Apocalyptic Disaster: Stockpile Supplies for Free and Make a Comeback

Chapter 68 The High Temperatures Continue
As evening fell and darkness descended, the villa area immediately quieted down. People had grown accustomed to this way of life, with only a faint solar-powered emergency light remaining in the guardhouse behind the gate.

As soon as Liu Yanyang entered the door, she started complaining, "We're all relatives, and they asked us to take care of them a little and give them a little more stuff, but we don't need much. Look at their attitude."

"They said they'd give us some supplies, but they'd have to sneak around even this little bit of rice. They'd hide all the good stuff and wouldn't give it to us."

She usually goes next door to keep Wang Fang company, so what's wrong with giving her some food?

Zhao Yanzhou is in charge of logistics, shouldn't he be looking out for some benefits for his own people?

"Son, didn't you say you wanted to get along well with those people? How's it going?" Liu Yanyang looked at Jing Zhigao with anticipation.

"Don't even mention it." As soon as Jing Zhigao got home, he revealed his true colors and said irritably, "He's completely unapproachable. The only one I can talk to is Dai Jia, but even her words are useless."

During this time, he fawned over Song Jinhe so much that he got dizzy from the sun trying to impress her, but he didn't get to eat her rice or even get a kind word from her.

“Those people are blind.” Liu Yanyan snorted and comforted her son, “You must not impulsively go out with them. You are my only son, and it’s too dangerous outside.”

These voices naturally couldn't reach the neighbors, but Zhao Yanzhou knew what was going on just by looking at the supplies in the house.

She took advantage of the holiday to visit his parents and complain, knowing they were soft-hearted.

Seeing Wang Fang's hesitant expression, Zhao Yanzhou only said one sentence.
“From now on, for every bit of help you give them, I will deduct the same amount from my own allowance. It’s enough for our family’s expenses for one day. I won’t eat anything tomorrow, and I’ll go out on patrol the day after tomorrow. Let’s see if you can stop your unnecessary kindness before I die.”

Hearing Zhao Yanzhou say this, the elderly couple became really anxious and tried to explain and make promises.

Actually, they hadn't paid any more attention to their neighbor's demands before, and they knew Liu Yanyang wasn't a good person. It was just that it was a holiday, and they couldn't stand her crying and complaining. They thought that their lives had stabilized and they still had some savings, so they just gave her a token amount.

Zhao Yanzhou didn't budge in the end. He knew that his personality, formed over decades, wasn't so easy to change, so he couldn't back down this time. If he didn't change this, his family would die sooner or later.

Even if you can live peacefully in this place, you still need to adapt to the way of surviving in the apocalypse.

-

By early October, the weather was still hot.

The thermometer hanging on the wall showed 46 degrees Celsius at noon. I couldn't sleep at night because of the heat, so I got up and wiped myself with a cloth soaked in well water.

A couple of days ago, someone fainted from heatstroke. We gave them medicine and herbal tea, but they had underlying health conditions and couldn't save them.

The leeches and nematodes disappeared due to the dryness and heat, but mosquitoes raged for months.

The mosquitoes that are appearing now are three to four times larger than those that were common before. A bite from one of them is painful and itchy, and can cause a large swelling.

Song Jinhe applied ointment to her legs, resisting the urge to scratch, and then took out three mosquito coils and lit them together.

Today, either she or the mosquitoes in this house have to die!
In mid-October, the highest temperature reached 45 degrees Celsius.

Song Jinhe kept taking notes in her notebook. This was still the temperature in the villa area; it was probably two degrees higher in the city.

The heat-sensitive plants in the villa area were moved to the cooler basement at midday and brought back out in the morning and evening.

In addition, Song Jinhe found several herbal tea recipes in a traditional Chinese medicine book tucked away in the corner of the space. After organizing the manpower, every two days, after sunset, someone would brew the herbal tea, chill it with well water, and those who needed it could collect a bowl the next day.

They had previously found wild mint and honeysuckle, transplanted some, and with the supplies they obtained from the pharmacy outside the hospital, they could make the herbal tea weak enough to last for a while.

The reason why saltpeter ice making is more cost-effective than fuel power generation is that the used saltpeter can be extracted and reused. Song Jinhe uses this method to quickly make iced drinks and herbal tea at home.

Two large buckets of water were stored in the well.

Of course, she didn't really stay home all day; she would still go outside to do some things to help her body adapt to the harsh environment.

When she and Jiang Shi'an went out to patrol the surrounding area, Jiang Shi'an also said that she should stay at home. Song Jinhe not only went out, but also wore a sun protection suit to fight a few zombies.

It's definitely not a place for humans to stay outside. The ground is cracked, and clearing out zombies in this environment is even more dangerous. The more you exert yourself, the hotter you get.

The zombie was probably quite annoyed, because as it was walking along, a person who hadn't even shown his eyes suddenly appeared and got stabbed twice.

Song Jinhe, knife in hand, swiftly pulled open the scalding hot car door handle and climbed into the car. The cool air from the air conditioner instantly made her feel comfortable.

It's much cheaper to turn on the air conditioning in the car than at home, and they usually turn it on full blast when only their own team members come out.

“During the hottest period of the year, the number of zombies around has decreased significantly. I’ve hardly seen any hordes of zombies. Could it be that they also avoid the high temperatures?” Song Jinhe asked.

"Based on my observations over this period of time, it is indeed the case," Jiang Shi'an replied. "When the temperature starts to rise, a small portion of the zombies decompose faster. After their bodies have rotted away, their brains will be the next to decompose."

"But the zombies that appeared later did not die completely due to the high temperature. Instead, some of them had shrunken skin and muscles that no longer rotted. The virus in their bodies also adapted to the environment and avoided harm."

"We'll be able to verify this if we drive a little further into the city." Jiang Shi'an calmly turned the steering wheel and drove into the city.

Sure enough, after passing through the suburbs, there were still no zombies on the streets, and the whole street was eerily quiet.

Ahead was an amusement park, with a tall Ferris wheel standing inside. Outside, there were many cars lying on their sides, two of which showed signs of burning, and the air was filled with the smell of burning gasoline.

"Two days ago, the car on the left spontaneously combusted and burned the one on the right as well?" Song Jinhe said uncertainly.

Jiang Shi'an: "Can you now perceive what happened in the past through the situation on the ground?"

"Most of the time it's not possible. I feel more like it's a visual representation of lingering odors and traces in the air."

She saw it once when she was at the factory.

"You can try focusing your attention and using your mental strength," Jiang Shi'an said, stopping the car.

Song Jinhe responded and looked at the bus that had been in an accident right in front of the amusement park. All the windows were covered in dust and oxidized bloodstains, making it difficult to see what was inside.

The rear door was half-open, and the steps were covered with a layer of yellow mud. Looking through the only open escape window, the handrails were faded, and the interior decorations were covered with a thick layer of grime, making them unrecognizable.

(End of this chapter)