Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 462 Chaos

Everyone gradually came to believe the most reasonable explanation: it was just a thunderstorm, just a lightning strike that landed a little too close and made a loud noise.

People returned to their seats.

The cursing subsided, and the crying stopped.

An old man even picked up the joke that had just been interrupted and continued telling it to the people next to him, as if to prove that he didn't take it to heart at all.

Lan Yue withdrew her hand from her arm, shook her wrist, muttered "You scared me," and then didn't mention it again.

But her eyes would still occasionally glance at the dome; it was an instinct that was hard to suppress.

Someone tore open a bag of compressed biscuits and started eating what they didn't know was their meal.

Some people were arguing in the distance, seemingly about a land dispute, and each one was shouting louder than the last.

Then, without warning, a second loud bang came. Just as everyone relaxed completely, the sound was more intense, more violent, and closer than the first one.

If the first loud bang felt like something had hit the ground nearby, then this time it felt like something had hit the top of the bunker directly.

The lights went out, and Bunker 7 instantly transformed from bustling daytime into pitch-black darkness.

Several people screamed, and then chaos ensued.

"Who stepped on me! Do you have eyes?!" It was the voice of a young man, furious and enraged by the pain of having his toes stepped on.

"Don't push! Don't push! I said don't push, didn't you hear me!" Another voice came from further away, already choked with sobs.

"Stay where you are, okay? Don't move! If anyone takes another step, I'll fucking—" The third voice abruptly stopped, probably because he had also been bumped.

"Who stepped on my tent? Damn it, I'll beat you to death or I'm not a Wang!" This was the loudest voice, full of energy, carrying a kind of furious rage that had its bottom line crossed.

In this world, a tent is half a life; if a tent is trampled, it's no different from having your life trampled.

Shouts and curses came from all directions, and everyone's voices lost their direction in the darkness.

Faintly, amidst the noise, Xu Xiaoyan also heard something else.

The sound came from afar, through thick concrete walls, faintly and indistinctly.

It could be in District 6, or District 8, or even further away; in short, it's not just their area that's in chaos.

This realization made her heart sink; if only Zone 7 was in chaos, it might be a localized problem.

If all areas are in chaos, it means that this power outage is system-wide, affecting the entire bunker, and it probably won't be restored in a short time.

Lan Yue suddenly tightened her grip; in the darkness, touch became the most reliable and direct sense.

Xu Xiaoyan could feel her body pressing against her; it was an instinctive, budding approach, a way of seeking help from a companion.

"Xiao Yan," Lan Yue's voice was tense and low, "something seems wrong."

Xu Xiaoyan didn't answer immediately; her mind was racing, going through all the available information in a few seconds.

The power outage may not be permanent, but the chaos will certainly continue to escalate.

The shouting was escalating into a physical altercation. She heard a conversation between "Why did you push me?" and "So what if I pushed you?" The tension was palpable.

If they stay where they are, in this state of complete blindness, their two tents will be trampled into rags, and they themselves may be swept into the center of the chaos.

You can't stay still.

"Don't be afraid, it's okay," Xu Xiaoyan deliberately lowered her voice to make her tone sound calmer than it actually was.

She turned her head to the side, speaking almost to Lan Yue's ear to avoid being overheard and causing panic among those nearby:

"It's so chaotic right now, we'd better hide along the wall and move away. We should also pack up the tents, otherwise they'll definitely get trampled."

Blue Moon loosened her grip, but didn't completely let go.

"Let me go, stay by the wall for now," Xu Xiaoyan continued.

"I'll go take down the tent so it won't get trampled. It'll be quick, just a minute. You stay against the wall, don't move, don't make a sound, and wait for me to come back."

"Okay," she said, releasing her grip.

As soon as the sense of touch disappeared, Xu Xiaoyan immediately bent down and picked up the backpack at her feet. She remembered that the flashlight backpack was on the right side. After touching it, she found the switch with her thumb and pressed it.

Xu Xiaoyan squinted subconsciously. As the flashlight beam swept across the surroundings, she saw a chaotic scene with scattered debris on the ground.

A few meters away, two or three figures were entangled together, seemingly pushing and shoving each other, or perhaps helping one another up; it was hard to tell.

She didn't have time to look closely, so she immediately turned the flashlight beam down very low, only shining it on the small area at her feet.

Time was of the essence, so she quickly folded the two folding chairs together, stacked them on top of each other, and placed them against the wall.

Then there's the tent, which isn't quick to pack up, but thankfully it has a simple structure.

Xu Xiaoyan's movements were so fast they bordered on violence.

She ripped off the securing ropes, pulled out the tent poles section by section, and rolled the canvas off the poles into a ball.

All movements were illuminated by the extremely low beam of the flashlight.

She stacked the two tents together against the wall so that at least they wouldn't be kicked apart.

The whole process took only a little over a minute, but Xu Xiaoyan felt like her heart was about to jump out of her throat.

After she packed up the tent, she straightened up, her thumb hovered over the flashlight switch for a moment, then pressed it, and the light went out.

"Blue Moon," she called out in a low voice, so low that only she could hear it.

"Here," Lan Yue's voice came from slightly to the left of directly in front of her, very close, roughly in the direction of the wall she remembered.

Xu Xiaoyan reached out her hand and groped her way over step by step.

Her fingers first touched the rough concrete wall, the cold touch making her feel a little more at ease.

"It's all packed away." Xu Xiaoyan stood close to the wall, put her backpack down beside her feet, and leaned her back against the cold concrete wall.

The warmth of the wall seeped through her clothes onto her skin, making her feel cool, but that coolness actually made her feel safe. The wall was the only spatial reference she could confirm in the darkness.

Lan Yue also leaned closer, her shoulder pressed against Xu Xiaoyan's shoulder.

The two stood side by side in the darkness, their backs pressed against the cold concrete, facing endless darkness and increasingly noisy chaos.

The shouting and cursing continued to escalate.

Someone started to make a move. A muffled thud came from afar, like the sound of a fist hitting someone, followed by more intense shouting and shoving.

The children's cries started coming in more often, one after another.

Someone started shouting from some direction, "Where's the administrator?" "Where did the person in charge go?" They shouted several times, but no one answered.