Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 180 Regret
A few days later, early in the morning.

Ou Yang was already awake, but he didn't want to get up. He wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, even covering his chin, and continued to stay in bed curled up in the quilt.

I took another nap in a half-asleep state. When I couldn't lie down any longer, I got dressed reluctantly and got up.

When I opened the door, a cool, moist air hit me in the face, instantly taking away any remaining sleepiness and making me feel instantly refreshed.

In the early morning in the mountains, rays of sunlight shine through the treetops, and clouds of morning mist fill the mountains, leisurely and peaceful.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Ou Yang first stretched his limbs, then twisted his buttocks and moved his waist and hips.

Zhu Yiming, who was still lying in bed, yelled in dissatisfaction: "You didn't close the door again, are you keeping your tail between your legs?"

Ou Yang stretched out his arms: "Change the air. You've been smelling it all night. Aren't you getting sick of it?"

The space in the RV is narrow, and it is inconvenient to use water. It is okay to open the windows for ventilation during the day, but closing the doors and windows at night and covering them up all night, the smell is not sour, but it is not much better.

Once Ou Yang walked out of that door, he definitely wouldn't want to go back without getting some fresh air.

After walking a few dozen meters and solving his personal problems in the self-built dry toilet, Ou Yang returned to the stream with a relaxed look and washed his face thoroughly.

There is a toilet in the bathroom of the car. Initially, the problem was solved in the car, but the capacity of the black water tank is limited, and when it is full, you have to find a place to empty it.

Moving the RV is a big project every time, so we just built a dry toilet and only use the bathroom in the car at night.

After a while, the others finally got up. Jiang Yuwei cooked a pot of porridge, and the three of them had a simple meal of rice porridge with biscuits.

"This is a combination of Chinese and Western cultures." Ou Yang tried to find the joy in the midst of hardship and made a joke to himself.

Jiang Yuwei was a little embarrassed: "I'll try again at noon."

Ever since the three of them chose their base, she had become the chief logistics officer. Her most important job every day was to work hard for three meals a day.

There is indeed no shortage of emergency food and canned food, but it is okay to eat these things once or twice occasionally. However, eating them three times a day without interruption, today and tomorrow, is too disgusting.

For the people in the Foodie Empire, frying, stir-frying, and deep-frying are just commonplace, while steaming, stewing, and braising are commonplace, and baking, hot pot, and roasting are also commonplace.

I have been used to eating fine grains since I was a child, and I can’t stand the coarse grains of rice.

Based on the existing conditions, the three people tried their best to solve the problem of food. The first step was to steam qualified steamed buns.

But after trying several times, I still couldn’t steam qualified steamed buns, which was a big blow.

After dinner, a drone flew out of the RV, first increased its altitude and hovered for a moment, then searched outward with the RV as the center, and finally flew low to the vicinity of the highway.

After making sure there was nothing unusual around the camp, the three men took their tools and went into the woods. They soon spotted a pine tree as thick as a thigh a few hundred meters away.

"Let's take this one." Ou Yang said.

Zhu Yiming agreed, and the two of them took out their axes and started chopping down the tree one after another.

When the tree fell, Jiang Yuwei also drove the pickup truck over from the camp.

Several people worked together to saw the tree trunks into appropriate lengths and threw them into the truck bed.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and there is no hope of leaving for the time being. The three people must stock up on some supplies for the coming winter.

There is no shortage of food and clothing, the only thing you need to prepare is fuel.

Contrary to Ou Yang and Zhu Yiming's expectations, it was Jiang Yuwei, the northern girl, who was the most experienced in this regard.

"My grandparents are both in the countryside. I often went back to my hometown when I was a child. Every household there had a firewood pile more than one meter high." Jiang Yuwei was lost in memories, with a happy smile on her face, but her mood soon became depressed again.

Ou Yang knew her experience, but didn't know how to persuade her.

"You mastered this skill back then, right? Now, thousands of miles away, you're picking up that childhood skill again... Tsk tsk!" Zhu Yiming didn't even notice Jiang Yuwei was in a bad mood. He pouted as he moved the wood, "Pickup trucks are so inconvenient! The tractors back home all have hydraulic dump trucks!"

Ou Yang didn't want to talk about his hometown anymore, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "Hey, you've been tinkering with the radio these days, have you gained anything?"

Zhu Yiming's mood took a sharp turn for the worse: "I have gained something, but there is no good news."

Ou Yang twitched his lips, giving a forced smile: "Tell me, it's better to have news than to know nothing."

Zhu Yiming threw a piece of wood onto the car and took a breath while leaning against the guardrail. "The news says the epidemic area is still expanding, especially in southern Mi. More than three-quarters of Moxige's territory has been lost, with less than a quarter surviving. Further south, Weidima Lagua, Nijia Lagua, Hongdu Lasi, and other places have all been completely destroyed. Banama isn't much better off, with only the two sides of Yunhe barely holding on."

Bending over and picking up a tree trunk, Zhu Yiming continued, "Southern Mi is not much better. Half of the territory of Gelunbi has been lost, and one-third of Baxi has been designated as a restricted area... The media are collectively pessimistic, believing that it is only a matter of time before Southern Mi is completely lost."

Ou Yang sighed deeply: "Even with such a poor performance, I can see that it's only a matter of time before he falls."

"That's not the case." Zhu Yiming said, "There's also some news that's not so bad."

"Don't keep me in suspense. Just tell me."

"Isn't that tropical? The news says the weather near the equator is too hot, which is not conducive to fungal growth. After the severely infected people died, the mushrooms were dehydrated by the sun before they even emerged. So the spread there is not as fast as expected."

"What the hell? This is ridiculous, right?" Ou Yang looked incredulous. "It's only been a few days since the outbreak? The entire territory is almost completely destroyed, so how fast is the spread? Does it have to be completely wiped out for it to be considered normal?"

"That's what the news said," Zhu Yiming threw the last section of the tree trunk into the car. "There was also a news report saying that a ship carrying hundreds of women and children accidentally crossed the international blockade and was sunk. Hundreds of people fell into the water, but no one launched a rescue... They didn't say which warship opened fire, and I'm not sure if the news is true or not."

Ou Yang thought for a moment and said, "I think this is definitely not a coincidence. It's a deliberate test by some force. Otherwise, the boat couldn't be filled with only women and children."

"That's right!" Jiang Yuwei agreed. "Even if they escaped, it wouldn't be the turn of the women and children, right? All the men are dead?"

Both of them have seen the story of why disaster relief food is only distributed to women.

"What a pity." Ou Yang said only two words and then fell silent.

Sympathy?
Of course we sympathize with them, but the epidemic is different from war and other disasters. Regardless of whether the news is true or not, and regardless of whether the people on the ship are infected or not, if we let the women and children on the ship go, the consequence is likely to be the spread of the disease, which will endanger the world.

No one can afford such serious consequences. Not to mention the women and children on board, even if the ship is full of ancestors, they cannot cross the blockade even a single step.

"Also, the news said that phantom lung fungus can't survive in seawater, neither the fungus nor the spores."

Ou Yang finally smiled: "That's good news."

If spores or hyphae are not even afraid of seawater, then it is not just a matter of South and North rice. It is only a matter of time before it spreads around the world.

Zhu Yiming put away the axe and threw it on the car. "Don't talk about me. How is the town?"

"It's nothing special, there are just more and more people," said Ou Yang.

Zhu Yiming was surprised: "Are they all immune?"

"Maybe, but not many. I've seen a few incidents of unrest, probably more so during the initial outbreak." Ou Yang turned, opened the door, and got into the car. "Let's go. Several cars came by yesterday, all filled with severely infected people. I need to go see what they're up to later."

"I'll go with you... Jiang Yuwei?"

"Okay, I know." Jiang Yuwei said, "Don't stay in the car, find a safe place to hide."

The pickup truck drove back to the camp, and the three of them stacked the firewood neatly beside the truck. As the sun rose to its zenith, Ou Yang and Zhu Yiming skipped lunch, grabbed two bags of emergency food, and left the camp, rushing to an observation point hidden outside the town.

Zhu Yiming raised his binoculars and immediately saw a large group of Americans. "Wow, so many people? There weren't so many when we first stationed there, right?"

"See those trucks outside of town?"

"Saw."

"Everyone inside is infected," said Ou Yang.

Zhu Yiming put down the telescope strangely, looked at Ou Yang, then raised the telescope again and found the trucks.

They were all medium-sized vehicles that could accommodate dozens of people at most, but he didn't see any doors, windows or other means of ventilation. If they stayed in there all night, wouldn't they have suffocated to death?
Expanding the observation range, traces of fighting were still there outside the town, the bodies were all in their original places, and a foul stench filled the town.

There are still many complete vehicles in the camping area. Whether intact or damaged, they have been turned upside down by Lao Mi. As long as they can still be used, there will be Lao Mi who came from nowhere.

Even the off-road RV was no exception, with at least seven Mi cars stuffed inside.

Ou Yang and Zhu Yiming couldn't understand why. The off-road RV was small to begin with, and after the cabin was deformed, the space became even narrower. It could only fit four people, so how could so many people be squeezed in?

Looking at the town again, although there were no corpses, there was feces and garbage everywhere. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but even far outside the town, one could smell an indescribable stench.

The quality of these old Americans in this town is really not good. They have ruined Baifeng Town and turned it into a big garbage dump!
The warehouse that once stored supplies has long been emptied, and the garbage outside the warehouse has piled up like a mountain.

In other words, the weather is getting cooler, otherwise the corpses outside the town and the garbage inside the town would attract countless flies and insects.

After observing for a while, there was suddenly movement among the old Mi in the town. First, a few cars drove out of the town, followed by trucks full of zombies, and finally a large group of old Mi walking.

Ou Yang's eyes lit up, and he immediately took off the extra equipment on his body: "Let's go in and take a look!"

"Ah?" Zhu Yiming was stunned. "Is this necessary?"

Ou Yang only left behind an M249 and a Glock, and the rest of his equipment was buried under the rocks near the observation point. "They brought so many zombies with them, they must be trying to open up the road. How can we not go and take a look?"

Zhu Yiming immediately agreed.

Isn’t the reason why the three people were stranded in the wilderness because the road was cut off?

If those people in the town could build a road, Zhu Yiming would definitely kneel down and thank their ancestors for eight generations!

The two people were located in the southwest of Baifeng Town, not far from the highway. They rushed to the highway as quickly as possible and just saw the truck passing by.

He lay in the grass and waited patiently for a while, until Lao Mi passed by on foot, then he jumped out from the side of the road and followed far behind.

Soon, the two were spotted by Lao Mi in front. Several Mohegans in strange costumes slowed down and stopped the two to look them up and down: "Why haven't I seen you before?"

Ou Yang had already thought of a countermeasure: "We just arrived and saw you leaving the town, so we followed you."

"Where did it come from?"

Ouyang: "Brown Bear City."

The leader, Lao Mi, was very thin and had particularly dark circles under his eyes.

His eyes widened exaggeratedly. "Wow, I heard that place is a dead zone. Even the immune people from the 7th Bear Battalion couldn't get out after entering. How did you two get out?"

Dark Circle's attitude became visibly amiable, and the little lesson he had prepared was quietly kept in his heart.

Are you kidding me? What kind of place is Brown Bear? Who can be a tough guy who can come out of a place like that and be easy to mess with?
Ou Yang frowned secretly. Ever since he left Brown Bear City, he had not cared about the news there. Who would know what the situation of Brown Bear is now?
Although he didn't understand brown bears, he did understand fungi. Combining the information he'd gathered since leaving Brown Bear, he immediately formed a conclusion: "It's not as exaggerated as you say. It's just that the city is more troublesome. With a mask, you can get in, but you can't stay in there for too long... The Seventh Bear Battalion must have been ill-prepared. They inhaled too many spores and went crazy, which is why they didn't escape."

After a pause, he added, "If it were one of us locals, we would never make such a low-level mistake."

"Spores?" Dark Circles looked confused. "What spores?"

Seeing that his expression didn't seem fake, Ou Yang was also stunned: "You don't know?"

Dark circles became even more confused: "Should we know?"

Ou Yang and Zhu Yiming looked at each other, no way?
Shouldn't this be something everyone knows?

"What's wrong with you?" asked Dark Circles in surprise.

Ou Yang put away his astonishment and said, "The cause of the disease is a fungus. You know it's a fungus, right?"

Dark Circle shook his head, and the other Lao Mi looked confused.

Ou Yang simply spilled the beans: "Fungi are mushrooms. Mushrooms spread through spores. Even if you're immune to fungi, you'll still experience hallucinations if you inhale too many spores... You really don't know!"

Dark circles still shook his head: "I don't know!"

The other Lao Mi were the same, with very sincere expressions.

Ou Yang tried hard to recall, then lowered his voice and asked Zhu Yiming, "Has the official information been released?"

"It's public, right?" Zhu Yiming said uncertainly.

"Has it been made public?"

"Is it open?" Zhu Yiming was already losing confidence after hearing Ou Yangmo's words. "No, it's definitely open to the public. It was even on TV. Have you forgotten?"

"Baifeng Town can receive signals from outside, but the epidemic area can't." Ou Yang quickly sorted out his thoughts. "Besides, the TV only mentioned fungi, not spores!"

Thinking back carefully, the past events are still vivid in my mind.

If they had not been at the airport when the incident happened, they would not have known the origin of the fungus.

If Ou Yang hadn't been trapped in the underground research institute, his understanding of spores wouldn't be so in-depth.

If it were any other old man in Brown Bear City, he might not know as much as these two do.

Ou Yang patiently explained the relationship between fungi and spores in a simple and clear manner, and also revealed a little information about the spore cloud. Finally, he emphasized, "This is common sense. Everyone in Brown Bear City knows this. How could you not know it?"

The dark circles under his eyes showed that he had been abandoned by the whole world and he almost cried on the spot.

Ou Yang quickly changed the subject: "Ahem, we both haven't eaten for a day, is there anything to eat?"

Dark Circles immediately became alert: "No!"

He was quite eloquent, but his eyes were always fixed on the M249 in Ou Yang's hand, and all his thoughts were written on his face.

Seeing that Ou Yang didn't move, he simply stopped pretending: "I like your gun very much. Give it to me and I'll give you something to eat!"

Ou Yang almost laughed out of anger. You have a nice idea. "Sorry, it's not for sale!"

(End of this chapter)