Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan squatted behind a dead tree, her fingers gripping the watermelon knife she had just taken out of her spatial storage.

The rain grew heavier, and the chill seeped through her windproof clothing, causing her to shiver slightly.

About five minutes later, the voices grew closer.

She dared not stick her whole head out; she could only turn her face slightly to the side and peek out from the corner of her right eye through the gap at the edge of the dead tree.

Then she saw the figures of three women, large raindrops pelting the striped tarpaulin above their heads.

The tarpaulin was blue and white striped, and the edges were worn and frayed.

The four corners were supported by people's hands, but it was clearly not enough.

Rainwater trickled down the edges of the tarpaulin, forming a small curtain of rain around them.

The three of them had their shoulders and backs soaked through, their clothes clinging tightly to their bodies, their colors changing from light to dark.

They walked slowly, each step seemingly laborious, the mud beneath their feet churning and churning.

Xu Xiaoyan's gaze quickly swept over them. Walking in front was a tall woman with short hair and a slender figure, wearing a dark windbreaker.

She held one corner of the waterproof cloth high above her head, her arm visibly trembling. She had been holding it up for so long that her muscles must have been sore.

She bent slightly over, her eyes scanning her surroundings, as if searching for a place to take shelter from the rain, or perhaps trying to find her way.

The person at the very back was of medium build, with his hair casually tied back with a hair tie, and raindrops dripping down from the ends of his hair.

She kept her head down, her steps unsteady, as if she had walked a long way and was exhausted.

The shortest one in the middle caught Xu Xiaoyan's attention.

The woman in the middle seemed to be holding a walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkie was black, small in size, slightly wider than a palm, and had a short rubber antenna on top.

She held it to her mouth and shouted into the walkie-talkie as she walked, her voice hoarse and urgent, filled with obvious anxiety and exhaustion.

With her other hand, she gripped the walkie-talkie tightly, rainwater streaming down her arm and soaking the casing.

She shouted as she walked, her voice piercing through the rain and reaching Xu Xiaoyan's ears clearly: "Forget about directions, we can't even tell which way is which! What are we going to do now?!"

There seemed to be someone speaking on the other end of the walkie-talkie, but because of the distance, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't hear what was being said.

After listening, the short woman put the walkie-talkie down from her ear and let it hang by her side. She stood there with her head down for a few seconds, her shoulders trembling slightly, as if she was either crying or panting.

Then she looked up again and continued walking forward, her steps even slower than before.

Xu Xiaoyan crouched behind the withered tree and watched all of this unfold.

Three women, unarmed and disoriented, trudged through the torrential rain without even a waterproof cloth to cover their entire bodies. For the time being, they posed no threat.

Xu Xiaoyan simply continued to crouch behind the withered tree, watching through the narrow gap as the three figures slowly walked out of her sight and into the depths of the rain.

Xu Xiaoyan crouched behind the withered tree until the three figures completely disappeared before slowly letting out a sigh of relief.

She didn't rush to stand up. Instead, she first put the watermelon knife back into her storage space and then stretched her knees, which had gone numb from squatting.

Rainwater streamed down the trunk of the dead tree, forming a thin muddy trail at her feet.

She shifted her feet to avoid the puddle of mud, then raised her wrist and tapped the screen of her watch.

The watch screen emitted a faint glow.

She zoomed out on the map with her finger and checked her current location, which was still two kilometers away from the planned blue path.

Then, following the direction the three women had left, she traced an arc to the southwest on the screen with her finger, carefully observing the mountain range in that area.

Thanks to the contour map, she quickly understood the terrain of that area.

A series of winding contour lines extend from low to high, with the numbers marking the altitude slowly climbing.

If they stay on course, there will be a mountain about 2800 meters high at a straight-line distance of approximately 58 kilometers.

The mountain's name was very small on the map, and she squinted at it for a long time but still couldn't make it out.

All you could see were concentric contour lines that converged densely at the top of the mountain, forming a steep, conical outline.

At 2800 meters, although it's not as high as the Cloud Peak she's aiming for, it's still considered a very tall mountain in this area, at least much higher than the surrounding terrain.

She looked further into the distance; there were mountains in other directions, but they were farther away.

There is one to the east, about 70 kilometers away as the crow flies.

It's even further to the north, more than a hundred kilometers away.

In the face of torrential rain, muddy roads, and extremely low visibility, the difference between 58 kilometers and 70 or 80 kilometers could be the difference between "being able to reach it alive" and "not being able to reach it at all."

Xu Xiaoyan sighed silently, and could only wish them good luck. It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but that she didn't know how.

Should I rush out and tell them, "You're going the wrong way?"

and then?

They would ask, "Who are you?" "How do you know?" "Why are you here all alone?" "Where are you going?"

One question after another, and eventually all her secrets will be exposed; she can't take that risk.

She was a complete stranger to them, didn't know their background, whether they were good or bad people, or whether they had any accomplices behind them.

In this world, kindness is a luxury, not something that just anyone can afford. All she could do was silently bless them in her heart.

May they find that direction, may they live to reach the foot of that mountain, and may they find shelter in the torrential rain.

As for the rest, there was nothing she could do.

Xu Xiaoyan stomped her feet twice, re-identified her direction, and continued walking towards the predetermined northwest.

The green dot on her watch moved slowly before her eyes as she swerved diagonally northwest along the lakeside highlands, trying to get back to the blue path as quickly as possible.

The road underfoot was still muddy and difficult to walk on, but it was much better than the section by the lake. At least in some places you could step on gravel and grass roots, so you didn't have to sink into the mud with every step.

She walked slowly but steadily, making sure each step was firm before moving on to the next.

The deep treads of the rain boots left clear marks on the muddy ground, but these marks were quickly washed away by the rain.

She kept her head down, staring at the road beneath her feet, her mind still racing with thoughts of the three women. Where did they come from? Why were they heading in that direction? Who was on the other end of the walkie-talkie?

Did they know there was a mountain ahead? Did they have enough food and water? They—

As a result, before she had walked two kilometers, she heard a familiar sound coming from her left rear.

The sound was a little blurry through the rain, but she had just heard that tone, that voice, that hoarse yet high-pitched tone—she couldn't possibly mistake it.