Chapter 35 - 34: Dusty Diary

Chapter 35: Chapter 34: Dusty Diary

Reading this, Xu Mo grew pensive. ’A classic pre-crisis response: control the information flow, keep the public calm.’ Even though he was just reading a diary, Xu Mo could almost imagine the turbulent undercurrents that must have been swirling across the internet at the time.

The time between the next few entries grew shorter, and the handwriting became increasingly frantic. Xu Mo could even make out the writer’s trembling hand in the messy script.

October 17th. Damn it, what the hell is going on?!

It’s chaos! Total chaos! The news is starting to show... those people who bite others! Like zombies from the movies! At first, it was just in a few isolated areas. They called it a rabies outbreak. But today, it happened in our city! Right downtown! A video went viral online, and even though it was deleted quickly, I saw it! Those people are actually biting people! They pounce on anyone they see! And after a while, the people they bite get back up and turn into one of them! It’s terrifying! The school announced it’s closing and told us all to stay home and not go outside!

Zombies... The terrifying beings Xu Mo had long since grown familiar with, even coexisted with, had finally confirmed the chaos and horror of their first appearance in written word. ’The owner of this diary, Liu Ning... just how terrified must he have been back then?’

October 19th. Hiding in my room, too scared to turn on the lights.

Gunshots! There are gunshots outside! And explosions! The army has entered the city! They’re fighting those things! Mom and Dad have drawn all the curtains shut and won’t let me look. My phone signal is spotty, and the internet is basically down. All I can get are intermittent official emergency notices, still telling us to stay home and wait for rescue. But we’re running out of food. I think I hear something downstairs... Did those things get in? I’m so scared...

A wave of despair washed over Xu Mo from the page. The collapse of order had been faster than he’d imagined. The army’s intervention meant the situation was already out of control. Xu Mo could almost hear the gunshots, screams, and roars from outside the window back then.

October 22nd. Escape?

We can’t stay here any longer! The water and power are out! We finished the last of our food yesterday. We heard on the radio that the government is organizing an evacuation and setting up large-scale shelters! They’re calling all survivors to head to designated assembly points. Mom and Dad decided to risk it. We have to leave home! We’re packing, taking only the essentials! The streets are filled with abandoned vehicles and bodies. Those monsters are everywhere. We have to stick to the alleyways and hide whenever we spot them. I saw army tanks heading out of the city, too. They’re covering the civilian retreat...

The mass exodus had begun. The government was still trying to maintain control but was clearly overwhelmed. The diary entries became sporadic, as if scribbled down in a hurry while on the run.

October 28th. Where are we? I don’t know.

We’re finally getting close to the shelter. I heard someone call it the Jiang City Shelter. The journey was brutal. So many people didn’t make it. Our family was one of the lucky ones. But it’s a sea of people outside the shelter; there’s no way to get in! I heard the capacity is limited, and they’re screening people. You need to make a "contribution" to get priority access? What about ordinary people like us? We just have to wait outside to be processed? What kind of world is this?!

’Jiang City Shelter?’ Xu Mo silently committed the name to memory. That must be the closest large, official sanctuary to this town. The diary revealed the harsh reality of resource allocation in the early days of the apocalypse. Even an official organization, when faced with overwhelming resource shortages, had to resort to a screening process.

October 31st

All communication is gone. My phone has no signal at all; it’s just a brick now. Last night, we saw what looked like "shooting stars" falling from the sky, one after another. They were so bright, streaking across the sky before disappearing. Fatty Wang’s dad used to be in communications. He said hoarsely that those were satellites falling out of orbit! The entire global communications network... is gone for good! Are we going to regress to a primitive society?

’Satellites falling?!’ Reading this, Xu Mo’s pupils contracted. This meant a total collapse of global command, communication, and positioning systems. At that moment, the very cornerstone of civilization had been shattered. The so-called apocalypse wasn’t just the threat of zombies; it was a great regression for all of human technological civilization.

November 3rd

The Jiang City Shelter has started taking people in on a large scale, but the conditions are extremely harsh. You have to surrender all of your supplies, submit to strict, militarized management, and perform heavy labor. We waited in line for three days, and it was finally almost our turn. But Mom and Dad are hesitating. They heard the rules inside are very strict, and it doesn’t seem to be completely safe, either—apparently there have been riots inside before. They secretly told me, what if we turn back and return to our old home in town? There are fewer people there, and the house is sturdy. Maybe we can find a way to survive there, or at least live a little more freely.

Xu Mo shook his head as he read this, a storm of conflicting emotions inside him. He didn’t know what to make of it.

November 19th

We left the refugee camp outside the Jiang City Shelter, following a small group of others who had also decided to leave, and started heading back. The roads were even more dangerous now. It seems like the military has consolidated around the major shelters, so small groups of zombies and people with bad intentions have become our biggest threats along the way. We snuck around, hiding constantly, and after many days of walking, we’re finally close to town. The town looks less damaged than the city, and there are far fewer zombies, though they’re not completely gone. We found our old house. Thankfully, it wasn’t destroyed, and no one else was living in it. I guess we’re safe for now, right?

The diary entry ended there. The handwriting looked exceptionally weary but also carried a hint of relief at having survived the ordeal. They had returned to this small town—the very place Xu Mo was in now. From this point on, the diary’s contents became more mundane, mainly recording their efforts to find food, fortify the house, avoid the occasional zombie, and their uncertainty about the future.