Free movement inevitably leads to some chaos, but these people may not be organized in their efforts. Those who haven't been trained lack the discipline for strict obedience, especially when seeking personal gain. They didn't have the time to wait for the soldiers to dig out vehicles from the ruins and distribute them, so they organized by teams. Each team's soldier would explain the situation and set a deadline. Once the main group assembled, if anyone fell behind because they couldn't find a suitable vehicle, they would not wait.
After hearing the soldiers, many people's eyes lit up. If they could get a bicycle, not only would it speed up their journey, but it would also make things much easier. As soon as the soldiers finished speaking, people rushed over, fearing they'd miss out on a vehicle.
Jian Chu said, "We'll go to the back. We looked through the front yesterday, and most of them were damaged."
The group moved quickly with a clear goal, heading straight to the back of the ruins. Jian Chu knew the extent of the covered area, and if the front vehicles were still there, the ones in the back might also be intact.
Soon, they were out of sight. Mu Nan sat down, as the soldiers had already gone into the ruins to search, leaving their immediate area nearly empty. Song Jia, standing on a high spot of the ruins, saw Mu Nan sitting down, drinking water, wiping sweat, and fanning himself. He couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried about them?"
Mu Nan looked up at Song Jia and said, "Not worried. The worst-case scenario is that a bunch of people fight over a vehicle. My brother's with them, and though I'm not sure about Xu Ming, Jian Chu and Yu Zibai both know some martial arts. If it comes to a fight, my brother and the others won't come out on the losing end."
Song Jia looked around but couldn't spot his brother. He ended up sitting down with Mu Nan. "Are you long-time friends?"
Mu Nan shook his head. "Not really. We only got close during the haze period, but we're neighbors, so we've known each other for a few years, even if it's just from their side knowing me and not the other way around."
Song Jia sighed again. "That's nice."
Mu Nan reached out to pet Niu Niu, and since they'd spent a few days together, Niu Niu was familiar with him and didn't resist the touch. The dog even rubbed its head against his palm. Mu Nan smiled and said, "When I first saw Niu Niu, I thought it looked fierce. Now I think it's really gentle."
Song Jia also petted Niu Niu's head and pulled out a water bowl from their cloth bag to give the dog some water. "Actually, big dogs are generally more docile than small dogs. It's just that when a big dog bites, it makes big news, and that's why it gets reported. In reality, small dogs bite people more often, but since their bite is less severe, it doesn't make the news, leading many people to think big dogs are fierce and uncontrollable."
Song Jia continued with his grievances. "It's like how car accidents caused by men are considered normal, but when a woman causes a car accident, it makes the news and people comment on it, 'Oh, a female driver, tsk.'"
Mu Nan sighed. "I wonder when we'll see the next news story."
Hearing this, Song Jia also sighed.
The area around them had been quiet, and after waiting for a long time, they saw only distant activity in the ruins. With the sky growing darker, it was becoming harder to see anything without proper lighting. Mu Nan checked his watch. "They've been gone for almost two hours. Why is it taking so long?"
Song Jia replied, "If each person is getting a bike, it might take some time to find them."
Just then, Mu Nan spotted someone who looked like his brother coming from a distance. With the dimming light, it was hard to make out details, but as the figure drew closer, Mu Nan quickly stood up and waved. "Brother!"
Qin Huai stopped the bike in front of Mu Nan and then set down another bike he had been carrying. Mu Nan noticed that the bike Qin Huai rode had a basket in front, containing several wooden planks.
Song Jia immediately asked, "Where are my brother and the others? Did they find the bikes?"
Qin Huai nodded. "They found them, but it took some time to find the wooden planks. The tandem bike wasn't suitable for the road, so we had to modify the single bikes."
Mu Nan quickly grabbed the wooden planks. "What do we need to do?"
Qin Huai said, "Just use ropes or wires. We have that elastic binding rope in the bag, right? Go find it."
Mu Nan hurriedly squatted in front of their trailer, turned his back to Song Jia, and took out a bundle from the space. Though the rope was thin and elastic, it was quite sturdy. A bundle could be several meters long, and because of its elasticity, it was easy to handle and didn't take up much space.
Soon, Jian Chu and the others returned. Seeing Qin Huai tying the wooden planks with rope, Jian Chu exclaimed, "You even have rope! I was thinking of tearing some rags from the ruins to use as binding."
Mu Nan said, "We brought it specifically for this purpose, in case the small trailer was unusable and needed binding. Wait a minute. This rope is one continuous piece, so we need to get it set up. We'll manage one at a time and use it sparingly."
The wooden planks Jian Chu and the others found weren't as perfectly sized as Qin Huai's, so they used a Swiss army knife attached to their keys to trim some of them down. Wu Zheng and the others didn't need wooden planks because their bike had a basket in front and a seat in the back. They could carry their items on the seat, and even though the front basket was a bit small for Niu Niu, as long as the dog stayed still and didn't move around, it was manageable.
While they were figuring out how to modify their equipment, the people who had found vehicles began returning one by one. Those who came back first were naturally the ones lucky enough to find usable transportation. However, there were still many people searching around the residential area, but they couldn't find even a vehicle that was barely roadworthy.
By the time most people had returned, the wooden planks were already set up. The trailer that Qin Huai and the others had was actually quite sparsely packed, just enough to prevent issues with the trailer during travel, so they had three large backpacks. Now that the backpacks were removed, the trailer became much lighter, and securing the wooden planks became much easier.
Qin Huai had a backpack in the front basket of his bike, carried another on his back, and placed the remaining one in Mu Nan's bike basket. Mu Nan didn't argue; the backpacks seemed heavy but weren't actually too heavy, with the heaviest items still in the trailer.
Once everyone was settled, they tested riding on the ground. As long as the terrain wasn't too steep, it was quite easy. The main issue now was to be careful of punctures, as the roads were littered with construction debris. If the tires were punctured, the bicycles would become almost useless since there were no spare tires available. It was unrealistic to search for spare tires in the ruins; having an extra tire would increase weight, and more importantly, they lacked the necessary tools.
Mu Nan noticed that some people hadn't returned because they hadn't found a vehicle and asked Qin Huai, "What about those with and without vehicles? Are we going to go part of the way and wait?"
Qin Huai responded, "We'll split into two groups. Shi Yuanfei is leading his team directly, while those who have been in close contact with anyone who has developed a fever or fallen ill are in the back."
Mu Nan understood immediately. "So, most of the people at the front have found vehicles. As long as there are any left in the ruins, they'll be found by the time the people at the back arrive. So, those with vehicles will move on, and those on foot will continue at a slower pace?"
Qin Huai nodded. Mu Nan frowned. "But will people be okay with that?"
Jian Chu chuckled, "What can they do? It's not like they can grow wings and fly over. They didn't find vehicles, and those aren't provided by the soldiers. Who can they blame?"
Mu Nan clicked his tongue. The plan made sense: with the ability to travel by vehicle, they could maintain a safe distance from those who were already sick or at risk, and reach their destination earlier. It was a practical and decisive decision, though it did require a certain amount of ruthlessness. Dividing into two groups and leaving behind some supplies and soldiers was a way to prioritize the health of the group while sacrificing those at higher risk. It was a tough decision, but it meant they would arrive sooner and more comfortably. Not only was he exhausted, but even his brother had lost weight and looked darker from the journey.
Indeed, those who hadn't found vehicles were very vocal about their dissatisfaction with the decision to send part of the group ahead. They even accused Shi Yuanfei of being responsible for their predicament. Those who had found vehicles were eager to reach the destination quickly and didn't want to be delayed by those who had to walk. The two sides began to argue, but Shi Yuanfei took charge and had people count heads. It seemed they had already discussed and decided the distribution of supplies and which soldiers would stay behind or leave after finding vehicles in the morning. So, some people immediately went to comfort those who had to walk, while those with vehicles were counted and sent on their way.
Adjusting to the pain of walking had only just begun, and even with thick insoles and soft pads, Mu Nan still had blisters. Before those blisters had healed, he had to get used to the soreness of riding a bike. Fortunately, the walking over the past days had built up his endurance, so with some grit, he could keep up with the group.
Finding the tools had greatly increased their pace, bringing them closer to their destination. The surge of adrenaline helped mask some of the fatigue, and the roads got better as they approached the Xihe District.
The Xihe District was at the junction of the city's third and fourth rings. It had many universities and vocational colleges. Although people might not know Xihe District by name, everyone would recognize the university area. Despite the proximity to the city center, it was still somewhat remote. A few years ago, there were no direct vehicles to the city center. Even with new subway and bus routes, the area hadn't become very bustling.
In recent years, the population in the area had been gradually increasing, with new malls and residential areas being built. Unfortunately, before it could fully develop, it had faced various natural disasters. The area was still sparsely populated, with only minor road cracks due to the earthquake, but the roads remained relatively unobstructed, allowing for faster progress.
After about five or six days of biking, they finally reached the Xihe District. Mu Nan calculated that it had been exactly half a month since they set out, and the presence of vehicles had accelerated their progress. If they had relied solely on walking, it would have taken another half month.
Looking at the barren land and buildings that were either partially collapsed or abandoned, Jian Chu couldn't help but say, "You don't think we'll have to build houses with our bare hands, do you?"
Yu Zibai replied, "Building houses isn't too difficult. Maybe in the future, we won't need to build tall buildings. With fewer people and more land, even if high-rises are built, they might remain empty. After experiencing such a terrifying earthquake, many people might have psychological barriers against tall buildings."
Shi Yuanfei, looking at the map, noted that their final destination was the base. However, the current situation of the military base was unknown. They couldn't house everyone there, and they needed to build a new city to accommodate the survivors from the city center. They couldn't allow everyone to remain in the disaster-stricken area.
After a moment of consideration, Shi Yuanfei said, "Let's move forward a bit today. According to the map, there is a vocational college ahead. If we can't find a suitable place to stay temporarily, we'll check out the vocational college. We'll figure out the rest as we go."
Mu Nan tugged at Qin Huai. "The urban area is just beyond the vocational college."
But the vocational college had been severely damaged, and the area had been flattened, replaced by a row of low-rise buildings. Since this area was considered the city center with complete utilities and was within the urban area, it was said that everyone who lived here had been vaccinated. Newcomers who hadn't been vaccinated were placed outside the city, and after the quarantine period, they could enter the base, but only the outer city. The outer city was full of people with little means, some working labor jobs for new currency to rent a place in the inner city, while others simply got by in the outer city, living day by day, unsure of how much longer they'd survive.
At the time, he had come out from a destroyed private base and learned that the government base already had vaccines. Although being vaccinated didn't guarantee immunity from the plague, it at least provided some level of protection. Unfortunately, he had just entered the base, and after the quarantine period, he was temporarily housed in the outer city of the base. The vaccines hadn't arrived yet, and there was no time to plan for the future—there was no future left.
Because of this, he didn't really know which parts of the base were safe or newly rebuilt, as he had never been inside the inner city. He only knew that some buildings started before the apocalypse were still standing because, back then, there weren't many high-rises, so the few high-rises in the inner city were quite noticeable, even visible from the outer city. Unfortunately, before the apocalypse, those high-rises were still under construction.
Qin Huai nodded. It looked like this area was about as far as they could go before they would have to build from scratch.
As the group rode closer to the vocational college, their excitement grew. They could see a few high-rise buildings still standing intact from a distance. They weren't entirely intact, but at least there weren't many high-rises still standing. If those buildings were still there, they could have a temporary place to stay. If they were to rebuild here, it wouldn't be necessary to build houses from scratch.
So, they changed their plan from initially heading to the vocational college to going directly towards the buildings. Shi Yuanfei had some recollection of these buildings. Initially, it was said that the area was to be converted into a solar power station, with some ongoing construction being repurposed for solar power lines. It seemed they also planned to use the buildings here as experimental sites for solar shelters. Unfortunately, they didn't know how far the project had progressed, as the earthquake had struck too suddenly, and they hadn't paid much attention to this area at the time.
Seeing that there were still buildings standing eased their minds somewhat. Rebuilding from existing structures was much better than starting from scratch with bricks.
To everyone's surprise, in addition to a few high-rises, there was also a villa area. However, this wasn't a collection of standalone villas but rather three-story buildings with at least two or three households each.
Mu Nan's initial surprise at the house type quickly faded. "I thought these were all standalone villas. Turns out they're not."
Qin Huai said, "In such a complex, there's no way to build standalone villas. They're either row houses or stacked. This area is still within the third ring. Building standalone villas here would be impractical. Wealthy people might not want to buy here, and those without money can't afford them."
However, when they approached, they discovered that the gate between the high-rise area and the villa area was unlocked, clearly broken. The villa area wasn't entirely intact, but because the adjacent high-rises hadn't collapsed, and the villas were low-rise, the damage was less severe. Some of the buildings had collapsed due to ground cracks, while others had only minor damage. It appeared that some of the buildings were occupied, as clothes were hanging on the top floors.
Their group wasn't large—only three main teams—so they assigned soldiers to help people settle into the building lobbies. With the sun rising soon, Shi Yuanfei, along with several soldiers, planned to survey the area to see which buildings were already occupied and which could be immediately used. As for the residents already living there, Shi Yuanfei couldn't simply evict them. They had just arrived and hadn't figured everything out yet. Everything would be planned slowly.
Mu Nan found a shaded spot with some ventilation and laid out the worn, slightly torn mats. He sighed heavily and began to massage his legs, which had been sore from a day of biking.
Jian Chu sat beside him, somewhat lost in thought. Looking at the high-rises and the partially visible villa area behind them, he asked, "Do you think we'll be assigned to one of these places?"
Xu Ming replied, "We'll likely be settled in the low-rise buildings first. Low-rise floors are easier to repair and equip. As for the high-rises, they probably need to be electrified before they can be occupied."
Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai and asked, "Brother, do we want to live in the high-rises or the low-rises?"
Qin Huai said, "I prefer the low-rises."
Mu Nan asked quietly, "Why? Aren't we expecting snow soon?"
Living higher up would avoid the snow issue, and they could choose to live on the top floor. If there were only three or four households per floor, they could have a few familiar people on the same floor and seal off the stairs, ensuring safety. They could also install solar panels on the top floor and not worry about electricity. Being farther from the ground would reduce the risk of virus transmission in a densely populated area. It seemed that living on the top floor would be the best option.
Qin Huai said, "Snow isn't a big concern; it just requires shoveling. Look at the villa area—the terrain is higher compared to the high-rise area. The current drainage system is much better than before. As long as it doesn't get clogged, there won't be any issues with standing water. As for safety, living on a higher floor doesn't make much of a difference compared to living below. Even though safety measures like electric security nets can be installed on lower floors, conveniences available on higher floors are harder to replicate."
Mu Nan asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
Qin Huai replied, "Fleeing from disasters."
Qin Huai, running his fingers through Mu Nan's somewhat long hair from the past few weeks, explained, "Extreme warmth and extreme cold are the climate changes we know about. However, the other climate effects resulting from these changes are still unknown. We don't know if earthquakes will happen again. Besides earthquakes, there are many other extreme issues, such as ice melting due to extreme heat, seawater flooding, and tsunamis. These aren't problems we can ignore just because we're living inland. If such disasters occur, especially unexpectedly, how will we escape from a high-rise?"
"There could even be disasters we can't even imagine, like the previous smog. We never thought the Earth would be enveloped in such strange fog. So, living on higher floors or lower floors doesn't make much difference in terms of safety. It's about minimizing exposure and having protection. However, when disaster strikes, living in a high-rise versus a low-rise could be a matter of life and death. If future climate conditions are like this, and people can live smoothly, it doesn't matter where we live. But if they can't, at least we can escape quickly."