Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

In the distance, the city's silhouette appeared even lower, and the smog almost completely obscured the sky, bringing an early dusk.

The young soldier slowly stood up, dusted himself off, and glanced at the desolate city skyline before looking at the people lying prostrate around him, their eyes filled with nothing but fear and despair.

His lips were pressed tightly together, and his eyes, which had once held a hint of childishness, now held only a heavy, almost suffocating sense of powerlessness.

The voices urging them to go to the rescue completely disappeared. Everyone understood that the rescue work had become extremely difficult, and even... the hope was slim.

They not only had to face more complex and dangerous ruins, but also had to be constantly wary of the raging beast beneath their feet that might awaken again at any moment.

Xu Xiaoyan slowly got up, brushed off the grass clippings and dirt clinging to her body, and instead of moving with the crowd, she subconsciously looked in the direction of her small truck.

Through the crooked railings at the edge of the park and the swirling dust, she saw her gray pickup truck.

It remained there, but compared to its previous position, it had clearly been pushed several meters by the force of the earthquake, with the rear of the car tilted to one side, and there were several fresh tire tracks on the ground next to it.

Fortunately, the car body still looks intact, with no obvious dents or damage, and the windows are also undamaged.

Xu Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief. This still-movable car was her most important asset and her only way out.

Her gaze shifted from the truck to the park exit, where some survivors seemed oblivious to the soldiers' desperate pleas, walking numbly and haltingly toward their ruined homes.

Some people didn't even bring any tools; they just walked empty-handed, stepping through the cracks in the ground and the scattered bricks and stones. Their goal was terrifyingly clear: the home buried under tons of concrete and their relatives whose fate was unknown.

The soldiers tried to stop them, but the men seemed not to hear them, stubbornly and silently bypassing them and continuing on their way.

The arm that had been trying to dissuade them eventually fell limply to its side. The soldier's face was filled with helplessness and pity. They understood the despair, but could not condone this near-suicidal behavior.

Xu Xiaoyan watched all this in silence. She understood how those people felt. With their loved ones trapped, every minute and every second was torture. Waiting for the official investigation to arrive at an unknown time was tantamount to being slowly tortured.

But she knew even more clearly that the gold market was now a trap fraught with danger. Not to mention the aftershocks that could occur at any time, the seemingly static ruins were extremely unstable, with a very high risk of secondary collapse. Broken gas pipes could leak or explode, and exposed electrical wires were like invisible venomous snakes...

Not to mention, in dire circumstances, the evil in human nature may fester even faster. Their journey there is more likely not to provide aid, but to head towards another tragedy, or even to become the ones in need of aid, only adding to the chaos.

Xu Xiaoyan has a vague sense of alienation from collective honor, which stems from her childhood and adolescence spent at the Xuancheng Sunshine Welfare Home.

In the first ten years of her life, the image of the old dean, Chen Mama, was almost synonymous with "warmth" itself.

She remembered that Dean Chen would use his slightly rough but incredibly gentle hands to wipe the dirt off the children's faces.

On cold winter nights, they would quietly cover them with an extra layer of clean, soft, patched cotton quilt.

On each child's birthday, she would magically produce a small, sweet fruit hard candy that could be sipped for a long time.

The first thing Dean Chen taught them was to remember this kindness and to strive to repay society and the country for the nurturing they received when they grew up.

Little Xu Xiaoyan firmly believed this. She studied hard, dreaming of finding a job after graduation, and that she would use her first month's salary to buy Dean Chen the best pair of woolen gloves.

However, all the warmth and anticipation came to an abrupt end when she was eleven years old.

A factional struggle that she couldn't understand at all resulted in Chen's mother being pulled down without warning and falsely accused of several crimes. The strong-willed Chen's mother resigned in anger.

On a gloomy morning, carrying only an old cloth bag, she left the place where she had dedicated half her life without looking back.

Xu Xiaoyan clung to the rusty iron gate of the orphanage and watched a resolute yet weary figure disappear into the alleyway.

The new director, surnamed Wang, had a shiny face and a friendly smile. He was even more kind and caring than Chen's mother when facing inspections from superiors or donations from kind-hearted people. But once the doors of the welfare home were closed, he tore off all pretenses.

Most of the living allowances and education funds allocated by the state to the children, as well as the funds and materials donated by society, ended up in his private pocket.

The children's meals became bland and watery, the heating was always insufficient in winter, and they were always dressed in rags.

That wasn't enough; all the older children were forced to "work" in nearby illegal workshops during their free time.

They call it "social practice" or "work-study program," but in reality, they are doing the dirtiest and most tiring jobs, with meager pay.

Most of the money was taken away by Dean Wang under the guise of "management fees" and "meal fees." If anyone complained or resisted, they would be punished with food deductions or, in severe cases, solitary confinement or corporal punishment.

Dean Wang often said, "Giving you a bite to eat is an immense favor from the country, don't be ungrateful!" Hope is like weeds that are repeatedly trampled.

Xu Xiaoyan was lucky to meet a couple who were willing to adopt an older child, giving her the opportunity to go to university.

The other children in the orphanage were not as lucky as her. They were tormented for several years until Director Wang was caught being corrupt and imprisoned after someone gathered evidence against him.

The newly appointed dean is quite good; he tries his best to provide them with warmth and support.

But the damage done over the years has already been done. The simplest gratitude they should have felt for the country and society has long been worn away by the cruel reality, replaced by a deep-seated vigilance and indifference.

Xu Xiaoyan silently watched the figures rushing towards the ruins, her face expressionless.

She could understand the despair, but she couldn't understand this act of "going to one's death"!

The chaos following the earthquake had not yet subsided, and the park was filled with dust and an atmosphere of despair.

About two hours later, a series of hurried and orderly footsteps were heard, and a small team of about ten soldiers ran into the park's temporary shelter.

They had clearly been on a grueling march; their uniforms were covered in mud, their faces showed exhaustion, but their eyes remained sharp, and their movements remained disciplined.