stay close."

The words "turn back" stirred up the first real emotional wave in the team.