Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Xu Xiaoyan's heart sank.

Wang Yuming had already quickly thrown his backpack in front of him and assumed a defensive stance; however, before they could fully react...

Suddenly, Weng Beiyan grabbed her younger sister Weng Nanque's wrist, her voice hoarse with extreme fear, and shouted, "Run! Follow me! Don't stop!!!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already grabbed his sister and dashed off like an arrow in the opposite direction from the group!

Although Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Yuming were unaware of what was going on, Weng Beiyan's instinctive fear was undeniable, and without hesitation, they immediately turned around and followed.

Seeing them flee, the group behind them immediately let out a series of indistinct shouts and quickened their pace in pursuit.

They were clearly very familiar with the terrain of the ruins; their footsteps echoed among the broken walls and rubble, relentlessly pursuing them.

The four of them ran through the rubble with all their might, their lungs aching as if they were about to explode.

As Xu Xiaoyan ran, panting, she asked Weng Beiyan ahead, "What's going on?! Who are they?!"

Weng Beiyan didn't look back, her voice breaking as she ran, tinged with sobs and immense fear:

"Their eyes are so similar to those of those people! Nan Que and I once hid in a village at night and witnessed several people with knives and sticks beating two children hiding in the corner of a house to death, then they lit a fire and ate them!"

"This is impossible!" Upon hearing this, Wang Yuming staggered, almost unable to believe his ears. "How long has it been? And someone dares to eat human flesh?! Where is the law? Where are the police and the army?!"

Weng Beiyan's voice was filled with despair and bitterness: "Law? Since the earthquake, my sister and I have never seen a policeman or a soldier! Not everyone is lucky enough to run into the military!"

We've survived this long by scavenging through garbage dumps, picking up things others didn't want, and even scraping things off the dead!

His words were like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing any remaining illusions of order in Xu Xiaoyan and Wang Yuming's hearts.

The shouts and chaotic footsteps behind me were like maggots clinging to my bones, relentlessly pursuing me.

The six men wielding sharp weapons were clearly in good physical condition and knew the ruins like the back of their hand, using broken walls and obstacles to continuously shorten the distance.

Fear gripped everyone's heart, especially Weng Nanque, who was breathing rapidly and was almost being dragged forward by her brother.

"We can't keep running in a straight line! They know the terrain better than we do!" Wang Yuming yelled, his eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings. He noticed a narrow alleyway on his right, piled high with construction debris. "Turn right! Go into the alley!"

The four of them plunged into the narrow alley, which was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time, with dilapidated high walls on both sides.

While this limited the speed, it also effectively blocked the pursuers' line of sight, temporarily interrupting their direct pursuit route.

"Northern geese, southern sparrows, stay close to me!" Xu Xiaoyan shouted, while Wang Yuming ran and kicked over the old furniture and bamboo baskets piled up in the alley, trying to create more obstacles.

The pursuers were clearly enraged, and their shouts became even more ferocious.

They chased into the alley, inevitably slowing down as they had to carefully avoid debris on the ground and falling bricks and stones overhead.

"This won't do, they'll catch up soon!" Weng Beiyan gasped for breath, her face drained of color.

In his despair, he suddenly caught sight of a half-collapsed two-story building to his left. The building was tilted, but there was a dark doorway.

"Over there! It looks like there are other houses connected to that building!" This is a gamble; entering an enclosed space might mean cutting off your escape route, but it could also be your only chance.

"Go in!" Wang Yuming made a quick decision, and the four of them filed into the small building.

The interior was dark and filled with a strong musty smell and dust, with rubble and broken furniture scattered on the floor.

Wang Yuming was the last to enter, and he and Weng Beiyan immediately worked together to block a crooked iron door at the entrance.

Although it cannot be completely sealed off, it can buy a few precious seconds of time.

"Go through! Find the back door or window!" Xu Xiaoyan pulled Weng Nanque along, stumbling and running deeper into the building by the faint light coming in from the doorway.

The house's internal structure was severely damaged, and they practically tumbled and crawled over the collapsed partition wall.

Finally, they found a huge crack in the back wall, just big enough to squeeze through.

Beyond the crack was another connected ruin, which looked like the yard of an abandoned small processing plant, piled with rusty machines and parts.

"Quick! They're coming in soon!" Weng Beiyan heard a loud crash and prying sound behind him as the metal door was struck and pried open. The four of them quickly crawled out of the crack.

Wang Yuming glanced around and saw several huge, seemingly sturdy, sheet metal oil drums in the corner of the yard.

"Help!" he shouted, and together with Weng Beiyan, they pushed the two oil drums over, and they rolled to the exit of the crack. Although it was not completely blocked, it became extremely difficult to pass through quickly.

Having done all this, they dared not linger. They immediately took cover in the messy equipment in the factory yard and stealthily moved in the opposite direction from where they had come from.

This time, instead of running, they kept their bodies low to the ground, using shadows and obstacles to conceal their movements, taking each step lightly.

Behind them came the furious roars of the pursuers and the scraping sound of oil drums being moved, but the sounds were muffled by the buildings.

The four of them had their hearts pounding, and they could almost hear each other's heavy breathing.

They crossed the factory yard, then climbed through a broken window into another unfamiliar alley, constantly changing directions to get as far away as possible from where they were initially being chased.

Only when they could no longer hear any sound of pursuit did they collapse at the entrance of a half-collapsed underground parking garage, huddled in a dark corner, panting, their bodies soaked in cold sweat.

Xu Xiaoyan forced herself to take a deep breath, while Wang Yuming listened alertly to the sounds outside, making sure that the pursuers were not following the trail.

He moved closer to the entrance, peered through the gap for a moment, then retreated into the darkness, lowering his voice to say, "It's safe for now, but they may still be searching the area."

"Are they?" Weng Nanque's voice trembled on the verge of collapse, unable to utter the word completely.

"I don't know, but they're definitely up to no good," Xu Xiaoyan replied briefly, not wanting to describe the terrifying scene again, but the image was already etched in everyone's minds.

She looked at Wang Yuming, and in the dim light, she could only see the same heavy shadow in his eyes. "If this is the situation here, then the order in other places won't be much better."

Wang Yuming nodded silently. "We can't stay in Zhujia Town. The main road to the north is likely to be controlled by these people or become a hunting ground. We have to take a detour!"

From now on, we'll try to take the back roads as much as possible. Although they're more difficult to walk, they should be safer.