Chapter 4: The Next
1182 Words
Noah had originally wanted to make a warning sign to alert others coming by to stay away from here, but this was completely pointless. As long as evolution continued at this rapid pace, it wouldn’t be long before it covered the entire road. Noah wasn’t even sure he could take care of himself and survive. Surviving in Moon City would be difficult for him.
Noah clenched his fist. "You’re right. I need to wake up."
"But clearly, you know more than I do. Why don’t you tell me?"
"Why? I don’t want to stay dumb in this mess. I was planning to stay here and be a doctor for the rest of my life. Why do I have to follow you when I don’t even know what’s going on?"
Kai narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a moment. "If you want, I’ll let you stay here. You’re not part of the mission I need to complete."
"You must have some reason to bring me along, otherwise, you wouldn’t have come here." The more information Noah could gather, the higher his chances of survival. Even if Kai continued pointing his gun at him, Noah was willing to take a risk.
Kai ignored Noah and simply said: "Let’s keep moving. We don’t have much time."
Noah stuffed the bougainvillea petal, which was like a thin sheet of steel, into his backpack, carefully wrapped it up, and then followed Kai closely, asking nonstop: "We can talk while walking, right? If you know anything, tell me!"
"What’s going on? Is snow falling in June? Why are all the animals and plants evolving to become so massive?"
Kai replied: "What I know, I heard on the news this morning, just like you. From what I gather, it seems that what’s happening now is caused by the meteorite that fell in Antarctica. It brought an immense amount of heat, but for some reason, that heat only affected the glaciers in Antarctica and not the virus that’s spreading all over the world."
Kai paused for a moment and continued: "As for why evolution is happening so quickly, scientists are still researching."
"What’s the nature of that meteorite? Why hasn’t its temperature dropped, even though it’s in the coldest place on Earth?" Noah kept firing off questions.
"I don’t know." Kai shook his head.
Noah pondered for a moment: "If CO2 continues to drop this quickly, it won’t be long before the entire Earth is covered in ice, just like the Ice Age!"
"I once read somewhere that the creatures that survived the Ice Age had to evolve to live in such harsh conditions, but there’s no way they could evolve this quickly!"
Kai was a little surprised. Noah was the subject of a secondary mission that Kai had no choice but to follow, someone who could be considered a burden. He never expected the other person’s intellect to be so sharp.
"The national government says this could be humanity's next Ice Age, and it will be the most terrifying one." Kai replied.
"Is it the Ice Age?" Noah asked urgently.
Kai only nodded, not responding further.
"When did you contact the government of Moon City? What else did they say? Did my aunt say anything else? She’s a biologist, she should understand this best."
"Two hours ago, while I was checking the situation around here, I received a call from your aunt, giving me orders to find you, and I found you just as that dog was about to eat you." Kai recounted.
"You were a soldier in the government army, weren't you? Why are you here right now? Is there anything else?" Noah asked suspiciously.
"I was on leave when this happened, so I was just ordered to check the situation here." Kai answered vaguely.
"Did they give you any other information?" Noah asked.
"They said that the signals from the five meteorite impact zones have been lost. Everyone in those five areas is uncontactable. The last signal they received was a distress signal."
"Is it because of the meteorites, or something else?"
"We’re not sure yet. Helicopters were sent to those areas, but they lost communication. It’s now very difficult to locate those areas. No one can enter or leave. It’s like a nation separated from the rest of humanity."
Noah shuddered: "The people inside..."
"Most of them didn’t survive. Anything that needs to grow needs food." Kai bluntly said.
Noah clenched his fist.
"Humanity right now doesn’t just have to fight against the extreme cold, but always has to be ready to become food for the stronger species." Noah said.
With the current pace of evolution, it wouldn't be long before humanity’s survival space was overtaken by the newly evolved species. Humans, once at the top of the food chain, would soon become weak, and soon, the only traces left of humanity on Earth would be the structures they built.
What was happening now was truly terrifying. Humanity had spent millions of years reaching the top of the food chain, and in less than a day since the meteorite fell, it seemed like humanity's history was about to end.
Noah asked in a trembling voice: "Can we escape from here?"
"I don’t know." Kai calmly replied.
Noah felt a deep sense of worry. He always felt that they wouldn’t make it onto the plane to leave this place. The truth was that all flights today might be delayed due to the bad weather. The weather was getting worse and worse. This wasn’t just a normal snowstorm. This was an actual blizzard.
Moreover, even if they made it to Moon City, then what? If this situation didn’t change, Moon City would eventually become a territory for the stronger species.
"I can’t imagine what I’ll turn into if I’m still standing here in a few days." Noah said, sitting down on the ground and laughing bitterly.
Kai didn’t answer this question. The truth was, no one could answer it for him.
What would become of this Earth?
No one had the answer!
"Let’s talk about something else, like your story. What did you and my aunt talk about? Is she okay?" Noah sighed and asked.
"She’s probably okay. The audio file from earlier was something she asked me to deliver to you. She just asked me to do my best to get you back to Moon City, and didn’t say much else." Kai replied.
"What division are you from? Are you a special forces soldier?" Noah was curious about Kai's true identity.
Kai didn’t respond to the question.
Noah felt a bit embarrassed and frustrated with himself: "Hey, young soldier, can't you say a few more words to others? We’re living on borrowed time now, why not take the opportunity to make friends so that when we end up in hell, we’ll have someone to talk to."
"I won’t die. If you want, feel free to!" Kai glanced at Noah and replied.
"Are you crazy? No one wants to die, but if this situation continues, I don’t think I’ll live as long as the fortune-teller said."
- Writer
