"Today's temperature has risen to 40°C. Citizens are advised to reduce outdoor activities to avoid heatstroke and keep Huo Xiang Zheng Qi water at home... *snap*"
Lin Yuan pressed the power button on the television, muttering,
"This damn weather, are they letting us live or not!"
Angrily, he pulled open the curtains, and the scorching sunlight outside made the air seem to ripple.
Why was the sun still so intense? His eyes widened, and he silently closed the curtains.
Close it, close it...
Darkness returned to the room. The air conditioner in the living room diligently supplied cool air, but Lin Yuan's mood couldn't improve. It was almost September, and the 40°C heatwave had lasted for nearly a week. Not just China, but the entire Earth was warming up. An unknown amount of Antarctic ice had already melted, and there were rumors that coastal regions were preparing to evacuate inland.
However, what Earthlings didn't know was that after the melting of the Antarctic ice sheets, a super spore from ten thousand years ago, under the influence of nuclear wastewater discharged by a certain island nation, was undergoing continuous mutation and spreading globally. Monsoons and ocean currents rapidly carried them to every corner of the Earth, where they secretly and quickly combined with human cells, causing DNA to change.
(A solemn declaration: All content, backgrounds, and related characters and locations in this novel are fictional and should not be conflated with reality. Furthermore, your author is merely a survivalist and fantasy enthusiast. Some weapon and ammunition data and survival methods in this novel were obtained through online research. This book is a speculation on potential future disasters and provides suggestions on how to survive. If esteemed readers have better survival suggestions, please discuss them in the comment section.
This book is not dark!! Nor is it overly benevolent!! If you find the content uncomfortable, please be gentle with your criticism.)
...
"Beep, beep, beep."
The notification sound of his phone kept ringing.
Lin Yuan took a long time to open his eyes. He shook his head, feeling a bit disoriented. He rubbed his messy hair and saw his phone constantly popping up with messages.
"Damn it, who's so energetic, not sleeping at noon?"
He picked it up and saw the time on the screen.
July 11, 2023, Tuesday, 4:13 PM
It was already 4 PM!
I slept for 4 hours! I should have known not to turn on the air conditioning.
There were many messages on the screen, but all of them, despite their variety, shared the same beginning.
"Urgent notice..."
"That's weird, what shopping festival is it today? No, wait, why do I see one from the Jingzhou Coordination Office?"
Unlocking his phone, he found himself still on the QQ chat interface. There weren't many messages, but a few people had sent him some, some familiar, some not.
"Why is Old Wang messaging me? Wasn't she supposed to be sleeping at noon?"
Still groggy, he tapped on a chat window, preparing to complain about the SMS bombardment, but the content of the message made his brow furrow in deeper concern.
13:06
Wang Xiaoxin: "Strange, I was woken up. Why is it so chaotic outside? I'm going to the window to take a look."
13:09
Wang Xiaoxin: "What's happening outside? So many people are running. There are shouts everywhere in our complex too. That sound feels like people are fleeing for their lives."
13:12
Wang Xiaoxin: "I just switched to another window to look, and I discovered that the people below our complex are running around chaotically!? There are screams everywhere. Ugh, so annoying, I can't see clearly from below. Being on the top floor is a hassle. And those distant buildings are smoking. I even saw a helicopter fall. What's going on? Are aliens attacking? Wait, the news is on, I'll go check."
14:56
Wang Xiaoxin: "Old Lin, the news is saying it looks like a global biochemical crisis has broken out. Can you believe the news is saying this? And I just took my brother's binoculars to look, and those people really look exactly like zombies from games and TV! I'm so worried about my parents and my brother. How are you doing?!"
15:47
Wang Xiaoxin: "Phew, thankfully the phone is still working. My parents are fine, they're just stuck in our hometown."
Wang Xiaoxin: "Old Lin! Reply if you're still alive! The Jingzhou Coordination Office just issued a notice saying this zombie crisis is truly global! And the infection rate is extremely high! Rescue personnel can't be allocated! They're telling us to save ourselves! I just finished gathering food and drinks, I didn't expect my decision to hoard supplies and stay home for the summer to save my life! Thank myself!"
Flipping through the other messages, besides a few unfamiliar friends, there were also messages from his parents.
They were safe. It was harvest season, and they had returned to their hometown. Lin Yuan's uncle had asked them to help with the grain harvest for a few days.
After reading most of the messages, Lin Yuan was completely awake. He felt more alert than ever before. All his future seemed to point in one direction.
Survive!
He told his parents not to come back and to stay safe. Then, in a low voice, he sent a voice message to Wang Xiaoxin saying he was still alive, and then plugged his phone in to charge before running out of the bedroom.
He took out all the chargeable items and plugged them in. He even took out the battery for his electric scooter. The electricity meter spun rapidly, but Lin Yuan couldn't do anything about it. He didn't know when the power would be cut off, so he had to do this.
Fortunately, it was the beginning of the month, and the electricity bill had already been paid.
After finishing this, Lin Yuan went to get water. The tap water should still be usable for now. The water plant was in a sparsely populated area and was automated. Even if the water plant employees turned into zombies, they wouldn't fall into the water treatment pool. However, whether the source was contaminated was uncertain, so he would fill up as much as he could.
Lin Yuan's mind was clear. Combined with his long-standing hygiene habits, he even wore gloves while filling the water to prevent contamination.
After carefully filling all the containers in his home with water, he finally felt relieved. He returned to the bedroom to check the messages from the Jingzhou Coordination Office.
There were three messages in total.
13:10
Please all citizens pay attention: A large-scale global biochemical crisis has suddenly broken out. The vast majority of infected patients exhibit cannibalistic behavior. Please securely close all doors and windows, and await rescue at home. Simultaneously, gather food, medicine, drinking water, and other essential living supplies to cope with the emergency situation!
15:45
National Biochemical Research Group's Notification on the Current Incident:
"Around 8 AM today, sporadic biochemical infections resembling a biochemical crisis occurred in various locations. Around 1 PM, the infection began to erupt on a large scale. The characteristics displayed by the patients are almost identical to zombies in movies and games. According to preliminary judgments by researchers, after being infected with this pathogen, the patient's nervous system will completely mutate within 1-3 hours, losing some functions. They are already dead on a conscious level, with only their bodies still functioning and exhibiting cannibalistic behavior. Bites and scratches from infected individuals, or contact with the blood and bodily fluids of infected individuals, will cause infection.
Other characteristics of this virus are still under observation and research by personnel. This global biochemical infection is characterized by its sudden onset, large-scale contagiousness, extremely high infection rate, and extremely high fatality rate. Survivors are urged to prepare for emergency self-rescue."
15:50
"To All Compatriots in the Nation from the Jingzhou People's Coordination Office:
Today, a biochemical virus infection has broken out globally, and our China's 36 provinces have not been spared. The infection and fatality rates of this virus are extremely high, and infected individuals also possess the ability to re-infect and exhibit great aggression. Various regions in China have suffered severe damage, especially the southeastern and coastal areas, where population density is high and the extent of damage is even greater. Therefore, the following decisions have been made:
1. Given the significant damage to military and security forces in various regions, with personnel scattered and lacking unified command, all civil defense measures in each province will be immediately activated. Surviving personnel from provincial people's coordination offices, and nearby military and security forces, will immediately withdraw and await unified command. While preserving effective strength, rescue operations may be carried out en route. All compatriots are urged to remain calm and fully consider the high risk and high infectivity of biochemical infected individuals to avoid minor losses leading to major disasters, harming oneself and others.
2. Our naval military forces, having discovered isolated cases earlier and implemented rapid isolation, have preserved more strength. However, they are currently in a state of reorganization. Due to the extreme danger of the Shanghai port, preventing docking support, rescue will only be possible through ship-borne helicopters combined with carrier-based aircraft. Survivors in coastal provinces are to remain at home within 3 days for rescue teams to inform them of assembly points. After 3 days, they may act independently, with personal discretion for specific situations.
3. The Jingzhou People's Coordination Office will be temporarily renamed the China Anti-Biochemical Command Center (CABC) starting from 6 PM today until the complete victory of the anti-biochemical campaign. An explanation of biochemical infection zones, danger zones, and safe zones, along with corresponding matters, will be announced at 8 PM. The National Virus Research Group will provide information on infected individuals' defenses within 1-2 days. Compatriots are requested to pay attention to relevant information and use the nationally distributed hand-crank portable radio to tune into the Emergency Disaster Prevention Radio at 91.2mhz to cope with power outages and ensure information flow.
4. Given that the consciousness and minds of biochemical infected individuals have already died, their nervous systems have completely mutated, and there is no specific medicine, current medical observations prove this process is irreversible. Therefore, starting from 12 PM today, any killings caused by resisting biochemical infected individuals and rioters will not be pursued and will be encouraged. From today onwards, our Dragon Country compatriots may use the following, but not limited to, weapons to fight infected individuals and rioters: knives, firearms, highly toxic substances, corrosive materials, explosives, homemade cold weapons, homemade firearms, etc.
5. Rescue-related matters will be issued at 8 PM. Due to the high degree of automation in communication base stations, and as long as they are not subjected to large-scale damage, the data network communications and wireless network communications in each province will not experience problems within 3 days. To ensure the longest possible power operation and personnel safety, natural gas will be shut off within 2 hours.
6. The situation across the country is currently very grim. Everyone is encouraged to engage in self-rescue. Please download relevant survival materials online from the following link:
......
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