Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 461 Loud Roar

Xu Xiaoyan nodded.

"Don't push yourself," she said softly. "Come back when you're tired."

Lan Yue waved and walked towards the line on the west side.

When she returned, Xu Xiaoyan had already taken a nap against the wall.

Lan Yue squatted down, took out a water bottle from her backpack, unscrewed the cap, gulped down several mouthfuls, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and let out a long breath.

"There are too many people, it's impossible to squeeze in." Lan Yue put the water bottle back, sat down against the wall, and put her hands on her knees.

"There were several sheets of paper posted on the bulletin board, listing job positions, required points, and requirements. It was so densely packed that I couldn't read them all. I squeezed to the front and only managed to glance at them a few times."

"Which one has the highest active points?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.

"Assembly, paid per piece, it is said that those who are quick can earn a lot in a day; the most tiring job is moving, which has the lowest points, but there is no threshold, anyone can do it."

As Lan Yue spoke, she took out a crumpled little piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Xu Xiaoyan, saying, "I copied a few from the bulletin board, take a look."

Xu Xiaoyan took the note; it was written in Lan Yue's crooked handwriting.

Cleaning: 2 points per day.

Transporting content: 2.5 points per day.

Mushroom cultivation: 1.5 points per day.

Assembly: 1 point for every 100 pieces.

Hydroponic vegetables: 1.5 points per day.

On the back of the paper were a few lines of small print, some fragmented information from Blue Moon's notes: work starts at seven in the morning, one-hour break at noon, work ends at six in the afternoon, and lunch is provided.

Xu Xiaoyan returned the note to Lan Yue.

"Assemble that, and the faster you are, the better," she said matter-of-factly. "You're paid per piece, so your speed should earn you a good amount."

Lan Yue nodded, folded the note, and put it back in her pocket.

"That's what I was thinking too. I'll go early tomorrow to grab a good spot."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and then Lan Yue started yawning.

She crawled into her sleeping bag, pulled the scarf over her face, muttered "I have to get up early tomorrow," and then fell silent.

Xu Xiaoyan was still sitting against the wall, not sleepy at all.

The lights in the lobby are on 24 hours a day, with no distinction between day and night. You can only rely on the time on your wristwatch and your physical fatigue to determine when to sleep and when to wake up.

She took a small handful of chocolate beans from her storage space and slowly chewed them in her mouth.

When that rich aroma filled her mouth, she felt that this enclosed world wasn't so suffocating after all.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't go anywhere; she just stayed quietly in her own territory.

She slept until she naturally woke up, then sat in a daze, and after that, she would look around at what the people around her were busy with.

Occasionally, I would watch two old men in the neighborhood play chess with cards drawn on cardboard. This kind of life doesn't feel like the end of the world at all.

On the morning of the fourth day, Lan Yue tilted her head and looked at Xu Xiaoyan's languid appearance. Her lips twitched, and finally, she couldn't help but plop down opposite her, letting out a long sigh.

"What kind of idyllic life are you living? It makes me so envious."

Xu Xiaoyan put her hands behind her head and laughed out loud, "You have points, whether you want to rest or not is up to you."

Lan Yue's brows relaxed a little, and she looked up at the lights on the dome, her tone becoming lighter:

"Yes, I like the feeling of being able to control my own destiny at any time."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded in agreement. Being able to control one's own destiny is such a luxury, unlike most people who are overwhelmed by the pressure of survival.

Lan Yue wanted to say something more, and her mouth was already open.

At that very moment, a loud bang was heard.

The sound didn't come from the door or the wall, but from the dome, causing the entire bunker to tremble.

The vibrations traveled down the concrete structure, and Xu Xiaoyan felt her spine resonating along with them.

After the loud bang came a long hum, and the buzzing conversation in the hall fell silent in an instant.

Everyone looked up at the vast dome.

The lights were still on, but everyone felt as if the light had dimmed, or perhaps their heart was beating too fast, their blood was rushing to their head, and everything looked blurry.

Blue Moon reacted faster than anyone else.

She stood up almost instinctively, leaned towards Xu Xiaoyan, and put one hand on Xu Xiaoyan's arm, gripping it tightly.

Her voice was extremely low, as if afraid of being heard by some unknown being, "Xiao Yan, what was that just now?"

Xu Xiaoyan could feel Lan Yue's fingers trembling slightly; the force traveled through the cuffs to her skin, feeling both cool and tight.

Her heart was pounding, but she didn't show it on her face. She racked her brains, trying to find a logical explanation.

She remembered the official announcement broadcast yesterday, which said that everyone was being organized to enter the air-raid shelter because of the potential risk of thunderstorms.

"It's probably a landmine," Xu Xiaoyan said, her voice a little louder than usual, trying to reassure Lan Yue.

"Didn't the officials say before that there would be thunderstorms? Maybe the storm hit near us, which is why it was so loud."

Lan Yue didn't reply immediately. Her eyes were still fixed on the dome, her pupils reflecting the row of lights overhead. After several seconds, she slowly nodded.

She certainly knew what a ground-based thunderbolt was, but the vibration she felt just now didn't seem like something that could be caused by ordinary thunder.

But she didn't ask any further questions. She just nodded again, her lips moved, and finally she uttered a single word, "Mmm."

The hall was silent for about ten seconds as everyone waited for the second loud bang, but sometimes, waiting itself is a long and agonizing ordeal.

About three minutes later, the sound of voices gradually returned to the hall.

First, a man's voice came from the southeast corner. It wasn't loud, but it was very clear in the empty hall: "Was that thunder? Was that thunder just now?"

Then someone else chimed in, "Bullshit, what kind of lightning strikes like that? It shook my teeth loose."

The third voice was further away, and it sounded a bit irritable: "To hell with it, just don't let it fall."

Then sounds came from all directions. Some said it was thunder, some said it was an explosion, and some said it was an earthquake.

Some people simply sat on their bunks with their knees drawn up to their sides, their eyes fixed on the dome, not blinking.

The murmurs quickly escalated from a few scattered words to a deafening cacophony.

The voices of thousands of people speaking at the same time merged into a low-frequency hum, and some children were so frightened by the loud noise that they cried out, adding to the chaos.

Xu Xiaoyan turned her head to look at Lan Yue. Lan Yue was still tilting her head back, her jawline taut. She didn't say anything more, but the hand on Xu Xiaoyan's arm hadn't let go.

Xu Xiaoyan patted the back of her hand without saying anything.