Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 468 Entering the Tunnel

The process of calling out names took nearly forty minutes, during which time the atmosphere in the hall underwent a subtle change.

The previous feeling of helplessness during the wait has disappeared, replaced by a different kind of anxiety.

When will my name be called? Which line am I in? Where am I in line?

The young soldier read the names quite quickly, making a mark on the folder after each name before reading the next one.

When Xu Xiaoyan heard her name being called, her heart skipped a beat.

She answered "Here" in a steady voice, then bent down, picked up her backpack, tucked the tied-up tent under her arm, and walked in the designated direction.

Lan Yue followed closely behind, and the two squeezed through the crowd for more than ten steps.

This is when the crowd is at its most chaotic, with everyone carrying large and small bags and moving in different directions.

Some people would stop to organize their backpacks, and grumble in dissatisfaction when their heels were stepped on.

Xu Xiaoyan used her shoulders and backpack to clear a path and finally found the rendezvous point for Team 12.

The number 12 was painted in white on the wall. It had just been painted on with paint, and the edges of the number were a bit rough, revealing the gray concrete underneath.

More than a hundred people were already scattered around below the numbers.

The leader of Squad 12 was that very thin soldier.

When Xu Xiaoyan saw him, her first impression was that he had high cheekbones, thin and chapped lips, and a small mole on his chin.

He stood there, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his back straight, his gaze calmly sweeping over his group.

His first words were: "I am the leader of Squad 12, my surname is Gu, you can just call me Team Leader Gu."

I have only one request: stay close and don't fall behind, because if you fall behind, no one will come back to find you.

These words made some people swallow nervously, some instinctively tighten their grip on their backpack straps, and some move closer to the people next to them.

But it was precisely these unadorned words that made everyone understand one thing at the same time.

This isn't one of those perfunctory emergency plans from schools; these people are serious. If you fall behind, they really won't come back to find you.

Soon, Captain Gu turned and walked into the door numbered ten, and then a short command came from inside: "Follow up."

Upon hearing this, the others hurriedly followed, and the scene of three hundred people moving at the same time was chaotic.

Some people were shouting "Don't push!", some were saying "Make way!", and some were muttering complaints like "Hurry up in front!", but the chaos only lasted a minute.

When the first group of people entered the door and found that there was only enough room for one person to pass through, the people behind had to form a queue on their own.

Xu Xiaoyan and Lan Yue were sandwiched at the front of the group, ahead of a dozen or so people who were also carrying backpacks and tents.

Once inside the short corridor behind the door, it became clear that it was longer than it appeared from the outside.

Those five or six meters felt like an eternity, not because of the distance itself, but because of the oppressive feeling of the walls on both sides.

The narrow corridor was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The walls on both sides were painted with smooth white paint, which reflected an almost dazzling light under the overhead fluorescent lights.

This enclosed space might be torture for some people, but Xu Xiaoyan doesn't have claustrophobia; she just thinks the short corridor is strangely designed.

It was too bright, too white, too clean, creating a strong contrast with the space it connected to.

At the end of the short corridor is a corner, a ninety-degree right angle turn.

After turning the corner, the field of vision suddenly narrowed.

Xu Xiaoyan spotted a tunnel.

No, it shouldn't be called a tunnel; it should be called a mine tunnel or a mining tunnel. In short, it's not the kind of orderly underground passage she imagined.

She imagined the underground passage to be like a subway station, with a smooth surface, bright lights, clear signs, and fire hydrants and emergency exits at regular intervals.

But the passage in front of her was completely different from what she had imagined. It did not fall into the category of any "underground facility." The walls were undecorated, just a raw mixture of rock and concrete.

The surface of the passage is uneven, with some parts protruding, requiring you to turn sideways to pass through.

In some places, there's a recessed hole, pitch black inside, with no bottom in sight. It's unclear whether it's a naturally formed depression or something dug out by it.

In some places, there are still rusted steel frames, the kind made of I-beams, with a black surface covered with a layer of reddish-brown rust.

The ground was made of yellow mud, but it was riddled with holes from being trampled by countless feet, and in some places the gravel underneath was even exposed.

Xu Xiaoyan looked down at her feet, carefully choosing her footing for each step and trying her best to avoid any large potholes.

The emergency lights on the side emitted a yellow glow and were spaced far apart, only one every ten meters or so.

The area between the lights is completely dark, and the dozen or so meters between two emergency lights is the most uncomfortable section of the entire passage.

The people in front and behind disappeared into the darkness; you could only hear their footsteps, breathing, and the rustling of their clothes.

The widest part of the tunnel is only wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and in the narrowest parts, it's too crowded for even one person to walk.

Your shoulders were almost scraping against the rough walls on both sides, and the grit and debris on the walls would scratch your clothes.

Xu Xiaoyan moved the backpack to the front of her body and held it with both hands. This would reduce the chance of it being scratched by the wall and make her more flexible in the narrow space.

She reached out and touched the wall. The touch was cold and rough, and some tiny pebbles were scraped off by her fingernails and landed in her palm.

Everyone carried their luggage on their shoulders and in their hands, their footsteps were chaotic and uneven, and some people were talking softly, but the sound was compressed into almost inaudible whispers by the narrowness and confinement of the tunnel.

After walking for about ten minutes, the tunnel began to fork.

The first fork in the road appeared at a slightly more open point, and the dome also became higher, rising from a height where one could barely avoid bumping their head to three or four meters high.

You can feel air flowing overhead, and the air is fresher than in the tunnel, although it still carries the dampness and musty smell unique to underground spaces.

The three passages are separated in a Y shape, and each passage entrance has a faded number painted on it, most of which are no longer legible.

Only the numbers "C-7" above the rightmost entrance are still barely legible; the red paint has faded to pink, and the edges are very blurry.

Without hesitation, Captain Gu walked directly to the leftmost passage.

He held a walkie-talkie in his left hand, the small red light at the top flashing rhythmically, echoing the red light in front of his chest.

Intermittent human voices occasionally came through the walkie-talkie, muffled by the echoes of the local soil.

However, you could roughly make out some brief instructions, such as "detour to the east side," "section B is closed," and "take the alternative route," each sentence being extremely concise.

After each listen, Captain Gu would reply softly with "Received" and then continue walking forward.

The second fork in the road came much faster than the first; it only took about five or six minutes to get there.

This time, the space wasn't as open as the first node; the passageway was just a little wider, barely enough for three or four people to stand side by side.

The two passages are on the left and right, with the left one being significantly narrower and having an irregularly shaped entrance that is narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, resembling an inverted trapezoid.

At the entrance, there were several sandbags that had been left behind at some unknown time. The sandbags were the kind of coarse, yellowish-brown burlap bags that had turned black and moldy on the surface, with grayish-green mold spots growing in some places.

Team Leader Gu was about to turn left when he received the order, but soon the walkie-talkie gave a new order: "Attention all teams, there is a collapse on section 7. Take route 8 instead."

Captain Gu paused for a moment, then changed direction and headed towards the passage on the right that originally didn't look like a road.

The entrance to the passage was mostly covered by a tarpaulin hanging down.