Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Four

As soon as the huge and heavy iron door was opened, the high-pressure argon gas immediately formed a cloud of smoke and leaked out from the crack of the door, making a harsh "hissing" sound.However, as soon as the high-pressure argon gas hits the thin hot air outside, it immediately dissipates without a trace. Juliet Nix lifted a foot and squeezed through the opening.The door was only opened with a narrow opening to let out the high-pressure argon gas, so as not to let the deadly poisonous gas pour in.Therefore, she could only squeeze out from the opening sideways, and the heavy protective clothing brushed against the heavy door panel.At the moment, the only thing on her mind is that the fire will soon engulf the airlock.She felt as if the flames had touched her back, and she couldn't wait to get out.

After the body squeezed through, she dragged the other leg out.Then, she suddenly realized that she was already outside. outside world. At this moment, there was no other shelter above her head, only thick clouds, only the sky, and the invisible stars. She walked forward with heavy steps, and walked out from the argon smoke, and found a sloping passage in front of her, and the corners of the walls on both sides were piled high with dust.Usually it is easy to forget that the top floor of the bunker is underground.The images seen on the walls of the office and the big restaurant can easily give people an illusion that the place where they are standing is at the same height as the outside ground, as if they are in the outside world.However, that's only because the footage of the bunker is there.

Juliet looked down at the number on her chest, and only then did she realize why she came out.She stepped onto the ramp, staring at her shoes, wondering why she wanted to go up.Is it because when people face death, they fall into a daze because of fear?Or was it just a self-defense instinct, because the airlock was about to catch fire, and she didn't have time to think about what to do next, so she instinctively wanted to delay her death? Then, Juliet came to the top of the slope passage, and the magnificent illusion immediately appeared in front of her eyes.The hills are covered with green grass, rolling like a newly laid green carpet, the sky is clear and blue, the clouds are like pure white cotton, and there are flying butterflies and insects everywhere.

She turned a few times in place, looking around the magnificent artificial scene, feeling as if she had entered the world of children's books when she was a child, where animals could talk and children could fly in the sky, and the original gray and desolate world had long since disappeared. Although she knew in her heart that everything in front of her was not real, when she looked at the eight-inch wide and two-inch high display in the helmet, she still had an urge to believe everything in front of her.She really hoped that all of this was true, and she wished she could forget that all of this was fabricated by the program in the information area, and forget what she had talked with Old Walker, and then she would roll on the soft green grass and feel The overflowing vitality, took off the bulky protective clothing, shouted and laughed heartily, and rushed to the beautiful world, the beautiful illusion.

She was a little oblivious, and suddenly wanted to take off her gloves.She looked down at her hand, tried to make a fist, then let it go, but the glove was too thick and her hand didn't work at all.This protective suit is like a coffin.After a while, she quickly reminded herself that everything in front of her eyes was fake, created by the information area, and the display screen in the helmet made people feel an illusory desire.So she tried desperately to put those illusory thoughts behind her.The sky is false, the green grass is false, only death is real.The ugly world she knew was real.Then, for a brief moment, it occurred to her what they had sent her out for.She should have cleaned the lens.

She turned to look at the concrete dome where the camera was mounted.It was the first time in her life that she saw it.The round hill made of steel and concrete looks solid, with a rusty iron ladder on the side leading to the top.There are several raised lens hoods around the dome, which at first glance look like tumors.Juliet reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a woolen cloth.What Old Walker said came back to her mind: Don't be afraid. She picked up the woolen cloth and rubbed the sleeves of the protective clothing, but the heat-resistant tape on it didn't come off, and it didn't shatter and fall off like the tape she stole from the information area.That tape is purposely designed to break easily.Now the tape on Juliet's protective clothing is designed by the mechanical and electrical department itself.

Old Walker's letter said: The supplies are good.The so-called good refers to the people in the material area.Over the years, they've made great stuff for privately helping Juliet get some spare tape she desperately needs.In the previous three days, she was escorted up the stairs alone and spent three lonely nights in different detention rooms. During that time, the tape to be sent to the information area had been taken by the people in the material area. Secretly drop the bag and replace it with the tape designed in the electromechanical area.They handed over the customized materials in the information area in this way of surreptitiously changing the day, and it must have been instigated by Old Walker behind the scenes.That is to say, the information area was kept in the dark and inadvertently created a protective suit that can last for a long time.This protective suit will not disintegrate.

Juliet couldn't help but smile.Although she was still destined to die, the time of death was delayed.She looked at the camera for a long time, then let go and threw the woolen cloth onto the phantom of green grass on the ground, then turned and walked towards the hill.She tried not to look at the green grass, the butterflies and insects flying all over the sky.These are artificial illusions that conceal the real world of death underneath.She reminded herself not to indulge in that false pleasure.She was engrossed in watching her shoes hit the hard dirt, and felt the wind blowing against her hazmat suit.Dust blows from all directions and hits her helmet.She strained her ears to the voice.She knew that at this moment she was in a frightening world.She could feel its horror as long as she was concentrating on it.She knew what kind of world it was, but she couldn't see it with her eyes at the moment.

She started up that ramp, toward the great city shining on the far horizon.She didn't think she could get there.She just hoped that she could die on the back of the dune, so that others would not see her body decomposing day by day, so that Lucas would not dare to come up because he was afraid of seeing her body.She hoped that he would continue to come up to watch the stars in the future. At this time, she suddenly felt that walking like this, and knowing what she was going to do and where she was going, was very pleasant.Her purpose is to not want others to see her body.This is her real purpose.She didn't really want to go to that imaginary city.She knew that the city had long since been dilapidated.

Halfway up the mountain, she saw two big rocks.Juliet was about to go around when she suddenly thought of where it was.The route she took was the best route, a ravine between two sand dunes, and these two stones were the most terrifying illusion. These two stones are Horston and Alison.The display screens in the helmets created an illusion that concealed their bodies.They turned into two stones. She was speechless.Everything is covered up, it is speechless.She looked down the hillside and saw several stones scattered on the grass, scattered and arranged in an orderly manner.Those are the people who came out to clean the lens in the past.

She turned her head away and didn't want to see these sad pictures again.She couldn't be sure how much time she had left, how long she had to go before she could hide herself from others to see her body.She knew that some people would be very sad when they saw it. She climbed step by step to the top of the hill.After climbing the stairs for a long time these days, her legs are still a little sore.Near the top of the hill, she began to see holes in the information area's illusion.She saw the lower half of the sky, and the lower half of the city in the distance.From the bottom of the hill, the lower half will be blocked by the hill.There is a bug in the program, it cannot create the illusion of this part.The upper half of those buildings looked intact, gleaming in the sunlight, but the lower half was full of broken glass and broken iron pieces, a devastated city ruins.The lower half of many buildings is almost empty, only the steel frame remains, while the upper half is still bright and beautiful, and it seems at first glance that it will collapse at any time. There are also several buildings next to them that were fabricated by them. There is no lower half at all, just hanging in mid-air. The horizon in the distance, but above it is a clear blue sky. At first glance, it seems to be painted on, but the picture in front of me seems to be cut in half.That line is the limit of the helmet display program. Juliet was a little confused, not knowing why such an incomplete program was designed in the information area.Is it because they themselves don't know what's behind the sand dunes, so they don't know how to change it?Or do they feel that there is no need to spend this kind of effort at all, because it is impossible for anyone to go so far?Whatever the reason, the sight looked so harsh, so counterintuitive, it made her dizzy.She pulled herself together and concentrated on walking, and continued to walk a dozen steps forward on the green grass, and finally came to the top of the sand dune. When she came to the top of the sand dune, a gust of wind hit her face, and she had to stop and stand still.She scanned the distant horizon and found that where she was standing was exactly separating the two worlds.Looking down the hillside in front of her, she saw the dry and cracked land, the wind and dust all over the sky, and small tornadoes, and the air was also filled with deadly poisonous acid.It was a place she had never been to before, but it was such a familiar scene.Compared with the blue sky and green grass just seen, the world she is familiar with is in front of her. She turned her head and looked behind, at the path she had just walked up, at the blue sky and white clouds, at the long green grass swaying in the wind, dotted with bright flowers.It was a wicked twist, full of allure, but alas, it was all fake. Juliet took one last look at the almost unreal grandeur.At this time, she noticed that the surrounding sand dunes seemed to be in a circle, and in the middle was the small round depression below. There was the round hill on the top of the bunker. Her home was buried under the small round hill, deep into the ground.This kind of terrain surrounded by sand dunes, at first glance, looks like God dug out the middle soil with a spoon.She knew in her heart that the world she had been born into had abandoned her.Behind that locked door, her home is safe, her dear friends are safe, and she must face death alone.Thinking of this, she suddenly felt very heavy in her heart.She was exiled, and time was running out, so she turned her back on the brilliant and colorful fantasy world, and faced the dusty world of death in front of her, the real world.
Juliet walked down the dune, trying to breathe as slowly as possible.She knew old Walker had given her some extra time that those people hadn't had before, but the question was, how long?How long can she last?Also, what's the point of this?Her goal has been achieved, because she has climbed the dunes, and the camera can no longer capture her.Then, why did she continue to move forward, why did she need to walk down this strange sand dune?Is it a habitual action?Or did gravity naturally drag her down?Or is she curious about the unknown sight before her? She walked in the direction of the dilapidated city, and when she reached the mountainside, she stopped and looked at the unfamiliar terrain in front of her.Standing at this height, it is easier for her to choose an easy route, cross those sand dunes, and take a journey that she has never traveled before, which is also the last journey of her life.She stared at the dilapidated city in the distance, and suddenly noticed a phenomenon.The bunker she lived in sat in a depression surrounded by sand dunes, but, to her surprise, it wasn't the only one.Looking around, the continuous sand dunes in the distance are obviously arranged in the same pattern. Several sand dunes are surrounded by a circle to form a bowl-shaped depression, and then another depression is separated by a sand dune, just like this Followed by one, endlessly.The sand dunes around the depression seem to have been designed to protect the bunker from strong winds. Juliet walked down the second depression, watching her feet, taking each step carefully, thinking about these questions as she walked.She kicked a large rock away and slowed her breathing.In the past, she used to dive into mud puddles to work, swim in the bottom of the dirty and smelly sludge, and clear the drainpipes, a job that even those big and thick men would avoid.Just because she often dives into the water, she knows that she must adjust her breathing and keep calm so that the oxygen will not be consumed too quickly.She raised her head, a little skeptical in her heart, wondering if there was enough air in the protective clothing. She walked across this depression to the opposite sand dune. Just then, she saw it.In the center of this hollow was a small hummock, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sparse sunlight.The scene here has not been altered by the display screen in the helmet, that is to say, the scene in front of me is real.Seeing the familiar scene of Yuanqiu, she suddenly wondered if she just went in the wrong direction?Or, did you just turn around on the top of the dune to look around, lost your head, and unknowingly walked back to the bunker along the original route? Then, she saw a body on the ground, only bones, covered with strips of tape, and a helmet next to it, which seemed to prove that she was going in the wrong direction. She stopped and kicked the helmet with the tip of her shoe, and the shell of the helmet immediately shattered into a pile of powder.I can't tell if there is any flesh and blood in the helmet, but even if there is, it probably has been turned into ashes a long time ago and drifted away with the wind. Juliet looked under the sand dunes to see where the couple's bodies were, but she couldn't see the small valley between the two sand dunes at all.At this time, she suddenly felt confused, wondering whether it was because the poisonous acid in the air had corroded the gasket and tape on the protective clothing, and whether the poisonous acid had penetrated into her brain.No, not yet.She continued to move towards the distant horizon, getting closer and closer to the city, and the upper half of the buildings still looked complete and shiny, and the sky above was still clear and blue, dotted with snow-white clouds. So, that means the knoll down there... isn't her bunker.Moreover, she suddenly understood that the lifeless sand dunes around them were not designed to block the strong wind and poisonous gas.These dunes are meant to block the view.Block the view of "other people".