Chapter 532: Seemingly Man-Made
Chapter 532: Seemingly Man-Made
Fatty’s description of the difficulties is entirely truthful, but before he can finish, the young and able-bodied men find excuses to slip away.
What lunatics! They are already such a burden—how could they not run?
The problem isn’t just that some run off. A few behave even worse, abandoning the elderly, weak, sick, disabled, and pregnant members of their own teams. The idea of traveling light—casting aside burdens to survive—is vividly illustrated in the apocalypse.
The abandoned elders and vulnerable wail, feeling as if the sky itself has collapsed. Meanwhile, Fatty remains blissfully delighted, oblivious to the true weight of responsibility he has taken on. He joyfully loads the elderly, weak, sick, disabled, and pregnant into the back of the trucks and presses north. Along the way, he even secures twenty sleeper cars—large, double-decker luxury vehicles—so that everyone can rest safely in the icy snow.
Supplies are collected as they travel, yet Fatty’s team displays a composure rarely seen in the end times. They continue north at a steady pace for nearly a month.
By the time they reach the edge of Hebei Province, the team has grown larger, the supplies more abundant, and the snow heavier. Eventually, the Beijing–Tibet Expressway is blocked by a heavy snowfall.
The convoy comes to a standstill at a desolate, collapsed tunnel. The tunnel is long, and the destroyed section stretches far. There is no way through unless it is repaired.
“It looks… a bit man-made,” Fatty remarks, standing beside An Ran’s car window.
Inside the bulletproof car, which has been converted into a spacious RV, An Ran rolls the window down slightly. Doll sits on the sofa while Little Mint feeds her rice cereal.
An Ran mulls over Fatty’s words. Who would blow up an entire tunnel for no reason these days? It seems absurd.
Her questions—and Fatty’s—are soon answered.
Zhan Lian, striding with long, purposeful steps, comes quickly to the car and addresses An Ran as she prepares juice. “Behind this tunnel, there’s a large gathering of survivors. They may have been attacked by powerful monsters, which caused the tunnel to collapse.”
It is known that these monsters come from the south, and many northern survivor encampments deliberately block traffic to prevent incursions. The further north one travels, the more such obstacles appear.
“What should we do?” Zhan Lian asks. “The tunnels are destroyed. How do we get north?”
An Ran holds two oranges, freshly delivered by Fatty. She is preparing juice for Doll, Little Mint, and Hengheng when she furrows her brow at Zhan Lian’s report.
“Why don’t we just dig through the tunnel and have people live inside it? Warm in winter, cool in summer—it’s perfect. When the weather improves, we can figure out how to move north. Maybe by then, everyone will be so comfortable living in the tunnel they won’t even want to leave.”