Chapter 14 The Holy Mother Dies First in the End Times
The eight-story building was submerged in an instant. The man in the young couple who originally lived on the third floor but moved to the sixth floor used his last strength to push his girlfriend to the surface, but he himself could not escape the disaster and was submerged in the icy water.
The couple on the 4th floor, the father and son on the 5th floor, the girl on the 6th floor, Liu Mengmei on the 7th floor, and Zhang Fengqiang's family of three, and a man on the 8th floor, soaked to the bone and in a disheveled state, squeezed into the corridor on the 9th floor to catch his breath.
Their clothes were soaked with ice water, and they shivered as they gritted their teeth and climbed the stairs, knocking on the doors of each floor as they went, begging to be taken in, but naturally no one answered.
Helpless, the group stopped asking for lodging and only asked for some dry clothes. They were freezing, and the extreme cold, combined with the clothes clinging to their skin, had turned bluish-purple, and their veins were clearly visible.
A few families, feeling sorry for the children, opened their doors, gave them clothes, and then quickly closed the doors again.
The survivors huddled together, and the men, disregarding whether there were any women present, began to change their clothes on the spot. The women, on the other hand, hid at the corner of the stairs before shivering and changing into dry clothes. They hung the damp clothes on the stairs, where they soon froze into hard, solid pieces.
The Liu family, who had set up a tent on the 9th floor, hurriedly moved upstairs when the flood started. They had already climbed to the 16th floor, but when they tried to go up again, an iron gate blocked their way.
Yu Miaomiao was already standing behind the door with a Tang sword in her hand, while Lu An held a flashlight and nervously stared at the iron gate, ready to act if they tried to break down the door.
In the face of the apocalypse, they must remain vigilant towards everyone. Although they have plans to form a team, they need to be careful in choosing teammates and do not want their current lives to be disturbed for the time being.
However, seeing that a door was blocking their way, Liu Pei and his group simply stopped, turned around, opened the fire door on the 16th floor, and set up their tents again in the elevator lobby on the 16th floor.
A long siren sounded from the city's emergency public address system, followed by a series of warning beeps.
"The following is an emergency war preparedness notice to all Chinese citizens: On November 13, 2032, a large-scale natural disaster will occur globally, and the nation is facing an unprecedented challenge. However, the nation will not abandon any citizen. We have set up refugee camps in the shelters of sports centers in major cities, and evacuation plans are being urgently planned. Please do not panic, and be sure to go to higher ground and wait for rescue."
Repeat... Repeat...
The broadcast kept repeating the same message over and over again. Apart from the broadcast, all you could hear was the howling wind and the rustling of the water slowing its impact.
The floodwaters subsided, and the group, who had just escaped disaster, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as everyone was frowning and pondering what to do next, the water that had been crashing against the stairs instantly froze into ice. The ice layer continued to spread, climbing up like a giant snake, covering the stairwell, walls, and ceiling with a thick layer of ice.
The couple on the fourth floor were standing closest to the water, and their shoes were soaked. The ice started from their feet and climbed up to their heads, turning them into two ice sculptures in just a few seconds, their faces still showing a blank and bewildered expression.
Liu Mengmei screamed and retreated repeatedly, then turned to run upstairs. Seeing this, everyone else also fled upstairs.
The already cramped corridor suddenly felt even more crowded and narrow.
The group scrambled up four or five floors before finally opening a fire door and entering the elevator lobby of apartment 1301. The door froze solid the moment they closed it.
As Liu Mengmei, who was walking at the back, hadn't even taken her hand off the doorknob, the rapid freezing caused the surface layer of her skin to peel off instantly, and she let out a shrill wail.
The skin on her palm peeled off, exposing large patches of bright red flesh. The excruciating pain caused Liu Mengmei to faint. The others just watched coldly, and no one stepped forward.
When she woke up again, she saw a group of people huddled in a corner a meter away from her. Looking down at her numb arm, she realized that her right arm had lost all feeling.
Wearing only thin clothes and having lost consciousness, she was completely unable to withstand the extreme cold. Hypothermia caused her right arm to become necrotic.
And soon, she will freeze to death here.
Liu Mengmei's mouth was dry, and all that remained in her eyes was despair.
With her last ounce of strength, she asked Zhang Fengqiang, "I've helped you so much, how can you be at peace with me like this?"
Zhang Fengqiang huddled together with his family for warmth, not daring to look Liu Mengmei in the eye. "Don't blame us. This natural disaster is merciless. Your injury has nothing to do with us. Blame God. There's nothing we can do."
Liu Mengmei closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks and freezing into tiny ice crystals.
Her face grew increasingly pale, and a bone-chilling coldness seeped into every bone crevice, each second a torment to her body and mind.
In the end, she died filled with hatred and resentment.
In the end times, the Virgin Mary will die first.
And they only realize how ridiculous they were when they die.
Yu Miaomiao listened to the sounds from the 16th floor through the iron gate. It seemed that Liu Pei and the others had set up a portable gas stove after entering the tent. Soon, the aroma of food wafted into Yu Miaomiao's nostrils.
It looks like tomato beef brisket.
That's the savory aroma of beef after it has fully absorbed the tomato sauce, making it incredibly appetizing.
"An'an, An'an, let's have tomato beef brisket today."
Yu Miaomiao installed two layers of barriers on the iron gate, turned around and ran briskly towards Lu An, muttering to herself about the dishes she wanted to eat that day.
Sesame Sauce followed behind her, resignedly standing up and using her front legs to pry open the door handle, closing the bulletproof door that Yu Miaomiao had forgotten to close in her reverie.
A door stopper was also installed on the claw.
Dog: This family will fall apart without me.
Tuanzi and Yuanzi quietly went over and rubbed themselves with sesame sauce, as if to say: Big brother, you have sacrificed so much for this family.
"I wonder if Ji Feng is still alive, and that honey badger driver, what was his name again... He's a really nice guy, I really hope nothing bad has happened to them, and I hope we'll meet again someday."
Looking at the devastated city after the apocalypse, with glaciers covering the land and everything pale and lifeless, yet beneath the glaciers lay tens of thousands of lives, Yu Miaomiao felt a pang of emotion.
She had become numb to everything in her previous life. In this life, she had just begun to appreciate the charm of the mountains and rivers when she experienced the start of the apocalypse again. The psychological gap between her expectations and reality was quite significant.
"He…they will be alright, Miaomiao. I believe in Afeng, just as much as I believe in you."
"Oh, really? Then you can only believe one. Who do you believe?"
With a knowing smile, Yu Miaomiao deliberately posed a fatal question to Lu An: if his wife and mother-in-law fell into the water, who would he save first?
She didn't necessarily want to compete with men, but teasing Lu An every day was a small pleasure for her during the apocalypse, a way to relieve the tension and anxiety between them.
"You. Men can only come second; sisters are the most important." They are not only friends but also family.
Okay, this answer is too Lu An-esque; sincerity is indeed a killer move.
She also believed in Lu An, based on their friendship of more than ten years, Lu An's selfless protection, and Lu An's unconditional trust and defense.
With Lu An by my side, this apocalypse doesn't seem so lonely and scary anymore.