Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 465 Pre-notification

The loudspeaker suddenly crackled twice.

Everyone raised their heads, their eyes all turning towards the direction of the officer. The level of order was more effective than any command, because commands could be disobeyed, while this sudden sound was irresistible to everyone's attention.

Even Lan Yue was startled awake by the rustling sound. She groggily lifted her head from Xu Xiaoyan's shoulder, her eyes not fully open and her eyelids still drooping, but her neck had already instinctively turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

Xu Xiaoyan felt the weight on her shoulder suddenly disappear, and a soreness came from the muscles on that side, like the discomfort of being suddenly released after being pressed for too long.

The officer remained in his original position, his lips pressed against the microphone. "The thunderstorm has passed. An assessment indicates the bunker structure is intact, with no structural damage."

He continued, "The power supply system is being repaired and is expected to be restored within two hours. Emergency lighting will continue until power is restored."

After he finished speaking, a soft breathing sound came from the loudspeaker, followed by a brief silence.

The hall was quiet at first, then everyone started cheering and even clapping.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't cheer; she just let out a long breath.

Lan Yue cried beside her, silently, tears streaming down her face, which she then hastily wiped away with the back of her hand.

Then the officer spoke up again, saying, "Also—".

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall. "Attention all area managers: Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, all personnel must gather at their respective area assembly points to listen to the broadcast. There is an important announcement."

After he finished speaking, he took the megaphone away from his mouth, glanced at the hall again, and then turned and walked into the passageway.

Other soldiers followed one after another, and soon their figures disappeared into the shadows of the passage. The sound of their footsteps gradually faded away, and the rhythmic sound of their military boots on the concrete ground grew fainter and fainter until it was completely inaudible.

After they left, the hall remained quiet for a long time.

The words "Important Notice" are never a good omen in the apocalypse.

If they are distributing food, they will say "distributing supplies"; if they are allocating tents, they will say "allocating accommodation"; if they are organizing labor, they will say "arranging work".

"Important Notice" is a vague and unspecific thing; it covers all possibilities, and of all possibilities, there is almost nothing good.

This means something is happening, and in this world, something happening is almost never a good thing.

Xu Xiaoyan could feel the change in the surrounding air. The relaxed feeling she had when she cheered earlier was replaced by something heavier in just a few seconds.

People were talking in hushed tones, as if discussing some secret that they couldn't let others hear.

Everyone was anxiously wondering what they would hear at eight o'clock the next morning, but no one ran to the entrance of the passage to chase after the soldiers.

After what happened last night, everyone learned the same thing: it's best to remain silent in the face of authority.

Power was restored faster than expected.

At 4:17 a.m., the lights on the dome flickered rapidly for a while, and then, in a moment, they all lit up at once.

The light was so bright that Xu Xiaoyan had to shield her eyes with her hands. The world behind her eyelids became a vast, white void, and it took her a long time to adjust.

The lights came on, the electricity came back on, and everything returned to normal, except for a new crack in the wall.

Xu Xiaoyan only noticed the crack after the power was restored.

It was on the concrete wall behind her, starting about 1.5 meters off the ground, roughly at eye level for an adult, and extending crookedly downwards for nearly two meters, at its widest point you could probably fit a finger in.

She stared at the crack for a few seconds, then looked away. Some things are truly terrifying when you think about them too much; it's better to just ignore them.

Soon, the hall became lively again.

Some people were discussing the thunderstorm, saying in a lingering fear, "Did you hear that last sound? I thought the sky was going to fall."

Someone was complaining that their tent had been trampled and kept saying, "I traded two months' worth of food rations for this tent."

Some people were asking around about the situation in other districts, craning their necks to ask the people in the next tent, "Do you know anyone in District One? How is District One doing?"

Some people simply lay down and fell asleep without even setting up a tent. They wrapped a blanket around themselves, closed their eyes, and started snoring within seconds.

The man who had been pinned down earlier had been released at some point and was now squatting next to his trampled tent, silently cleaning up the mess.

Xu Xiaoyan slowly stood up. She had been squatting for too long and her legs were numb, so she could only stand against the wall.

Lan Yue fared slightly better than her. When she stood up, she only swayed for a moment before regaining her balance. The traces of her silent crying from earlier were still on her face, but her expression had completely returned to its usual indifference, as if nothing had happened.

"Let's go," Xu Xiaoyan bent down to pick up her backpack, patted off the dust, and said crisply, "Set up the tent and go to sleep."

"The one at eight o'clock tomorrow..." Lan Yue hesitated, then stopped herself.

"We'll talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow," Xu Xiaoyan said without looking at her, squatting down to start tidying up the two tents she had hastily packed up.

She worked quickly, first checking the tent bag for damage, then checking the tent poles for breakage, and finally inspecting every buckle and rope on the tent fabric.

There were a few more footprints on the tent fabric, gray shoe prints on the dark green canvas, but thankfully there were no tears.

That's how canvas is; it looks flimsy, but it's actually more durable than anything else.

She unfolded the tent fabric with a large movement, the fabric spreading out in the air with a dull "plop" sound. Then, by the light of the newly lit fluorescent lamp, she checked the canvas inch by inch for any tears.

Lan Yue also squatted down to help, and neither of them mentioned the "important notice" again, as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding not to talk about tomorrow's matters tonight.

It was almost 5 a.m. when the tent was re-set up. Before entering the tent, Xu Xiaoyan deliberately went around to the wall and took another look at the crack.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that it seemed a little longer than when she first saw it.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought, and unzipped the tent before crawling inside.

When Xu Xiaoyan lay down, the top of her head was almost touching the other end of the tent, and her heels were less than ten centimeters away from the tent's zippered door.

She put her backpack under her head, curled up into a comfortable position, lay on her side with her knees slightly bent and her hands folded in front of her chest.