Little Mushroom

The stairwell was almost empty, or just a few people in a hurry—fewer than usual.Going up and down the stairs is a physically exhausting thing, An Zhe took a deep breath, but still struggled a bit.When the solar wind hits the earth directly, the atmosphere will be blown away at a terrifying speed and dissipated in the universe.Although it has only been a few days now, the oxygen content in the air supplied by the vents is obviously not enough, and the military broadcasts remind people to reduce going out and unnecessary physical exertion every day.

Coming to the corridor on the first floor, the atmosphere here is even more dignified, and there are no people in sight.An Zhe remembered what the patrol judge said to him, "Go back early", so he quickened his pace and returned to the site of the trial court.The doctor was typing on the computer in the hall, saw him coming, and said, "I'm finally back, where did you go?"

An Zhe: "Go for a walk."

He sat next to the doctor. Dr. Ji is a very gentle person, and they have a very good relationship these days.

"Don't run around." The doctor said, "At least not today."

An Zhe: "What happened?"

The doctor looked away from the computer screen and looked at him. His face was slightly tired, his lips were pale, and there seemed to be no end in his blue eyes. There was deep emotion, which was not positive.He pushed a bottle of water in front of An Zhe: "Are you thirsty?"

An Zhe shook his head, he was fine—although mushrooms are creatures that need water a lot, but today the spores returned to his body, he felt very stable, and his need for water didn't seem to be that urgent.

"Supplies in all aspects are in short supply, not to mention food and water, not even enough oxygen." The doctor said softly: "Today at the latest, the military will transfer personnel. If you come back late, you can't catch up with the transfer, so you can only stay Here it is."

An Zhe was slightly puzzled.

"Where are you going?" he asked.He thought the lighthouse was already the last refuge.

The doctor stared fixedly at the blank wall in front of him, and said, "Eden."

"It's a crop breeding center, with a stable food supply and a large amount of pure water reserves. The base's resources are all there," said the doctor.

After finishing speaking, he smiled: "The name of the Garden of Eden is very good, and now it is really the last Garden of Eden."

"When the Garden of Eden was first built, there were voices of opposition. The breeding and cultivation of crops, the supply of drinking water, and the cultivation of children... It is extremely beneficial to the Garden of Eden if the core of so many resources necessary for human survival are concentrated in one place. , but will it bring greater risks." The doctor's voice lowered: "But the facts always prove that the base's capacity is limited, and when facing a huge disaster, all human resources can only be concentrated in the Garden of Eden. place. We sacrifice everything to keep it, and if Eden doesn't exist, neither does humanity."

An Zhe understood what the doctor meant.The Garden of Eden was where mothers and children were.

He looked at the doctor and asked, "Is everyone going?"

The doctor glanced at him. It was difficult for An Zhe to describe the meaning of that look, like the life teacher who manages the children in the Garden of Eden looked at the wayward and ignorant students, but besides that, there was a touch of melancholy and sadness.

So An Zhe knew the answer, and he didn't say anything.

The whole morning was spent in silence like this. Seran came back once, but he was in a hurry because he was very busy with work.

"I'm going to stay here until night." He looked at An Zhe: "The Emergency Response Department doesn't recognize you, follow me."

The doctor said: "Leave it to me, I won't leave him behind."

Seran thought for a moment, then said, "Okay."

Outside, the sound of the huge wind did not stop for a moment. This irresistible force from the universe shook the entire human city. The hurricane rolled up by the solar storm on the earth was better than all the disasters recorded in history.Putting his finger against the wall, An Zhe could feel its slight tremor, like the last gasp of a dying animal.In fact, An Zhe already considered it a miracle that human creations could survive such a huge storm for so long.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, someone knocked on the door here - a team of heavily armed officers, headed by three civilian officers, with a badge representing the "Emergency Response Department" pinned to their chests, seeing Dr. Ji, standing at the very end The officer in front nodded slightly: "Doctor, please follow us."

The doctor said: "Has the transfer started?"

"It's started, and 500 people are expected to be transferred." The officer said: "The military will do everything possible to ensure your safety, and we have arranged accommodation for you in the Garden of Eden."

"Thank you," said the doctor.

But the next moment, he looked at An Zhe: "But he has to follow me."

"According to the transfer plan, you can bring an assistant." The officer said to An Zhe, "Please show your ID card so we can verify your identity."

"My assistant is gone." The doctor put his arm on An Zhe's shoulder, smiled, and said to An Zhe, "Your ID card doesn't seem to be with you."

An Zhe said: "I only have the colonel's."

The doctor said: "Give them."

An Zhe obediently took out Lu Feng's ID card, and the officer took it and swiped it on the portable machine - then he was obviously taken aback.

"Lu Feng went to the dungeon for the base, and there is no news yet." The doctor raised his eyebrows, and said slowly: "If his children still don't get the right of asylum...I don't think it's appropriate."

The officer frowned, walked aside and dialed a communication before returning here, and said, "He can make an exception and be transferred as your assistant."

The doctor said: "Thank you."

"Look." Walking in the corridor, the doctor said to An Zhe: "If you run around in the morning and come back late—"

An Zhe pursed his lips, and he saw the situation in the hall.

Dozens of researchers in white coats simply lined up, guarded by military soldiers.A woman said excitedly: "My assistant must follow me. I don't accept such a transfer plan."

The officer said: "In the transfer plan, you don't have an assistant quota, Dr. Chen."

"My research is inseparable from my assistant. I can't complete those tasks alone, not to mention that his attainments are not inferior to mine, and he can independently manage large-scale projects." The lady called "Dr. Chen" said loudly: "Trouble Please ask for instructions."

"If you decide that you can't continue your research after losing your assistant." The officer's voice was cold and heartless: "You may have to stay here."

After a short pause, she fell silent.

An Zhe followed Dr. Ji to another direction. There seemed to be a dispute going on upstairs, and he heard the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground.

An exit was opened on the first floor of the United Front Building, where An Zhe boarded the military's heavy armored vehicle.When he got in the car, he briefly saw the scene outside. The sun was so dazzling that it could almost burn his retinas, the dry and hot air rushed straight into his lungs, and the gravel fell on him—there were deep holes everywhere on the originally flat ground. The ravine seemed to be torn frantically by the claws of a giant monster.

Surrounded by the sound of people breathing, the car took thirty people away.According to the comments from the people nearby, the Lighthouse has only 500 people in total for this transfer, which is less than one-tenth of the total staff.

Someone asked again, what about our equipment and materials?

"After we left, the power of the lighthouse was cut off as a whole, and the laboratory rated it according to the importance. Important samples will be transferred to the Garden of Eden for further preservation." Someone replied.

With a "bang", the door fell, and the armored vehicle started. The interior of the vehicle was dark and silent, and the doctor grabbed his hand.

An Zhe suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar.A month ago, amidst the overwhelming insect swarm, he boarded a military truck in the same way and came to the sixth district to accept the trial on Judgment Day.It's just that it was the poet who grabbed his hand in the dark compartment, but now it's the doctor.At that time, the criterion for whether people could enter the sixth district was not being infected. The criterion for whether people could enter the Garden of Eden this time was whether they could make enough contributions to the base in the past, present, and future.

Whether it is the outer city or the main city, trials happen all the time.

The distance was very short, and by coincidence, he and the doctor were arranged at the end of the sixth floor, where he used to teach children to read poems.In the Garden of Eden, he had his first formal lunch in the past few days, a bowl of potato soup, even if it was not as delicious as the one he cooked himself, but after eating compressed biscuits and nutritional supplements for a few days, it was already a rare sight Good food.

The doctor seemed to be preoccupied. At night, An Zhe went out to fetch water for him.

There were people in the tea room. The lady who had clashed with the officer during the day was sobbing against the wall. Next to him was another researcher. He patted her on the shoulder: "Maybe the lighthouse can survive."

"Impossible." Her voice was hoarse: "The oxygen content of the earth's air is less than half of the original. After the air filtration system is activated, fresh oxygen will only be given priority to the Garden of Eden. Residential areas, military bases, and even the Twin Towers are all The second sequence of oxygen supply, won't last."

At this time, she looked up, saw An Zhe, and asked softly, "Who is this? Is this also one of us?"

The researcher next to her said: "It is said that it is the assistant of Dr. Ji from the testing center."

"Dr. Ji can bring his assistant in..." she murmured, "Because his results are better than ours."

"That's the truth," said the researcher. "Don't be sad for him. If we can survive this disaster, we can train new assistants."

The tip of her nose was red, and her eyes were full of tears. After hearing this, she let out a "ha" laugh, and then stretched out her hands to cover her entire face, trembling all over.

"Do you think..." she said, "I'm just...just because of my assistant?"

"The residents of the main city were glad that they were not the part that was abandoned when the outer city was bombed," she said in a broken voice, "but they were still abandoned. We can stand here today because of the lighthouse and everyone else. In exchange for sacrifice... But maybe tomorrow will lose the qualification, the sea will submerge an island, and the part exposed to the water will only become less and less, and the time is coming. We... What are we insisting on? For the benefit of the entire human race ?"

"For the benefit of humanity as a whole."

She bowed her waist and panted violently: "This era is killing people, but human beings are also killing people."

"But you have to accept it, Dr. Chen Qing." The researcher said softly, "As the beneficiaries, we are not qualified to mourn for them."

"I know... I'm just, as a fellow human being like them, it's emotionally difficult to accept." She finally wiped away her tears and forced a smile: "Or do you want to say that we don't have the qualifications to have emotions?"

"……I have no idea."

They stopped talking, and An Zhe's water was filled, and he walked out of the tea room with his cup in his arms.As soon as he looked up, he saw Seran's figure flashing on the side of the corridor, and he opened the door to enter the doctor and his room—so he quickened his pace, wanting to say hello to Seran.

The door was not closed, and a gleam of light came out. An Zhe put his right hand on the door handle, and was about to push the door, but he heard Seran from inside ask, "Where is An Zhe?"

"Transferred with me." The doctor said: "Did you look for him?"

"He has been following you?" Seran said, "I just received a call from the Emergency Response Department. The important samples that the D1344 laboratory was going to transfer disappeared."

"Disappeared?" The doctor said, "The sample related to Lu Feng? That's a very strange thing. I wouldn't be surprised if it died first and then evaporated out of thin air."

An Zhe's heart beat faster, his fingers trembled, and he quickly turned around and walked to the other side of the corridor.

"No," Seran said, "The reason why the Response Department is looking for me is that the instrument has recorded several operating messages at [-]:[-] in the morning. The operator is the colonel. Where is An Zhe? I have to find him."

"He went to fetch water." The doctor said.

"Thank you." There was a knock at the door, and Seran walked out.

An Zhe stood behind the wall at the corner, and he clenched the water glass in his hand.

He knew that one day he would be found out, but he didn't know that day would come so soon.

The two researchers in the pantry had seen him, and soon Seran would be looking for him—he couldn't be found.

After clearly realizing this, An Zhe looked around the corridor, looking for a vent that could be used, but then he realized that once he became mycelium—the clothes and ID card could only be left here, as a proof evidence of.

His chest heaved a few times, and he made a decision in just a second, turned around and ran towards the utility room at the end of the auxiliary corridor.There's a small door ajar leading to the emergency corridor, which won't be found anytime soon - the stairs have another exit on the 22nd floor, he and Lily walk through it once, just find the original terrace, and you'll be able to leave the building Buildings - Or, or find a hidden place to hide, but you have to stay off the 6th floor, as far away as possible.

An Zhe successfully found the small door, he went in, came to the dark stairwell, and began to climb up the stairs.This place seemed to be very close to the outer wall of the building, the wind was loud and reverberated endlessly, and the air was hot—humid heat that would suffocate humans.

In the darkness, hearing nothing but the sound of the wind, he bumped into something small.

An Zhe's first reaction was that there were inhuman monsters lurking here, but the next moment his fingers touched the smooth human hair, and he heard the child's violent panting of fear.

He hesitated for a moment: "Lily?"

"An Zhe?" Lily also called out.

"It's me." An Zhe said.

"You're here!" Lily said, "I...I heard that the Twin Towers have started to move, and I was just about to find you, where is Sinan? Has Sinan moved?"

"I don't know." An Zhe said, "They said that important samples will also be transferred."

The second after he said this, he suddenly remembered that now that alien species and monsters can be infected without contact, the lighthouse may not let Sinan enter the Garden of Eden.

But Lily seemed relieved: "Sinan must be very important."

She had just recovered from the shock, and leaned on the stairs for a long time before saying: "Are you coming to see me too?"

"No," An Zhe thought about his words, and said, "I'll hide here for a while."

"Is someone arresting you?" Lily asked, and she said again: "It's safe here."

An Zhe knew that Lily was a child different from other humans.

"I'll stay here for a few days," he stroked Lily's hair: "Can you not tell anyone else?"

The next moment, the stairwell was as bright as daylight, and the glaring white light hit him and Lily. Lily screamed subconsciously and leaned against him. He stretched out his hand to protect the little girl, and then looked up.

Under the bright light, Mrs. Lu in a long white dress stood. They met once in the lighthouse.

Beside Mrs. Lu were two Eden staff members with strong flashlights.

"Lily." Mrs. Lu's gentle voice was slightly reproachful. She was clearly talking to Lily, but she looked at An Zhe, and said softly, "Why are you still running around at this time?"