Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 362 Direct Threat

She took out a box of stewed cabbage and pork from her spatial storage, ate a delicious meal with rice balls, drank some water, and then sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the fan, waiting for it to get dark.

After dark, she wanted to tear a corner of the plastic film on the living room window to let some air in. The ashes from the day should have mostly settled, and the night wind would carry away the lingering burnt smell.

She also wanted to put the bed board back on the living room window, not to block the door, but to block the view. She always felt that the window was too conspicuous. Although people outside might not be able to see inside, she just felt uneasy.

Xu Xiaoyan thought that life would pass by peacefully, but she didn't expect that trouble would come before it was even dark.

When the horn sounded, she was considering whether to tear off the plastic film in advance.

The voice came from somewhere downstairs, carrying the distortion and shrillness characteristic of electronic devices: "Listen up, everyone—"

Xu Xiaoyan's hand stopped by the window. Her first thought was that the military personnel had arrived. Loudspeakers, announcements, and notifications—these words together easily evoked images of officialdom and order.

But her intuition was faster than her brain; almost simultaneously, she realized: no, the voice was wrong, the tone was wrong, that threatening tone wasn't something someone in uniform would use.

"We're from Building 3!" As soon as those words were spoken, many people knew exactly what was going on.

Xu Xiaoyan withdrew her hand from the plastic film, turned towards the window, and frowned.

The voice from the loudspeaker continued, carrying a deliberately lowered tone, an attempt to appear "formal" but unable to conceal its overbearing confidence.

The speaker was probably a middle-aged man with a rough voice, like someone who was used to shouting work chants on construction sites. Every word he spoke carried an unquestionable domineering air.

"This is an announcement—note, an announcement, not a request for your opinions!"

He emphasized the words "notification" and "request" as if drawing a line between them: This is not a discussion, this is an order, you have no right to refuse, you only have the right to obey.

Xu Xiaoyan stood in the darkness, her lips twitching slightly. "Notify? Who do you think you are, to presume to notify others?"

"Each building must unconditionally accommodate 15 people!" When this number came out of the loudspeaker, Xu Xiaoyan frowned even more.

The building where she lives has six floors, with six households on each floor, totaling thirty-six households. If she has 15 people, then she would be taking in at least half of the residents in the building.

Where do we put it? Make it a makeshift bed on the living room floor? Set up a bed in the hallway? Squat it in the toilet?

"If you don't agree—" The voice from the loudspeaker paused, as if giving the words a moment to catch their breath, or as if deliberately creating a sense of suspense and uncertainty.

Xu Xiaoyan could picture that person standing downstairs, holding a megaphone, with a fake compassion on his face that said, "I've already given you a chance," and probably a smug smile on his lips.

"We don't mind breaking all the locks!" The voice suddenly rose as he said this, as if he had finally torn off the disguise of "notice".

"By then, you'll have no choice but to accept it!" The voice from the loudspeaker echoed through the empty neighborhood. Xu Xiaoyan stood in the darkness, her fingers gripping the edge of the windowsill tightly.

People downstairs were talking. The sounds drifted in through the cracks in the window, fragmented and hard to hear, but you could sense the panic. Some were cursing under their breath, some were frantically closing doors, and some were whispering to their neighbors.

The sound of iron gates clattering came from different directions, one after another.

Xu Xiaoyan did not move.

She stood by the window, her fingers pressing against the silvery-white plastic film, feeling the coolness of the outside air through the membrane.

Are they really only planning to accommodate 15 people, or are they using 15 to test the waters? If it's 15 today, will it become 20 tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow, will it be "the whole building is ours"?

If we agree, what will these people eat and drink after they move in? Who will pay for their water and food? If a conflict arises, whose side will we take?

If any of these people are carrying weapons, have malicious intentions, or sneak into her room in the middle of the night, she will absolutely not allow them to stay!

The horn stopped, and someone downstairs was shouting, "What right do you have! This is our home!" The voice was shrill and thin, a woman's voice, filled with anger and fear.

Then another voice rang out, a man's, lower, advising her to stop talking and not to provoke them.

Xu Xiaoyan slowly withdrew her hand from the windowsill, took two steps back, and stood still in the darkness.

She looked down at her hands. Two red marks were pressed into her fingertips by the edge of the windowsill, and there were a few faint nail marks on her palms, left from when she clenched her fists.

The people in Building 3 have already started to organize themselves. They have loudspeakers, manpower, and the confidence to "notify" others.

They went from pleading door-to-door in the afternoon to shouting through loudspeakers in the evening, with only a few hours in between.

Within hours, a group of homeless and desperate refugees transformed into an organized, strategic, and threatening force.

This is not a change that a mob could make; there must be someone directing, planning, and using these homeless people to establish their own territory.

Is it starting to get chaotic so quickly?

She asked herself this question in her heart, but she actually knew the answer, not so soon, but indeed.

From the moment the soldiers left, she knew this place would descend into chaos sooner or later.

She stood behind the door, listening to the sounds coming from the hallway. People were talking, their voices very low, probably discussing a plan.

Someone was moving things; the furniture was being dragged across the floor with a muffled sound, probably to reinforce the door.

There was an argument between a husband and wife. The husband yelled at the wife, "You shouldn't have opened the door!" The wife cried, "How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this?"

She had a simpler consideration than these people; she only needed to figure out one thing: to go or not to go.

If they leave, when? Tonight? Tomorrow morning? When they actually start banging on the door?

If she doesn't leave, can she accept 15 strangers moving into the building? Can she accept having one more person in her room?

She closed her eyes and went through each of the questions in her mind, and the answer to each question was the same.

No, she couldn't accept it! Not because she was cold-blooded, not because she was selfish, but because she knew all too well that in this world, once you take a step back, there are no limits.

If we let 15 people move in today, even more people will come knocking on our door tomorrow.

If you give away a bottle of water today, someone will be eyeing the few bottles you have left tomorrow.

If you open your door and take someone in today, tomorrow your door will no longer belong to you. Anyone who wants to come in can come in, and anyone who wants to take something can take it. You won't even have the right to say "no."

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