149: Where are my teammates?

Zhu Wende answered naturally, "It's pork."

"The official store recently stocked many types of fresh meat. Unfortunately, the prices are too high, so I just bought the cheapest pork to satisfy my cravings."

Knowing that the official store sold fresh meat, Xu Qianyao didn't think much of it and shared the remaining piece of meat in his bowl with the team member beside him.

"Eat up and recover; you guys worked hard today."

"If only Xiao Er were here, he loved eating meat the most..."

Thinking of the team member who had died, Xu Qianyao hurriedly lowered his head to eat his noodles, his tears falling into the bowl.

The other three team members also sank into sorrow.

As the atmosphere turned heavy, Zhu Wende spoke up to comfort them.

"The dead are gone, but the living must carry on. We need to look forward."

"Brother Zhu is right. We don't know how many people outside are waiting for us to rescue them. Our priority is to conserve our energy and wait for the sandstorm to pass."

Xu Qianyao and his team members pulled themselves together again.

After finishing the meal, Zhu Wende brought over some bedding. "My house only has one bedroom, and my sick elderly mother lives there. It's not convenient for outsiders to enter, so you'll have to sleep on the floor in the living room tonight."

"It's fine, sorry for the trouble," Xu Qianyao replied, taking the bedding and laying it out on the floor with his team members.

Jiang Fei did not rest. She sat on the sofa, calling Lu Yu on the walkie-talkie every hour.

There was still no response.

No one from the Patrol Team replied either.

Aside from waiting, Jiang Fei didn't know what else to do, so she stayed up until dawn.

The sound of the wind outside had clearly diminished.

Jiang Fei went to the observation port of the north window in the living room to look outside.

The dust situation was much better than yesterday, with visibility at about 100 meters.

The sky presented a strange reddish-orange color.

The air was murky, filled with yellow sand and dust, as well as plastic bags, small stones, and tree branches whipped up by the wind.

The ground was covered in a thick layer of sand and soil. Half an arm, a lower leg, and a sphere suspected to be a human head were visible; there was no telling how many corpses were buried.

Xu Qianyao borrowed the walkie-talkie from Jiang Fei to contact the Rescue Team Headquarters.

"This is Rescue Team Captain Xu Qianyao. I want to know the current situation outside and if it's possible to travel."

After a few calls, a woman's raspy voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Captain, it's Yin Jing. There are too many injured people. The team members have gone out to rescue them; I'm the only one left at the headquarters."

"The severe sandstorm has now downgraded to Blowing Sand, with wind speeds at level 6. It's possible to travel. Where are you? I'll come pick you up."

Xu Qianyao: "No need to come over. We'll join the rescue efforts directly."

Returning the walkie-talkie to Jiang Fei, Xu Qianyao asked Zhu Wende, "Can I borrow a pair of scissors from your house?"

"I want to cut some clothes to make a few masks."

"Why cut clothes? I have sand protection supplies."

Zhu Wende took out five transparent plastic face shields and five disposable masks from a storage cabinet in the living room.

"I work in auto repair and often do sanding and spray painting. I have plenty of dust and toxin protection gear. Take them and use them; don't worry about returning them."

"Thank you, Brother Zhu. You've helped us so much." Xu Qianyao took the items and distributed them to Jiang Fei and the team members.

The shields weren't full-coverage, but they could protect the eyes.

Combined with the masks, they would serve to protect against the sand and dust.

After saying goodbye to Zhu Wende, Jiang Fei and the others left his home.

Since there was no unit door and the hallway windows were shattered, a lot of sand had accumulated in the stairwell.

The 49°C temperature had caused the temperature of the sand and dust to rise.

Jiang Fei was wearing long pants and sneakers, so she didn't feel much.

The team members, wearing large shorts and flip-flops, felt as if they were being roasted when they stepped into the sand.

"So hot!"

One team member was burned so badly he ran to stand on a high step; the skin on his feet and ankles turned visibly red.

"Wait here for me. I'll go find a nearby team member to borrow some shoes."

After saying that, Jiang Fei quickly went downstairs.

The dust outside was deeper than in the stairwell, reaching nearly an adult's calves.

Jiang Fei trudged through the sand and found an empty corner to take out an off-road vehicle.

In this environment covered in sand, only an off-road vehicle could be driven.

Then, she took out four pairs of high-top boots, five thin scarves, and five medical protective masks.

Medical ones were better than ordinary ones; they could completely block out floating dust and inhalable particulates in the air.

First, she changed her own mask and wrapped the scarf around her ears and neck before returning to the stairwell.

"Put these on. I need to find my friends and check on their safety."

Xu Qianyao nodded and changed shoes with his team members.

Jiang Fei left the unit building and drove away in the off-road vehicle.

The Rescue Team was already performing rescues.

Even though the Safety Shelter had secured many dangerous items that could easily be blown away by the wind, they couldn't take care of everything.

In particular, some residents had not followed the official arrangements to collect wooden boards to board up their windows.

Almost every residential building had shattered windows.

In homes with floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire pane of glass was gone, and sofas were half-exposed at the window, teetering precariously.

Cries of despair and coughing could be heard everywhere.

"My child! My child is missing! Please help me find them! *Cough cough cough*!"

"Hubby... how am I supposed to live without you?! I should have listened to you and boarded the windows! I was wrong!"

"*Cough cough*, it's you, you stupid woman, who killed my son! I'm going to kill you!"

And on the road...

Some survivors had their legs pinned by overturned cars, screaming in pain for help.

Some had their heads crushed by color steel tiles blown by the gale, with only their bodies left exposed.

Jiang Fei even saw a corpse hanging outside the third floor of a residential building.

A steel bar had pierced through the corpse's chest and into the room through the window.

Having still not received a reply from Lu Yu on the walkie-talkie, Jiang Fei went to the nearest West Street.

The shops had mostly boarded their windows and were in better shape than the residential areas, though their doors were damaged and sand had entered.

Aside from the loss of goods, there weren't too many casualties.

Ping An Supermarket had its doors and windows tightly shut, with appropriate iron plates installed outside the main door, escaping the brunt of the sandstorm.

But the branch store's door was gone.

Jiang Fei got out of the car and walked in.

The shelves, water tanks, large freezers, and checkout counters on the first floor were all knocked over.

Goods were scattered messily all over the floor, covered by sand.

Jiang Zhengkang and the other two had put on goggles and masks and were crying as they cleaned up the sand on the floor.

Jiang Xiaoshi was the first to notice Jiang Fei at the door: "Dad Jiang, Brother Han Yang, Big Sister is here!"

Han Yang fell to his knees before Jiang Fei, his eyes bloodshot. "Boss, just kill me!"

"It was my mistake. I was a step too slow and didn't move the iron plates to board up the door, letting the branch store be destroyed by the sandstorm."

Jiang Zhengkang spoke the truth: "Fei Fei, I am also at fault for this."

"Yesterday, when we noticed the wind picking up, we immediately went to seal the door of Ping An Supermarket first, then ran back to seal the branch store."

"Because the iron plates were too heavy for one person to move, it took two of us."

"By the time Han Yang and I ran back to the branch store, it was already too late. The wind was so strong we couldn't close the door, so we hid on the second floor and sealed the door there."

"If you want us to compensate you or kick us out, that's fine..." Jiang Zhengkang nervously clutched Jiang Xiaoshi's hand.

Jiang Fei told Han Yang to get up. "You all did your best to protect the store. None of us expected the sandstorm to arrive early."

"The people from the Rescue Team said that yesterday's sandstorm was classified as severe. You're very Lucky to have survived."

"Seal the main door. Don't worry about cleaning up the things here for now; we'll deal with it later. Go stay in Unit 2, Room 203 of the Mingshang Apartment Complex."

Jiang Fei gave the key to Room 203 to Jiang Zhengkang. "Has Lu Yu been here?"

"No, we haven't seen him."

Hearing this, a flash of disappointment crossed Jiang Fei's eyes, and she drove to the Patrol Brigade.

Lu Yu was not in the dormitory.

Jiang Fei found his roommate to inquire.

Upon learning that Lu Yu had gone out yesterday morning and had not yet returned, Jiang Fei's mood became increasingly anxious.

Where exactly are my teammates...

Just as Jiang Fei was planning to search along Lu Yu's patrol route, the walkie-talkie in her hand crackled.

"I am a member of the Patrol Team! Who is closest to Fengming Road?! Come quickly for rescue!"

"A Comrade is pinned under a car here! We need people to help lift the vehicle!"

The team member standing next to Jiang Fei said urgently, "That's the voice of Third Brother from our dorm! He should be with Lu Yu!"