The rain was boundless, causing everything in the world to submit to the might of nature. Humans, who were the most intelligent of all living things, were no longer as comfortable as before. They suffered bitterly under the curtain of rain. Countless people huddled together and endured the rain. The water in the low-lying areas had already reached waist deep. The women standing in the low-lying areas looked at the rising rain and cried out in panic. Beside them, on the slope, there were men having a party in the rain. They were naked on the high ground and made a ruckus. From time to time, there would be ear-piercing screams of women and heart-wrenching cries of children.
The women in the low-lying areas wanted to leave this hell-like environment, but they were surrounded by the hills that were occupied by the men. They could only watch helplessly as their sisters were dragged up the slope and their clothes were torn off. The women in the post-apocalyptic world had long lost their chastity. As long as they could live, they did not care about moaning under the men. However, the men here were as crazy as beasts. They pressed the women under their bodies and used all sorts of methods to make the women scream and wail, as if this was the only way to drive away the fear in their hearts. Other than the women, there were also some men who had their eyes on the children. These children, regardless of gender, were like rag dolls that were being played around with by the men.
Many women with children looked in horror at the children who had been tortured to death on the high ground. The soft corpses fell into the water beside them. There were hundreds of naked corpses floating in the water. As long as they were captured, regardless of whether they were women or children, they would all become corpses without exception. The only difference was how long it would take. They were in despair. They cursed the Heavens, cursed the men, and also cursed Zhang Xiaoqiang and his superiors. Many mothers did not want their children to die so painfully, so they drowned them in the water. Then, they hugged the cold corpses and cried. They did not even have a cemetery to bury their children. Despair, chaos, madness, beastliness, the only thing that they did not have was humanity.
Just when the men regained their confidence from the bodies of the girls and children, one after another, they shouted to kill Zhang Xiaoqiang, kill the soldiers, rob the supplies, and rob the ships, the continuous and monotonous sound of the rain was torn apart by the sharp whistling from the sky. Black spots like meteorites exploded on the hillside, causing the men to stop shouting in an instant. Then, it was replaced by fear and crying. The naked men and the equally naked women under them were torn into pieces by the explosion. Countless men climbed up in panic and wanted to rush down the high ground to hide among the women below. However, the women below them hugged their legs and insisted on dragging them to death.
The men screamed and waved their fists to beat the women below them. The women endured the beating and gritted their teeth to hold on to these beasts. They did not intend to live, even if they had to drag these beasts to death with them. Just as they were waiting for the cannonball, a series of screams suddenly rang out. These panicked men all fell to the ground and wailed. There were always green and red marks on their bodies. When all the men fell, a figure flashed in front of everyone. It was the ghost troops wearing black leather jackets and holding blunt weapons. After they finished dealing with the evolved humans here, they broke through the curtain of rain and went to the next hillside.
There were more than 100,000 survivors gathered in an endless area. Even if something happened there, it was impossible for them to rush over immediately. Instead, they would get lost in the crowd. First, there were artillery fire, and then the evolved humans attacked. In a short period of time, almost every location that was targeted became hell on earth. The smoke dissipated in the rain, revealing the muddy craters and broken corpses. Many women who died with grievances floated in the water. Their empty eyes stared at the men who were crying. Their strange expressions made their pale cheeks look terrifying and eerie.
When the location of the riot was basically suppressed, the people in the other places that were not hit by the artillery started to behave. Although they had also done beastly things, they did not kill indiscriminately. They could barely maintain a little bit of humanity. In the silent waiting, even the cold rain could not extinguish their anxious and tangled emotions. It did not take long before the army finally entered. All the women and children left the marsh. Under the guidance of the soldiers, they trembled as they walked towards the new location where they were to be settled. Previously, because of the approaching mutant beasts, no one took care of them, so they became victims of the riot. Now, because the mutant beasts in the river had been suppressed, they could be relocated. Many of the women saw the soldiers in military uniforms and started to cry. This kind of crying was more miserable than the crying of despair just now, but it was more lively. The soldiers had already seen all kinds of things in the apocalypse. They were expressionless as they commanded the women to migrate. They did not have any strange emotions. Only a few of them who still had some conscience would mutter that in this chaotic world, human lives were not as important as dogs.
All the places where violent crimes were committed were under control. It did not matter whether these men had participated in the persecution of the women or not. They were all ordered to stay in the rain and kneel down. Beside them were corpses that had either been blown into pieces or had been soaked in the rain. Looking at the expressions of the naked female corpses and the broken heads of their arrogant companions, who only had half of their faces left, no one dared to say anything. Even if they believed that it was impossible to escape from Shanghai and wanted to indulge themselves at the last moment, when death really came, they realized that life was far more important than they had imagined, especially their own lives.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang has ordered that all rebels will be demoted to coolies. In order to punish you for your atrocities, every ten people will be killed. From now on, the roll call will start …"
Among the tens of thousands of people, thousands of soldiers were scattered among them. Armed with live weapons, they patrolled back and forth in the rain. Platoon and company commanders announced the latest order to countless men kneeling in the rain or in pools of blood. Voices with different accents but equally loud sounded one after another. Elite soldiers with pistols counted the heads in front of them. From one to nine, there would be a gunshot. There would never be ten people. One by one, the men were shot in the forehead and fell into the muddy water. They died with the same expression as the female corpses floating in the puddles around them. This time, no one dared to riot again. They obediently waited for the countdown of their lives. The fragmented sounds of pistols mixed with the sound of rifles were heard. One by one, the men who could not bear the torture of death wanted to get up and flee. They were either held down by their companions and switched to the next ten people, or they were shot into beehives by the soldiers who were waiting for them.
No matter how these men cried and begged, no matter how they tried to defend themselves, what awaited them was only the fireworks of the muzzles. After the execution of every ten people, thousands of people shed their blood in the massacre. The remaining men were divided into teams of thirty by the armed men. Then, under the supervision of the armed men who were assigned to watch over them, they walked towards the former cargo center …
The boundless river carried large amounts of different colored dyes downstream. More than a hundred people stood on the embankment and watched the muddy river pour down. As night approached, other than Zhang Xiaoqiang, all they could see was darkness. No one knew if these highly toxic chemicals would have any effect on the mutated beasts. These chemicals added up to a few hundred tons, even if it was diluted to a thousandth, it would still be enough to easily poison any aquatic creature. It was just that they did not know if the mutated beasts had any resistance to these poisons.
Zhang Xiaoqiang was equally apprehensive. He hoped that these things would be able to poison all the mutated beasts to death, but he also hoped that it would not cause too much damage to the estuary. After all, from now on, all the collected pesticides, poisons, chemicals, and seriously polluted water would be thrown into the river. There were even more than a hundred tons of crude oil that was prepared to be thrown into the river tomorrow morning. These things were like Pandora's box. Once they were thrown into the river, the consequences would be unpredictable.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang, do your best and leave the rest to God. We can only do this much. Whether we live or die depends on tomorrow. It's getting late. You should go back and rest. We'll stay here …"
The temporarily transferred guard company was the old subordinates of Zhang Xiaoqiang's First Regiment. They were all the elites of the elites. All of their equipment was the high-tech equipment seized from the logistics base left by the New Era in Hubei District. This company was also the most elite company in the 1st Division. The soldiers' comprehensive combat ability was even higher than the regular soldiers of the New Era. Even evolvers of the same size were no match for them. They were also the only troop that could fight at night.
"No, I'll stay here for the night. You guys connect me to the back and ask how the crossing is going …"