Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 203 Already prepared
The three of them were only separated for a little over twenty hours, which is a full day and a minute, but so many unexpected things happened during that time that they all felt like they had been reunited after a disaster.

Although the two men were emotional, they were still able to control their emotions. However, women are very emotional creatures. Jiang Yuwei was so overwhelmed with emotion that she took the initiative to hug Ou Yang.

Once she calmed down, she felt a little embarrassed and wanted to ask Ouyang about what had happened, but now was not the time, so she could only keep her thoughts to herself.

Zhu Yiming is the same.

The other Americans didn't pay much attention to the three Asian faces; they were more concerned with how to get out of this godforsaken place.

Everyone quickly realized that all exit routes were blocked, and a sense of impending doom filled them with apprehension.

Humans are very contradictory beings. If external channels are unobstructed, trapped immune individuals may not have the desire to leave.

When unable to leave, everyone's first thought is how to get out, without ever considering why they need to leave in the first place.

A group of people gathered at the completely sealed riot control door, arguing loudly about how to open it.

Some suggested cracking the code, others suggested smashing it open with something, and still others suggested creating an explosive device to blow it open—each person had their own unique approach.

Ou Yang was so embarrassed he almost had a stroke, and couldn't help but remind him, "If the door won't open, can't we just use the window?"

The heated argument stopped instantly.

The group quickly found a window on the second floor. Ouyang opened the window, and a cold wind immediately blew in, carrying with it heavy snow.

The window was only a little over two meters above the ground, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow. With just one leap, one could escape the cage and regain freedom.

However, the open space outside the warehouse was filled with wandering infected people, leaving the three of them stunned.

Ferguson, who was waiting behind, couldn't help but shout, "Hey, should I go out first?"

Ou Yang and the others looked at each other strangely and stepped aside to make way.

Ferguson immediately went to the window, and when he saw the wandering infected, he froze: "Actually, I'm not in such a hurry, hehe, hehehehe..."

"There must be a problem with Warehouse Number One." Although Ou Yang couldn't see the situation in the other buildings, he could tell from the infected people's tattered clothes that they had absolutely nothing to do with the isolation ward.

"How did you know?" Zhu Yiming asked curiously.

Ou Yang briefly explained his experience, and everyone immediately understood.

Just then, a low hum of an engine suddenly came from the wind and snow. The group of people stared wide-eyed into the distance, but could only see pitch black.

Ouyang shouted, "Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!"

The lights were turned off, and even the doors were closed. Everyone immediately saw the outline of an airplane gradually accelerating through the snowstorm in the distance.

However, they hadn't gone far when the right engine of the plane suddenly exploded, the wing broke off on the spot, and the fire spread rapidly, turning the perfectly good plane into a pile of charred wreckage in no time.

Warehouse No. 2.

The doctor, who also witnessed this scene, had a gloomy look in his eyes. He was very annoyed to find that all the guards left outside the warehouse had lost contact.

With so many infected people, the missing guards are likely in grave danger.

The wind and snow were fierce at that moment. If he had arrived any earlier, he could not only have seen the infected, but also witnessed them hunting down the guards.

But the snow was so heavy that it covered the bloodstains in just a few moments.

The doctor's thoughts were in a state of extreme confusion.

Tonight, there was originally only one small accident that could have been easily resolved, but the series of accidents that occurred one after another were like an invisible hand, constantly pushing the situation into an uncontrollable abyss.

This gave the doctoral student a bad feeling, as he felt the situation was about to get out of control and the infection was getting stronger.

In just a moment, the doctor made up his mind and whispered into a phone call: "Brick, it's Lorraine!"

"I am listening!"

The doctor succinctly stated: "Something's not right. Get ready immediately."

"clear."

The conversation was simple, but Brick knew what he had to do.

William was employed by the group and his relationship with the doctor was merely that of colleagues; their friendship was not as harmonious as it appeared on the surface.

Brick was the doctor's true confidant. As soon as he arrived at the base, he placed Brick in a position that wasn't particularly important, but he was in charge of aircraft allocation and could arrange transportation for the doctor to leave the base at any time.

This can be considered a backup plan that the PhD student left for himself.

To hell with all those corporations and VIPs! What could be more important than my own safety? Besides, after I leave, what happens is entirely up to the doctor.
According to the doctor's plan, he only needed to take Brick and the necessary staff, and travel in a small regional plane.

However, two planes had already crashed tonight, and the doctor believed this was definitely not a coincidence. To be on the safe side, he decisively abandoned the regional jet and opted to take a helicopter instead.

However, there were infected people outside, so there was no way to leave for the time being. Moreover, the doctor still held onto a last glimmer of hope for the situation. He gritted his teeth and decided to hold on for a while longer until reinforcements arrived before making a decision.

It wasn't easy to climb to this position, and the professor was unwilling to give up so easily.

The wind and snow continued, and the infected person was quickly taken away by the cold of the winter night, leaving large areas of frostbite on the exposed skin, which then developed into blisters.

Infected individuals with hypothermia removed their thin outer clothing and collapsed to the ground one after another, smiling as they faced death.

From then on, there was no longer any buffer between the warehouses.

However, neither the guards in Warehouse 2 and Warehouse 3 nor the immune individuals in Warehouse 4 had any intention of going out to cause trouble in the wind and snow.

Ouyang has a very clear understanding of the current situation.

Although the immune cells occupied four warehouses, this result was the result of the interaction of multiple factors, and not because the immune cells themselves were particularly powerful.

On the contrary, the total number of immune individuals is only a hundred, and some of them still believe that this place is an official shelter and are unaware of their own situation.

In the critical moment, everyone had to work together to fight against the guards.

Now that the crisis is over, everyone has their own thoughts and is starting to make their own plans.

Some people wanted to take over the place, eliminate the guards, and settle down; some wanted to leave as soon as possible to avoid unpredictable dangers; and some thought they had seen through everything and were indifferent, so it didn't matter what happened.

At first, it was just a thought in their minds, but before long they began to connect with each other. Whether they were strangers or acquaintances, they all gradually came together for a common purpose, forming several interest groups of varying sizes.

It's really baffling that a group of just over a hundred people are divided into several factions.

It's not that the Americans aren't wise; both sides believe that the immune population must unite and fight together to achieve final victory... Well, of course, that's not what they say, but that's the gist of it.

Then there are the special infected led by Andrew, whose only thought is revenge.

Guards, doctors, and nurses were all targets of their revenge.

In short, the four warehouses were leaderless and in a state of chaos at this point.

Like in American dramas, someone steps forward, radiates protagonist aura, commands widespread support, and completely crushes the opponent?

Stop joking. There are plenty of Americans who think they're the main character, but few are willing to take orders. Pam and Ferguson secretly encouraged Ouyang, hoping he would step forward and give the order.

Ouyang refused without hesitation.

This is the United States, where subtle discrimination is everywhere. Although most Americans are relatively friendly to his Asian face, it doesn't mean they are willing to accept Ouyang's command.

These are two completely different things.

Ou Yang had no interest in getting involved in Lao Mi's affairs, so he pulled Zhu and Jiang aside and hid in a corner to discuss what to do next.

One option is to leave, and the other is to stay.

It's only early February now. Temperatures will rise in March, warm up slightly in April, and spring will arrive in May.

From an environmental perspective, the choice should be to stay.

Such a large black market for organs must be backed by a very powerful force. Although the immune individuals occupy four warehouses, with our current strength, we are definitely no match for the enemy.

Moreover, there is a lack of unity among those who are immune.

Therefore, it's best to leave as soon as possible!

Thinking about this, Ouyang was filled with regret. Why did he destroy all the planes' engines? He could have at least left one alive.

On second thought, even if the plane hadn't been destroyed, he wouldn't have flown it, so there was really no need to blame himself.

"Let's hurry up and collect supplies while we still have time!" Ouyang said.

He doesn't have that long-term vision; he can't see the distant future. It's more important to solve the immediate problems first.

"Yes, everything else is nonsense, collecting more useful things is what's important!" Zhu Yiming said.

There was no need for reminders; many American soldiers realized this. Even before Warehouse 4 was sealed off, some American soldiers had already stripped the guards naked and happily put the clothes on themselves.

Weapons are in high demand.

Ouyang never intended to compete with Lao Mi from the beginning; instead, he found the locker room based on his memory of when he arrived.

The outdoor temperature is minus ten or twenty degrees Celsius, while the indoor temperature is warm as spring, with a temperature difference of forty degrees Celsius. Whether it is a guard, a doctor, or a nurse, everyone needs to change into a thinner set of clothes before entering the room.

Ouyang understood this best. He had been wearing the full winter combat uniform for so long that he was already sweating profusely, but he preferred to keep wearing the uniform rather than take off a piece of it.

Nothing else, in this freezing weather, a combat suit with excellent insulation can be a lifesaver in a critical moment!
As expected, prying open the wardrobe in the changing room revealed it was full of various winter clothes.

Zhu Yiming and Jiang Yuwei couldn't help but let out a soft gasp of surprise.

With this gear, you can hike for hours in the cold wind without any problem.

As for whether it's secondhand or not, who cares right now?

Ouyang quickly made a shushing gesture: "Change into it quickly!"

The two of them didn't have time to think about anything else and quickly changed into full sets of warm clothes, even finding two pairs of shoes.

They were wearing the uniforms that had been issued to them upon arrival, which they could only wear inside the warehouse; they shouldn't even think about going outside.

But Ouyang frowned: "Should we find some strips of cloth to tie around our arms?"

Zhu Yiming and Jiang Yuwei exchanged a glance, both noticing the confusion in each other's eyes: "What's wrong?"

Ouyang: "Wearing this makes me look too much like a guard. What if Old Mi misunderstands and I get shot in the back?"

His first thought was actually to refer to the Iron Army's practice of uniformly tying white towels to their arms. However, whether or not there were white towels was not the main point. The key was that since the clothes were mainly white, it would not be easy to tell even if they were tied up. So he changed it to tying cloth strips.

Jiang Yuwei disagreed: "Isn't that necessary? Old Mi even wore clothes taken from the dead, and they were the same color, weren't they?"

“They are them, and we are us.” Ouyang drew a clear line. “Whether Lao Mi gets into trouble or not has nothing to do with us. The key is that we can’t take any risks ourselves.”

"But shouldn't we get Lao Mi to help tie the cloth strips too?" Zhu Yiming said. "Would Lao Mi agree to that?"

His gaze fell on the cabinets that hadn't been pried open yet, wondering if he could find some different clothes.

Ou Yang thought for a moment, then suddenly took off his coat, turned it inside out, and put it on: "Let's wear it inside out!"

This suggestion immediately won the approval of Zhu and Jiang.

Combat uniforms are not reversible. The fabric is not only windproof but also waterproof, but the lining doesn't have as many functions. Wearing it inside out will definitely reduce its cold protection.

But there's no better way right now, so wearing it backwards is the simplest method for the time being.

The three of them did not stop, but opened all the remaining cabinets and took everything useful.

For example, a backpack.

For example, goggles.

There are also small gadgets like lighters.

Jiang Yuwei was lucky; she even found a handgun in the cabinet.

Zhu Yiming also found a military knife.

After looting, Ouyang called over the other old Americans and gave away the clothes that the three of them no longer needed as a favor, which greatly boosted his goodwill.

What's frustrating is that only a small percentage of people agree with the suggestion to wear it backwards.

While everyone was dividing up the clothes, Ouyang and the others began searching for food and water.

Instead of food, they found a lot of soft-packaged glucose injection solutions.

Ouyang stuffed a lot into the only backpack, and the three of them carried some more with them, which temporarily solved the most pressing problem of hunger and thirst.

"No, there should be food here!" Zhu Yiming bit into a bag and drank heartily. "With hundreds of immune individuals and so many guards, it's impossible that there's no food at all."

"It's hard to say," Ou Yang said, offering a different perspective.

There are only a few people in Ward 4. Wards 2 and 3 are full of patients, their families, and so many medical staff. A little bit of food that just leaks out of their mouths would be enough to feed more than 100 people. Why do we have to store food in Ward 4?
Conversely, not stockpiling is the most reasonable approach.

It's a bit of a hassle, but it's safe!
In the end, none of the three found anything to eat.

Some of the old rice was found in small quantities, but it was scattered and not much. It might fill one person's stomach, but it would definitely not be enough for two people.

In comparison, having glucose to drink is already quite a feat, but a full stomach is easily disturbed, and the water in the stomach moves around as soon as you move around.

Some Americans disregarded all consequences, even drinking sodium chloride injection as if it were sugar water. Others sought solace in alcohol, guzzling down medical alcohol until they were completely unconscious.

The variety is truly diverse and varied.

(End of this chapter)