Chapter 160
Chapter 160
An Xiaolin rose to her feet, turned, and walked away. Behind her, three lifeless bodies lay discarded in the snow.
She slowly raised a hand and touched the empty socket where her left eye had once been. Frigid air rushed into the hollow, bringing a sharp rush of pleasure.
Tilting her head back, she parted her cracked lips. The howling wind and snow swallowed her faint voice, yet carried those two syllables into the distance like a curse.
“Qingshui.”
…
Several kilometers away.
A figure abruptly stopped in her tracks. The two people beside her immediately halted as well, snapping into alert stances as they warily scanned the surrounding blizzard.
“Qingshui, what is it?” Ye Que asked in a low voice, tightening her grip on the pointed shovel in her hand.
Wu Wujie swept his gaze across the area. His eyes eventually settled on a spot not far away, and he frowned slightly.
Qingshui shook her head, looking somewhat dazed. Just now, she could have sworn she’d heard someone call her name. The voice had carried a familiarity that made her heart clench.
She looked in the direction Wu Wujie had indicated. Through the dead grass bent low beneath the wind and snow, she saw a human head hanging by a coarse hemp rope from a crooked utility pole beside the road.
The head swayed gently in the wind, its face frozen in utter terror and despair.
Dark red blood trailed across the ground. No explanation was needed. Anyone could tell what had happened here-another pointless slaughter.
Wu Wujie clicked his tongue, his voice carrying a rare note of contempt and disgust. “Isn’t this goddamn weather enough to freeze those Madmen to death?”
“Stay alert,” Qingshui said calmly, withdrawing her gaze. The information they’d obtained from other survivors two days ago about an incoming airdrop had forced them to slow their pace and take a more cautious route.
Perhaps they could find another safe place and wait there for a while.
The three of them continued forward, their figures soon vanishing into the endless wind and snow.
And they were far from the only ones. Across this disaster-ravaged land, every surviving human was fighting with all they had to cling to that sliver of hope.
Nanjing, in an underground shelter beneath a pile of ruins.
A man cradled another man who was barely clinging to life. Tears mixed with the grime on his face and carved streaks down his cheeks. Three women stood nearby, turning their faces away because they could not bear to watch. Crammed into the tiny shelter, they did not even dare make a sound as they cried, terrified of attracting the things outside.
“I’m begging you, brother. We’ve made it this far… Just hold on a little longer. The airdrop will be here soon…” The man’s voice broke, his plea filled with helplessness.
Yueyang, on an abandoned expressway.
A woman and a young teenage boy huddled beneath an overturned car. The woman clutched a handgun, her face as pale as paper and her eyes fixed intently on the outside.
Through the gap beneath the car, they could see several pairs of feet repeatedly leaping into view as they prowled nearby.
She closed her eyes in despair. There were only two bullets left in her gun.
The outskirts of Chengdu, in a silent mountain forest.
Several fully armed figures darted swiftly through the woods, using the trees for cover and supporting one another as they moved.
One of them stopped and flipped open her helmet visor. She nimbly climbed a towering pine tree and surveyed the distance through a pair of binoculars. Moments later, she jumped down, closed her visor again, and spoke with a trace of excitement in her voice.
“We’ve reached Chengdu.”
“Thank goodness.” Someone in the group choked back a sob. Perhaps they were thinking of the companions they had lost along the way, or perhaps they simply couldn’t believe they had truly survived this long. “Has the airdrop not started yet?”
“Let’s find somewhere to rest first and conserve our strength.”
At that moment, as all the survivors endured the agonizing wait, the airdrop was still three hours away.
At that same moment.
Somewhere in the north stood an enormous mountain range blanketed in gleaming white snow.
The inside of the mountain had long since been hollowed out and converted into a vast underground base. Soldiers in black combat uniforms stood guard throughout the facility.
The base was brightly lit and bustling with activity.
Machines thundered as production lines ran at full speed. Countless people hurried back and forth, each with their head lowered and their expression focused.
From east to west and from the southern wall to the northern wall, countless conveyor belts carried packaged boxes of every color. Workers stood on either side, repeating the same motions over and over: inspect, seal, move.
“Rumble–”
A massive alloy door slowly opened. Bone-chilling wind poured inside, and the thunder of helicopter and drone rotors instantly filled the cavern.
The black-clad soldiers inside immediately raised their hands in salute, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Several large transport aircraft roared into view from behind the mountain. They flew so low that the numbers on their fuselages were clearly visible. They had come from the north and were heading south.
Everyone here knew that once the aircraft arrived, it was time to load the boxes.
“Thirty minutes left!” someone shouted at the top of their lungs. Most of the cry was drowned out by the roar of the machinery, but the people nearby heard it.
A few looked up at the enormous clock on the wall, then lowered their heads again and continued carefully inspecting every box in their hands.
No one knew whose hands those boxes would ultimately fall into.
Perhaps someone hiding among the ruins. Perhaps several families crammed into a basement. Perhaps a group making its way north. Or perhaps a horde of… Madmen.
“Twenty minutes!” someone shouted again. This time, no one looked up. Their hands simply moved faster.
A little faster meant one more box loaded. And one more box might mean one more life saved.
“Fifteen minutes.”
The machines continued to roar.
Warm light fell across the workers’ faces, one after another. Some were young, some older; some were men, others women. Exhaustion was etched across every face, yet hope burned in their eyes.
They stopped inspecting the boxes one by one and began methodically loading the stacks into place.
“One minute.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing. They stared at the enormous opening leading to the outside world, their eyes filled with hope, tension, and silent prayers.
“May everyone be safe.” A woman suddenly burst into tears.
“Ding.”
The hands of the clock on the wall reached the designated position exactly on schedule.
Everyone sprang into motion once more, silently and resolutely pushing the boxes outside. The conveyor belts resumed turning, and the machines continued to roar.
One after another, helicopters and drones laden with the heavy weight of hope streamed through the enormous opening and plunged into the wind and snow.
They had set out.
Carrying the hopes of countless people, they flew toward that land where despair and hope for survival existed side by side.