Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

More than an hour later, the area they had dug out was not large, but the harvest was quite considerable, with a pile of peanuts covered in fresh soil.

Wang Yuming straightened his aching back, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, glanced at the sky, and said wearily, "That's about enough."

"We can't take any more with us, it would only increase our load. The weather is cold now, so these things won't spoil easily. If we eat them sparingly, they'll last us for a while."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded, a smile appearing on her face that was rarely seen in recent days.

They began shaking off the large clumps of dirt from the peanuts, then carefully packed them into empty backpack compartments and any bags they could find.

After packing up, the two did not linger and continued their journey.

After three days of trekking, all I could see were broken walls and rampant weeds.

When Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Yuming finally rounded the collapsed hillside and stepped onto a dilapidated road riddled with longitudinal cracks and a twisted, warped roadbed, they felt as if they had been transported to another world.

This once bustling artery is now eerily silent, with only the sound of the wind remaining.

It was precisely in this deathly silence that the two slowly moving dots in the background stood out starkly.

Wang Yuming immediately gave a hand signal, and the two quickly moved to the side of the road behind the wreckage of an overturned, rusted truck, observing it warily.

There were two figures, one tall and one short, both carrying bulging, heavy-looking bags, walking unsteadily as they struggled northward along the edge of the road.

As they got closer, it became clear that they were two young people, their faces bearing a weariness and world-weariness that belied their age.

Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Yuming exchanged a glance, and after confirming that the other party was not aggressive, they came out from behind the cover.

The sudden appearance of the figure clearly startled the two men. The taller one immediately shielded the shorter one behind him, clenching his fists nervously, his eyes filled with wariness and fear.

"Don't be nervous, we're just passing by," Xu Xiaoyan stopped, trying to keep her voice calm. "Where are you... headed?"

The boy standing in front, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, had chapped lips, and his Adam's apple bobbed before he answered in a hoarse voice:

"Go to Moshi to find our parents." The girl behind him peeked out, her face pale and her eyes timid, clutching her brother's clothes tightly.

"Mo City?" Xu Xiaoyan was slightly taken aback, and exchanged a complicated look with Wang Yuming. It was one of the cities near the northern end.

It is rumored that the area suffered devastating damage in the early stages of the disaster due to its location at the core of the fault zone.

"If I remember correctly, Moshi is one of the northernmost cities, right? Our country is so big, your goal is probably a bit unrealistic."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the two men's worn-out shoes and their unprofessional-looking luggage. "Look at this road."

She pointed to the broken asphalt and the bottomless crevice under her feet, "Cars can't drive through at all. Are you planning to walk across? That's too risky."

The boy's face paled, and he pursed his lips even tighter, but he did not refute.

Xu Xiaoyan softened her tone, "I think you should try to find a military resettlement site or a survivor base first."

They should still have relatively good communication facilities on their end, which might be able to help you find out the current situation in Mo City, and maybe even get in touch with your parents.

She continued, "If the situation in Mo City is still acceptable, there might be a safer way to get there. For you, not to mention how much time it would take, there are just the difficulties you might encounter along the way."

For example, food shortages, water shortages, diseases, and those with ill intentions—I reckon you two siblings would have a hard time dealing with those.

Her words shattered the boy's barely maintained courage; his shoulders slumped, and his sister buried her head even lower, sobbing softly.

The heavy pressure of reality had clearly overwhelmed them, and Xu Xiaoyan's rational yet cruel analysis was nothing more than piercing through the thin veil of self-deception.

After a moment of silence, the boy raised his head, his eyes no longer stubborn, but filled with confusion and a hint of resignation. "You're right, we were too presumptuous."

He tugged at his sister's hand as a gesture of reassurance, then introduced himself in a low voice, "My name is Weng Beiyan, and this is my sister, Weng Nanque."

Perhaps it was because he had been suppressing his feelings for too long, or perhaps it was because these two seemingly calm and reliable people in front of him brought him a sense of illusory security, but the boy opened up a little.

"We've lived with our grandma in our hometown since we were little. Our parents work in Moshi all year round. Grandma didn't make it through the pandemic before the Lunar New Year. We finally finished handling her funeral arrangements and were thinking of going to Moshi to find our parents when spring comes."

Then this damn earthquake struck, everything was in chaos, roads were cut off, and communications were completely lost. We just didn't know what else to do.

His voice choked with emotion, carrying a helplessness beyond his years, while Nan Que's sobs were even more pronounced.

Wang Yuming silently took out a half-full bottle of water from the side pocket of his backpack and handed it over.

Xu Xiaoyan looked at the brother and sister and sighed inwardly, knowing that there would only be more stories like this in the future.

The four ultimately decided to travel together to the northwest.

By the time we arrived at "Zhujia Town" marked on the map, the sun was already setting.

At the entrance to the town, a crooked iron sign bears the three rusted characters "Zhu Family Town," half of which are entangled in vines.

This place is less a town and more a concrete graveyard that has been crushed and abandoned by immense force.

Most of the houses have collapsed, leaving only a few crumbling walls stubbornly standing.

The windows became dark, gaping eye sockets, and the air was thick with dust and some indescribable stench of decay.

Occasionally, you can catch a glimpse of one or two figures quickly retreating behind the broken wall—it's a person!

But before they could even call out or ask anything, the figures vanished without a trace, like startled rabbits, leaving behind only a deeper silence.

"This place is a bit strange. Are we some kind of venomous snakes or ferocious beasts?" Wang Yuming whispered.

Xu Xiaoyan also frowned, warily scanning the overly quiet ruins around her. Weng Beiyan and Weng Nanque huddled together, their faces filled with unease.

Their puzzlement didn't last long. Just as they found a relatively open space that seemed to have been a town square and were about to put down their backpacks to catch their breath, they found a chance to relax.

A series of chaotic footsteps came from the entrance of a side alley.

Six figures walked towards them, the leader being a burly man with a hideous scar on his face.

The men following behind him were all carrying gleaming watermelon knives and spears made of steel bars!

They walked slowly, but their eyes were fixed on the four people. Their gaze was not like that of someone looking at their own kind, but more like that of someone sizing up prey.