Chapter 27 Chapter nine

April 9.Monday.Afternoon, 13:19. "I don't know." Tao Ye sat up straight on the bed in the isolation ward, and answered blankly. "Okay, I'll talk about this question later. Now, I hope you will assist the police in the investigation and tell me how you survived after the Future Dream Building sank underground, what happened underground, and what is the relationship with the deceased. " "I'm sorry, the deceased you mentioned is..." "Luo Haoran." "he died?" Ye Xiao couldn't tell whether his surprise was genuine or feigned.

"You can start from the beginning—seven days, seven nights." "Seven days, seven nights—" Tao Ye repeated, the corners of his mouth trembling slightly, "Let me think about it... think about it..." "Think about it." Ye Xiao waited patiently for an answer. "The first night. A lot of people died. It was so miserable! However, there were still about twenty survivors. We gathered in the atrium of the mall to discuss how to survive in hell. Regarding the end of the world, the professor is an authority on this aspect, and we Listen to him." "Who is the professor?"

"Wu Hanlei, there are advertisements for his new book everywhere, no one doesn't know about him." Ye Xiao was really surprised.The famous Professor Wu Hanlei?Another breaking news! "Is he trapped underground too?" "Yeah, the first thing the professor asked us to do was to collect all the food and water. It's funny to say that I was an employee of Calfort Supermarket, but I led everyone to loot the food on the shelves. Fortunately, there were not many survivors. Many, and a few were seriously injured and unable to move. There are all kinds of raw and cooked food in the supermarket, enough for us to eat for many days. The only worry is preservation. Those bagged foods are not a big problem, but what about fresh food? To save electricity, Luo Haoran turned off all air conditioners and refrigerators. At the strong request of everyone, he opened a refrigerator in the supermarket to store necessary food and medicine."

"Wait a minute, you said there is electricity underground? Is it a diesel generator on the fourth floor underground?" "Yes, there are five in total, and there is still a lot of fuel. However, if diesel generators are used continuously for a period of time, their efficiency will be compromised, and they will consume a lot of fuel, consume too much oxygen and emit too much exhaust gas, not only to maintain power generation The personnel of the machine will be poisoned, and others will not be able to bear it. Therefore, the generators must be used in rotation, with a maximum of two at the same time. We try our best to save fuel, and many floors use only one-tenth of the power. After forty-eight hours, we only Generated electricity for a few hours, but still ran out of fuel on the sixth day."

"Food and water are abundant in the supermarket, but what about oxygen?" "This is also the most troublesome problem for everyone. The air is gradually cloudy, especially in the lower floors. It is difficult for people to breathe. Fortunately, Zhou Xuan found more than a dozen household oxygen concentrators in the fitness equipment store on the fourth floor, which can produce oxygen. We Move these oxygen generators to various corners of the shopping mall, and put one on the fourth basement floor to ensure the safety of those who operate the generators—usually this is Luo Haoran’s job. Yoko is in the outdoor goods store on the seventh floor I found a large number of oxygen bottles for mountaineering, the size of mineral water bottles, which can be carried with me, and each person gave two, in case the oxygen is exhausted, you can live an extra hour or two."

"Who is Yoko?" "That Japanese woman, Zhengtai's mother, I know she was also rescued, are mother and child safe now?" "It should be fine." Ye Xiao thought of the warm hand that was dug out from under the ruins in the passageway of the cinema on the ninth floor. "That's good! It's not me who worries most in the underground, but Zhengtai, and this poor child." "Can I ask a question?" Before Tao Ye could reply, Ye Xiao asked forcefully, "That Japanese boy, when I rescued him, I always felt that he was a bit weird."

"You mean Zhengtai's skin color? Indeed, when I saw this boy for the first time, I also felt that he was too abnormally white. It was not the skin color of a white child, but completely bloodless, like a vampire. " "That's right." Ye Xiao would not say such things in front of witnesses or suspects, but he could induce them to speak out. "However, I dare to use my personality to guarantee that Zhengtai is a good boy, there is nothing wrong with him, don't doubt it." "You're overthinking!" Ye Xiao's face darkened, unable to let the interrogator take the initiative, he returned to the original topic, "According to what you said just now, you have solved the oxygen problem?"

"No, there is a paradox. To produce oxygen through an oxygen concentrator, electricity must be consumed, but oxygen is consumed and exhaust gas is emitted during the power generation process. Moreover, as long as the diesel oil is exhausted and the power supply is interrupted, no matter how many oxygen concentrators It doesn't work." "So, the last two days have been very difficult for you?" "Yes. When you found us, all the survivors were in the cinema on the ninth floor, because the air quality below was so bad that it was full of the smell of rotting corpses." Tao Ye showed a disgusted expression and shook his head, "Go back to the first floor. Let’s talk at night—Professor Wu Hanlei told us that even if all the survival materials are prepared, it may be full of dangers. Only when all survivors unite, help each other, and divide labor reasonably can we preserve the last hope of mankind in the end of the world.”

Ye Xiao nodded seriously: "It makes sense." "Thus, the professor has become our leader, he can command everyone underground, even the owner of this building." "Luo Haoran is willing to obey the professor's order?" "Yes, he is very obedient and cooperative, and he can't see the airs of the big boss. He is a taciturn person who can never see his expression or figure out what he is thinking. He is most familiar with Future Dream Building and often tells us these things Survivor, where can I find something. I have worked in Calfort Supermarket for three years, and I have never met the owner here, and I have never heard of Luo Haoran's name. It seems that he is a mysterious person."

"You have a good impression of him?" "Yes, what's wrong?" "No, keep talking." "Besides Professor Wu and Luo Haoran, the one who can still have the right to speak among the survivors is Zhou Xuan." Now, every time he hears "Zhou Xuan", Ye Xiao feels uncomfortable. "Zhou Xuan" has become his sensitive word. "Why him?" "The most aggressive, no matter what happens, he rushes to the forefront. He almost never mentions the word 'end of the world', as if the rescue team will fall from the sky at any time to rescue us from hell-oh my god! You really did it! You must know that since the first night, I never expected to return to the world alive. Most of the survivors also thought the same as me, thinking that the outside world was completely destroyed, and we They will die one after another in the near future, maybe hours, days, months, or even years!"

"So Zhou Xuan is an optimist?" "Yes, he is full of hope and strength. Whenever someone is disheartened or has the intention of committing suicide, he is the first to come out to cheer up. He told everyone, no matter what, don't give up life, even if you can't see it. To a dark world with a ray of light, there must be a bright light in the heart. Zhou Xuan often used it to inspire everyone, saying that Stephen King is his favorite writer. He found the movie file from some computer, and it was in the cinema on the ninth floor. In the smallest screening hall, a projector is used to show it on the screen for everyone to see—in the depths of the hell of the end of the world, a group of last survivors of mankind nestled in the cinema to see how Andy used it for nineteen years Digging a tunnel to regain freedom, this feeling is so tragic and exciting!" Tao Ye became more and more excited as he spoke, almost dropping the needle of the infusion in his hand, as if he was still in a hell movie theater. "It seems that you miss life underground?" Ye Xiao's words were calm, but they hit Tao Ye's vital point. He was stunned and said, "Maybe, it's too unforgettable. I think anyone who has experienced the end of the world, or thinks that he has experienced the end of the world, this memory can never be erased.” "I can understand. For seven days and seven nights, I thought that I was destined to die underground, that my parents, relatives and friends had all died tragically. I must have thought of many, many kinds of despair and sadness, fantasies and impulses - I have never experienced it myself. I can only guess boringly, sorry." "Where did you just say that?" "deal with." In fact, Tao Ye's desire to confide has already been drawn out, as long as Ye Xiao guides him a little, he will reveal more secrets. "Yes! Zhou Xuan and I also have a common hobby, which is reading mystery novels. On the fourth floor of Future Dream Mall, there is a private bookstore. Although the business is bleak, it persisted until the end of the world. During the seven days and seven nights underground, there was no need to go to work and no internet access. You can’t even watch TV. Most people are boring. To put it bluntly, they are waiting to die! Some people carry iPads and can play games. Some people go to the audio-visual section of the supermarket, unpack DVDs, and turn on the brand-new color TVs and disc players on the counter to enjoy the doomsday family. Cinema—the power supply may be cut off by Luo Haoran at any time. He is most opposed to wasting extremely precious electricity on entertainment that has nothing to do with survival. And a migrant worker from a small place like me goes to the bookstore at the end of the world. Zhou Xuan often talks to me Each occupies half of the bookstore, and I read the same book several times—all works by the Japanese master of mystery novels, Futsuki Matsukawa. He turned off the other power sources on the fourth floor, but turned on a few more lights in the bookstore, and the oxygen generator was also turned on. Put it in the bookstore. When I sat on the floor of the bookstore and read a book, I almost forgot all my troubles, as if I had returned to my college days and read without distraction.” "Enough!" Ye Xiao interrupted his lyricism, he didn't want to hear the details anymore, what he wanted was the information of the survivors, "Tell me about other things, such as—how do you deal with the wounded? Didn't you say that there are still seriously wounded?" ?” "No one can give up! This is the unified opinion of Professor Wu, Luo Haoran, Zhou Xuan, and most of the survivors. Although, there are very few people who advocate ensuring the lives of healthy people first, and those who are dying or have no ability to survive independently Yes, precious survival resources should no longer be wasted." "Which bastard said that?" "Forget it. It's not the few of us who survived anyway. Most people, including the professor, advocate trying to save everyone's life. We don't have doctors, so we can only simply bandage and treat the wounds of the wounded-medicine and bandages are not enough. But it can't solve the problem, until someone starts wound infection..." Tao Ye seemed to think of a terrible scene. Ye Xiao said softly: "Go ahead." "It's miserable! In the underground environment, once the wound is infected, it means a death sentence. We don't have a sterile environment and lack effective medicines. We can only watch their wounds fester and rot and give birth to maggots." "died?" "Yes, the seriously wounded died one after another, the last one died two days ago." "What about the corpse?" "Still gathered in the garage on the fourth basement level like the other dead." Perfect—Ye Xiao admired from the bottom of his heart, and looked into Tao Ye's eyes: "Why are there only six of you survivors in the end? Except for the seriously injured, what happened to the others?" "Hey--" "do not you know?" "Some people committed suicide. I saw it with my own eyes. On the third day, someone jumped over the railing on the ninth floor and fell directly to the atrium on the first floor. Countless people have died in that place." "Desperation for the end of the world?" Tao Ye raised his head and let out a long breath: "Yes. This disappointed me. The most painful thing was Zhou Xuan. His efforts to encourage everyone not to give up were all in vain. On the sixth day, the entire building fell into permanent darkness. Food began to run short , the air is getting more and more cloudy. People who still had a glimmer of hope to survive the doomsday began to despair completely, more and more suicides, and I can’t count how many people died.” "Did they all commit suicide?" "There are still people missing. After all, including the four basement floors, there are a total of thirteen floors, plus the hotel lobby, the underground space is very huge, and it is too easy to hide a few people. I don't know where those people went, maybe Died by accident." Listening to Tao Ye's eloquent speech, Ye Xiao sighed, "Your answer is perfect." "Why 'perfect'?" "I have no idea." Tao Ye was a little exhausted, lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes: "I'm sorry, I've already said what I know. I think it's a miracle that the six of us survived for seven days and seven nights until we finally survived. In the end, I am grateful The Party and the country, thank you very much for saving us from such a deep underground! Officer Ye Xiao, do you have anything else to ask?" "No, thank you for assisting the police in the investigation. I shouldn't take you so long to disturb your rest." Ye Xiao just turned to leave, then turned around again, "Finally, there is still a little doubt—from entering this ward, From the first moment I saw you, I felt that you were an introvert." "why?" "Feeling." Ye Xiao's expression was as deep as the sea, which made people a little scared, "There is no need for a reason." Tao Ye opened his eyes and sighed: "That's right, I have always had such a personality since I was a child, I was taciturn and afraid to speak, and probably because of this limitation of my personality, I could only work as a tally clerk in a supermarket without a future." "Thank you very much. Goodbye."