harleyscars Chapter 34 Sealed Diary
Chapter 34 Sealed Diary
Xu Mo originally thought that the questions he had about the past of this world would probably only be answered after the long winter was over and he left the town and met other survivors. He thought they might remain mysteries forever.
He never imagined that a systematic record could be found in this ruin, which had been repeatedly looted and was almost entirely reduced to wreckage and dust. However, the turning point of fate often lies hidden in the most unnoticed aspects of daily life.
That day, as with many days in the past two months, Xu Mo first routinely crossed the street and pushed open the glass door with the sign that read "Welcome to Enjoy." Sixty seconds later, he returned to the shelter with the still-warm meal and a replenishment of rice, noodles, and cooking oil.
After having lunch and resting for a while, Xu Mo decided to conduct an exploration of the streets near the shelter that he had not yet thoroughly explored, with the aim of "information gathering".
He wasn't there to plunder supplies—those obvious resources for survival had already been looted by his predecessors.
Xu Mo's target was those books, newspapers, letters, and even remnants of electronic devices that might have been overlooked but still contained information. Even though the hope was slim, it was better than sitting idly by in despair.
The pale sunlight shone on the snow and ruins, reflecting a blinding light, and the cold wind remained biting. Xu Mo, dressed in full-body cold-weather gear with a lightweight stab-proof vest over it, carrying a hiking backpack and holding an AK, cautiously walked among the broken walls and ruins. His gaze, like a searchlight, swept over the buildings with their doors and windows wide open and their interiors in disarray.
Most of the houses looked like they'd been ravaged by a hurricane, leaving only heavy furniture that couldn't be taken away and trash strewn everywhere. Xu Mo searched through several shops along the street and what appeared to be offices, but found nothing except a few water-soaked fashion magazines and business brochures with blurred print.
Just as Xu Mo was about to give up and turn into the last back alley, he stopped in front of a half-collapsed two-story building. The ground floor of the building seemed to have once been a small shop, but the signboard had long since fallen off, leaving only a rusted iron frame. A corner of the second floor had completely collapsed, blocking most of the entrance.
What caught Xu Mo's attention was a brightly colored plastic cover half-hidden under frozen soil and broken bricks at the edge of the collapsed rubble. Its color stood out starkly against the gray and desolate landscape.
Xu Mo's heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward and carefully used the muzzle of his gun to clear away the snow and debris covering the surface. It was a hardcover notebook with cartoon character designs, not very big, like a student's diary. It had been carelessly discarded here, seemingly slipped out of its owner's luggage when they hurriedly left, and was subsequently buried by the collapsed section, thus miraculously escaping the complete erosion of rain and snow and the long-term weathering of time.
Xu Mo crouched down and carefully picked up the notebook. He brushed away the mud from the cover; the cartoon illustrations were still vibrant, but the corners were worn and curled. He took a deep breath and, with the feeling of an archaeologist discovering an ancient scroll, gently turned to the first page.
Sunny on September 1st
School starts today! Finally, I'm in my second year of high school, and I feel an extra weight on my shoulders. Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, is still as long-winded as ever. On the first day, he gave me a huge pep talk, like "the second year is a watershed moment," and "it's never too late to work hard..." I'm so tired of hearing it! But seeing my familiar classmates is still very happy. Wang Pangzi seems to have gained weight over the summer, haha! I hope this semester goes smoothly, and that physics doesn't drag me down anymore.
The handwriting was slightly immature but neat, exuding a unique, slightly complaining youthful vibe characteristic of school life. The diary's owner was named Liu Ning. He appeared to be an ordinary high school student.
Xu Mo quickly flipped through the pages; the first few dozen pages were filled with trivial details of daily life on campus. The tension of exams, minor conflicts with classmates, a vague crush on a certain classmate, the confusion and anticipation about the future, and a little rebellion against his parents' nagging... These vivid words seemed to take Xu Mo back to that peaceful and distant past, forming a sharp and chilling contrast with the frozen hell he was in now.
Xu Mo quickened his pace, his eyes keenly scanning for any clues that might foreshadow a dramatic change. Finally, near the middle of the diary, the handwriting began to become somewhat messy, the frequency of entries became unstable, and the content gradually deviated from the campus setting.
Weather forecast for October 13th? Forgot to check.
Holy crap! Did you see the news today? There was a super bright flash all over the world, around midnight. Lots of people took pictures, and the internet is buzzing! Some say it was a supernova explosion, some say it was aliens, and others say it was some kind of large-scale experimental accident… It feels so eerie. Everyone in our class group is discussing it. The physics class representative even gave a serious analysis, saying it was some kind of atmospheric optical phenomenon? Anyway, it's pretty weird. I hope it's nothing serious.
October 15th, cloudy
The authorities have come out to debunk the rumors, saying it was a rare, large-scale aurora phenomenon combined with upper-level atmospheric disturbances, and urging everyone not to panic or spread rumors. They gave a very convincing explanation, and even experts endorsed it. But I still feel uneasy. Some videos and photos online were deleted very quickly, as if they're hiding something. My parents also said it's nothing, and told me not to overthink it and to focus on my studies. Sigh, maybe I'm just overthinking it?
Upon reading this, Xu Mo pondered. This was a typical early-stage crisis response: information control and efforts to stabilize public sentiment. Although he was only reading a diary, Xu Mo could almost imagine the undercurrents of tension online at the time.
In the following diary entries, the time intervals became shorter, the handwriting became more messy, and you could even see the trembling of the hand while writing.
October 17th, damn it, what on earth is going on?!
Chaos! Utter chaos! The news is starting to show those...those biting people! Like zombies from a movie! At first, it was just in isolated places, said to be a rabies outbreak. But today, it happened in our city too! Right in the city center! The video went viral online, although it was quickly deleted, but I saw it! Those people are really biting! They pounce on anyone they see! And after a while, the bitten people get up and look like that! It's terrifying! The school has announced that classes are suspended, and we all need to stay home and not go out!
Zombies… this terrifying existence that Xu Mo had long been familiar with and coexisted with, finally confirmed in written form the chaos and horror of their initial appearance. How terrified Liu Ning, the owner of the diary, must have felt at that time.
On October 19th, I hid in my room, afraid to turn on the lights.
Gunfire! Gunfire outside! And explosions! The army has entered the city! They're exchanging fire with those things! My parents have drawn the curtains shut so I can't see. The cell phone signal is intermittent, and the internet is practically down; I can only receive sporadic emergency notifications from official channels, telling us to stay home and wait for rescue. But we're running low on food, and there seems to be some noise downstairs. Could those things have gotten in? I'm so scared…
A sense of despair permeated the air; the collapse of order was happening faster than imagined, and the intervention of the military meant that the situation was out of control. Xu Mo could almost hear the gunshots, screams, and roars coming from outside the window at that moment.
Did he flee on October 22?
We can't stay here any longer! The water and electricity 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 shelters! They're calling on all survivors to go to designated assembly points. My parents decided to take a gamble; we have to leave home! We packed our things, taking only what's necessary! The streets are full of abandoned vehicles and corpses. Those monsters are everywhere; we can only walk along the alleyways, hiding whenever we see them. I saw army tanks; they're driving out of the city, covering the civilian evacuation…
A mass exodus began, and the government struggled to maintain order, but was clearly overwhelmed. The diary entries became fragmented, as if hastily written amidst the turmoil.
Where is October 28th? I don't know.
We're almost at the shelter! I heard it's called "Jiangcheng Shelter." The journey there was horrific; many people didn't make it. Our family is lucky. But the shelter is packed with people; we can't get in at all! Apparently, they have limited capacity, screen people, and you need to make a contribution to get priority? Are ordinary people like us just supposed to wait outside for allocation? What kind of world is this?!
[Jiangcheng Shelter]? Xu Mo silently memorized the name. This should be the closest large official shelter to this town. The diary revealed the harsh reality of resource allocation in the early days of the apocalypse; even official organizations, under immense resource pressure, had to adopt screening mechanisms.
November 31st
Communication is completely cut off; cell phones have no signal and are practically useless. Last night, I saw one "shooting star" after another falling from the sky—very bright, they streaked across the sky and disappeared. Wang Pangzi's dad, who used to work in telecommunications, said in a hoarse voice that those were satellites falling from orbit! The global communication network is completely finished! Is humanity about to regress to a primitive society?
A satellite crash?! Xu Mo's pupils contracted upon seeing this. This meant the complete collapse of global command, communication, and positioning systems. The cornerstone of civilization had been utterly shattered in this moment. The so-called apocalypse was not just about the threat of zombies, but a major regression of human technological civilization as a whole.
November 3st
The Jiangcheng shelter had begun large-scale take-in, but the conditions were harsh. All supplies had to be handed over, and strict military-style management and heavy labor were required. We queued for three days, and it was almost our turn. But my parents hesitated. They'd heard the management was very strict, and it didn't seem entirely safe; there had been internal riots before. They secretly suggested we go back to our hometown in town. There were fewer people there, the houses were sturdier, and maybe we could find a way to survive, or at least live more freely.
Seeing this, Xu Mo shook his head, feeling a mix of emotions, unsure of what to say.
November 19st
We left the refugee camp outside the Jiangcheng shelter and followed a small group of others who had also decided to leave, heading back. The road became even more dangerous; the army seemed to have concentrated in the direction of the main shelters, and small groups of zombies and some hostile individuals along the way posed our biggest threat. We hid and made our way for many days before finally approaching the town. The town seemed less damaged than the city, and there were far fewer zombies, but they weren't nonexistent. We found our old house; thankfully, it hadn't been destroyed and no one else was living there. We were safe for now, right?
As the diary entries came to this point, the handwriting appeared unusually weary, yet also carried a hint of relief at surviving a close call. They had returned to this small town, the place where Xu Mo was now. The diary entries began to become fragmented, mainly recording how they found food, fortified their house, avoided sporadic zombies, and their uncertainty about the future.
November 20st
Winter is here, and it's so cold. Food is getting harder and harder to find. The town has been searched repeatedly. Yesterday, Dad went out to find food and was almost robbed by two men with knives; he barely managed to escape. Mom has been crying the whole time. Did we make the wrong choice? If only we had stayed at the shelter…
November 2st
It's so quiet; you can barely hear anything outside. Those wandering things (I don't even want to call them zombies anymore, they're disgusting) seem to have decreased significantly. But the food is completely gone. Old Zhang's family from the next street were found dead from starvation yesterday, and they were even... How much longer can we hold on?
Upon seeing this, Xu Mo's eyes narrowed.
November 17st
My notebook is almost finished, and maybe my fate is nearing its end. My parents are sick, with fevers and coughs, and we have no medicine. I feel weak all over. It seems to be snowing outside again. It's so cold… How did this world become like this? What was that flash of light? Where did those things come from? I miss my old classroom, I miss playing games with Fatty and the others, I miss my mom's braised pork… If… if only…
The handwriting becomes extremely weak and illegible here, with the last character almost dragging out as a weak, long line, as if the writer had used up the last bit of strength.
The diary ends here.
There was no sequel, no ending. But Xu Mo could already imagine the ending.
In this harsh winter, lacking food and medicine, with the family falling ill… death seemed to be all that awaited them. The diary was likely left behind in the ruins during their final forced departure in search of survival, or perhaps it fell from their belongings when they met with misfortune. Of course, it could also be a better outcome—the diary was simply lost by accident.
Xu Mo slowly closed his diary and remained silent for a long time.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on him and the small diary in his hand, casting a melancholic warm hue over the cartoon illustrations.
He sat on the cold rubble, leaning against the ruins, his heart churning with turmoil.
This unexpectedly acquired diary, like a crucial piece of a puzzle, pieced together a general picture of the early days of the apocalypse for him:
It began with a bizarre global flash, which was subsequently denied by the authorities, but quickly spiraled out of control. A zombie virus (or something similar) broke out simultaneously around the world at an extremely rapid pace, beyond the control of military intervention. Social order collapsed swiftly, and communication networks were completely destroyed when a satellite crashed.
The government has established large shelters, but resources are limited and management is strict; they are far from paradise. Some people, like Liu Ning's family, have chosen to leave the shelters and return to their hometowns to fend for themselves.
Xu Mo learned the approximate timeline of the disaster, which was about a year before the diary ended. He also learned about a large stronghold called "Jiangcheng Shelter," which was about 15 days' journey away from him. Although he was unsure if it still existed, he knew that the zombies' unusual behavior was not an isolated case.
However, more questions also arose:
What exactly was that global flash? Was it a natural phenomenon or man-made? What is the source of the zombie virus? How is the Jiangcheng Shelter doing now? Is it still operational? What is the situation inside?
This diary, instead of providing answers, acts like a key, unlocking a door to a deeper and broader fog.
Xu Mo carefully placed the diary into the innermost compartment of his backpack. This was not just a record; it was the daily life of an ordinary person in the apocalypse. Liu Ning was a small footnote to an era, and also the first real coordinates that Xu Mo, in this strange and dangerous world, found regarding the "past."
Standing up, Xu Mo patted the dust off his clothes and took one last look at the half-collapsed building and the surrounding ruins.
Here, a boy named Liu Ning, his family, and countless others like them struggled desperately, only to be silently swallowed up in this catastrophe.
And Xu Mo is still alive.
Gripping the machete tightly, Xu Mo turned his gaze to the west, where the twilight and the distant mountain silhouettes obscured the view.
At the end of winter, he wanted to visit the Jiangcheng Shelter.