Natural Disasters Strikes: I stockpiled like crazy! - Chapter 134

Chapter 134: Mass Fever (1)
The pipes in the honeycomb apartments had already frozen.

The survivors in this building had to climb down to the basement of the first floor.

The faucets in the basement were still dispensing water, because it was connected to an underground well deep below the frost line.

Cang Min’s mother, Cang Rong, noticed an abnormal flush on her son’s face.

She stopped him from going down, her hand touching his neck and forehead.

It was burning hot.

She lightly slapped his arm, chiding him with concern.

“I told you not to take a bath last night! Why must you be so stubborn? Look at you now!”

Cang Min had no strength to speak, his head spinning.

His mother quickly laid him on the bed.

She wrung out a towel in lukewarm water and rubbed it over his forehead, neck, armpits, and feet, trying to lower his fever.

Last night, the soldiers whom Cang Min had helped gave them a bag full of supplies.

Among them were paracetamol tablets.

She forced Cang Min to swallow one, then continued rubbing his body.

But after an hour, his temperature hadn’t dropped—in fact, it had risen.

Panicked, she wanted to seek help from her cousin next door.

But when she opened the door, she saw her cousin’s wife, Cang Ruo outside. The middle-aged woman was flustered, mirroring her own distress.

“Cang Zhou has a fever! Cousin-in-law, do you have any medicine?”

…

Zhang Xin, by 9 a.m., had climbed down from the apartment building to line up at the water supply station in the basement.

His house was on the lower floors, far from the Cang family, so he was unaware of their situation.

He looked around, searching for signs of the two, but they didn’t appear.

Had something happened?

“I heard from my neighbor last night that pork is being sold at the market today! If the quality is good, maybe we can pool our points for a celebratory meal for the New Year.”

Someone is selling pork at the market?

Zhang Xin’s ears perked up as he overheard the conversation.

That’s right, the New Year was fast approaching.

With all that had happened, he had nearly forgotten about it.

Perhaps he should go with Cang Zhou later to check it out. The soldiers had given them some supplies last night. They could trade them for the pork, if there was any.

At least they’d have one dish on the table.

Suddenly, screams and gasps rang out from both the front and the back of the line.

Zhang Xin stretched his neck.

He froze when he saw people fainting around him.

“Oh my goodness, are they okay?”

Panic spread.

“Someone call for help!”

“Is there a doctor? We need assistance!”

The soldiers patrolling around heard the cries for help, responded quickly, carrying the fainted individuals.

After the initial shock, Zhang Xin rushed to help, allowing the snow to fall on his head.

When the last patient was carried away, more footsteps echoed behind him—more patients were being brought down the stairs, including Cang Rong and Cang Rou.

The two also saw him and shouted, “Brother Zhang! Please help us!”

Startled, Zhang Xin ran toward them.

The three rushed to the public hospital at the far corner of the survivors’ camp.

The hospital was a four-story building, with 350 beds, 15 doctors, and 40 nurses on duty.

At the sudden influx of patients, the hospital became as crowded and noisy as a market on its peak.

When the three arrived, the hospital was so full that some patients lay on the floor or in waiting chairs.

Families were crying, begging for help.

“Doctor! Please, help my son!”

“Miss Nurse, please look at my brother first!”

The nurses were overwhelmed. There were still patients waiting in the wards, and they couldn’t attend to everyone.

“Please wait a moment! We’re doing the best we can!” the nurse explained, checking a child’s temperature while attending to another.

“What do you mean ‘wait’? Look at my son! He’s burning up like a furnace!”

A sharp-eyed, mean-looking grandmother yanked the thermometer from the nurse’s hand. It dropped to the floor.

“I said, wait!”

The grandmother, unyielding, pressed her weight against the nurse, thrusting her son’s limp body into the nurse’s arms. She ordered coldly, “Check him first!”

“Wait! We were here before you!” The child’s mother frowned, her tone sharp.

If Nanzhi were here, she would have recognized the woman—it was Auntie Yang, whose son Dan Dan had a high fever.

By the door, Cang Rong tightened her hold on her unconscious son and exclaimed, “Heavens! This isn’t some kind of plague, is it?”

…

A young man, having just completed his shift in the sentry tower, stepped outside.

He pulled his down jacket tighter, feeling the chill of the day.

As he tried to return to his dormitory, he sensed his temperature rising.

But the young soldier didn’t go back. Instead, he detoured to the canteen, his stomach growling with hunger.

The soldier beside him noticed his pale expression and suggested he rest, but he waved it off, thinking it was nothing.

The canteen for soldiers was alive with activity.

Soldiers sat at long tables, laughing and talking as they ate. The smell of hot food and coffee filled the air.

Hei Qian and Bingwen stood in line with the others.

Wang Chul and his team were there as well.

The sound of steady footsteps entered the canteen—it was Colonel Tang.

He was accompanied by a man, one of the Pei family.

The young officer moved with the composed grace of a predator. His military uniform was impeccably pressed, fitting his lean frame perfectly.

His face was sharp, with high cheekbones and narrow eyes. His lips were pressed into a thin, straight line. A faint scar ran along his jaw, like a snake’s fang, adding to his dangerous aura.

Those around him tread lightly, as though in the presence of a predator.

His hands clasped behind his back as he strode into the room, his eyes scanning the soldiers coldly.

His name was Pei Huangyi, Pei Zhi’s cousin and the newly appointed deputy commander, one year older than Lin Weihao.