sinovels 1 day
1 day
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of faith, it was the epoch of doubt; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness ; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we were all heading straight for heaven, and we were all heading straight for hell." - A Tale of Two Cities
A black-painted off-road vehicle is running on the straight highway, the dry and scorching desert breath blowing from a distance will cover the car windows with a yellowish layer, the thick-diameter exhaust port is roaring, and the road is surrounded by boundless landscapes. The endless sand sea, green cactus and sea buckthorn float in it.There is no air-conditioning in the car, and the windows covered with light-transmitting and dust-proof screens are half-opened, and wind and sand can still leak in. The Beatles' "AllyouneedisLove" wanders in the car like a soft curtain, and the three people in the back seat are in a daze. Sleeping, Alfred in the driver's seat sucked the Coke can, and Matthew Williams in the passenger seat closed the book on his lap and looked out the window. On the cover of the book was a handwritten title—" A Tale of Two Cities".
"Is that book good?" Alfred glanced at Matthew's "A Tale of Two Cities", showing lack of interest and looking for trouble.It's really boring. If you travel through such a deserted area for a week, a month or even a year, anyone will become talkative. Matthew retracted his gaze and looked straight into the eyes of his twin brother Alfred : "It's a good book, but you probably won't like it. It's a story from a very distant past."
Alfred shrugged: "You're right, I'm more interested in aliens than the heavy past."
"It's been so boring recently, let's have fun when we get to the next destination. There are two boxes of Coke in the trunk...huh?" Matthew's eyes flashed red, and he looked back to the window, suddenly Matthew couldn't help being a little surprised when he found a red car roof floating in front of the empty road, "That's..."
Alfred stepped on the accelerator without hesitation and chased the hot red sports car in front of him. The distance between the two cars narrowed, and the other party seemed to notice Matthew and the others, and gradually slowed down, so Matthew could clearly see the body of the sports car. Spraying cartoon words "TheRocketParade", Alfred just rolled down the car window, and the co-pilot on the opposite side waved to him enthusiastically: "Ciao! We are going to the San Francisco area, how about you? If possible, let's go together!" "
Alfred shouted: "We are Sacramento, drop by!"
The red sports car cheered, and Matthew took a closer look over there. The co-pilot was a young boy in a flowered shirt, who had been talking to Alfred enthusiastically. The driver was tall, and Matthew could vaguely see that he had blond hair. There is one person.Matthew took Alfred's arm: "Alfred, do you want to tell everyone first..."
The three people in the back seat woke up belatedly, and Francis, who was by the window, rolled down the window and said energetically: "What's wrong? Let me see. It's okay, just like us." He also waved to the other side .Matthew breathed a sigh of relief, and Arthur next to Francis took off his blindfold, folded his legs and straightened his bangs: "Generally, there are no normal people who dare to come out to form such an independent small team—what time is it?"
Alfred tapped the electronic watch: "It's half past 15." He turned to talk to the red sports car, "My name is Alfred, this is my brother Matthew, this is 'fool'scarnival', how about you?"
"I'm Feliciano, and this is Luther—Ludwig, our lighter. The one behind is Honda Ju, he's Japanese. This is 'Rocket Parade', 'Fool's Carnival' Hello!" Feliciano, who was wearing a flowered shirt, hooked Ludwig's neck carelessly, and Ludwig struggled: "Hey steering wheel..." The Japanese named "Honda" rolled down the window and said cautiously. Said "Hello".
"Hello." Matthew smiled. The young Russian Ivan in the back seat carried three cans of Coke from the trunk and handed them to the front row. Alfred gave them to Feliciano and the others. Matthew hurriedly Steady the steering wheel that was let go by Alfred.Ivan stared intently at the opposite side through a crack in the window, and Feliciano continued to introduce himself: "We are from the Los Angeles area, are you going home or exploring?"
"We are all from the Chicago area. We want to go to the west to see the sea, and to find a gathering area in Seattle." "Wow, I also want to go to the beach, Luther Luther, let's go to the beach together..." "Stop making trouble, we don't have any Extra food..." "Mr. Ferry, Mr. Ludwig is right..."
In any case, where the convoy goes is their own choice. There is no so-called country and society in the world, especially for them unusual.The gas stations and small restaurants on the side of the road are basically deserted. Fortunately, there is a road ahead to get off the highway and enter the town. If you take a detour, you might be able to see the bay.Sure enough, an hour later, the desert disappeared behind the convoy, and a new landscape unfolded in front of the road, motels, small bars and macadamia trees popped up, but the asphalt road also became broken and uneven. Alfred was knocked half to death, and Alfred said tremblingly: "I... hate... this... this... road..." Matthew held the door handle pitifully like a sailor about to be thrown off the deck, Everyone feels unwell in some way.Years of earthquakes have destroyed many roads, and they will feel more obstructed and threatened by the ruins when they enter the city.
"Wow - I saw the beach! Hey everyone, let's go over there and have a look!" Feliciano poked out his upper body from the roof of the sports car and waved his hands childishly, unaffected by the bumps.Alfred's eyes lit up when he heard this, he stepped on the accelerator, and he turned his head and announced unquestionably: "Very good, now we're going to the beach! Let's go..."
Arthur put his palm on Alfred's face: "Hey, you idiot, who made you decide on your own? Wait, look at the front, the front, the front—fuck!" Arthur fell headfirst on the gear lever.
Alfred couldn't be prouder, because of his negligence, the wheel accidentally bumped into a raised road surface, slid directly to the side of the road, and broke down.A carload of people was hit to pieces, and he also pissed Arthur off.Alfred got out of the car and wiped his red and swollen forehead: "Today, today's weather is really nice..." Arthur and Francis dragged him aside and cursed.Matthew squatted on the side of the road with a stomachache: "What should we do? We only have this car, and it's far away from the nearest gathering place. Ah, Alf, this stupid..."
Ivan didn't seem to be injured at all because of his strong body. He tried to straighten the car but failed, so he had to squat with Matthew to hide from the sun. He said leisurely: "Let him be responsible for this, use his best Let's see if luck can bring us a turning point. I dreamed about the scene of the car accident at noon today, but I didn't expect that it was really us who had the accident."
"I hope so." Matthew said worriedly.Ivan thought, if they can't find a new way out within today, let Arthur read Alfred's idiot high school personal report in public - public execution. The "Rocket Big" people also got out of the car, and Feliciano persuaded him friendly: "Don't worry, there will always be a solution! I used to overturn our car often, ahem, but it will be fine Get up, because, we have everyone! How about we start walking to the beach now, everyone?"
Just as Alfred was about to raise his hands in agreement, he was immediately suppressed by Arthur: "Shut up first!"
"Yes, yes, since it's a beach, there should be shops and the like." Ludwig from "Rocket Parade" stood beside Feliciano and nodded. He was wearing a blue overalls with sleeves Rolled to the elbows, the hair combed meticulously, the whole figure is tall, with a resolute face, and looks very capable, compared with the shorter Feliciano, who is sloppy.The Japanese, Honda Ju, in a blue and white sailor suit, holds a fist and puts it on his chest. He has a pair of big black eyes under his flat, messy bangs: "Come on, everyone, and I will help you too." our."
Arthur sighed: "Thank you very much." After thinking about it, he felt a little uncomfortable, so he went back and gave Alfred another shudder.Francis blinked at Feliciano: "After all, this is the way of the world, we all have to help each other."
"Ah, are you too..." Feliciano was taken aback, "Can you tell me how you know?"
"Secret. Remember "Three Iron Laws." Francis put his index finger to his mouth.Feliciano nodded vigorously: "Well, I finally added friends and I will cherish you very much!"
"Three Iron Laws of Aliens", three rules that all formal graduates of schools where aliens gather must abide by.While Matthew was thinking this way, he put on his peaked cap and put his bag on his back. Alfred threw him a piece of bubble gum, and he blew out a pink bubble depressingly.If there are people, there will be social interaction, and if there is social interaction, there will be rules. In order to achieve maximum security and peace, our teachers will teach everyone to stick to the bottom line.Today's people are grasshoppers on a rope, and no one dares to move. For the survivors of the world, this is a terrible era, but for most aliens, this is the supreme gold era.
Matthew doesn't like this statement, because the idea itself separates Inhumans and Homo sapiens into two species, and the term "Inhumans" is also very annoying, as if they are viruses separated from the Homo sapiens population Or monsters.He lives like a normal person, and that's the most important thing.
"Ah, do you have any maps? We only have state maps." Ludwig, who had already packed his bags, asked.Francis put Alfred on the shoulder: "This is our living map, just let him lead the way."
Alfred pointed in a random direction: "Just go this way."
Although Alfred's sense of direction is questionable, Matthew has absolute confidence in his good luck, especially when he looks at Matthew and shouts "Leave it to me" as always, his whole blue eyes Shining like the sparkling sea.For young people, fun is everywhere. Even if eight people walked for an hour in the ruins of the suburbs under the sun, they have long forgotten the hardships, and the sound of relaxed conversation is endless, so everyone almost understands it. each other's situation.
17-year-old Feliciano is an Italian immigrant who grew up in Los Angeles. At the same time, he is a close friend with Ludwig, a native of Germanic descent. They survived together after "Judgment Day" They got down and rescued the Japanese Honda Ju who was traveling alone in the United States. Honda had been looking for a plane for two years to return to China. To help Honda, they set up the "Rocket Parade". Roaming across the country.
Hearing Honda Chrysanthemum's story, Matthew suddenly felt bad: "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay. It's my good fortune to survive that terrible disaster. I really appreciate everyone helping me." Honda Ju shook his head, "By the way, you and this Mr. Alfred are Brother? You really look alike."
"We are twins, and I am often mistaken." Matthew was talking, and Alfred suddenly intervened: "What is the similarity between me and Matthew? Why do I admit my mistake?"
Although the face is exactly the same, but the temperament is completely different, and they can be distinguished immediately after a closer look.Honda paused and did not answer, Matthew patted Alfred on the shoulder: "Don't ask others like that, it will trouble them." Alfred shrugged.Matthew then introduced: "The five of us are all from Chicago. Me, Alfred, Arthur, and Fran have known each other since we were children. We used to live in the same apartment. Ivan met in 'school', and then we Formed a team together."
"Speaking of the convoy, why do you call it 'Follows' Carnival'? We called it 'Rocket Parade' because we wanted to take a rocket to the universe. Isn't it interesting?" Feliciano said happily.Arthur closed his eyes and said, "With these idiots in the car, it's like a carnival every day."
Everyone froze for a moment, and then Francis joked seriously: "You can't pretend that you didn't hear this, even if we are all stupid. You with thick eyebrows must be the stupidest one. No.2 is Alf."
"What? I'm actually second!" "That's not the point, are you stupid?!" Matthew raised his forehead: Sure enough, they quarreled again, no different from when they were young.
"Haha! It's so fun!" Feliciano also became fussy, and was mercilessly captured by Ludwig.Ludwig and Matthew looked at each other and saw that they were in the same boat. At this moment, Ivan, who was holding up the binoculars, suddenly said: "There is a beach ahead, and we will be there in about 10 minutes."
The crowd who were still arguing just now immediately cheered, and Alfred rushed forward in an instant, shouting: "No. 1 is me!"
"Stop—" Arthur followed closely behind.Francis started to run unhurriedly: "Brother, go first!"
"And me and me!" Finally, Feliciano followed like a wild horse.Ivan put on his sun hat and took good sun protection measures for his whole body: "It's true that they don't stop all day long, but it's their advantage that they are alive and kicking." Ludwig stuck his waist: "That guy, it's obvious that he walks all the time. I'm so tired, I'm running backwards very fast now, and I still have time to run away."
"But somehow, I feel very happy." Matthew smiled, "We haven't met new friends for a long time."
"In fact, so did we. Three months from Los Angeles, detours in various towns and even villages, and we didn't see a single person. The world is really getting worse."
Matthew said: "That's normal. Except for the settlements, no one else dares to live alone, and the caravan has only sprung up in the last year. It has been eleven months since we started traveling, and you are the ones we met The first alien team, the others are large teams of ordinary people who were forced to emigrate, we had to avoid suspicion."
"Forced to emigrate?" Honda Ju asked.Matthew answered: "If the population of a settlement exceeds the limit, it is necessary to select suitable people to move to open up a new settlement, just like the colonial behavior of the ancient Athens city-state, to preserve the population to the maximum extent. In fact, we just want to People who have moved to a new settlement, but the journey is far away, even if we take a longer detour and spend more time, no one will condemn us, anyway, we are an independent team.”
"I see. You know a lot of things." Honda Ju commented seriously, but Matthew suddenly blushed: "No, I just read a lot of books when I was young."
"Let's end the serious topic here. You see, we have picked up the treasure again." Ivan interrupted the conversation between Matthew and Honda Ju, pointing to the small forest in front of him.When Matthew looked at it, the sparse woods showed the color of the beach, and the tops of the trees covered the red house spiers. The four of them walked through the woods, and the salty sea breeze blew by. They saw a sparkling ocean, dotted with a horizontal line. On the small island, a group of people on the white sandy beach were dancing towards them. Matthew's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help shouting in unison with Alfred who was not far away: "It's a seaside resort——!"
In front of the eyes of the eight people, the sandy beach continued to extend to the horizon, with the clear sea on the left and rows of all-villa on the right!Matthew really wanted to hug Alfred and kiss him, he was indeed his lucky brother!
Matthew took off his shoes and ran over on the broken shells. Alfred and the others were gathered in front of the house number of the first villa. Mr. Edward Florence, but the end has come, my friends, and please feel free to use these ruined properties if you need them.Love them, keep them clean, new travelers are coming, here are the keys (return when used up) - a thick black arrow pointing to a large number of keys hanging on a nail, they are also carefully numbered, here is 001 Number.
"What a kind person." Honda Ju sighed.Alfred took the key and went to open the door, shouting: "Surprise——! Ahem..."
The door opened, and a choking dust rushed towards him. Alfred coughed up his nose and tears, and Matthew thought: I know this is the case... These villas have been lost for too long, and they have to go through a process before they can be used again. clean.But that's not a big deal, the eight people in the room are all so motivated that they decide to pack up the house before sunset, and then have a beach party with a bonfire!
The first floor of this villa has a living room, dining room, tea room and kitchen, the second floor has bedrooms, bathrooms and study rooms, and the third floor has balconies, warehouses and a swimming pool.Alfred found a large amount of canned meat and dehydrated vegetables from the cabinet, which should have been collected by the owner during the disaster. Arthur took out the cup and teapot from the tea room, and Francis piled the paper towels on the coffee table in the living room. On the morning, Ivan went to the bathroom to search for towels and other things, Feliciano ran around on the second floor, Ludwig dragged out the diesel generator from the warehouse, Honda Ju prepared a pair of slippers for everyone, Ma Xiu opened all the windows to let the fresh air wake up the long-sleeping building.
Two hours later, the sun had completely set, and the sea returned to the silence of night, rising and falling in a soothing and rhythmic way.On the cold beach, young people who took off their coats gathered around an oil drum. Alfred held a torch, and they shouted together: "Three, two, one!" The bonfire was lit, and the light instantly illuminated the place A piece of sand!The young people cheered, clapped their hands, and ran to play their long-awaited games to reward themselves after months of hard work. The barbecue grill was also set up with canned meat on it. Honda Ju summoned Lu Dewei With a sigh, he went over to touch the coals of the grill, and the docile flames immediately covered the entire coal seam, causing everyone to whistle.
"Hmph, Arthur, brother, I haven't forgotten the Contra game I lost to you five years ago. Today's volleyball game is my revenge!" Francis held the volleyball in front of the beach volleyball net and slammed it fiercely. He shot out and was caught by Arthur.Not to be outdone, Arthur hit back with a smash: "Let the horse come!"
Alfred and Feliciano, who looked blank, stood on the other side of the net, and shouted unceremoniously: "Arthur Francis, are you idiots?! You are teammates just now!"
"Who is this guy's teammate?!" "I don't want to hang out with someone like you!..." The two quarreled again.Ivan looked at them with a smile, while he sat beside him and quietly piled up sand, which had already formed the outline of a castle. Ludwig and Honda looked at the grill without complaint.
Matthew put on his swimming trunks and swam into the sea alone.The icy sea water slid over his head, cheeks and body, he naturally stretched the muscles of his whole body, finally stopped the swing of his limbs, turned his face to the sky, floated on the water like a leaf, and kept drifting away.Ah, sure enough, after the fall of the city stars of human beings, the real starry sky returns. On a cloudless night like this, the stars are not shy about revealing their brilliance. Those lights from tens of thousands or even hundreds of millions of years ago , Did not arrive at the small blue planet Earth until today, and it is reflected in Matthew's small blue-purple eyes.Matthew is lying in the ocean, there are shadows of stars in the ocean, and Matthew is like lying in the Milky Way.Such a pleasant night, such a familiar childhood fantasy, it is almost impossible to resist drifting somewhere forever.
However, someone on the shore was calling for Matthew, it was Alfred.Matthew knew that he had swum a little far, and that he would be in danger if he didn't go back. He stretched his limbs and swam to a place with light. As soon as he landed, Alfred threw him a towel: "Matthew, go and change it quickly." Clothes, let's drink some wine!"
"Ah, drink..." Matthew, who was soaked in the fire, was a little confused, "Oh, drink, so what day is it today?"
"You are frozen stupid, what does it matter what day of the week it is?"
"Today should be Sunday," Arthur reminded.Matthew nodded and wrapped up the towel: "I see, wait for me." He walked back to villa No. 001, went into the bathroom and washed his face with fresh sea water treated in the kettle, and stood in front of the mirror.His bag was nearby, from which he took out his notepad and pen, and wrote on it:
On X, X, X, we met the "Rocket Parade" team, Feliciano was the boy in the floral shirt, Ludwig was the tall German, and Honda Ju was the Japanese .I, they're looking for a plane back to Honda's hometown.They are from Los Angeles.Together we found this seaside resort and Alf wrecked our car. ——M·W
Matthew patted his face and pulled a smile to make his face less ugly.He said to himself in the mirror: "Tonight should be a good night, come on."