Calamity.
After the sudden calamity, the land was left in utter devastation. Species had mutated, food was scarce, the living environment was harsh, the era was completely destroyed, and civilization vanished without a trace.
...
On an unnamed street in the ungoverned area awaiting planning three hundred kilometers to the left of the Ninth Special Zone, a twenty-three-year-old young man was walking quickly with his head down, clutching the front of his clothes.
The street was dilapidated and ugly. The underground sewage system had been completely paralyzed God knows how many years ago. One simple outdoor toilet after another, which had been hastily built, emitted a stench and was connected to rows of storefront houses. Lights were rare in the whole area. From time to time, groups of people could be seen standing together on the roadside, with women being in the majority and men being fewer.
The young man who was walking quickly without looking sideways was named Qin Yu. He was 1.82 meters tall and had a sturdy build. He had lost his job today and was preparing to buy a formal resident identity of the Ninth Special Zone to complete the first step of his plan.
Qin Yu used to have delicate features and a regular face, being a sunny and handsome guy. But now he was dressed rather sloppily. His beard was unshaven, his slightly long hair was stuck together, and his clothes looked full of grease and stains. All in all, he was quite unremarkable in the crowd.
Walking quickly all the way, Qin Yu looked up at the crossroads and was about to turn left to get back to his residence.
"Hey, young man! Young man...!"
A clear shout rang out. A woman, wearing a somewhat whitened dress and wrapped in a coat, gently tugged at Qin Yu on the roadside.
Qin Yu was taken aback for a moment and looked back. "What do you want?"
"Thirty yuan." The woman held up three slender fingers and, looking back at the dilapidated storefront house behind her, said in a low voice, "Let's go there."
"Hehe, I can't afford it." Qin Yu laughed and continued walking.
"Wait." The woman reached out and tugged at Qin Yu again. "Twenty-five, is twenty-five okay?"
Qin Yu looked the woman up and down, paused for a while, and then continued to shake his head. "I don't have any money."
"Don't you fancy me? There are others in the room."
"Really, I don't have any money." Qin Yu shook his arm. "Let me go. I'm in a hurry to get home."
The woman bit her red lips, tightly grasped Qin Yu with her small hands, and after a long silence, added softly, "Two bowls of rice will do too, but it has to be measured with my bowl."
Qin Yu frowned. "I said I don't have any. Get lost!"
The woman still didn't let go and looked back pitifully at a group of seven or eight-year-old children beside the storefront house. "I have three children. If I don't get any business tonight, I won't be able to feed them... Young man, please do me a favor. Just one bowl of rice will do. I'll kneel down for you."
Qin Yu looked at the woman and said coldly, "How many years has the world been like this? In such an environment, if you don't have the ability to support them, why did you give birth?"
The woman was stunned.
Qin Yu shook off his arm forcefully and, clutching the front of his clothes, continued to move forward.
The woman stood there for a while, then quickly ran back to the storefront house and said, panting, "That man has it. He has. When I pulled him, I saw something in his clothes."
...
About half an hour later.
Qin Yu returned to a dilapidated six - storey building. He climbed the old and dusty stairs and entered his home on the fifth floor.
Only Qin Yu and his friend Xiao Zhuang lived in this building. Many of the outer walls had collapsed. In the past, it would have been a dangerous building on the verge of demolition. But in this era, the meaning of home was only about where you were, regardless of where you lived. Qin Yu chose this place because there was no electricity or water supply, and he didn't need to bear any expensive living expenses.
The room was very simple, with a bed, two broken cabinets, and no entertainment facilities. The only military - fan magazine was so worn out that the publication date on it was still 2019.
After entering the room, Qin Yu took off his dirty coat, pulled out a shiny canvas bag from his arms, and carefully walked to the bed. He picked up a broken bowl and started to scoop out the attractive white rice from the bag. Then he shouted, "Xiao Zhuang, is the meal ready?"
"Not yet. I just got back too," someone replied from the inner room. Then a young man about the same age as Qin Yu came out. He had dark skin and a resolute face.
"Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!"
Just as Qin Yu was about to talk to Xiao Zhuang, suddenly there was a deafening sound of footsteps downstairs. He was startled for a moment, immediately hid the bag and the bowl in the cabinet, and walked to the door which was just an old wooden door.
In less than ten seconds, seven or eight children under the age of ten led dozens of men and women to appear in the stairwell.
The stairs were outdoors. The cement was cracked, and the iron railings were aged. So many people rushed up together with hurried steps, making the dilapidated building seem to shake for a moment.
Qin Yu immediately stretched out his hand and shouted, "Don't... don't come up so fast. Damn it, the stairs are going to collapse."
"Uncle, I'm hungry."
"Uncle, I want to eat..."
"..."
The children each held a small bowl, standing on the stairs, looking at Qin Yu with their dirty faces.
"Uncle is hungry too. Have you had dinner at your place? If not, let's eat together," Qin Yu replied with a cheeky grin.
The children had innocent eyes and simple minds, but the adults behind them had torn off the most basic disguise of human beings. A burly man with a shaved head was the first to shout, "Hand over the food, or you won't get out of this alive."
"I don't have any food," Qin Yu waved his hand and replied, "Really, I don't. We're all starving ghosts in this unplanned area. It's not easy for any of us. If I really had some, even if I couldn't guarantee to feed you all, I'd at least share some..."
"Cut the crap. We saw you carrying food," the burly man continued to shout, "Hurry up. We'll leave after taking it. We won't ask for much, just half."
"Don't have it."
Qin Yu shook his head.
"Search his room," the burly man roared in a deep voice.
"Uncle, I want something to eat."
"Give me something to eat."
"..."
The crowd rushed forward all at once, and the stairs hanging outside the building shook again, as if they could collapse at any moment.
Qin Yu looked at the surging crowd, and his eyes instantly turned red. He lifted his right leg, pulled out a dagger from his dirty trouser leg with his right hand, and pointed it at the crowd shouting, "Damn it! You think I'm an easy target just because I'm alone?! Who the hell in this place is afraid of dying? I do have food, but you can have it only if you break this dagger."
Everyone was stunned for a brief moment. The burly man shouted coldly, "The kids are in front. Go ahead and stab them all to death first."
"Damn it..." Qin Yu was at a loss for words for a moment.
"Search the room and get the food," the burly man waved his hand and roared again.
As soon as the words fell, the people on the steps swarmed forward, and the children also surrounded Qin Yu in an instant, pulling at him and shouting, "Uncle, give me something to eat."
"Uncle, I haven't eaten for days."
"Get the hell out of here!"
Qin Yu held the dagger and shouted helplessly at the children, "Or I'll really stab you. I'll do it..."
Inside the room, seeing the conflict at the door, Xiao Zhuang immediately stepped forward to stop Qin Yu and shouted at the crowd, "Everyone, don't be impulsive. Let's talk things over."
The children were so hungry that they were fearless, just clinging to Qin Yu, while the adults at the back had already squeezed through the gaps and were coming up.
Qin Yu was sturdy. He took a step sideways and blocked the doorway, glaring and roaring, "I only care about myself. Don't fucking force me!"
The crowd rushed madly towards the doorway, ignoring Qin Yu's words.
Qin Yu was being dragged towards the side of the doorway by the short children all the time. But he couldn't really stab them, so he could only struggle with his body, getting ready to deal with the approaching adults.
"Uncle, just one bowl of rice will do..."
"Get lost!"
When a ten-year-old kid was tugging hard at Qin Yu, the latter swung his arm vigorously to break free. But unexpectedly, the kid bumped into the oncoming crowd and immediately lost his balance, falling backwards through the gap in the iron railing.
"Ah!!"
A terrified scream of the child rang out, echoing for a long time.
"Bang!"
Then the sound of the body hitting the ground came from downstairs.
Qin Yu and Xiao Zhuang were stunned. They gasped for breath and looked at the iron railing, at a loss for a moment.
The crowd fell silent and the stairs became steady again.
"The child, that child fell down!" Xiao Zhuang was the first to shout urgently.
Dozens of people turned their heads to look downstairs. Their expressions were blank. After less than two seconds of silence, they all turned their heads back together. The mother of that child, after being stunned for a while, let out a wail and rushed downstairs.
Qin Yu was frozen.
"Food."
"Since the child has fallen, we won't let him go without getting the food."
"Rob him."
"..."
The shouts were deafening and intimidating. None of the others turned around to check on the child who had fallen downstairs. Instead, they continued to huddle together and pushed their way in.
Xiao Zhuang stood at the door, glaring at the surging crowd. He knew very well that if he didn't give in a bit today, they'd surely have to fight for their lives. So he licked his lips and shouted, "Fine, you guys are tough. I'm backing down. I give up... I'll get it for you."
Qin Yu immediately grabbed Xiao Zhuang's arm upon hearing this and ordered in a low voice, "Don't give them any. Not a single bit."
Xiao Zhuang looked at the huge crowd outside the door and glared back as he replied, "The food has already been exposed. If we don't give them a little something, these people definitely won't leave."
"It'll be even more troublesome if you give them something," Qin Yu responded with a very serious tone. "I'd rather fight to the death than give in."
"Nonsense!" Xiao Zhuang had a different view from Qin Yu and insisted, "You're the only one with a gun between us. But there are so many people out there. Do you have the confidence to hold them back? If you can't, we'll surely be robbed. They've already gone crazy. Can't you see that?"
"Just do as I say. I'll go get the gun."
"Xiao Yu, didn't you see? They didn't even leave when the kid fell. These people have lost their minds..." Xiao Zhuang pulled away Qin Yu's arm and replied in a low voice, "We've had enough to eat. We've already exchanged what we could for money. Giving them a bowl of rice won't be a big loss for us. So I don't want to risk our lives. I have a share in the food, and I have the right to decide how to use it."
Qin Yu was left speechless upon hearing this.
Xiao Zhuang straightened himself up, glared at the leading burly man and roared, "There are ways to survive in the unplanned area too. Take the rice and don't cause any more trouble. Get out of here now!"
"We'll leave right away if we won't starve to death," the leading burly man nodded.
Hearing this, Xiao Zhuang stepped back, went into the room to get a big bowl of rice, and slammed it on the ground with a clang. "Get lost."
Dozens of people looked at the rice on the ground, their eyes all showing greedy looks, but none of them stepped forward to take it主动.
The leading burly man was silent for a few seconds, then reached out to untie the cloth bag tied around his waist and poured the rice into it in one go.
"Get out of here quickly!" Xiao Zhuang's face showed impatience as he shooed them away.
The crowd stood still at the door. The leading burly man sized up the two of them, sweating on his forehead as he tied the rice to his waist and didn't leave immediately.
"Can't you understand when I tell you to leave?" Xiao Zhuang frowned and shooed them away again.
After a moment of silence, someone in the crowd shouted, "Damn it! He can give us a bowl of rice, so there must be at least a big bag of rice left!"
"Give us some more. There are too many of us. This won't be enough to fill our stomachs."
"Give us the rice."
"Or we might as well just go in and rob them. Why waste time talking nonsense."
"..."
Shouts and curses once again filled the six - storey building. And this time, someone in the crowd secretly took out knives and other weapons, looking gloomily at Xiao Zhuang, with no trace of gratitude on their faces...
The leading burly man spread out his palms and said in a low voice, "You can see it too. These people are starving crazy. I can't hold them back at all. Otherwise, you just take out the rice bag and we'll take half of it."
"You bastards...!" Xiao Zhuang got angry and also pulled out a knife from his arms.
"What do you want? Want to have a fight?"
"Afraid of you? We're almost starving to death. Do we care about using knives or guns?"
"..."
The crowd wasn't afraid of Xiao Zhuang at all. They stepped forward and rushed into the room with the burly man.
Xiao Zhuang was stunned. He stood there, at a loss. He wanted to fight back at this moment, but he wasn't confident enough to deal with these crazy food - robbers in front of him. But if he didn't fight, he obviously couldn't protect his things.
"Click, click!"
Just then, Qin Yu pulled out a large - caliber pistol with a twenty - centimeter - long barrel and a three - barrel rotary loading system from the cabinet. He immediately rotated the slide to load the bullets.
The crowd instinctively stopped in their tracks when they saw the gun.
Qin Yu, with a expressionless face, pulled out a whole big bag of food from the cabinet and casually threw it on the floor, shouting, "All the food is here. Those who want to eat can come and get it."
The crowd fell silent.
"Who are you trying to scare?" The leading burly man, with his eyes red, fanned the flames. "We'll die if we don't have food. Are we afraid of your lousy gun?"
Qin Yu tilted his neck to look at the other side and pointed at the food bag with his left finger, shouting, "The food is right here. Anyone with hands can take it. Come on up!"
The leading burly man only hesitated for half a second before turning around and shouting, "There are so many of us and he only has one gun. I don't believe he can shoot us all dead."
With that, the leading burly man took a step forward and reached out to grab the food bag.
"Bang!"
The gun fired and the gears turned.
The leading burly man flew half a meter away, blood splattering on the floor, with a big hole blasted in his chest.
Qin Yu held the gun in his right hand and shouted without any change in his expression, "If you don't have food to eat, you might starve to death in a few days. But whoever reaches out first now, I'll shoot him dead on the spot."
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in silence.
"I still have two bullets. Are you going to take it or not?" Qin Yu suddenly roared out the question.
Everyone took two steps back upon hearing this.
Qin Yu took a step forward, bent down to untie the food bag that the burly man had tied around his waist, and shouted in a low voice, "Xiao Zhuang, get the stuff. Let's go."
Xiao Zhuang immediately went back into the room upon hearing this.
Qin Yu held the gun in his right hand and shouted, "Line up in two rows and make way for me."
The crowd didn't move.
Qin Yu raised his hand and pointed the gun at the person closest to him, roaring, "Are you going to make way or not?"
That person hesitated for half a second and immediately moved aside. At this time, the others also followed suit and made way for the way downstairs.
Five minutes later, Qin Yu walked downstairs and saw the mother holding the injured child who had fallen, crying hysterically.
Qin Yu was silent for a few seconds, then reached out and threw the rice he had given to the burly man just now over, saying, "They'll be coming down soon. Hide the food."
The mother was taken aback for a moment, then immediately took the food bag and replied, "Thank you, thank you. I'll kowtow to you. With food, we don't have to die..."
Qin Yu led Xiao Zhuang and quickly disappeared into the night.
At over three o'clock in the morning, in the endless Gobi Desert, Qin Yu divided the food and threw a portion to Xiao Zhuang, saying, "Since I took your share of the food, let's part ways."
Xiao Zhuang was stunned and asked very puzzledly, "Is it really necessary? Wasn't it just that we had different opinions just now... I don't think I did anything wrong myself..."
Qin Yu waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "Xiao Zhuang, if people are not on the same path, they shouldn't stay together. It's easy to cause harm to both you and me. I'm going to the Ninth Special Zone... Take care of yourself."
After saying that, Qin Yu turned around and left without any hesitation, heading towards the first stop of his new life, the Ninth Special Zone.
...
In the military camp area on the left side of the unplanned area, a black man bared his big white teeth and asked in fluent Chinese, "There was gunfire inside just now. Should we go and have a look?"
"Forget it! People are robbing food and dying every day here. They even dare to ambush military vehicles. Who do we think we are...?" An old-timer smoking cheap dry tobacco in the room replied lazily as he lay on the dilapidated wooden bed.
...