章 2: Chapter2: Accidents in Shopping Mall.
Apparently, everyone was taken aback by the sudden news. Others immediately took out their phones to contact friends and ask if it was true.
Ike also pulled out his phone to check the school chat group. Sure enough, someone in the group was already discussing the news of the sudden stop of Metro Line 5, but he did not look at his phone and did not know. After browsing social media, one person even took photos of a civilian plane crash, with some exaggerating the number of people killed on board. This was all speculation, of course, because Ike hadn't heard anything so far.
"Strange, isn't this current news updated very quickly? I didn't get any news feeds," said the man next to Ike.
"The network signal is very poor. Can't be fake. No news, maybe not that dramatic. The traffic was chaotic today. Maybe it was just a car accident." There were more rational people.
Ike was more in agreement with the man. There were too many rumors on the Internet, so it's best not to speculate until you get official information.
"Let's go," Ike told Anna, nudging her. Anna listened intently, and the two took a step forward in line.
However, there were too many people in line and too many things to buy. They'd have to wait at least 20 minutes for their turn.
"Didn't you see it when you came back?" Anna asked him. "No, it was normal when I came back," Ike replied.
"That could be a rumor," Anna nodded.
Ike had just come from the subway. He hadn't seen anything unusual, so it was possible that the news was overblown, and he didn't want to add to the speculation.
"I don't know when the background music in the mall will stop, but the quiet background highlights the exaggerated discussions of these people, especially the innocent questions of the children, 'Is this a real plane?'"
Suddenly, the steel cables on the ceiling began to crackle in a dense fashion, and golden sparks fell like fireworks.
"Oh, what's the matter?!" A woman screamed in horror, and the crowd became a little flustered as they moved away from the falling sparks.
Then, there was a violent explosion, and sharp debris flew in all directions, drowned out by the panicked screams of the crowd.
The panicked crowd and screams rushed toward Ike, who quickly protected Anna.
At the same time, an unknown fleshy object flew through the ceiling and happened to land in front of Ike. Screams filled the air, more frightening than the bloody object, stimulating everyone's eardrums. Even if it was originally a normal thing, it had now become scary and unusual.
However, this object was really not normal; it was a half-cut palm with only three fingers left. It appeared as if something had brutally ripped it open down the middle. There was blood and a little charred smoke emanating from the opening, as if it had been blown up by something.
"Aaah! What's the matter?" Anna said in horror, but her eyes had been covered by Ike, so she was lucky not to see the bloody scene.
But even through the panicked screams around her, she could hear that something terrible had happened in the mall. In terror, she did not resist the hand covering her eyes at all but closed them even tighter.
On the other hand, looking around at those who had long since been scared away, Ike, instead of being afraid, stood alone about a meter away from the broken hand, examining it carefully, as if to determine what had caused it to be in such a state.
"What's the matter?" Anna asked again.
The darkness, the lack of response, and the panic around her frightened her. Fortunately, the hand on her face gave her enough courage.
"A hand is broken," Ike said maliciously.
Ike, who was not in the mood, saw Anna's frightened expression and wanted to scare her deliberately.
"Ike, you're crazy! Don't scare me!" Of course, Anna didn't believe it. How does a broken hand appear out of nowhere in a good shopping mall? It's not like being in a horror movie.
She thought something must have made a loud noise when it fell to the ground, and Ike was just scaring her.
"Why are you scaring yourself? Probably a microwave explosion blew three fingers off one of the staff here," Ike explained.
Ike had recognized the general cause of the accident from the distant exclamation.
"What's the matter?" Hearing such a calm answer, Anna's rhetorical question lost its voice, and her words were almost inaudible.
She was really scared. Did the microwave explode and cause someone's hand to be severed?
She had vaguely heard of such news, but this was the first time she had experienced it herself. After all, she had a vivid imagination. With the slightest movement of her brain, she could imagine the details of the scene that made her whole body tingle.
"All right. Let's just wrap it up and go home," Ike said as he covered her eyes and turned her around, pushing the cart toward the cash register. Because the broken hand was so close, someone had just escaped, and now Ike had no one in front of him.
The cashier was a young girl who had obviously never seen such a terrible and bloody scene. Although it was only a minor accident compared to the bloody scenes in the movies, she was also scared, and her face was pale with fear.
"Got the money," Ike said as he first threw mineral water and milk onto the register. Seeing the cashier staring in a certain direction before he could react, he rang the cashier's phone to alert her.
The cashier's eyes moistened as she spoke. She apologized to Ike and frantically began scanning the QR code. She was so flustered that she failed to scan it correctly several times, relying entirely on Ike's help.
Ike had no choice but to throw the mineral water and milk back into the cart, which left the checkout area. Anna followed cautiously, her eyes hidden behind Ike's shoulder, not daring to look around. In fact, the severed hand on the floor had been picked up by a mall worker, and a cleaning woman was cleaning up the blood on the floor. But Ike blindfolded her and pulled her in. Anna suggested buying more because she was worried that the subway would have to be shut down, that the plane crash would be real, and with such a terrible event suddenly happening at the mall, she wanted to be prepared.
For Ike, it meant buying as much food as possible, and if Anna didn't like it, she would give Ike food. Anna also gave Ike food she couldn't finish and food she didn't like.
"He's just a greedy man. What opinion can he have?" Anna thought, her trust in Ike unshaken. She even considered him her favorite brother now.
So they filled their carts with a lot of instant noodles, bread, cookies, and chocolate, which Anna liked to eat.
The time was 13:25
when Ike approached the register again. His phone in his pocket kept ringing. When he opened it, he found a private message from Nico. The text read: "Ike, there's been an accident. It was an accident. I'm not going to lie to you. Metro Line 5 was forced to stop, cars derailed, and many people died. There's a lot of talk out there right now." "American Airlines Flight AA1145 crashed, no injuries reported at this time." "There's something else I didn't tell you before. I took the amateur radio exam last year and met some amateurs. They told me that as of February of this year, all amateur radio bands have been banned." "While the government has provided a legitimate reason, the sum of these small incidents is definitely not normal in light of what happened today." "If you believe me, at least stock up on useful supplies. Food, stomach medicine, cold medicine, antibiotics, especially vitamins and water."
Ike frowned at the message. "What is amateur radio?" Ike responded to the text. He had heard of radio and could understand the general meaning of "amateur," but the specifics were unclear to him.
But Nico probably didn't check his phone, and Ike's messages went unanswered. Can Nico be trusted? Ike pondered this question. After a brief moment of doubt, he decided to trust Nico. "Forget it," he thought. "So much food and drink, even if bought and not used, can always be consumed in the end, will not be wasted. It's okay to buy some and keep them at home. Besides, today's atmosphere did strike him as a little strange."
Ike took Anna to buy more durable items, such as canned goods, compressed cookies, and bagged bread. Two shopping carts cost more than $500. "Do we buy too much?" Anna asked, suddenly shrinking her neck as she waited for the elevator.
Ike smiled at Anna and said, "Are you scared again now?"
Anna pursed her lips and made a face. The elevator arrived, and Ike wheeled both carts in, taking up most of the available space. A couple with their child also got in.
The elevator felt a bit numb, and the advertising lights inside flickered as the doors closed. Ike couldn't help but remember the microwave explosion accident in the mall and the crackling sound of the power lines.
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