Chapter One
The wind was blowing very fast, and the sand and rocks rolled up blocked the sky and the sun. The surrounding light was quickly dispersed bit by bit at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"I can't run anymore..." The girl grabbed her mother's hand and staggered to her knees on the ground, breathing heavily.
The woman who had been dragging her daughter forward stopped.
Looking around, except for the wind and sand and the clumps of withered grass on the ground, there was no shelter for them to rest, and she knew very well that even if there was, it would be meaningless in the face of the coming danger.
Those things that no one has seen hidden in the wind and sand, hidden in the coming darkness, can easily devour ordinary humans like them.
All they could do now was to run, run forward, like the few people in front of them who had disappeared without a trace, running as fast as they could.
The huge black shadow that can be seen faintly in the yellow sand in the distance is their destination. Getting there before being engulfed by darkness may be their only chance to survive.
In her anxiety, she roughly pulled her daughter up from the ground, panting and shouting with difficulty: "We'll be there soon! Just run five hundred steps and we'll be there! Do you see the black mountains in front of us? We're here soon! We can't Stop here..."
As she spoke, sand and dust filled her mouth, choking her so much that she could hardly breathe. However, she didn't bother to adjust the scarf around her face. She just tightened the cloth around her daughter's head and silently pulled her up. Keep running forward.
The daughter didn't make a sound anymore. She was dragged forward staggeringly. Her overstretched strength no longer allowed her to make a sound.
To the mountain ahead, the black mountain.
"I thought today was also a calm day." Qiu Shi said softly.
When a figure running wildly appeared a few hundred meters outside the protective wall, a blue lightning struck from behind.
And there are more blue flashes in the wind and sand in the distance, as if chasing the running people, pressing here little by little.
Qiu Shi looked through the telescope.
"Almost there." Zhao Lu stood beside him, squinting his eyes and looking in the same direction as him. He pulled his scarf again and moved his arms, feeling a little uneasy.
Although in such a strong wind, he can only see chaos except for large areas of lightning without the help of equipment, but with many years of experience, he can also judge what the situation is over there. There must be someone over there, otherwise Qiu Shi would not So interested that I kept staring.
Sandstorms are not uncommon. There will be one every once in a while. It is a daily routine that everyone is used to. What makes Zhao Lu uneasy is the dense appearance of lightning groups called "jungles" in recent years. There are those things that may appear with lightning.
It is uncertain when the "jungle" will appear. The only rule is to move from south to north. For ordinary people without protection, whether they can encounter it depends purely on luck. Whether they die or not does not depend on luck.
All must die.
The first runner fell down, but soon struggled to get up again. It was obvious that his physical strength was exhausted and he relied solely on his willpower to hold on.
Within a few seconds, several more figures appeared behind him.
There were quite a few people this time.
"Do you think they can get there?" Zhao Lu came over and asked in a low voice, "I bet the bodies will be collected today."
Qiu Shi took away the telescope, lowered his head and pulled the corner of Zhao Lu's clothes and wiped the dust on the lenses, then raised the telescope back to his eyes. After a while, he answered: "They are all dead."
"Okay." Zhao Lu nodded and continued to look over there with squinted eyes.
Even though Qiu Shi had never won, their bet was still the same, simple and boring.
These people will all die if they cannot enter the protective tunnel before being overwhelmed by the "jungle".
And the tunnel is not at the foot of the mountain.
For defense reasons, the entrance to the tunnel is on a cliff nearly 100 meters above the ground. Once they get here, they still need to use their own ability to climb the rugged rocky slope...
Zhao Brigade glanced at the timer in his hand. The tunnel's daily opening hours were about to end. Even if they didn't encounter the "jungle", these people might not be able to enter the city today, although they would not die.
But what about entering the city?
"There are children." Qiu Shi saw the mother and daughter stumbling between the two lightning bolts.
"Where? Are you sure?" Zhao Lu asked eagerly. For almost half a year, children had not been seen among the refugees entering the city.
Qiu Shi threw the binoculars into his hand, pulled down the goggles on his head, turned around and walked out of the bunker.
"Where are you going!" Zhao Lu shouted immediately. He turned to look at Qiu Shi and took a look through the binoculars. Sure enough, he saw a mother and daughter.
Qiu Shi did not answer. Zhao Lu chased out of the bunker. He saw no one and only heard the sound of the engine. He shouted in a suppressed voice: "Brother Shi! Forget it in normal times, people from the head office are still down here today!"
"Afraid of eggs!" Someone next to him said in a rough voice.
When Zhao Lu turned around to look over, a four-wheel motorcycle jumped over the rocks behind the bunker, broke out of the protective wall, and landed on the gentle slope outside.
From the corner of his eye, he only saw Qiu Shi's iconic blue tattered scarf trailing behind him, which would have been entangled in the wheel if it had grown an inch longer, but it never did.
"Are you afraid of an egg?" Zhao Lu pointed in the direction of Qiu Shi and looked at the person speaking next to him, "Then you go with him."
"My strength does not allow me to be so arrogant." Hu Xiaoling still replied sincerely in a rough voice.
The sound of the engine spread far in the wind. People in several bunkers came out and climbed to the top of the bunker. Someone used a spotlight to shine in front of Qiu Shi.
In less than a minute, Qiu Shi was already halfway up the slope on his motorcycle.
"What's going on!" The only person in the bunker at the bottom who had not climbed to the top shouted with a telescope. This was the team leader sent by the company, "Who is out?"
No one answered. Everyone was staring at Qiu Shi. The light of the spotlight kept moving not far in front of him in tacit agreement. Until a reflection in the rock lit up, Qiu Shi stopped.
"Qiu Shi!" the squad leader yelled into the walkie-talkie, "Qiu Shi! Answer immediately! Explain to me your current behavior!"
"He didn't take that thing." Zhao Lu answered, taking out a walkie-talkie from his waist.
"Why don't you take it?" asked the team leader.
"I'm sick." Zhao Lu said.
"What? Who are you?" The team leader was so surprised that he even forgot to stare at Qiu Shi and turned around to look around, trying to find the person holding the walkie-talkie. "Who are you scolding?"
"When you scold Qiu," Zhao Lu said, "he is sick."
Several people around the squad leader laughed.
A burst of light suddenly burst out from under the gently sloping rock, interrupting the team leader's anger. When he turned around to look back, his anger continued again: "What is he going to do!"
"Did you see it?" The woman pointed to the halo of light and the letters in the halo faintly revealed in the black fog ahead. Although she didn't know the meaning, her fingers were still trembling with excitement, "That's not the light of lightning! That's Someone is giving us a signal!”
happy.
"I saw it." The little girl immediately stepped up her steps.
"It's closer than the gate they said!" The woman said with certainty. "It's closer than the gate. We can catch up! Someone will help us when we get to the signal! Someone has given us the signal! It will be safe there!"
"Yeah." The little girl nodded.
A few simple letters ignited the last energy in the body of the person who was still struggling at this moment.
Because of the clear feedback, the exhausted physical energy of the mother and daughter seemed to be filled again. That place that looked much closer than imagined was hope.
"What on earth is he doing?" the team leader whispered, moving the telescope back and forth on those who wanted to enter the city and Qiu Shi, "Where did he get that thing?"
There is a small ball suspended in the air on Qiu Shi's shoulder. This is a robot that follows the butler. You can choose different appearances. Most people will choose the appearance of small animals, so this thing is also called a little pet by those living in the inner city. The little pet can provide users with some functions such as video calling, shooting, and swiping ID cards. simple function.
Of course, you can also use a laser to type a meaningless word on the approaching black sand.
This thing is not uncommon, but in the captain's opinion, it should never appear next to Qiu Shi.
Qiu Shi and his team were corpse collectors who were not allowed to enter the inner city.
There is one more suspicious incident that needs to be recorded and reported.
The squad leader's binoculars were turned halfway up the slope, and Qiu Shi stood motionless astride the motorcycle.
Turning to the distance, people kept falling in the increasingly dense lightning.
Turning to Banpo, Qiu Shi and his little pet ball were motionless.
Turning to the distance, the mother and daughter were hit by a bolt of lightning while running wildly. They fell to the ground at the same time and became motionless.
At the same time, the word "happy" printed on the black mist also disappeared.
The team leader quickly turned halfway down the slope...the engine sounded.
Qiu Shi's motorcycle also turned around and rushed back up the slope. The wheels rubbed against the rocks and crevices, emitting white smoke. The friction at some point even erupted into sparks.
It can be seen that this car has been modified, but no matter how powerful the modification is, it is easy to go downhill, and it will be a fire and lightning all the way back up the hill. If the skill is not good enough to find the position, you will have to roll over to the bottom of the mountain with the car. .
A halo like water ripples flashed behind Qiu Shi. After the halo disappeared, lightning struck, but it failed to land and exploded into clusters of spiderweb-like light filaments in the air.
The protective net opened.
It was the first time for the team leader to go out on a mission out of the city, and it was also the first time to see the protective net deployed. He was stunned for a few seconds and watched the scene like a fireworks show before he suddenly came back to his senses, turned around and rushed back to the bunker, following the The tunnel under the bunker rushed up the slope.
"Captain." Several people from Qiu Shi followed him immediately.
"Why are you following me?" He turned his head while running.
"Brother Shi said, I have to follow you wherever you go," the big guy who followed me the closest replied, "Outside is not as good as in the city. If you are not careful, you will lose your life... I'm afraid you might get into an accident if you are not familiar with the environment."
He sneered, and when he came out of the tunnel and came to the bunker in Qiu Shi's "office", he said, "You want to spy on me."
"Isn't that your job?" Qiu Shi's voice came from the front.
This man was very fast, and he had parked his car and returned to the bunker in just a short time.
"Qiu Shi," he was really angry now. He walked up to Qiu Shi and pointed at his nose, "Don't talk to me like that. Let me remind you, I'm not here to hide and seek with you. , I am not your subordinate! I was appointed by the head office..."
"I won't accept this, I have the final say here," Qiu Shi interrupted him and pulled off the goggles on his head impatiently, "Don't say you are just a squad leader, you are a captain, outside the tunnel Even if you stand up to the heavens, you are just a fart."
The squad leader looked at Qiu Shi: "I am the captain, and my surname is Xiao."
Several people in the room fell silent.
This is a bit embarrassing.
Qiu Shi glanced at Zhao Lu, who cleared his throat.
The title "Squad Captain" was given by him, but even for a captain named Xiao, the behavior of rushing to claim the nickname proved that his brain was not very good.
During the next time he worked hard here, the title "Sound Fart" would always follow him.
"Get out." Qiu Shi tilted his head towards Zhao Lu.
Zhao Brigade left the bunker with several people.
"Xiao, captain," Qiu Shi used the correct title. He raised his hand and rubbed his face with his sleeve, "Sit down."
"Xiao Lei, just call me by my name." Xiao Lei said. The parts of Qiu Shi's face that were not protected by the goggles were covered with thin cuts, which were made by small stones blown up by the strong wind. They were all oozing with blood, but Qiu Shi didn't seem to feel anything. He frowned and pointed at Qiu Shi's face, "Do you want to treat the wound first?"
Qiu Shi touched his face and laughed: "You call this a wound?"
"Since there is no need to deal with it, let's start." Xiao Lei took out his follower butler and gently threw it into the air. It was a little cat-shaped pet. "Shooting, recording time and automatically selecting the current... Qiu time, I need Please explain to me what you did just now."
The cat head moved to the side of the two people and started recording.
Qiu Shi looked at him, then glanced aside. The smile on his face slowly faded, and he only said four words: "Hospice care."
"...What?" Xiao Lei was stunned.
"They will all die, or become... in short, they are collectively called dead," Qiu Shi said, "You know this, right?"
of course I know.
Xiao Lei thought for a long time, sorted out various understandings related to the word "hospice", and finally came to an incredible conclusion.
"Don't tell me that you want them to think that they can enter the city before they die." Xiao Lei said.
"Without them," Qiu Shi said, "it's just that kid."
"One second late and you will be blocked outside the protective net and hacked to death!" Xiao Lei raised his voice little by little, "Just to give some false hope to refugees who come from nowhere and don't know whether they are real or fake? What do you do? Have you ever considered the consequences of such a senseless thing! You’re not even sure if they’re still human!”
Qiu Shi raised his left eyebrow, and his eyes suddenly looked sharp.
"I won't be a second late," Qiu Shi said, "Captain Xiao."
"What if it's too late!" Xiao Lei was very angry. Having lived for more than 20 years and always strictly abiding by the rules, he really couldn't accept Qiu Shi's lunatic behavior, although he knew that Qiu Shi actually did not follow his rules. Tube.
"I'll die if it's too late," Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair, "The brothers outside will spread my ashes for me."
"I will report to the company truthfully." Xiao Lei said.
"Who cares." Qiu Shi smiled.
"Also," Xiao Lei glanced over his shoulder, but after hesitating for two seconds, he suppressed the idea of asking him about the butler who followed him. Qiu Shi and his people didn't seem to be getting along well, so he still needed to leave some room. "That's it for today."
After Xiao Lei left, Zhao Lu walked in: "Xiangfa left?"
"Be careful what you say." Qiu Shi took off his coat and shook it.
"I'll go out with you later," Zhao Lu said. "I think some of those people are not in the right condition today. I can't trust others to follow you."
"Yes." Qiu Shi responded, "Remember to keep an eye on Xiao Lei. Sending him here must not be a routine inspection. It's been a bit uneasy recently. I guess he wants to check something."
"Don't worry." Zhao Lu nodded. After being silent for a while, he suddenly became excited again. "It seems like it's not a big deal?"
"This person's brain seems to be hard to use," Qiu Shi did not answer his question, "But who knows, sometimes it seems that your brain is not good enough, but in reality you can make do with it."
Zhao Lu looked at him and nodded: "It can be seen that there is really no one available for you."
Today's "jungle" transit took a long time in recent times. Zhang Sihai waited in the house for almost two hours before the phone in the living room rang. It was his father calling back.
"Come back?" Mom asked, "Okay."
Dad is still at the company, so he has to stay in the office at times like this, waiting for his subordinates to summarize the damage to facilities in the city.
When Zhang Sihai slipped out, his mother was still on the phone. He heard a few words about the waterway area and missing people.
There were recent rumors that there was an attack by unknown creatures in the waterway area. For safety reasons, his parents did not allow him to go out at night. Today he found a rare opportunity.
However, there are still a lot of people on the street, and the various flashing light boxes and billboards are as lively as ever. People here don't seem to care about the attack.
After all, the waterway area in the outer city and the inner city built between countless knife-edge rock peaks is relatively safer. Except for a few open-air main roads, most of the activity space is within the mountain.
"Xiao Ding." Zhang Sihai walked along the street toward the outer city, threw out his little pet, and looked up at the sliver of night sky exposed between the towering rock peaks on both sides.
It was pitch black.
Xiao Chong is just a little butterfly, and her voice is a slightly hoarse female voice: "I'm here."
"Call Lao Deng." Zhang Sihai said.
"Uh-huh." Little Butterfly replied.
"Stop humming," someone said in the darkness next to him. It was exactly the same as the little butterfly's voice, but it was colder. "I'm here."
Zhang Sihai turned his head and saw two people emerging from the rock crevice next to him. They were Lao Deng and a thin man. He was a little surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"
"I knew you would definitely come out," Lao Deng tied up his disheveled hair. "Today, the number of people at Yanding 2 checkpoint was half less than usual, so I slipped in without any effort."
Zhang Sihai looked at the man next to her: "Who is this?"
"My assistant, Xiaoxia." Old Deng said.
"What about the one before?" Zhang Sihai was a little wary.
"Missing," Lao Deng looked at him. "When the jungle came here today, this is the third person I know who disappeared."
After confirming that there was no problem with the identity of his assistant Xiaoxia, Zhang Sihai asked: "Where are you going today?"
"Waterway District," Lao Deng said, "I'll give you two minutes to hesitate."
"Let's go." Zhang Sihai did not hesitate, "But I want to record a video."
Lao Deng and Xiao Xia looked at each other, then nodded at him: "Whatever."
"Xiao Ding," Zhang Sihai said, "Shoot automatically, the time is current."
"Copy that." The little butterfly rose above the heads of the three of them, circled around and started to follow them.
"Hello everyone," Zhang Sihai began to speak, "I am Li Datou."
Xiaoxia glanced at him: "With commentary?"
"Nonsense," Zhang Sihai said, "Haven't you seen my previous videos?"
"I've been in the outer city," Xiaoxia said, "I don't have any equipment."
"Oh," Zhang Sihai didn't say much, just lowered his voice and continued to explain, "You must have heard about the recent disappearances. I am 80% sure that this is related to the incident two years ago. Today I am going to reveal the truth. The first shot.”
"To be honest," Lao Deng said, "your explanation is stupid."
Not only was his explanation stupid, he was also not very smart in his skills. When he climbed out of the rock next to the second checkpoint, Zhang Sihai stepped on the air and rolled down the mountain with his butt and head turned. Lao Deng stepped on the gravel tightly. He followed closely, and when he rushed forward for the third time, he grabbed the collar of the back of his neck.
"Fuck." Zhang Sihai sat on a protruding stone in shock. He looked at the streets of the outer city about 20 meters away below and touched his face. "Hello everyone, I'm fine, so I can't be too confident. No matter how strong I am, People also make mistakes..."
"Shut up." Old Deng said suddenly.
"You..." Zhang Sihai turned his head and didn't understand what she meant.
Lao Deng didn't say anything and covered his mouth. Xiaoxia also made a silent gesture to him at the same time.
Zhang Sihai reacted and slowly lowered himself down with the two of them, quickly scanning the surroundings. There was not as much lighting in the outer city as in the inner city. Apart from the colorful light signs on the street below, they could only see various kinds of lights around them. Various shades of black.
But he heard the sound.
It's a gasp.
It looked like someone was breathing heavily, but it was a little too rough for a human being.
The air was filled with weirdness, and Zhang Sihai's hair stood on end.
left.
No, like above.
Zhang Sihai slowly raised his head amidst the sound of his own heartbeat.
There was a blurry black shadow on a protruding rock above.
When he was trying to see clearly what it was, a pair of eyes in the black shadow blinked at him.
Only then did Zhang Sihai realize how close he was to the black figure. He could even see clearly the red bloodshot eyes.
He immediately forgot Lao Deng's request for silence and opened his mouth to shout.
But before he could say anything, the black shadow had already jumped down in his direction.
At the same time that Xiao Xia slapped his mouth, Lao Deng rushed towards the black shadow, and the knife in his hand passed by his eyes, bringing with it a gust of cool wind.
"Don't go there." Zhao Lu looked ahead, the spotlight in his hand swinging back and forth. Except for a few motionless people lying on the ground, they didn't see anything in the night fog.
But his intuition told him that there must be something.
"One person is missing." Qiu Shi said.
"What?" Zhao Lu asked.
"Take the mother and daughter as the boundary," Qiu Shi shook the spotlight in his hand and drew a line where the mother and daughter were. "There should be five people here."
"One, two, three, four, four," Zhao Lu finished counting carefully and touched his waist, "Do you want to report?"
"Look for it first." Qiu Shi turned around.
I saw a pair of blood red eyes.
The intercom on Zhao Lu's shoulder rang: "Brother Shi! It's behind you!"
Qiu Shi was very moved. Although the information was not timely, it was quite accurate.
