Chapter 1 Hunger

August 13, 2076

Under the gray sky, a small boat was moving slowly on the sea. There were a lot of shipwrecks and some garbage, including the bodies of some people and animals.

The entire sea was full of garbage, and smoke could be seen in the distance. It seemed that something was on fire and the whole world was in chaos.

Jin held Ellie and sat on the bow, Witt was steering the rudder, Tang Rao was lying on the guardrail weakly. She had been seasick for several days. Gu Yi was lying on the side of the cabin. His face was pale and his lips were dry.

"Do you see the coast?"

Rose asked weakly. She was lying next to a large bundle of ropes with her face pressed against the ground. Only Deguna and Witt were in good spirits. The others were in very bad physical condition.

They have been drifting on the sea for a month. The hull was attacked on the sea surface and the power system was broken. Relying on the common sense of being a scientist, they modified the bottom of the ship and drifted along the ocean current. They can only rely on fishing for a living every day and make a simple seawater distillation device to replenish fresh water.

However, in recent days, the fish have begun to decrease, and many dead fish float on the water surface, indicating that this ocean has been polluted by something. They inferred that it should be the radioactive substances produced when the asteroid fell, but there was no professional detection equipment around, so they could only detect through glass. Indeed, the seawater has been polluted by radioactive substances.

In the past few days, they have tried to reduce the water community as much as possible, because the polluted radioactive substances will still have residues in the water made by such a simple distillation tool.

Several people have not eaten normal food for almost a week. Their next stop is the southern part of Y Continent. It is too far to come here from O Continent, but there is no other way. This is the best solution they can find.

The plane was basically impossible. They originally wanted to go to the space station, but they missed it in the end. When they saw the last rocket take off, the eight people were extremely desperate, which meant that they had to survive in this completely destroyed and chaotic world.

There was another important reason for not choosing land, because there was an unknown powerful virus spreading, and they saw too many humans who died from the virus.

This terrifying virus was so lethal that they had never seen it before. Witt, a virology expert, said that this virus destroyed the human homeostasis maintenance mechanism, causing problems in various parts of the human body in a very short time, and finally led to death.

What they need to do now is to find a shelter to survive before the sun disappears completely, but now they have some differences.

Deguna thinks that if they go directly to AS, because of the geographical location there, there should be many people going there. It is not too far from the center of the impact, but as long as they run to the south, they should be able to survive.

Witt thought they should go to the United States, because people in the United States had serious disaster paranoia a long time ago, so many families and places would build doomsday fortresses and store food, medical supplies and water. Some coastal cities may have been hit, but the inland should be fine.

Although Deguna thought Witt's suggestion was good, it was impossible to go there with their current equipment. Large ships were basically not found, and even if they were found, they were already damaged. They did not have the corresponding parts and could not repair them.

Gu Yi wanted to find the coast and go to the Dragon Lighthouse along the coast, but this idea was opposed by everyone. Even the Dragon Lighthouse could not be safe and sound in this disaster.

And Gene and Ellie proposed that it would be safest to go to the highest altitude in Y Continent, but it was obvious that no one had made a final decision.

Such a small boat could not sail far from the coastline, and they had to get off the boat at any time to find some supplies for replenishment. It was just that they encountered wind and waves a few days ago. In order to ride the ocean current again, they drifted on the sea for several days before returning to the correct ocean current again.

The mood of the crowd became heavier. They had professional knowledge in various fields and had survived several near-death experiences in four months. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the human beings on this planet perished.

The sun was obscured by the dust after the impact of the asteroid. This dust floating above the clouds could easily combine with the clouds and become a semi-solid substance, but it was extremely light and floated in the sky. These substances would absorb most of the energy in the sunlight.

And looking at the deepening color of the clouds and the coverage, including the wind, it is certain that these coverings are spreading continuously, and eventually the entire earth will be obscured by these coverings. Human beings without sunlight will gradually go to extinction after a period of time.

Unless they can find a shelter where they can grow crops, they will definitely die.

The current situation is very clear. Human society and the country have completely collapsed. After all, four months have passed. Four months is enough for the human society that has already formed a complete chain to collapse.

Humans may have ways to remedy the collapse of one or two points, but there are points of collapse all over the world, which is unbearable for humans. In the face of nature, humans have no room to fight back.

"How about it, Ellie?"

Jin asked gently, and Ellie nodded gently in his arms. Tang Rao looked at the two of them angrily.

"I'm really mad at you."

Rose laughed.

"Hey, what will happen to us in the future? There is a problem with our body functions. It should be a very clear signal. We have been contaminated by radiation."

Gu Yi froze up with difficulty, shook his head and said.

"It's a miracle that I survived, after falling from such a height."

At this time, Deguna, who was standing at the top of the cabin holding a gun, became excited.

"Sight of land."

In the distance, there was a light black thing, which was definitely land. Everyone got up with difficulty and started working on a tenacious human propeller they made behind the hull. It required 6 people to step on the bicycle pedals at the same time, and then the ship You can have motivation.

Now everyone has no strength. This kind of thing is okay when food is abundant, but when food is scarce, it is simply a kind of torture for people.

Witte was at the helm of the boat, and the hull began to move slowly. Li Chu was almost dead. His face was sallow, but he could only pedal hard, because land meant there was fresh water and food. They now saw should be the coastline of a small country in the southern part of continent Y.

Gradually, the distant coast could be seen clearly, including a large green forest. Everyone moved forward cautiously, and Deguna laughed.

"Remember, it was probably on this coast before that I kidnapped Ellie."

Gene laughed and nodded, and the light of hope burst out in everyone's eyes.

The ship began to approach little by little, and there was a stench. The sea was full of lari. The woods had begun to wither. There was insufficient sunlight for a long time, and many plants began to turn yellow and black. Not far away was a seaport town. , there are some broken ships on the pier, and the hulls of the boats are leaning towards the pier.

After a while, the boat finally docked. Everyone worked quickly to secure the boat to the dock and then disembarked. Jean and Deguna held weapons and quickly leaned forward, while the others also held weapons. Pistol looked around.

In front of her was a dilapidated shipyard. There was a big smell after entering, and there were many shriveled corpses. Deguna covered her mouth, ran over, and then rummaged through the pockets of some corpses. Soon she found I had a few packs of cigarettes, but fortunately they were not contaminated.

"Comfortable."

Deguna lit one and blew out a puff of smoke. Gene also lit one. The two came out of the dock and gestured to Guyi and the others to express that they had not found anything.

Soon the group of people entered the town. There were traces of urban chaos and crossfire everywhere. Some of the traces looked very new. Soon they saw dead humans who looked like charcoal, blackened all over. This was that person. What this horrible virus will eventually do is that people will turn into coke and directly atomize.

Dead people are not contagious at all, this is something that all eight people are very sure about. Li Chu walked up to a painful person with his hands raised, and with a light kick, the whole body shattered into dust.

"You really have a bad taste."

Tang Rao muttered something, and Li Chu laughed.

"These things are an eyesore."

Although only one person infected by the virus was found, it is certain that the town suffered from the ravages of the virus and fell into famine. They found nothing and took away everything that could be taken away. Only The modern equipment is still there.

Fortunately, several people quickly found fresh water. If they continued to drink that distilled water, they would have physical problems.

However, they still didn't find food. If they didn't get some food, they would starve to death. They might be able to find some edible plant roots in the forest, but none of the eight people had any physical strength.

"Depend on."

Hunger made Li Chu more and more irritable. He kicked an already dilapidated door, but fell to the ground before he could stand. Tang Rao burst out laughing. Werther walked over and helped Li Chu up. He felt uncomfortable. He was lying on the ground again.

The long-term hunger has made the eight people unbearable anymore. Gene is still thinking of ways, but it is useless to think now. If they can't find food, they will really be doomed.

They were lucky enough to find some food the last few times they docked, but as time went by, the food they could find became less and less.

"Why don't we take care of those corpses..."

As soon as Li Chu finished speaking, he felt the strange looks from everyone, and he said with an embarrassed smile.

"I'm just kidding."

After resting for a while, everyone started looking around again. They had to search the entire town to find food.

Gene entered a yard. The whole yard was in a mess, and Ellie beside him looked very weak.

"It's okay, I'll find it."

Gene said something comforting, Ellie nodded, and Gene walked into the house. Sure enough, there was nothing left. After searching several houses, there was no food.

Witte and Guyi came to the outskirts of the town. The crops in the fields had long been gone. In the past four months, it had become a wasteland, because although it looked like it had been taken care of, many of the crops had been destroyed due to the sudden coldness of the climate. The crops died immediately, and then without direct sunlight, the land also died together.

Tang Rao was lying on a shabby bed. She couldn't move a step. She was really too tired. Seasickness and hunger had made her want to die early for relief.

Rose was still rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for something in front of her. Li Chu on the street was still banging on some doors with objects. It didn't look like he was looking for something, but more like he was venting his emotions.

Deguna was already standing on a higher house, observing the surroundings. She felt that the situation here should have become bad before the virus broke out, because there were many traces of battles in the town, and there were obviously more old ones and fewer new ones.

It is certain that before the virus broke out, there were serious problems here because of this disaster. It can be seen from the ships on the sea that some ships were damaged by shells and should have been attacked by warships.

As a professional soldier, Deguna knew very well that people would not consider food when they were threatened with life. They would only get rid of the threat first, so this town should have been looted by later people and all the food was taken away, but only in the town. A large number of cars can be seen on the road outside the town.

Many cars do not seem to belong here, so where did these cars come from? It is certain that they came from some cargo ships.

In such a tense situation, disasters may break out at any time. The road can bring people hope. They should all just want to go to a safer place.

Deguna saw a village in the distance, and soon she shouted. Soon everyone came over. Deguna explained her inference to everyone. There might not be much food in such a town, but there might be food in the remote small village.

However, the problem is that it is at least 50 kilometers to walk there, because Deguna has measured the distance with an optical telescope. If there is no car, they might have collapsed before they reach such a far village and the bumpy mountain road.

"Eat the last bit of food on the ship, and then we will find a way to get a car."

Deguna said, and everyone finally nodded in agreement. After a while, the eight people felt more comfortable. This amount of food was enough for them to eat half a bag of food, but it was already very luxurious. They only dared to eat a little bit of this food in the past few days.

Everyone came to a field outside the town to the north. There were some cars everywhere, but many cars were still usable. Unfortunately, there was no gasoline. Many cars still had single holes, and some cars looked like they were hit by explosives.

Most of them need to be refueled, but as long as they get an electric vehicle, they can make a battery and charge the car, because the materials in the town are still sufficient.

"Found it, I can be sure that it must be an electric car, but the model is a bit old."

Li Chu shouted, and soon everyone saw the car in a corner. Gu Yi and Gene, who are more knowledgeable about machinery, ran over, and the two soon laughed excitedly. It was indeed an electric car.

It must be difficult to sit eight people, and it is better to have at most 3 people. It can also increase the speed of finding food.

Soon Gu Yi, Gene, Witt and Tang Rao began to look for materials for making batteries everywhere. Li Chu fell asleep in a car.

It was getting darker and darker. They had to start the car as soon as possible and go to the village to find food. They were still very hungry. Although they had some strength, they would be finished if they didn't find food now.

Soon they found the materials for making batteries in the town. Gu Yi easily completed the construction, and soon a chemical reaction battery made of cylinders and some disassembled waste appeared.

Gene and Guy were taking tools to get the charging cable out of the car engine, and then charging the car through the voltage regulator.

Soon during the test, the voltage regulator responded, and the situation was very stable. After Gene and Guy carefully docked, the car lights soon came on, and everyone cheered.

Li Chu took out a laptop with a little power left, and quickly found the access point of the car program. In a few minutes, he had directly unlocked the car's locking program.

After waiting anxiously for 2 hours, the battery was full and the car started normally. Although Deguna was tired, she decided to drive the car over herself. Gene and Witt got on, and the others went to collect fresh water and find a place to spend the night.

After all, they were too tired and had to recuperate here before they could continue the journey.

"What if we can't find food?"

Deguna asked, and Gene laughed. Witt in the back seat half squinted his eyes. Fortunately, the road to the small village was not too bumpy, and the car had good power. Deguna sped up.

Although there were some abandoned cars along the way, the road was still passable.

"Take a nap, Gene."

Deguna said, and Gene laughed. He looked at Deguna now, and his expression had completely changed. The same was true for the others. At first, they were still hostile to each other, but in just four months, the eight people experienced life and death, and they gradually understood each other and began to accept each other.

In Gene's view, Deguna used to be a cold-blooded soldier, and in Deguna's view, Gene was an out-and-out bastard.

"By the way, Deguna, there is something I have always wanted to tell you."

Deguna looked at Gene in confusion.

"You seem to be getting younger."

"Are you signaling something to me? If Ellie hears it, she will be sad."

Gene laughed and shook his head.

"It's true, other people should have this feeling too, you are getting younger."