Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
In the moment Jiang He fell, there was neither fear nor panic; it was not bravery but rather a brief lapse in concentration. The website updated quickly, its pages were clean and free of ads—he loved this kind of site and felt compelled to leave a good review. At that life-and-death moment, instead of thinking about self-preservation, he recalled the "9/11 incident" from many years ago.
Jiang He could feel his body plummeting rapidly. He had no idea where he would land, and the scene before him shattered into fragments as he fell. He vaguely remembered the news footage of that tragic event: planes crashing into buildings, thick black smoke billowing from the World Trade Center, followed by the thunderous collapse of the towers, claiming nearly three thousand lives in just a few minutes. At that moment, all Jiang He could think about was the image of the collapsing buildings. The United States World Trade Center stood over four hundred meters tall, while the China Zun Tower soared over five hundred meters. A taller structure would likely have a more visually impactful collapse. The World Trade Center's collapse took only six seconds; would the China Zun fall even faster? The answer was no. The reason was simple: Jiang He's fall lasted less than two seconds, meaning he did not crash to the ground and that the building had not collapsed.
Jiang He imagined such scenarios mainly due to his lack of understanding of architectural structures and other necessary factors. To put it bluntly, the explosions caused by RCA's field personnel were not powerful enough to destroy an entire building. Jiang He later realized that although they were on the 106th-floor landing at a corner, if the explosion had truly been that devastating, they would have been obliterated long before.
To cut a long story short, Jiang He was fortunate not to have fallen to his death but that did not mean he could land safely. His fall lasted less than two seconds; he felt a flash before a dark cloud enveloped him overhead. Despite several brushes with death, he had not gained many survival skills; however, compared to before, his reaction speed had indeed improved significantly. Without looking up, he knew instinctively that the collapsed staircase structure was following him down; concrete was much heavier than him. The reason it fell slower than him was likely due to the upper structure not being significantly impacted at first—perhaps it only triggered a chain reaction after he began to descend.
At that moment, Jiang He had no time to consider what was happening above him; he knew he had to act quickly or risk being crushed by debris following his fall. So when he felt something beneath him as he descended, he twisted his body forcefully and narrowly avoided being crushed by the falling steel and concrete.
He felt a rush of cool air beside him followed by a loud crash as heavy objects hit the ground, sending up clouds of dust while screams from both zombies and living people filled his ears. Jiang He perfectly embodied the saying "fools have their blessings," but unfortunately for him, "surviving great calamities brings great fortune" did not apply here; danger still loomed.
He landed relatively unscathed because his height of descent was within human tolerance limits. After hitting the ground, he paused for just a moment before regaining his senses as a cold wind blew away the dust, allowing him to see the devastation around him.
Before continuing, it's necessary to briefly mention the overall structure of the building. Like most skyscrapers, the safety passage in China Zun was located on one side of the building rather than in its center; this stairway rose high with hundreds of floors but hugged tightly against the southern side. The explosion below had destroyed two load-bearing walls with immense force—the load-bearing walls on both the 106th and 105th floors were toppled along with two flights of stairs.
Jiang He stood dazed for a moment, using a broken rebar for support as he got back on his feet. Before him was a massive gaping hole where part of the wall had been blown out; steel reinforcements jutted outward like jets while cold winds swept in, dispersing dust and awakening many who had narrowly escaped death.
Experiencing such an explosion and collapse for the first time jolted Jiang He back to reality as he looked up and saw half a staircase hanging precariously about five or six meters above him. Song Yao and Brother Feng had retreated to the 107th-floor stairwell entrance and were shouting down below; it was unclear if they had spotted Jiang He.
To his right lay the gaping hole; to his left was the interior of the building. Jiang He tilted his head slightly to glance at it and thought himself lucky—the explosion hadn't caused significant damage inside. From where he stood, he could still see structures on both the 106th and 105th floors; although there was chaos at the breach point, there were no signs of collapse in either ceiling or floor—especially on the 105th floor where even the stairwell walls showed little damage.
To his right lay the stairwell wall which had been breached; rebar twisted and broken but posed no immediate threat. The real danger came from below—within minutes of observing his surroundings, he noticed that concrete slabs beneath him had already sunk several centimeters while half a staircase nearby trembled ominously as if ready to slide down further.
Jiang He paused for thought—according to stairway structure calculations, having fallen one and a half floors meant he should be at a turn on the 105th floor's staircase where outer walls had been blown out but access downward should remain intact. The concrete slab beneath him likely rested directly atop those below; after their ceiling shattered, it probably flattened many people beneath it.
Imagining himself standing atop what could be a pool of flesh made Jiang He feel nauseous; although there seemed no immediate threat around him, staying put wasn't an option either. Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, someone called out his name—he looked up to see Song Yao approaching cautiously near where the staircase had collapsed.
"Don't come over! It's dangerous!" Jiang He shouted clearly from below as he observed them inching closer—the moment they stepped forward dust began cascading downwards indicating instability beneath them.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Seeing Jiang He unharmed brought immense relief to Song Yao who quickly halted her steps and shouted back.
"I'm fine! You all retreat! Let me assess our situation," though he said this aloud, Jiang He himself wasn't sure whether he'd sustained any injuries—his mind felt foggy and nothing seemed particularly painful at present.
Upon hearing Jiang He's response, Song Yao and her companions obediently stepped back while keeping their eyes fixed on him in case anything went wrong. Jiang He himself remained uncertain about what to do next—the two floors above stacked together blocked access downward completely; moments ago there were cries from both zombies and living people but now those sounds seemed muffled—perhaps due to debris blocking sound waves from reaching him since all Jiang He could hear now was wind whistling past his ears.
He attempted taking several steps toward where there was an opening in hopes of peering outside when suddenly fierce winds whipped through almost knocking him off balance—Jiang He felt dizzy with weak legs; without railings it became apparent how much fear heights instilled in him.
However brief as it was, that glance revealed enough: debris from blown-out walls rained down upon hordes of corpses below—a sea of crimson stark against white snow.
"Jiang He! Be careful!" Suddenly came Song Yao's urgent warning from above causing Jiang He's heart to race as he turned around only to freeze in shock.
He had been so focused on assessing damage done to stairs that he'd overlooked what lay beside him on the 105th floor—the inner load-bearing wall hadn't collapsed but merely sustained cracks from explosions earlier mentioned. In hindsight he'd neglected checking inside those cracks thoroughly after confirming they wouldn't collapse anytime soon.
To his horror upon turning back around he saw zombies squeezing through those very cracks with arms reaching out hungrily toward him—his mind buzzed with panic as wind howled through gaps drowning out any noise behind him; if not for Song Yao's timely warning he'd surely have met an untimely end.
Jiang He glanced around desperately searching for something useful among scattered concrete chunks but found nothing handy—his gun seemed lost somewhere amidst chaos while zombies continued struggling against their confinement within cracks behind them bleeding profusely from wounds inflicted by rebar protruding through their bodies yet remaining oblivious to their plight.
"Give me a knife!" Jiang He shouted upwards raising a chunk of concrete before lunging forward just as one zombie nearly freed itself—he swung down hard aiming for its head before it could escape.
With a dull thud accompanied by splattering blood its skull shattered rendering it motionless wedged within its prison—a small victory overshadowed by more zombies pushing forward behind it eager for fresh prey.
At that moment Brother Feng shouted from above tossing down an AK-47 rifle which Jiang He hurriedly caught fearing further damage might occur if dropped again while shifting position quickly due to instability beneath him before loading rounds into chamber aiming towards crack where zombies struggled desperately trying escaping confinement only for bullets fired point-blank exploding heads left right causing chaos among ranks behind them too.
Realization dawned upon Jiang He: RCA's earlier explosions had destroyed access routes leading up through 105th floor making ascent impossible for zombies yet allowing entry via shattered safety doors leading into lower levels thus drawing them towards cracks seeking fresh victims outside world beyond their reach now blocked off entirely!
Thoughts raced frantically through mind unable grasp solutions amidst turmoil surrounding them when suddenly metallic clanging echoed overhead prompting glances upward revealing Brother Feng leaping gracefully through gap landing firmly atop broken wall section without hesitation swiftly pivoting landing beside Jiang He offering reassurance amidst chaos unfolding around them!
"Damn good moves!" Relief washed over Jiang He's heart knowing help arrived just in time despite limited space restricting zombie numbers attacking simultaneously providing some semblance safety net against overwhelming odds stacked against them otherwise!
Brother Feng flashed a grin unsheathing combat knife charging towards breach without hesitation knowing well zombies couldn't escape easily thus ensuring swift execution without risking unnecessary exposure while gradually reducing numbers pressing forth until silence enveloped area once more leaving only remnants scattered across ground below!
Comment 0 Comment Count