Chapter 96: Global Nuclear Explosion 8
Since the radio couldn’t be used, she could only guess.
Chu Yian checked the items she currently had: 41 bottles of mineral water, 4 compressed biscuits, 6 cans of meat, 1 bag of white sugar, 1 bag of edible salt, two unused gas masks, 36 capsules of Tremella polysaccharide, 12 potassium iodide tablets, 10 small sachets of aluminum phosphate gel, 5 kilograms of compound soybean protein powder, 18 vitamin tablets, 6 amoxicillin tablets, and 3 ibuprofen capsules.
The batteries for the flashlight and radio were barely depleted.
Tucked away at the bottom of her treasure box were three maps: city-wide, national, and global. She hadn’t taken them out when she was hiding before, and the city map had even gotten dirty from her stepping on it.
Chu Yian took stock of her supplies. Most other things were sufficient, but food might be a bit scarce, so she could consider supplementing it.
Besides these, she also needed a compass for the journey.
It would be best if she could get a vehicle.
Unfolding the city map, she saw a Shopping Mall near Niubing Station. The basement of a Shopping Mall usually housed a supermarket, and if it wasn’t too severely damaged, she should be able to find some of the things she needed there.
The Shopping Mall wasn’t far.
The once bustling place had now turned into a ruin. After the explosion, only a curved shell of a building remained, vaguely resembling its former ship-like structure.
There were more bodies here than on the streets.
The explosion had completely engulfed the entrance of the Shopping Mall.
Chu Yian searched for a long time before finding a narrow entrance, where she also discovered several footprints.
Someone had been here?
She suddenly remembered the few people in the subway station; they must have been the ones who moved food from here.
She entered through this sole undestroyed entrance. The underground supermarket had largely collapsed, and the remaining half was also on the verge of collapsing.
Nearly ninety percent of the city’s population perished in the explosion, but many also survived.
And there were quite a few survivors in this underground supermarket, though most were injured.
Chu Yian’s flashlight exposed her, and the people inside rushed to surround her.
“Who are you?”
The survivors in the supermarket had clearly claimed it as their territory.
Someone had already taken their food and water earlier, and after some discussion, the people inside had organized to prevent others from taking things from here.
“I just want to find some things.”
Chu Yian hadn’t expected so many people inside, and she very cooperatively raised her hands.
The people here had no shortage of food and drink. Although they occupied the supermarket, they didn’t immediately attack upon seeing someone. Leading them were a few individuals in supermarket uniforms. Their brows were tightly furrowed; they were not at all welcoming to this outsider.
“The supermarket is closed now, hurry and leave!”
“I just want an intact backpack, a watch, and a compass.”
Chu Yian’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at them pitifully, “Please, can you give them to me? I beg you.”
Before civilization was completely destroyed, people were happy to give their unneeded items to help the vulnerable.
Chu Yian’s plea was effective, and she quickly got what she wanted.
It was best to know when to stop.
She put on her new backpack, placed the compass and watch inside, and then quickly left.
Niubing Station was already on the outskirts of X City.
Chu Yian walked to the toll booth at the city and highway intersection, where she saw a different kind of devastation than in the city.
The nearby gas station had also exploded due to the impact of the blast; the structure above had collapsed, leaving only a large crater on the ground. The toll booth had been completely overturned by the powerful shockwave. Chu Yian walked closer and saw a toll collector’s body split in half by a giant piece of iron. The blood had dried on the iron, and the toll collector’s face, covered in lividity, still held an expression of surprise.
And looking further afield.
The overpass had broken in the middle, crashing onto the vehicles below.
The vehicles parked by the roadside had not been spared either; most were deformed and abandoned.
Some of these car owners had died outside, others inside their mangled vehicles.
Presumably, there were also survivors who had already fled in groups.
Chu Yian squeezed past these abandoned vehicles alone.
The dim yellow sky, the broken bridge, bodies as far as the eye could see, the air filled with the smell of burning, explosions, and decay… From a bird’s-eye view, she was like a lone ant after its nest was destroyed, small yet stubbornly determined to survive.
A person would go mad in such an environment, but Chu Yian did not.
Because it wasn’t just desolation and loneliness; she was also tormented by illness and radiation.
The rat bite wound hadn’t fully healed, and although 90% of the external nuclear radiation had dissipated, the remaining 10% was still not to be underestimated.
Her walking was not aimless or unplanned.
After leaving the city, she needed to find a flat and open place to settle down. In such an environment, radio signals would be easiest to receive.
Secondly, she needed to find a vehicle!
At the time of the nuclear explosion, most vehicles were destroyed, but that didn’t mean no vehicles survived.
This made Chu Yian uncontrollably think of You Che’s vehicle manufacturing skill. If he hadn’t been killed by the nuclear explosion in this round of the game, he would have had a significant advantage in terms of mobility.
Although she was a bit envious of others, her treasure box was also very good.
Chu Yian only briefly thought about this before continuing her journey.
Having goals and plans prevented her from breaking down;
Having supplies and a radio allowed her to maintain hope;
And the medicine in her treasure box was enough to sustain her for a while longer;
From morning to afternoon, after traveling for a full 8 hours, Chu Yian saw an abandoned building. Under normal circumstances, using the basement as a place to survive was best, but such places likely had survivors.
Now, she only needed radiation protection, and this type of stairwell building could also block some radiation.
Chu Yian climbed the stairs, choosing a middle floor, three floors from the top. A room with no windows on all four sides was best, and there truly was such a room on this floor.
She checked that no one was around before deciding to rest there.
Removing her mask and gloves, she washed her hands with water.
The external radiation was still heavy. After walking outside for several hours, her body was naturally full of radiation. For safety, she should have taken off her jacket. However, she only had this one set of clothes.
She could only wear it, then took one amoxicillin and one potassium iodide tablet each.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Chu Yian coughed twice, then simply ate some biscuits, poured the protein powder into a mineral water bottle, and drank it. After quickly doing all this, she immediately put on her gas mask again.
Aside from eating and taking medicine, she planned to wear this even when sleeping!
