NABC Chapter 71 Snow Melting
Chapter 71 Snow Melting
On the first day after the end of the eternal night, the sun stayed in the sky for about five hours before slowly sinking into the west.
The reappearance of the sun caused a sensation throughout the world—at least, on radio waves.
Whether it was Jiangcheng Shelter or Panshi Shelter, their broadcasts barely stopped all day. The announcers, their voices hoarse with excitement, repeatedly confirmed the return of daylight, cheered the retreat of darkness, boosted the morale of all the survivors, and reiterated the shelters' vision for the future and recruitment information over and over again. Xu Mo could clearly feel the excitement even through the radio.
At first, Xu Mo was also relieved by the return of light, but listening to the continuous and repetitive broadcasts, he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. He needed a quiet environment to cultivate and think, and finally shook his head helplessly. Xu Mo reached out and turned off the radio, and the shelter immediately returned to peace.
"Only five hours, it's just a good start." Xu Mo looked out the window at the sky, which was gradually darkening but whose colors of sunset were already clearly visible. He was certain that the days would get longer and longer.
Sure enough, the next day, the sun lasted for nearly seven hours from sunrise to sunset, which is close to the normal daylight hours in many high-latitude regions during winter.
In the following days, the daylight hours stabilized at around ten hours, and the intensity of sunlight increased significantly. The sky was no longer the chilling inky black of the eternal night, nor the dazzling glow of dawn, but instead presented a long-lost, clear blue.
Although thin clouds still occasionally drifted across the sky, the sunlight already possessed considerable penetrating power and heat.
Xu Mo didn't pay much attention to the continuous optimistic reports on the radio; his attention was drawn to a more realistic and pressing issue.
The ground floor, initially during the Eternal Night, was relatively dry despite the cold, as it was a concrete floor and well-sealed. However, as the sunlight increased and the temperature rose, the snow began to melt, first causing dampness to appear on the walls and in the corners, and then the ground became somewhat damp. Now, the situation has clearly worsened.
In some lower-lying corners, murky water had begun to slowly seep in. This water, carrying mud and impurities from melting snow, gathered on the ground, forming small puddles that were slowly but steadily expanding. The air was filled with an earthy and damp, musty smell.
"The snow is melting faster than expected..." Xu Mo squatted down, dipped his finger in the water, and felt the coolness of the water.
Moreover, Xu Mo knew that this was just the beginning. As temperatures rose further and rainfall was possible, the snow would melt even faster, and the resulting surface water would flow even more violently.
The "flooding" risk warned about in Jiangcheng Shelter's broadcast was not an exaggeration. Although the three-story building where he was staying had a high foundation, it was not absolutely safe. If a large area of water accumulated, the first floor was very likely to be submerged.
"Luckily, I prepared early." Xu Mo was glad that he had planned ahead and managed to get the inflatable boat. He immediately took action and went to the inflatable boat that he had carefully covered with a waterproof tarpaulin outside the shelter.
He carefully inspected the condition of the assault boat; the hull was intact and there was no damage from handling or storage. He also performed a simple maintenance on the outboard engine to ensure that critical components were not frozen or rusted.
Next, Xu Mo found several sturdy long ropes and dragged the assault boat to a relatively high spot next to the shelter, close to his second-floor window.
He secured one end of the rope firmly to the tow ring of the inflatable boat, and split the other end into two strands: one tied to a sturdy window frame on the second floor, and the other to the side. This was for double safety; even if one anchor point failed, the inflatable boat wouldn't be swept away by the current. This position also allowed him to easily board the inflatable boat directly from the second-floor window in an emergency.
After securing the assault boat, Xu Mo did not stop but returned to the house to further inspect and seal some important supplies that absolutely could not be exposed to water, especially weapons, ammunition, and precious medicines, to ensure that even if the house was briefly flooded, the losses could be minimized.
Since most of the supplies had already been stored in a dedicated space, Xu Mo was much more at ease in dealing with the situation.
After finishing these tasks, Xu Mo climbed to the rooftop and gazed into the distance once more.
The scene before us has undergone a dramatic transformation compared to the eternal night and the deathly stillness that followed. As far as the eye can see, vast expanses of snow are melting at a visible rate under the sunlight. The world, which was once covered by thick snow, seems to be shedding its winter coat, revealing its devastated true face.
In the distance, some low-lying areas have formed large puddles, reflecting shimmering light under the sun.
The air was filled with the moist and crisp scent unique to melting snow and ice, and you could also hear the "plop" sound of snow sliding off the roof.
"At this rate, most of the snow will melt in a few days. The real test will probably be in these few days during the peak of the snowmelt." Xu Mo assessed the situation. He had to stay vigilant and be prepared to deal with any unexpected situations that might arise.
Under the bright sunshine, the snow melted, and many buried details began to be revealed. Suddenly, Xu Mo's gaze froze in the direction of the area where he had encountered the agile zombies before he approached the edge of the town, and his brows furrowed unconsciously.
There was a snowdrift that was slightly higher up, and because it was in the shade, it was melting relatively slowly, but it had already shrunk by more than half.
There, a few incongruous colors, completely different from the ice and soil, were revealed on the remaining seed—the colors of clothing, and the outlines of what looked like limbs could be vaguely seen.
If the snow had been deeper in the past, Xu Mo would never have been able to discover it. But now, as the "white shroud" of ice and snow fades, some buried truths are quietly surfacing.
Xu Mo took out his binoculars, adjusted the focus, and carefully looked in that direction.
The camera zooms in, revealing a clear view—five people. They lie sprawled in various contorted and stiff positions in the melting snow and mud. They wear tattered winter clothes, their bodies covered in half-melted snow and mud, their forms stiff and their faces pale.
However, what made Xu Mo frown was not the discovery of the frozen zombie corpses, but their fatal wounds.
Through the binoculars, Xu Mo could clearly see that one of the men had a noticeable bullet hole in his chest, and his clothes were soaked in blood and frozen; another man had a horrific hole in his forehead; and yet another man had been shot in the back. All the fatal wounds clearly pointed to the firearms.
Xu Mo's heart sank. Zombies and mutated beasts couldn't possibly use firearms, let alone inflict such precise gunshot wounds. The answer was obvious: these people were killed by someone else with a gun.
Xu Mo instantly recalled the time he traded with the team of survivors who were in good condition, when he remarked that "everyone seemed to be quite orderly," and the bitter smile on the face of the middle-aged captain of that team, who seemed to want to say something but couldn't.
At the time, I didn't delve into it, simply assuming it was a lament about the hardships of survival in the apocalypse. But now, looking at these five corpses, shot and abandoned in the snow, that bitter smile seems to have taken on a completely new meaning.
That was not a lament about the hardship of survival, but a silent indictment of the evil in human nature and the bloody rules hidden beneath the surface of order.
Several possibilities flashed through Xu Mo's mind in an instant: Was it a case of double-crossing in the struggle for resources? Was it a purge and betrayal within the team? Was it the powerful survivors plundering and slaughtering the weak?
But regardless of the interpretation, they all point to a harsh reality: on these ruins, light may be returning, but the dark side of humanity has never truly disappeared. So-called order may only exist in specific situations and within groups where forces are evenly matched, or where there is a stronger deterrent.
In the wilderness where radio signals cannot reach, along migration routes, and in resource-scarce corners, the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is still playing out nakedly.
The order and cooperation promoted in the official shelter broadcasts may be the ideal and direction for the reconstruction of human civilization, but they are by no means the whole picture of the current apocalypse.
In this transitional period where brilliance and mud intertwine, in places where the sun does not shine, there still lurk menacing shadows.
Xu Mo slowly lowered the binoculars, his expression grave. He realized once again that in this world, one must never let one's guard down, never easily trust strangers, and never be misled by superficial "order."
This incident served as a wake-up call for Xu Mo. He glanced at the inflatable boat anchored downstairs, then at the cold binoculars in his hand, his gaze sharpening and deepening.
The sun still shone brightly, accelerating the melting of the ice and snow, and ruthlessly revealing the white disguise covering the cruel reality.