The bonfire danced happily in the darkness, licking the bottom of the pot.
"So, a batch of people set out before the earthquake?" Luo Yuan asked.
"Yes, I was originally going to load the goods, but the signs of this earthquake were very obvious, so I changed my mind temporarily!" A middle-aged man hugged his daughter and said softly, his face full of heart palpitations and worries for the rest of his life. Rejoice.
The child in his arms looked to be only about three or four years old. At this time, she could not bear the sleepiness and fell into sleep. Looking at her frowning and sometimes tense body, she seemed to have dreamed of something terrible.
Luo Yuan looked away and continued to ask: "Do you know how many people escaped from Motucheng this time?"
"I'm not sure. It was very chaotic at the time, and the time was tight. The train was seriously overloaded. There might have been 20,000 or 30,000 people on the train." The middle-aged man was silent for a while and said. His name was Cui Weichuan. Before the earthquake, he was a grassroots government worker. During the migration, almost all civil servants were dispatched to maintain order, so he had some understanding of the situation.
There were nine survivors, including children, who were rescued this time. Fortunately, except for one person who was unlucky and his left arm was amputated by a collapsed rock, the others were not injured.
The injured survivor was treated hastily by Luo Yuan with his will, and the bleeding was stopped, but the left arm could no longer grow back.
"The soup is here, let's start with the soup." At this time, Huang Jiahui interrupted their conversation, and together with several women, put a bowl of thick soup next to everyone. The mouth of the soup was white and exuded a refreshing smell. of strong fragrance.
"Thanks!"
"Thanks!"
…
The few survivors looked grateful. After drinking the soup, a flush quickly appeared on their gray faces, and their spirits improved a lot.
After Luo Yuan continued chatting with them for a while, he gave them two tents to let them have a good rest.
…
Late at night, Luo Yuan was lying in the tent, eyes open, in a daze.
From what they learned, the situation was better than expected. Considering that the train left at eight o'clock in the evening and the earthquake hit at four in the morning, the journey of nearly eight hours was enough to escape the impact of the earthquake.
This means that at least one fifth of the people escaped this disaster. These people include all students, researchers, engineers, and some soldiers who maintain order.
This made Luo Yuan and others slightly relieved. At least Zhong Chuqiang and Deng Chao were not among the dead. However, Huo Dong, Cao Lin and Mo Wenwen still did not know whether they were alive or dead. What Luo Yuan admired was that Mayor Song and The vast majority of civil servants did not choose to leave, but stood firm to welcome the earthquake.
"Do you think, if we didn't leave then, would we have died too?" Huang Jiahui next to him suddenly asked.
Luo Yuan was silent for a while and said: "Stop thinking so much and go to bed early!"
"But I couldn't sleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, the faces of those familiar people seemed to be still clear in my mind, but now they have become corpses. Huo Dong and Cao Lin are also there. I don't know how they are now? Huang Jiahui said emotionally fragile. At the end of her words, her voice gradually became choked with sobs.
Luo Yuan sighed and said: "This is the end of the world. Isn't this how we have always walked through?"
"But... this is a reconstruction area." Huang Jiahui said weakly.
"Maybe it used to be, but it's not now. This place has been occupied!" Luo Yuan said with a heavy face: "Go to bed early, we have to get up early tomorrow."
… … …
On the vast grassland, there was a violent commotion, and countless mutated beasts ran like wolves and dolphins. After a while, two huge beasts gradually appeared on the horizon and walked towards this side quickly.
It has been four days since we set off again.
Because there were a few more survivors, including the wounded and children, the speed along the way was slowed down a lot, but even if we hurried and hurried slowly, we were almost at our destination.
According to the map, we still have about half a day, that is, we can reach Hope City before evening.
After arriving here, the impact of the earthquake in Motucheng has been minimal, and no trace of damage can be seen around.
In the distance, a large number of engineering vehicles and heavy trucks were galloping on the grassland like a long dragon, raising pieces of sand and dust that lingered for a long time. Several huge gantry cranes stood high on the construction site next to them, and there were densely packed construction workers below. , almost like ants, crawling on the ground, numbering more than tens of thousands.
And such construction sites are lined up in a row, extending to the endless distance. Just as far as the eye can see, there are no less than seven or eight.
The foundations of several giant fortresses have been laid and superstructures are being built. It is obvious that the reconstruction areas of the evacuation will re-establish defenses here.
Before Luo Yuan could get close, a military vehicle quickly drove towards this direction. It stopped fifty or sixty meters away from the giant beast, and took out its electric horn with a nervous look on its face and shouted.
"Comrade, this is an important military area. We refuse to approach. Please move further away."
Such a huge beast is very rare even on the battlefield. Those who can sit on it are definitely not ordinary people, but they have to be prepared. This is a construction site, and most of them have only undergone a few military trainings. Ordinary people, if they are allowed to get close, it may cause violent commotion and fear. Once an accident occurs, no one can bear the responsibility.
"I am a person who has just migrated from Motucheng. I don't know the situation. Comrade, could you please show me the way." It was obvious that he was disrespectful while sitting on top and talking, so Luo Yuan quickly jumped down and walked over.
"Are you from Motucheng?" Seeing Luo Yuan approaching, the officer's face improved a lot and he said curiously: "I heard that it was near the epicenter of the earthquake and the entire Motucheng collapsed."
"The situation is far more serious than you think. It's really hard to describe. By the way, have a group of people from Motucheng migrated here in the past two days?" Luo Yuan did not want to say more and turned to inquire about the news.
"I don't know about this. You can only go to Hope City to find out the situation." The officer said: "Your two war beasts will affect the construction workers, so they can only take a detour. Come with me."
The military vehicle led the way, and the two giant beasts followed quickly.
The two giant beasts are more than ten meters tall, which means that even if they are just walking, their speed is not slower than the military vehicle in front.
After walking far away from the construction site, the military vehicle stopped. The officer from before stuck his head out and enthusiastically pointed the way: "If you walk more than two hundred kilometers from here, you can see Hope City."
After saying goodbye, the group headed in the direction pointed by the officer.
…
"The sun has been so hot lately that my skin is peeling."
After entering here, everyone's originally gloomy mood obviously relaxed a lot.
Wang Xiaguang rubbed the skin on the back of her hands and complained. Not only the back of her hands, but also her face was mottled with dead skin falling off everywhere, which looked extremely scary.
Others were not much better. After the earthquake, the sky finally cleared up. It was sunny for several days in a row. They just came out of the dark shelter and saw the sunshine. At first, everyone was still happy. However, this good mood soon disappeared. As quickly as the ice and snow dissipated without a trace under the sun.
The sun was extremely hot, and in just a few days, everyone's skin was exposed to dead skin.
"Is it because we stayed in the shelter for too long and didn't get sunlight for a long time?" Huang Jiahui asked. She glanced at Luo Yuan and Chen Jiayi with envy on their faces. The skin of the others was beyond recognition, except for These two people have not changed at all.
Luo Yuan is naturally not afraid of the ultraviolet rays of the sun because of his strong physique. As for Chen Jiayi, it was because of the parasitic moss that she was able to thrive in such a bad situation. She was more energetic than when she first came out, and she looked energetic and radiant.
Facing Huang Jiahui's strange gaze, the old man Luo Yuan showed no signs of strangeness on his face, while the tender-faced Chen Jiayi became a little restless. Like a frightened little rabbit, she quickly retracted the moss on her head and blushed slightly. He explained: "It's because the sun is getting stronger now, not because I haven't been in the sun for a long time."
"But it doesn't feel too hot. It's almost a lot worse than the time after the thunderstorm." Zhao Yali also joined the conversation. Women always have endless topics to talk about when it comes to skin-related issues.
"This is what the moss on my body told me, and I don't know it very well." Chen Jiayi said timidly.
"It should be because the ultraviolet rays are too strong." Zhang Wu suddenly said at this time. During this period of time, his mentality had relaxed a lot: "Before the end of the world, I worked as a traveling companion for a period of time. I traveled around the country and went to After passing through Qinghai-Tibet, the temperature there was not very high, but the ultraviolet rays were too strong. After staying there for a while, I peeled off several layers of skin.”
Luo Yuanting frowned slightly. This is not a plateau with thin air. This is the Tarim Basin. Especially after the sea level rises, the altitude here does not exceed 1,000 meters. Moreover, plants are now flourishing, organisms explode, and the air concentration is also Much higher than before the end of the world.
He looked up at the sky. Since the end of the world, the sky has become clear and blue, like a perfect sapphire. However, now, the sky seems to have become a little dark and dark. Even in the daytime, you can vaguely see stars. Like this The sight is chilling.
In fact, long before the insect wave started, Luo Yuan had already slightly felt an inexplicable strangeness. The familiar environment seemed to be gradually changing, although the changes every day were very weak and almost insignificant. Check, but the reversal is always happening unswervingly.
Perhaps the insect tide and even the previous major earthquake are inseparable from this change.
It is impossible that the upper echelons of the reconstruction area would not know about such an obvious change, but they have kept it secret. Even Mayor Song of Motucheng did not seem to know much about it. The only answer may be that the consequences of the change are far more troublesome than imagined.
…
We drove slowly and hurriedly all the way, and by three o'clock in the afternoon, a magnificent city that looked like a war fortress was already in sight!