The breeding area of the shelter was sealed off, People didn't know what was happening, So they could only discuss it briefly, But if they knew that the higher-ups were all gathered in the breeding area, they would be utterly shocked!
Such a situation, Usually only occurs during an alert period!
At this moment, The breeding area was quiet, And everyone's faces were somber.
After a long while, A middle-aged man finally spoke up, his voice deep: "Are you sure?"
"We've checked several times now, and it's the same conclusion!"
An elderly man with white hair spoke bitterly: "Mutant mice from the outside, after sneaking in, quickly infected most of the breeding area. According to the remaining radiation infection coverage, it's as much as 60%!"
"Therefore, those that have been killed and eaten, the ratio is estimated to be about the same."
Hearing this, Everyone became somewhat uneasy.
They were all high-ranking officials of the shelter, but they had also eaten mouse meat!
No one knew, If the mouse meat they had eaten could cause any problems!
"Immediately arrange for a inspection team, everyone must undergo a body check!"
"Radiation levels, surface characteristics!"
"Quick! Quick!"
A high-ranking official roared, ordering it to be done.
Immediately, People filed out one by one, with fear and a lingering gloom.
...
The Dawn shelter is divided into upper and lower levels, Naturally, The upper level is where ordinary people live, while the lower level is the upper-class area.
Only when a disaster like meteorite fragments falling occurs, does the shelter move people from the upper to the lower level.
Otherwise, Under normal circumstances, People from the upper level must obtain permission to go down, For example, for work or shopping.
At this moment, in a "pipe room" on the upper level, The small space was fully equipped, A family of three lived here.
"Can't drink alcohol, this damn disaster!"
The husband in the family was irritable, complaining: "Who knows when things will get back to normal outside, I haven't touched alcohol in ages."
Next to him, a young boy, only eleven or twelve years old, was diligently working on some parts.
This boy was naturally the irritable man's son, The irritable man was an employee at a manufacturing plant. After slacking off and getting reprimanded by the supervisor, he made the excuse to work hard at home, Bringing raw materials over, he had his son and wife help out, While he himself stood to the side, resting and slacking off.
At that moment, The boy's wrist was sore and couldn't help but take a rest, The irritable man, already in a bad mood from not being able to drink, saw his son slacking off and kicked him without a second thought!
Bang!
"Ah!"
The boy cried out in pain, but what came was not comfort, but a beating from his father!
In no time, He was beaten until his nose was blue and his face swollen.
The mother, standing by, dared not speak up, but watching her son being beaten, Eventually couldn't hold back, whispering: "Stop hitting him, we'll have to spend money on medicine if he gets hurt! Medicines are so expensive now..."
Hearing this, The irritable man paused for a moment, cursed "Bad luck" and then stopped.
"Get lost! Damn it!"
The irritable man slapped the boy to the ground, The latter hung his head and ran off, leaving the residential area.
Touching his cheek, He made his way to a tall wall at the edge of the shelter.
There was a pile of rubble!
The boy sat disheartened among the stones, staring blankly alone.
After a while, A massive black shadow emerged from the rubble, Glowing red eyes appeared from the darkness, eerie and terrifying.
However, The boy wasn't afraid but instead smiled and opened his arms, The massive shadow, like a calf, ran swiftly over and plunged into the boy's embrace.
Upon closer inspection, It was revealed to be a black-skinned mouse!
Its body was two meters long and half a meter tall, covered in a black keratin layer, Resembling a metallic creature!
"Little Black, Dad hit me again!"
The boy obviously wasn't meeting this mouse for the first time, rambling on about various things,
Like how his parents were mean to him, And how people in the shelter often bullied him.
The black-skinned mouse remained silent, but a spark of intelligence flashed in its red eyes.
After venting his frustrations, The boy felt relieved and started playing around with the black-skinned mouse.
The pile of stones was hidden and in the dark, hardly attracting anyone's attention.
After having his fill of play, The boy returned home with a happy face.
He was content with his life, Even though his parents were not nice to him and the uncles and aunts said the apocalypse had come, He had food every day, just had to help his dad with work,
And he also had Little Black to play with.
...Although mice weren't as cute as kittens or puppies, how could ordinary people afford to keep cats or dogs at this time!
When he got back home, The boy was about to sneak in when he suddenly found several people in the small room!
Dressed in black uniforms, A few men were questioning his parents.
As soon as he entered, he was immediately spotted.
The irritable man showed an angry face and roared: "You little brat, where have you been loafing around?"
"I, I just went out for a walk!"
The little boy shrank his head, Nobody cared where he had gone, A man in black said, "Now that your family is all here, let's start the testing."
"Okay! Okay! We will follow whatever the shelter decides-."
The irritable man's face was sycophantic, Completely different from his previous tough image.
"Hmm!"
The men in black didn't waste words, they took out a notebook to make some notes, Then someone brought out a black long-handled instrument and started to scan the three people.
This was a device for detecting radiation, Its function was simple, If the radiation level on the target's body exceeded the standard, it would sound an alarm!
The first one, The irritable man, Was quickly checked and found to be "normal"!
The little boy's mother was also found to be normal!
The men in black didn't show any special expressions, The rules in the shelter were strict, On their way here, they only found a few slightly above the standard, There was no real danger, and they didn't understand why the shelter's upper echelons would issue such an order.
But they didn't dare to talk too much, Just treated it as a walk, just coming around for a visit.
Finally, The man in black somewhat boredly pressed the device against the little boy's body.
The little boy, with an innocent smile, curiously watched everything.
Suddenly!
Beep—!!!
The indicator light on the instrument lit up, and an irritating alarm sound that the men in black had never heard before rang out!
Their expressions changed, and they instinctively stepped back a few steps, hurriedly covering their mouths and noses.
But realizing it was radiation and not poison gas, They somewhat awkwardly lowered their hands and said, "Don't move!"
"Ah?"
The little boy was somewhat bewildered. "The radiation severely exceeds the limit! We must capture him!"
The men in black exchanged glances, Some of them stayed at a distance, while another hurried off to report the situation.
The little boy looked puzzled at this scene, unclear about what was happening.
Looking at the expressions of those black-clothed uncles, It seemed like they were afraid of him?
But... could he also be feared by others?
"Dad? Mom?"
The little boy looked towards his parents, But the irritable man and their mother had already moved away, even leaving the house.
The little boy saw it clearly, In his parents' eyes, there was fear and disgust...
After a while, The little boy was taken away.
After some people wearing radiation suits and using professional instruments tested him, the shelter's upper echelons coldly decided to "throw him out of the shelter."
Because although he looked normal, his body had already been severely eroded by radiation, beyond saving.
...
"Whoo—!"
The heavy snow howled, In the midst of the storm, a drone arrived at the target location!
Sam looked at the screen, adjusted the direction of the camera, and saw that medium-sized shelter!
"Dawn Shelter, suitable for a population of ten thousand!"
"The advertising before the big disaster was loud and clear! No idea what it's really like though!"
Sam stroked his chin, recalling the information he knew.
Dawn Shelter wasn't too far from his location, It would only take the drone about fifteen minutes to fly there!
"Do we wait for three hours?"
Sam muttered to himself.
Suddenly!
He narrowed his eyes, noticing that a small door on the side of the high wall of Dawn Shelter had opened!
Several people dressed in thick radiation suits came out, dragging a boy dressed in normal clothes!
The little boy kept crying and shouting, looking back and calling for "Dad" and "Mom," his voice carrying far, but no one responded.
"This is..."
Sam furrowed his brow, forming a guess in his mind.
Sure enough!
The next moment, those people threw the little boy out, followed by throwing out four others,
One of them was the previously mentioned Xu!
The other three were residents of the shelter, who had eaten mutated rat meat and had radiation levels in their bodies that were beyond treatment!
"Don't!"
"I didn't do anything wrong, just had the misfortune of eating bad meat, and now you're going to kill us?"
. .. ...
"Damn it, you promised to keep us safe!"
"We can still be saved! Why not try?"
"Damn it all!"
...
Some were in pain, some cursed, and some roared,
Xu lay on the ground, looking at the grey and white scales on the back of his hand and arm, his face filled with resignation.
The little boy curled up on the side, trembling, cold, and hungry.
Seeing these people, Sam was also surprised,
He had the drone circle overhead a few times, noticing that no one was looking this way, he slightly lowered the flight altitude, zooming in the camera!
Soon, He could clearly see those five people!
The little boy and those three didn't seem strange to Sam, His gaze focused on Xu, The peculiar grey and white scales on his body immediately reminded him of a few others he had seen before!
"Radiation..."
"Is this really a mutation caused by radiation, or is it some kind of virus?"
Sam's heart pounded, According to experts, radiation mutations are uncontrollable,
But why did all the mutations he had seen have grey and white scales!?