The busy work from early morning to noon made Shen Manling feel a little tired, and she still made no substantial progress in analyzing the pressurized water samples collected from Suolong Well. She walked out of the laboratory, ready to wash her hands and go to have lunch. When she turned on the faucet, the water in the tap was slightly warm.
While I was curious, there was a burst of noise outside. Listening carefully, apart from the noisy human voices and the sound of diesel generators, something seemed to be missing, but I couldn't place it for the moment.
When Shen Manling came to the door, she was surprised to find that the dark clouds that had been pressing down on the city for days were dissipating, the sky was gradually getting brighter, and there was not a drop of rain in the sky. The chest-high floods from the previous day had disappeared in the courtyard and at the intersection outside. .Only a layer of brownish-yellow mud stains were left on the walls, trees and light poles, and there was only a layer of mud covered with a water film on the ground.
"The rain finally stopped." Shen Manling said casually to her colleagues next to her.
"Yeah, I just discovered it too. I heard from other colleagues that the rain had lightened up in the morning, and the water had receded to what it is now in the morning. It is estimated that the sun will come out soon," the colleague said excitedly.
"By the way, have you seen Professor Zhou come back?" Shen Manling asked.
"No, it seems that none of the people who went to Xishan this morning have come back yet." My colleague replied.
Shen Manling snorted and complained in her heart:
"This old Zhou must have followed them to the Western Mountains!"
A breeze blows, but there is a warmth in the autumn wind that should be refreshing and pleasant. After the breeze passes, the hot feeling that only occurs in early summer has not faded away. The whole person feels like drinking hot soup by the stove. Shen Manling He took off his coat, turned around and walked into the hall, and happened to meet Liu Mengzhu running towards him with a radio in his hand and a panic look on his face.
"Teacher Shen, Teacher Zhou is looking for you."
Shen Manling saw Liu Mengzhu out of breath and knew that things might not be simple. She took the radio and subconsciously took a few steps into the corridor:
"Lao Zhou, what's the matter?"
"Manling, please... listen to me carefully. The detailed situation has been reported to the combat command center. I'll make a long story short... a car will be coming to pick you up soon... you guys, just bring the radio. ..Keep in touch...Don't worry about anything else...Leave the city from the west immediately...I'm rushing back to pick you up..."
The high and low roar of car engines could be heard from the radio, and the call quality was very poor and intermittent. Zhou Cheng's serious tone made Shen Manling clearly realize that the situation must be very bad.
At this moment, the air-raid siren sounded. The sound was not as shocking as before, but it was still shrill. The two walked quickly to the door. It was the soldiers on the top of the building who sounded the alarm with hand cranks. At this time , everyone at the door looked at the intersection outside the compound in amazement.
Shen Manling followed their gaze and saw that at the intersection covered by silt, in several underground wells whose covers had been lost in the flood, columns of khaki mud appeared on the ground like mushrooms. Then There was also a stench that made people want to spit out.
What’s even more strange is that the temperature in Jinghua City in early autumn is not too low, but these mudflows are filled with white gas, just like hot water poured from a kettle. Several old-fashioned minibuses are driving with splashes of mud. Entering the police station compound, the car just drifted to a stop in the slippery mud when the leading soldier got out of the car and shouted:
"Hurry up and get on the bus! Don't delay! Experts who haven't gotten on the bus, don't worry, there are more cars coming to pick you up."
Shen Manling picked up Liu Mengzhu and walked towards the car.
"Teacher Shen, don't you bring your material backpack and technical information?" Liu Mengzhu asked in panic.
"No, we must leave immediately!" Shen Manling said firmly.
The several cars were quickly filled with people, and the cars bumped violently along the way, swaying left and right like a boat in the rapids. This was not only because the road was covered with a layer of slippery mud, but also because The car has to constantly avoid the mudflow coming from the sewer on the road.
Occasionally, you can see military vehicles covered in splashing mud passing by quickly on the road. Soldiers leaning half out of the roof of the vehicle are shaking the alarm in one hand and holding a loudspeaker in the other hand to ask everyone to evacuate the city immediately. On both sides of the street There was already a line of trotting teams, and most of them didn't even bring helmets, weapons or backpacks.
"Why are you so anxious to evacuate suddenly?" someone in the car asked.
Without waiting for the sergeant who was driving to answer, the car tilted violently to the left while decelerating. A pillar of mud sprayed out from the right side of the car, covering the window glass in front of Shen Manling with mud. Frightened, she Touching the mud-washed glass with your hand, a warm feeling came from your fingertips.
Shen Manling was wondering how the groundwater could be warm. People who had just recovered from the bumps were amazed again. Liu Mengzhu, who was sitting next to him, pointed to the roadside and shouted:
"Teacher Shen, where are you looking?"
Shen Manling looked in the direction of her finger, and among the plants on the isolation belt that had been covered in mud by the flood mud, white air was spewing out from the subway's vent blinds.
The plants that had been washed away by the white gas looked withered and yellow, as if they had been baked. And the hiking team that wanted to pass around the vent also ran in a large circle to pass.
The area around the subway exit not far ahead was already shrouded in white mist, and the underground exit was emitting white gas like a lying chimney.
"This looks like water vapor, but how can there be water vapor underground?" Liu Mengzhu said anxiously.
"Bang!" A sound of pulling out the cork of a red wine bottle interrupted Shen Manling's thoughts. The fire hydrant at the intersection ahead was thrown into the air by an inexplicable force. Accompanied by a scream like a pressure cooker safety valve, a stream of water flowed out. It soars into the sky. When it disperses from the sky, white mist rises. From a distance, it looks like an oak tree covered with snowflakes.
Just when the people in the car were stunned by the sudden situation, a more terrifying scene appeared in front of them. Around the water column obscured by the rising mist, dozens of people who happened to be passing by were caught in the falling water. Run out as hard as you can.
People who were further away from the water column ran away, jumping, shouting and pulling on their clothes, as if a piece of hot coal had fallen into their collars.
Those who were closer to the water column were enveloped in the steaming water before they had time to leave the splashing range of the jet. They fell to the ground as if they were deflated before they even took two steps, and they rolled on the muddy ground. Mud covered their bodies. They scratched their hands and kicked their feet twitching, their faces twisted and they let out heart-rending screams.
Several people tried to rush over to rescue them, but they were forced back by the scalding heat before they could get close. The water sprayed from the fire hydrant gap was still rising, and the rising white mist developed into a huge mushroom.
And the people around them could only run in all directions.
"People who are standing, squat down and hold on tight, we have to get out of here quickly!" The driver's sergeant's roar brought everyone back from this shocking and terrifying scene.