Chapter 66: All Planned Out
In just one night, the cold wind was howling outside, and the snow was white. The snow on the road was already more than 10 centimeters thick. As she listened to the biting cold wind blowing past, Du Yue suddenly thought of the woman who lived on the sixth floor. The temperature had dropped so suddenly that she did not know how that woman was doing right now.
It was not until the next day when Du Yue met He Xing again that she learned some of the latest news. The base had announced that the temperature was going to drop, but they did not know the exact date and time. The sudden drop in temperature made the people who were still wandering and working outdoors suffer a lot.
Fortunately, everyone had prepared thick clothes for the winter in advance. They ran home and put them on in the blizzard, and most of them could recover from the numbness and stiffness. However, some clearly saw the news announced by the base but took it as a joke and did not prepare clothes that could resist the cold. Even if they were frozen to death, they could only blame themselves.
Even the government base could not avoid deaths, not to mention the outside. No one knew how many people would die from their sleep with such a sudden drop in temperature. Du Yue was not too worried much about these people. Although it sounded cruel, she only wanted to protect herself in the apocalypse. Everything else had nothing to do with her. Even if she wanted to care, she was powerless.
The people in the base muddled along for a few days. When they saw that the storm and blizzard outside showed no signs of stopping and the temperature was dropping every day, they no longer had any hope of the situation improving. They finally accepted the reality of it all. They had just survived the extremely hot weather but were caught off guard by the sudden descent of extremely cold weather.
Before the apocalypse, no one would have believed that it would snow in June and July and that the temperature would drop to -50 to -60 degrees. Earth was no longer the umbrella that humans were familiar with and relied on. No matter the reason, humans had to start facing fear.
However, even if they struggled to survive and lived a difficult life… No one wanted to die, and everyone was trying their best to live. Everyone looked forward to the day the disaster ended. When that day came, everyone would be able to stand under the sun and live a normal life.
When it was extremely hot, eating some cooling food would increase one’s appetite. However, at this temperature, if one did not eat something warm, one’s body would not be able to take it. Eating hot food was the most basic thing. If one wanted to survive in this weather, one had to find a way to keep warm.
The first base was reconstructed from a scenic resort. Only a few places had air-conditioners. The rest of the places had no air-conditioning or central heating. There was no air-conditioning or heating in the small building Du Yue rented either. If the residents did not want to freeze to death in their houses, they could only use the most primitive method, which was to start a fire to keep warm.
During the day, when Du Yue looked out of the window, she could see many people who had no choice but to wrap themselves up like bears and walk with great difficulty on the road to the forest. It was inconvenient to move around wearing too much clothing. In addition to the cold wind and blizzard, the snow on the ground had already reached people’s knees, making it even more difficult to walk. Everyone was walking very slowly.
These people braved the wind and snow with only one thought, which was to go into the woods and get some firewood to keep warm. The first base had plenty of water, so during the extremely hot weather, although most of the flowers and plants on the side of the road had died from the heat, the trees in the forest were still alive though they were in a half-dead state.
Now that the temperature had dropped sharply, in less than two days, the remaining yellow leaves on the branches of the trees had fallen to the ground. Looking at the bare branches, Du Yue knew that the trees would not be able to survive for long.
Du Yue did not know how many people were living in the first base, but there was no doubt that it had a large population. Even though there were many trees in the base, they could not bear to have so many people cut them down. Of course, Du Yue did not think it was strange for others to cut down trees. Although most of the trees in this scenic area were ancient trees that had lived for decades or even centuries, people’s lives were almost at risk now. Who would still be concerned about ancient trees?
When Du Yue had nothing to do, she would stand by the window and watch the people outside, but she never planned on going out. She had enough fuel and food now. There was no need to go out and fight with others for limited resources.
Du Yue had also thought about whether she needed to go out and put on an act, but it was really unnecessary. She had brought so many boxes upstairs with He Xing, but only He Xing and herself knew what was inside. No one else did. Even if someone became suspicious, they would have to accept whatever answer she gave about was what in the boxes.