Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

As he spoke, with a touch of bittersweet humor, he patted his chest forcefully and exclaimed, "At this moment, I have to sincerely say, youth is fucking wonderful!"

His seemingly lighthearted banter revealed the cruelest reality. Xie Yingtang, listening from the side, couldn't help but let out a low, slightly breathy laugh, and shook his head. "You're so cheeky. Save your energy for walking. Stop talking nonsense."

He looked up at the seemingly endless road ahead and the army that was still marching at a steady pace, and said in a calm tone, "I suspect we'll have to march for another day before we can get their order to rest."

"What?!"

"Don't jinx it!!"

Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Xiao turned to look at him almost simultaneously in shock, their faces filled with the despair of "Don't scare me!" They both gasped in unison! Another day of marching? That meant more than thirty hours of forced marching! Just thinking about it made their legs start to tremble uncontrollably.

Xie Yingtang ignored their wails and silently adjusted the shoulder straps of his backpack. His prediction was based on his observation of the army's behavior—such a forced march at all costs must have its urgent reasons, and these survivors who depended on it had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep up.

The team walked for another six hours on the dusty road. Under the scorching sun, everyone's physical strength was pushed to the limit. Their steps became heavier and their breathing became more labored. There was almost no human voice in the team, only the mechanical footsteps and heavy panting.

Just as many people's eyes began to glaze over and they were almost taking steps on instinct, a sound that finally cheered them up finally came from ahead.

Someone with an electronic megaphone shouted along the edge of the convoy, the voice echoing in the dry air, "Attention everyone! Three-hour rest! Depart on time in three hours! Repeat, three-hour rest!"

The sound was like heavenly music.

"Finally..." Wang Xiao almost groaned out the two words, feeling his taut knees buckle and almost kneel down.

Although Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Yingtang did not make a sound, their tense jawlines relaxed instantly, and they let out a long, silent sigh of relief. They were too tired; this high-intensity continuous march had drained the last bit of energy from their bodies.

Without any hesitation or bothering to find a more comfortable or secluded spot, Xu Xiaoyan stopped right there. She even skipped the process of sitting down, relying on inertia to slowly slide onto the dusty ground.

Using her backpack as cover, Xu Xiaoyan took out her watch. Her fingers trembled, but she accurately began to adjust the alarm clock function, setting a three-hour countdown. After doing this only thing that still had a bit of "planning" in it, she seemed to have used up her last bit of strength and could no longer hold on. She didn't care whether the ground was dirty or whether the position was comfortable. Her body tilted and she lay down on her side, curled up, and almost instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Xie Yingtang and Wang Xiao were slightly better off, still retaining the last shred of their instinct to cooperate. The two of them forced their heavy eyelids open and silently gathered the three backpacks together, stacking them up to form a simple obstacle that could be leaned against and also serve as a warning. Then, they sat down on either side of the backpacks, and almost immediately fell back down and closed their eyes.

There was no communication, and they didn't even have the strength to adjust their sleeping positions. Restoring their strength was the most important thing at the moment. As for danger... they were too weak to think about it and could only temporarily entrust their safety to this rest area designated by the army.

Xu Xiaoyan suddenly woke up with a start, not knowing how long she had slept. She immediately took out her watch to check the time. Fortunately, she had only slept for two hours, and there was still an hour before she had to leave.

She sat up, her body stiffening slightly. She rubbed her sore eyes, and as her vision gradually cleared, her eyes immediately fell on the backpack containing her important supplies. Fortunately, the three backpacks were stacked together, and one side of her backpack was pinned down by Wang Xiao, who was fast asleep with half his cheek pressed against the ground.

Xu Xiaoyan thought about how she would have to find out what was going on later. Without the backpack as cover, it would be inconvenient to take many things out of her space, and it would also easily arouse suspicion. Looking at Wang Xiao's defenseless appearance and deep sleep, she really felt a little reluctant, but time waits for no one, and this might be the only chance.

She gritted her teeth, reached out and gently pushed Wang Xiao's shoulder, her voice extremely low, "Wang Xiao, wake up, move a little."

Wang Xiao made a muffled gurgling sound in his throat, his eyelids struggling to open a crack, his eyes unfocused and confused, completely unaware of the situation.

Xu Xiaoyan sighed inwardly, leaned close to his ear, and quickly explained in a whisper, "I need to grab my backpack and go find someone to ask about the situation. You can continue sleeping, just move your body a little."

Perhaps it was the words "keep sleeping" that played a key role. Wang Xiao's chaotic brain caught this core instruction. Like a sleepwalker, he drowsily and somewhat unwillingly shifted his body slightly, moving most of his body off the backpack to expose the backpack straps. Immediately, his head tilted to the side, his breathing became heavy and even again, and he fell asleep again in a flash.

Xu Xiaoyan carefully pulled out the creased backpack, neatly slung it over her shoulder, stood up, quickly scanned the temporarily quiet camp, and then walked straight toward the convoy.

Instead of choosing the lead vehicle or the heavily guarded command vehicle, she headed straight for the third-to-last military truck. She chose this truck because she had noticed that when distributing food, it was a portly soldier who looked to be in his forties who was in charge of coordinating and distributing the food to the personnel in the nearby vehicles.

Based on her judgment, this person was likely a squad leader or a group leader in charge of logistics. Such people usually know some things but are not as unapproachable as high-ranking military officers, so communication should be relatively smooth.

At this moment, the scene in the camp was just as she had expected. Because they could take turns resting in the vehicle along the way, the people in the vehicle had relatively good physical strength. During these precious three hours of rest, they did not use all of it to sleep. Instead, a considerable number of people chose to leave the vehicle and disperse to search for food, water or other useful supplies in the surrounding area.

This meant that there weren't many people left near the military vehicle, making it appear much more spacious than the area behind the crowded pedestrians, which gave Xu Xiaoyan an opportunity to approach and talk to them.

She took a deep breath, composed herself, and walked towards the soldier who was leaning against the side of the carriage, looking down at his water bottle.