"Xiao Gang, stay at school and wait for your mother and me to collect you. We're leaving right now for the airport..."
"Xiao Gang, there are no more plane tickets. We will come by train..."
Nanyuan is the capital of Jiangnan Province; Du Gang came here to attend a boarding high school. His hometown is Luoan City, a lower-ranking city within Jiangnan Province, more than five hundred kilometers away from Nanyuan.
As soon as the news broke, Du Gang's parents were eager to go to Nanyuan to find their son. Disaster was soon to strike, and at the very least the family must be together.
"Xiao Gang, there's no southbound train either. We will try to drive over instead!"
On the other end of the phone, Du Gang had already checked. Everywhere online said that the highway was jammed and immovable so he refused, "Mom, Dad, don't take the highway. There are three hours left until darkness. Even if you took the highway now, you wouldn't be here before it gets dark..."
He thought for a moment and continued, "Just do as the government instructed. Stay at home. I'll remain at school and stay in the dormitory. I won't go anywhere!"
After Du Gang's suggestion, his parents also calmed down, "Alright, Xiao Gang, hurry to the supermarket and bring as many food and drink supplies as possible to your dormitory..."
After some discussion, their family of three finally decided not to move for the time being. They would each return to their places, prepare food supplies, get through one night and see how events unfolded.
After hanging up the phone, clad in construction camouflage clothing, Du Gang hurriedly ran to the school supermarket.
His clothes were picked up from a half-completed building. Although they were slightly small, it was better than merely wearing underwear and running around.
Upon arriving at the supermarket, the shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. Only four or five boarding students continued moving things around.
They exchanged glances without uttering a word, stuffing food and drink items into bags like mad.
The school supermarket was large enough that the amount they collected was a drop in the ocean.
Three hours had passed since he transformed.
As soon as the news exploded three hours ago, almost everyone at the school had fled.
Although Experimental Middle School was a full boarding school, the majority of students were locals. They either went home themselves or parents swiftly collected them.
Most of whom remained were like Du Gang, students who came to school from other cities. Yet, even then, a portion of students already fled.
After gathering several bags of food and water, Du Gang quickly raced back to the dormitory with his haul.
He had considered staying in a higher location, but there was no proper place to stay. He wasn't familiar with any other place, the school dormitory only had six floors but at least he knew the environment very well.
Upon reaching the sixth-floor dormitory and pushing the door open, he saw Ma Li seated at the bed edge, sobbing.
"Ma Li, what's wrong?"
Upon seeing Du Gang, Ma Li sighed in relief but lamented, "My parents can't make it here..."
Du Gang frowned slightly and hastily stated, "Tell your parents to stay at home. There are three hours until it gets dark, and those monsters will appear then!"
His parents and Ma Li's parents worked in the same company, both resided into accommodations provided by the company. Having grown up together, it would be strange if his parents decided not to summon Ma Li's parents.
"I did. My parents told me your father has gone to them and asked them to stay together..."
"Then why are you crying?"
Placing his items down, Du Gang quickly instructed, "Don't cry anymore, now follow me to the supermarket to fetch supplies!"
After seeing the food and water Du Gang had brought back, Ma Li finally came to his senses and got up to follow him.
When they returned to the supermarket, there were still only four or five individuals moving things around. Without much thought, they joined the queue to collect supplies.
Quickly, both of them managed to collect a large number of items and ran back to the dormitory.
This time, while descending the stairs, Du Gang yelled out, "All those who are still in the dormitory, stop moping around and quickly head to the supermarket to grab some food and drinks!"
While the majority of the students were locals, there were a fair number of out-of-town students. It was unlikely they had only seven or eight students remaining.
He speculated that all these students were probably frightened and hiding in the dormitories, afraid to come out.
Sure enough, the residents of the dormitory, upon hearing the shout, all came out to check. When they saw the activities unfolding, they swiftly took action.
While passing by the female dormitory, Du Gang took the opportunity to also call out loudly.
When Du Gang and Ma Li were once again carrying supplies back to the dormitory, there were already a considerable number of students running towards the supermarket.
When they spotted Du Gang, they couldn't help but break into smiles of gratitude.
In this manner, when the majority of boarding students began moving food, the rest of the frightened students finally came downstairs and joined the queue.
When Du Gang came back to the supermarket this time, he found a megaphone. He thought for a moment and decided to use the loudspeaker for a reminder.
"Students who reside on the first, second and third floors, try to move vertically up. The locals have all left, vacating plenty of spaces high up. Go live upstairs!"
After the shout, he set the words on repeat and placed it at the entrance of the supermarket. Then he and Ma Li started carrying their collected items back to the dormitory.
"Du Gang, you seem a bit different!"
Comparing himself to Du Gang, Ma Li felt like a naive child. While he was still sobbing, Du Gang was already thinking about how to survive, even benevolently reminding his classmates.
Du Gang didn't realize there was anything wrong with him and casually responded, "I am the sports representative, isn't it normal to stay calm?!"
Looking at him, Ma Li suddenly wondered, "Wait, why do I feel like you've grown taller?!"
"Really?"
Du Gang was stunned for a moment before responding, "If I've grown taller, then I've grown taller. It's just normal growth!"
With that, he lifted a great load of supplies and ran ahead.
...
In the end, when the sun was about to set, all of the students had made at least three to four trips to the supermarket, nearly depleting the food section.
Du Gang, thanks to his superior physique, made a total of more than ten trips. Apart from his and Ma Li's bed, the other six beds were all filled with food supplies.
Some people, who were in a frenzied state seemed to lose their sense, continuously moving supplies around. Finally, under Du Gang's reminder, everyone retired to their dormitories.
Following that, Du Gang found a lock from the dorm administrator's room and locked the first-floor door.
After returning to the dorm, almost everyone conducted the same move. Closing their curtains, leaving slight gaps to observe the outside.
This time, without Du Gang having to remind them, the entire dormitory quietly settled down.
At such times, nobody was in the mood to be noisy anymore; nobody wished to act stupid.
Moreover, under everyone's watch, the sun gradually faded...