Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 457 Team Migration

"It's nothing," Xu Xiaoyan replied. "I closed a door and was delayed for a bit."

Soon, the loudspeaker at the front of the line blared again.

This time it wasn't a prompting, but an instruction.

"Attention everyone—" The voice came from the loudspeaker, its sharpness dulled by the wind and rain, becoming muffled and distant:

"The transfer is now beginning. Everyone must follow instructions, not leave the group without permission, not make noise, stay close to the person in front, and not fall behind."

A slight commotion arose in the crowd, with some people whispering a few words, but it was quickly swallowed up by the wind.

Three soldiers carrying megaphones emerged from the entrance of the trading point and dispersed into the crowd.

Leading the way was a young man of medium build, with a steady gait and his eyes fixed straight ahead.

He walked to the front of the line, turned around, faced the dark mass of people, raised the megaphone and shouted, "Let's go, follow me!"

Then he turned around and started walking forward.

It was very slow at first. The people in front moved, but the people behind were still standing still. It took them several seconds to realize what was happening and catch up quickly.

But soon, the group found its rhythm, moving forward in an orderly fashion, one after another, through the wind and rain.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue were sandwiched in the middle of the group, following the woman in the gray raincoat in front of them, walking forward step by step.

After walking for a short while, the road began to change.

They turned off the gravel road in front of the trading point onto a dirt road they had never traveled before.

The road was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The surface was soft from the rain, and each step left a deep footprint, which quickly filled with muddy water.

The bushes on both sides of the road grew denser, and the branches stretched out and scraped against my backpack, making a rustling sound.

Someone ahead was complaining in a low voice about how difficult the road was, but the soldier maintaining order shut him up with a single sentence: "Don't talk, watch where you're going."

The group fell silent. No one spoke anymore, only the sounds of footsteps, breathing, rain, wind, and the occasional short gasp of someone slipping and falling.

Xu Xiaoyan noticed that the soldier maintaining order in the middle of the line never stopped moving.

He walked back and forth in the middle of the group, sometimes going to the front to check the road conditions, and sometimes going back to the back to push those who had fallen behind forward.

After walking for an hour, Lan Yue's pace slowed down; she had too many things on her body.

She lowered her head, staring at the heels of the person in front of her, not speaking or complaining, but her breathing became heavier and heavier, and her shoulders slumped more and more.

Xu Xiaoyan took the bag of dried mushrooms from Lan Yue's arms and continued walking.

Lan Yue didn't say thank you, but her steps were noticeably lighter.

After walking for nearly another hour, the road started to go uphill. It was no longer a gentle dirt road, but a gravel road that wound its way up the mountain.

The slope wasn't steep, but after walking for nearly two hours, even the gentlest slope felt like a mountain.

The breathing of the crowd grew heavier, and some people began to cough softly.

Someone stopped, bent over, and rubbed their legs, then was pushed forward by the people behind them.

Someone was whispering, "How much further?" but no one answered.

Xu Xiaoyan looked up and saw that the front of the column had disappeared into the distance, and the leading soldier was no longer in sight.

She looked back again, but the end of the line was no longer visible; all she could see were the flashlight beams of the soldiers bringing up the rear.

I glanced down at my watch; it had been two hours and seven minutes.

"It'll be soon," she said softly, it was unclear whether she was talking to Blue Moon or to herself.

Blue Moon did not respond; she was speechless, having used all her strength in her legs, in every lift and fall of her feet.

Her shoes were so muddy that their original color was no longer visible, and her trouser legs were covered in mud from the knees down.

The scarf slipped halfway down her neck and drooped in front of her chest, but she didn't bother to pull it back up.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, the road finally leveled out. It wasn't flat ground, but the slope became gentler, so gentle that you could hardly feel that you were going uphill.

Xu Xiaoyan saw people in front of her raise their heads and look ahead, and then more and more people raised their heads.

She followed their gaze and saw two enormous steel doors embedded in the mountain at the very front of the procession.

The gate was very tall, at least twelve meters by sight, and wide enough for two trucks to drive in side by side.

The door's surface was a cold, grayish-black color, without any markings, only some scratches that were either left during manufacturing or later carved on.

The door was tightly closed, obscuring its thickness, but its heavy, solid, and unshakeable texture could be felt from a hundred meters away; this must be the entrance to the air-raid bunker.

Someone cheered from the front, and the pace of the procession unconsciously quickened as everyone eagerly headed in that direction.

Lan Yue also raised her head and saw the two large doors through the rain. Her pace quickened noticeably.

Xu Xiaoyan looked at the two doors.

My gaze swept from the crack in the door to the concrete walls embedded in the mountain on both sides of the door, and then from the concrete walls to the rock face above the door that was glistening from being washed by the rain.

The door was closed, but seven long tables had already been set up in a row on the open space in front of it.

Behind each table sat a staff member in a dark blue uniform, with a laptop and several small boxes in front of each person.

The leading soldier had already walked to the first table, whispered a few words to the staff, then turned around, faced the group, and raised the megaphone.

"Everyone passes through in turn, and each person goes to a table to register."

Place your right hand on the black box to verify your identity. The staff will then tell you which area to go to.

After registering, do not wander around. Please wait in line in front of the gate until everyone has arrived before the gate is opened.

He paused, then added, "Don't push, one at a time."

The crowd began to move slowly forward.

The first few people had already walked to the table; some looked nervous, some were expressionless, and some were talking to the staff.

Lan Yue took off the backpack that was already making her shoulders numb, hugged it to her chest, and moved her shoulders, making a "crackling" sound.

"Xiao Yan," Lan Yue's voice was very low, so low that only the two of them could hear, "What do you think is inside this bunker...?"

"I don't know," she said, her tone as calm as usual. "You'll find out when you get in."

Lan Yue nodded, slung her backpack back over her shoulder, turned around, and faced the direction of the group.

The two stood in the rain, neither speaking nor moving, simply waiting quietly in line for their turn.

The wind and rain seemed to intensify, and everyone huddled together as closely as possible.

The line moved slowly forward, the number of people in front dwindled, the table drew closer, and the two massive steel doors became increasingly clear.