Jack backed down, "It's too dangerous, we'd better take this news back first..."
"But the mice are getting smarter and smarter. Every night, the possibility of us getting good things will decrease by one point. (_包&书&吧)" Seeing the hesitation on Jack's face, Coulomb stepped up and said, "Just now That mouse has run away, and there shouldn't be any other mice lurking ahead. This is an opportunity."
In this era, any hesitation will become a pass to death, either forward or backward.
Jack gritted his teeth and inserted the steel pipe back behind his back, "Let's go."
There was no shelter for more than 100 meters from the aqueduct to the accommodation area, but at least the two of them did not see any other rats, let alone rats hiding in the aqueduct out of sight.
For humans who have been racing against mutant creatures for a long time, a distance of more than one hundred meters is only a matter of seconds. As long as they can rush in, they can achieve relative safety. After all, places where people can't find food are not very popular with rats. Even if you encounter a small number of rats there, you can use the obstacles in the building to avoid them, or simply kill them. With the strength of two people, it would not be too difficult to kill a lone mouse as long as they were not attacked by surprise.
While running with all his strength, Jack felt his mouth getting drier. Perhaps it was because the consumption was too great, or perhaps because the race against death had made him sensitive. After safely running into the broken wall of the accommodation area, Jack coughed violently, and even breathing felt extremely painful.
Whether it's congenital or acquired, mutants are always surprisingly courageous. "Whatever happens, I'll just say it'll be fine." Coulomb smiled and said,
Although Jack couldn't completely recall when he said "it'll be okay", he didn't intend to correct it, saving every ounce of energy for the battle that might come later.
"for you."
Coulomb threw an iron can over, and Jack subconsciously caught it and shook it. There was actually a sound of liquid sloshing inside. Quickly opening the can, there was actually drinking water inside that didn't smell too bad.
"What are you doing?"
In order to reduce the evaporation of water as much as possible, Jack quickly closed the mouth of the jar. Although his mouth was so dry that it was difficult to even speak, Jack suppressed the urge to drink from the can. Although drinking water is very precious, it is also wealth that can be exchanged for various things. No one will give away their wealth to others without any reason.
"Looking at you, you must be doing something to save money. You haven't drank much water. You may have to fight rats later, so it would be good to have more energy."
Jack hesitated for a moment, then threw the can back, "I can't afford it."
As soon as Coulomb received it, he handed the tin can to Jack, "I didn't ask you to return it. If we die soon, this water will only make the mice cheaper. If you find something and you can come back alive, this water will count." What."
Hearing what Coulomb said, Jack no longer hesitated and drank a few drops of water, trying to maximize the value of the water in his body and mouth. After drinking nearly 50 ml, he handed the water back and said, "You can drink some too."
Coulomb was very straightforward and drank all the remaining water in two big gulps, which made Jack feel a pain in his heart.
After putting the tin can back in, Coulomb used his unique talent as a mutant to carefully select each shelter and walk deeper into the accommodation area. Jack originally wanted to search the building outside before leaving, but this time he did not object and followed Coulomb carefully.
More than ten minutes later, the two of them had arrived at the center of the accommodation area, where people of the scientist level probably lived. The buildings were no longer tofu-like apartment buildings, but independent villa-style buildings. And judging from the damage of these villas, only the wooden structure parts were eaten by rats, while the more attractive window glass and scattered metal were still preserved.
"No one seems to have been here." Just outside the house, he saw so many things that could be taken back for water and food. Instead of being happy, Jack showed concern.
"No one has come here, doesn't it mean there are still a lot of good things?"
"But..." Jack looked around nervously, "There are many mutants who are braver than you, so it must not be because they are not brave enough that they don't go to such a deep place."
"What do you mean?" The joy on Coulomb's face quickly faded.
Jack felt that the water he had just drank had been consumed, and his mouth became dry again. "No one has come here, which means they can't get there... We haven't encountered a mouse along the way. If this situation continues, what will happen to others?" Maybe we can’t get here?”
"You mean, the mouse made a trap to let us in?" Coulomb's face lost all color, but after a moment he said fiercely, "I heard that before the war, everyone had a gun. If we If you can find a few guns in the house, you can get out even if this is really a mouse trap."
Coulomb obviously overestimated the power of the gun and underestimated the power of the mouse. With a group of rats surrounding them, even the most experienced hunter could only wait for death, let alone two people who had only touched but never practiced with precious bullets. In this era, bullets are high-end hard currency that can be eaten anywhere, so naturally not everyone can afford them.
Although Jack thought so, he couldn't say it to attack Coulomb. He just took out the steel pipe and followed him to the nearest villa that had no door.
From the outside, it looked like the wooden stairs and wooden floors inside the door had all been eaten away by rats, leaving only the indigestible cement floor. So Jack estimated that the other furniture in the house was in the same situation. It was definitely not easy to find something useful among a pile of rubble.
But after carefully entering the room, the two of them looked at each other with incredible eyes.
"What happened to us today?" Coulomb said a little dull. "Seeing that the mouse was about to be ambushed, it actually crawled out and ran away. It easily entered this place that no one has been before. Just enter a room. The house is actually full of good things. This is so lucky."
Jack nodded blankly. I can't imagine what kind of monster the previous owner of this house was. Everything here, from lockers to tables and chairs, is made of iron furniture that rats can't eat.
Steel, which can be used to smelt various things, is a good thing in itself in this era of consumption and no production.
More importantly, as long as there is no delicious food in these iron furniture that can drive mice crazy, no matter what is inside, it can be preserved intact. Books, medicines, and electronic equipment are all treasures that are no worse than weapons.
Coulun, who had been stunned for a long time, cheered, no longer worried about the mice that might suddenly pop out, and began to rummage around the house.
"Oh my gosh, this is a handheld game console. It should work if there is electricity. You can sell it to those rich guys when you go back...First aid kit, damn, the medicine is ruined...Is this a toy? Someone should want it...Hey, Why are you still standing here? Look for anything you can get and take it all. This time we really gave it away."
Seeing that Coulomb had caused such a big commotion and no mice showed up, Jack simply started to join the looting. But compared to Coulomb's aimlessness, he focused more on some intact books. Although he didn't know how to read, he knew that in some aspects, the value of books was the greatest.
Although there are many things in the room, there are not many that they can really take away according to their abilities. In the end, Coulomb gave up a lot of things that seemed to be worth a lot of food, but he wasn't sure anyone would want them. Then, unwilling to give in, he was pleasantly surprised to find some rust-free knives in the kitchen. After carefully wrapping them in cloth and putting them in his bag, he started thinking about going upstairs again.
According to the experience I heard from other people, things like guns are usually placed in the bedroom. The bedroom of this house is on the second floor. Judging from the situation downstairs, if you can go up, you can probably find a good gun. .
Of course, the premise is that you can go up. The stairs here have been eaten by rats, and the entrance to the second floor, which is more than four meters high, seems a bit out of reach.
"Come here and help me."
Coulomb tried to pull the iron cabinet under the stairs, but after several attempts, the cabinet shook, so he had to ask Jack for help.
Jack hesitated for a while, but walked over and pushed the cabinet together with Coulomb.
The moment the iron cabinet was pushed, it made a tooth-aching sound as it rubbed against the uneven cement floor.
"Damn it."
Jack cursed and paused.
In this eerily quiet place, such a sound can be heard hundreds of meters away.
The two of them only took half a second to make a decision, and then ran towards the door at the same time. However, they suddenly stopped after taking a few steps. I seemed to hear the sound of mice faintly, and the sound came from all directions.
The two looked at each other in horror, and at the same time continued to push up the iron cabinet.
Now rats don't have too many natural enemies to avoid. Their huge size allows them to gain greater strength, but at the same time they lose the ability to fly over walls. Therefore, if the two of them could hide upstairs, they might still have a way to survive...at least they could survive for a while longer.
Coulomb, who was pushing the iron cabinet desperately, looked out from the door and saw a mouse emerging from the sewer dozens of meters away. The sewer opening that allows humans to enter and exit easily makes it extremely difficult for this mouse to squeeze out. It can squeeze its body out bit by bit by using the power of its sharp claws to draw shallow pits on the concrete floor.
As it squeezes out more and more parts of its body, its movements of scraping the ground to use force become faster and faster, as if if it slows down a little, it will lose a delicious meal.
It wasn't because he was afraid that the two humans would run away, but because he was worried that others of the same kind would beat him to it.
