Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Thick smoke, carried by the wind from the small fan, along with the acrid smell of burning rat carcasses and grease, spread like poisonous gas towards the rat swarm.

Rats have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and an innate fear of fire and thick smoke.

Under the combined assault of the scorching fire and thick smoke, the rats' offensive momentum was abruptly halted. After an unknown amount of time, it seemed as if the rats had moved further away.

She held her breath and listened intently; the suffocating rustling sound had indeed turned in another direction.

But fearing the rats might turn back, she kept throwing dry branches into the fire to keep it burning.

Xu Xiaoyan stared at the door panel at the entrance of her cave, which was now covered with charred marks and torn strips of cloth, with several holes even being gnawed out of the edges.

She cautiously peered through the holes, and what she saw was no longer the familiar, dimly lit passage, but a vast expanse of white.

That wasn't snow, but some kind of mixture of ashes from burning.

The air was filled with an indescribable, complex odor: a strong smell of burning, the stench of burnt fur, and a faint hint of blood.

But even more piercing than the sight and smell were the sounds coming from all around outside the door:

"Help me... Someone please help me, I've been bitten... It hurts so much!" The woman's hoarse pleas were intermittent, accompanied by painful groans.

"Gone! All gone! All the food I've been saving for so long! Those damned rats! They even gnawed through the wood!" Another voice, filled with despair and rage, was almost a roar.

"Mommy...I'm scared...Will the mice come again?" The child's cries were weak yet sharp, piercing the heart like needles.

More chaotic, indistinct shouts, cries, and curses echoed through the narrow, confined cave, assaulting the psychological defenses of every survivor.

Xu Xiaoyan's gaze swept over the pile of firewood in the corner, which was noticeably shorter than before, and her heart sank. She had burned a lot of stored firewood in order to create a wall of fire and thick smoke!

Before, looking at the pile of firewood, she felt a rare sense of security, thinking that at least in this cold weather, the heating problem was temporarily solved. But now, reality has dealt her a heavy blow.

In such an environment where every day is uncertain and full of crises, how can one truly "sleep soundly without worry"?

Any unexpected event could instantly deplete her supposedly abundant reserves; the rat infestation is just one example. What about the future?

Could there be something even more terrifying?

Or is it simply a matter of the cold lasting longer?

Xu Xiaoyan didn't dare to think about it any further!

The rat infestation has temporarily subsided, but the mess it left behind is only just beginning to show, and the cries of the injured foreshadow a possible plague.

The destruction of survivors' supplies means the struggle may become even more intense.

As for herself, not only did she lose firewood, but the broken door to the cave also needed to be repaired as soon as possible, otherwise she would feel completely unsafe the next night.

Once the pile of firewood used to create the thick smoke inside the door had completely burned out, Xu Xiaoyan took off her smoke mask, gripped the watermelon knife, and carefully opened the battered door panel.

The door hinges creaked painfully, and a stronger, more complex, and pungent odor than what she smelled inside wafted out, causing her to gag.

What appeared before them was no longer the dimly lit but relatively tidy passage of the past, but a shocking mess.

As far as the eye could see, most of the cave entrances were either open or, more accurately, "disappeared."

The entrances, which were barely covered by ordinary wooden planks or even miscellaneous items, have been almost completely gnawed away, leaving only scattered fragments and jagged wood stubble.

Even those few doors that still managed to stand were riddled with holes and in a terrible state, clearly unable to withstand the onslaught of rats.

In contrast, her door panel was made of thick wood and reinforced with collected cement in key areas.

Although it was covered with deep teeth marks and claw marks, and the edges were gnawed with many holes, the overall frame structure was miraculously preserved.

Xu Xiaoyan suppressed her lingering fear and cautiously peered out to make sure there were no rats around before going out.

She looked toward the cave to her right, where the commotion was coming from, and saw that the situation there was quite chaotic.

The firewood piled up at the entrance of the cave was scattered and in disarray. The ground was wet, mixed with mud, dark red bloodstains, and countless dead rats and fragments of their internal organs, making it almost impossible to step on.

What made her pupils shrink even more was that Chen Yong and the others were fighting the remaining rats in an almost frenzied manner.

Each of them covered their mouths and noses with rags, wrapped their hands with strips of cloth of various materials, and swung thick wooden sticks, smashing them with all their might at any rats that were still moving on the ground or walls.

"Bang! Bang! Splat!" The sounds of hitting, cursing, and the dying squeals of rats mingled together.

Xu Xiaoyan noticed that there were a lot of spiky chestnut shells scattered near their cave entrance, obviously used in the chaos to throw or try to stop the rats.

At this moment, these chestnuts also became part of the battlefield. Some rats were squeaked and slowed down by the sharp thorns on the chestnut shells, and were then beaten to death with sticks.

Some rats were trampled over and turned into a bloody mess in the mud and chestnut thorns.

Some of the more agile rats were fleeing in terror from this killing field.

Chen Yong smashed a rat that was trying to climb onto his trouser leg into a pulp with another blow before straightening up, panting heavily.

He wiped his sweat, turned around and saw Xu Xiaoyan looking inside, so he greeted her from a distance, "Little sister Xu! Are you alright? How's it going in the cave?"

Xu Xiaoyan raised her voice and replied, "I'm fine! I kept the fire burning, so the rats didn't get in, and everything in the cave is okay."

She paused, her tone filled with obvious regret, "It's just that the firewood was used up too quickly, and most of it was burned."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yong glanced at the door at Xu Xiaoyan's cave entrance, which was covered in teeth marks but structurally intact, and then compared it with the devastating state of his own side, which had been almost completely devoured. A hint of envy flashed in his eyes.

He waved his hand, trying to comfort him, "It's a blessing that no one is hurt! We can always make more firewood. It's cold today, but not cold enough to freeze someone to death."

"After we clean up this mess, if you're worried about your safety going alone, I'll go with you up the mountain to gather firewood! There are plenty of dead branches and leaves there!"

His suggestion was well-intentioned, but Xu Xiaoyan's mind was completely gripped by a deeper fear.

She frowned deeply as she listened to the intermittent groans and cries for help from the bitten victims coming from the various caves.