Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 459 Seizing the Position

There are already many people inside.

Xu Xiaoyan stood at the entrance, her gaze sweeping across the area. She roughly estimated that there were at least three or four thousand people.

Some of them had already found their own cubicle, spread out their sleeping bags, piled their luggage at their feet, and were settling in.

Some were still walking back and forth in the passageway, looking around as if they were looking for something.

Some were squatting by the wall, hugging their knees, heads down, it was hard to tell if they were resting or crying.

The air was filled with a complex odor: the smell of sweat, dirt, clothes soaked in rain, and the pungent smell of disinfectant.

Most of the squares on the ground have already been occupied.

Xu Xiaoyan stood at the entrance, her eyes quickly moving between the squares, searching for Lan Yue's figure.

She saw it very quickly.

Near the left wall, there is a patch of squares with a significantly lower density than other areas.

Perhaps because the area near the wall is not bright and one cannot take advantage of others, many people would rather squeeze into the middle than stay close to the wall.

But Blue Moon chose that spot, and she occupied two squares by herself.

She piled her backpack and dried mushrooms in the left-hand compartment, then stood in the right-hand compartment with her arms outstretched, blocking a middle-aged woman who was trying to squeeze into the right-hand compartment.

The middle-aged woman was wearing a dark brown cotton-padded jacket, her hair was messy, and her face had a domineering air of "I don't care about anything else, I just want to take it."

She was carrying a bulging woven bag and was trying to put her things into the empty space, while muttering something.

Lan Yue wouldn't let her go, blocking the woven bag with one hand and pointing to the ground with the other, her lips moving rapidly.

Her voice wasn't very clear through the noise of hundreds of people, but Xu Xiaoyan could guess what she was saying.

She walked quickly over, and as she got closer, Lan Yue's voice became clearer and clearer.

"...I told you this is my friend's seat, she'll be here soon! Can't you find somewhere else? Aren't there still empty seats over there?"

The middle-aged woman curled her lip. "Where are the empty seats? Show me! Besides, you're taking up two seats by yourself. Is there a rule in the bunker about that?"

This land belongs to the government, not you. Why should you occupy two plots by yourself?

"Because my friend registered! She also has a number, and she's from Zone 7!"

She went out to run some errands and will be right back. If you take her spot, where will she sleep when she gets back?

"I don't care," the middle-aged woman slammed the woven bag on the ground, hands on her hips.

"I arrived before her, so it counts as mine. This spot was empty before she arrived, and anyone could have taken it."

Lan Yue's face flushed red, her lips trembled, and she was about to say something when she caught a glimpse of Xu Xiaoyan out of the corner of her eye.

"Xiao Yan!" Lan Yue's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, and she sprang up from her tense state.

Pointing at the middle-aged woman, his tone was filled with the excitement of "seeing a savior" and the self-righteousness of "see, I didn't lie to you."

"Come quick! Someone's trying to take your spot!"

She shouted so loudly that several rows of people around her looked up at her, then quickly looked down again and went back to their own business.

This kind of argument is probably not the first in the bunker, nor will it be the last.

Xu Xiaoyan walked over, stood next to Lan Yue, took off her backpack and put it on the ground, and placed the bag of dried mushrooms against the wall.

She straightened up, faced the middle-aged woman, and looked at her calmly without saying a word.

The middle-aged woman's gaze swept over Xu Xiaoyan, from her soaked hat brim to her mud-caked trouser legs, from her bag of dried mushrooms to her backpack.

I think I sensed from her an aura that said, "This person has just come in from outside and is not someone to be trifled with."

The middle-aged woman's expression changed several times; she opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

She bent down, picked up the woven bag from the ground, and muttered something under her breath. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for those around her to hear.

"What's so great about it? Two positions are just two positions, who cares?"

Carrying a woven bag and wearing mud-caked rubber shoes, she walked towards the more crowded area in the middle.

After taking a few steps, she turned back and glared at Xu Xiaoyan. Seeing that Xu Xiaoyan was also looking at her, she quickly looked away and hurried away, disappearing into the crowd.

Lan Yue watched the middle-aged woman walk away, let out a long sigh, slumped her shoulders, leaned against the wall, and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"It almost got taken over," Lan Yue's voice was still a little breathless. "I've been guarding here for almost half an hour, and several people have come to ask, but I've told them that someone is here."

That older woman was the most difficult to deal with; she wouldn't leave no matter what. If you had arrived two minutes later, she might have forced the things in.

Xu Xiaoyan smiled and replied, "Thank you for your hard work." Then she squatted down, pulled the waterproof tarpaulin on the ground, flattened it, and used her backpack to weigh down the four corners.

She looked up and glanced at the two squares occupied by Blue Moon, which were against the wall so that both sides wouldn't be exposed in the aisle.

Moreover, there is a vent in the corner of the wall, from which the wind blows out. Although it is not strong, it is more comfortable than other places.

"How did you find this place?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.

Lan Yue knelt down and helped her take the sleeping bag off her backpack, saying as she laid it out:

"When I came in, I saw there were still empty seats by the wall, so I quickly grabbed one. I think it's better by the wall, at least you don't have to worry about being squeezed by people on both sides."

The lady next to me was quite easy to talk to. I said I was reserving a table for my friend, and she agreed. But the older woman wouldn't have it.

She paused, glanced at Xu Xiaoyan, and asked, "You were gone for so long, what did they ask you? Did they give you any trouble?"

Xu Xiaoyan shook her head. "No, I just asked about things at the Linchuan base."

Lan Yue opened her mouth, wanting to ask more, but seeing that Xu Xiaoyan had no intention of continuing, she swallowed her words and turned to spread out her sleeping bag.

Xu Xiaoyan began to survey the enormous underground space.

She knew this bunker wouldn't be small when she saw those two steel doors from the outside.

But when she actually stood inside, looking at the densely packed squares and thousands of people, she realized that this place was much larger than she had imagined.

The dome was very high, at least seven or eight meters high, and besides the light tubes, there were some pipes on it that she couldn't name.

The walls are gray concrete, unpainted, and there are ten closed metal doors at intervals, numbered from 7-01 to 7-10.

Besides these doors, there are some monitors embedded in the concrete on the walls, but the screens are black, so it's unclear whether they are not turned on or broken.

Among those who had already entered, some were laying out their sleeping bags, some were eating, some were talking in hushed tones, and some were lost in thought.