Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

According to the map, there is a scenic area in the north of the town.

When the drone flew over the area, it did not see any signs of human activity.

So Gu Lang decided to hide the light truck there first, and then make further plans.

The entrance is marked "Tianwen Ancient Cave Scenic Area," and the surroundings are quiet.

Judging from the promotional banner at the entrance, this is a karst cave.

An electrically operated retractable fence was tightly closed, blocking the passage for vehicles.

Gu Lang got out of the car, climbed over the fence, and went into the security room to search.

After prying open several locked cabinets, a long Allen wrench came into view.

"This is the motor clutch wrench."

Gu Lang checked the label above and returned to the door.

After opening the control box, we located the motor of the telescopic fence.

He then inserted the wrench into the lock hole of the machine head and turned it 180 degrees.

After confirming that the door and motor had separated, he pulled it with his hand.

The previously immovable retractable fence was slowly opened like a regular sliding door.

As the light truck drove past the entrance, Gulang closed the fence again.

Rotate the wrench in the opposite direction to reset everything to its original state.

After driving the light truck for several hundred meters, a huge cave appeared before them.

There is a large amount of water inside the cave, forming a small lake at the cave entrance.

A man-made stone bridge leads from the lakeside all the way to the depths of the cave.

"This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack; it's a good location."

Gu Lang arrived at the bridgehead and began to look around.

The lake water at the cave entrance shimmered with a green light and contained a large amount of algae.

At first glance, various debris floated on the water's surface, indicating that the water quality was clearly not very good.

So he hung two plastic buckets on his backpack.

We planned to go inside the cave to see if there was any spring water we could use to replenish our water supply.

The cave was deep and cool.

Gu Lang turned on his headlamp and carefully stepped inside, the beam piercing the darkness.

Stalactites stood all around, and the sound of dripping water was exceptionally clear in the silence.

The cave walls are covered with wires and spotlights, and you can also see several lighting control boxes from time to time.

"The cave is best viewed in its original state; these colorful lights are better left off."

After admiring a giant stalagmite, he continued walking forward.

Finally, after entering the cave for 200 meters, we found an underground waterfall.

Below the waterfall, there is a crystal-clear pool.

Just as Gulang was preparing to go over to test the water quality.

Looking around, my headlamp swept across the white calcified pools and scree dams.

He suddenly saw a glass walkway platform in the distance, and there seemed to be several people lying there.

Startled, Gu Lang quickly aimed his air rifle at the spot.

"Who's there? I've come to get some water, no harm intended!"

After calling out a few times, there was no response from the other party.

Gu Lang had no choice but to slowly approach the platform, only to discover that there were four corpses lying crookedly on the ground.

He adjusted his protective gear and gently moved the body with a mop next to the glass walkway.

After confirming there was no danger, I put on a second layer of gloves and began the inspection.

"The rigor mortis has disappeared, and the muscles are relaxed."

The location of livor mortis is fixed and cannot be moved.

The subcutaneous blood vessels appear as a dark red network, and gigantism has not yet been observed.

Given the low temperature here, the time of death should be between 2 and 4 days.

The cause of death appears to be stab wounds. Could this be a revenge killing?

Gu Lang made his judgment based on the clothing and backpack on the deceased.

These four people are likely survivors who escaped from Tree Deer Town.

The posture of the male corpse at the farthest distance is particularly striking.

He sat with his back against the rock wall, his head bowed.

His right hand rested limply on the shoulder of a woman next to him, who clearly had a missing hand.

Gu Lang noticed a smartphone on the man's left.

Below the phone was a piece of paper torn from a notebook.

A line of text was written on the note in messy handwriting.

Please don't disturb me and my mom. Leave here. Everything you want to know is on your phone. Password: 7410

Gu Lang put his phone in a plastic bag, filled two buckets with spring water, and left the cave.

Back in the car, I wiped my phone with an alcohol wipe.

He took out a portable power bank and plugged it in.

A few minutes later, the phone screen lit up.

Enter the numbers on the slip of paper, and the desktop is successfully unlocked.

Open the photo album; there are several recently recorded video files inside.

Gu Lang clicked on the most recent video.

The image of the deceased appeared on the screen, and the man began to speak to the camera.

"Friend, when you see this video, it means I am already dead."

Just now, I personally killed my uncle and aunt.

Because they wanted to kill my mother while I was asleep.

Although her hands were bitten by the patients, she immediately cut off her own palm.

They've gone this far, why can't they just let my mom go?

However, do you know what's the saddest thing?

Uncle is right; cutting off the hand can only delay the onset of the disease, it cannot prevent it from happening.

The man covered his face and sobbed for a while before continuing to speak.

"But she's my mom, you know?"

Even when she was ill, she couldn't bring herself to attack me!

She would just yell at me and tell me to stay away from her.

Then they vent their anger by harming corpses and self-harm!

I couldn't bear to watch any longer, so I had no choice but to... end her suffering...

"Damn it, what did I do...?"

The man paused for a minute, then looked at the camera again.

"We originally planned to evacuate by car, but then the earthquake suddenly happened."

The cars were all buried in the rubble, so we had no choice but to walk.

As a result, we encountered those people on the road, and my mother even got bitten on the hand while trying to save me...

The supplies are all behind the visitor center, I don't need them anymore...

The screen went black, and the first video ended there.

Based on the timing of the filming, it can be inferred that the man committed suicide after filming the video and leaving the note.

Gu Lang sighed and clicked on the second video, which was filmed ten days ago.

"If anyone sees this video, it means Tree Deer Town is finished."

Please make everything that happened here public so that the world can learn from it.

The man in the picture is still there, and he doesn't seem to have reached the point of collapse yet.

"At first, the town was able to maintain order."

The authorities organized police and militia and set up a quarantine zone.

Anyone who engages in aggressive behavior... will be executed on the spot immediately.

We all thought that as long as we were ruthless and resolute enough, we could survive.

But we were wrong... We underestimated the human cost of maintaining order.

At first, the system was able to function.

However, the number of cases continues to increase, and more and more patients are being culled.

After repeatedly killing their neighbors, or even relatives, many people... broke down.

Those who still have a conscience are either killed because they hesitate while carrying out their missions.

"Either... you withdraw voluntarily." The man's tone turned cold.