The End of the World chapter 2

Water Outage Notice

There will be a half – day water outage tomorrow morning. The outage area covers the whole town. Please make preparations for water storage at each household.

Water Station

May 27th

People started to talk: “There’s another water outage. It’s all those city people’s fault for wasting water and dragging us down!” “I have to go home and store water again…”

At this time, people noticed that strange look on Danny’s face again, and this time it was even more obvious than before. It seemed that he was about to faint! People immediately stepped forward to support him and slowly helped him sit down. Only then did he gradually catch his breath.

One person asked him, “Danny, are you okay?” Another person said, “Danny, don’t be afraid. It’s just a half – day water outage. Do you need water? We can share the water we’ve stored with you.”

Danny stammered, “No… no, thank you. I want to go home and rest… Well, and also store some water by the way.” After saying that, he walked away without looking back.

There was a question in everyone’s mind: What on earth was wrong with this Danny?

The next day, when people saw Danny again, he had returned to normal.

Many days passed. One evening, Danny was chatting with the people under that big tree again. Suddenly, someone pointed into the distance and said, “Hey, Danny, are they your friends?” Danny looked into the distance and saw three foreigners walking towards them: a middle – aged man, a woman, and a child. Obviously, they were a family of three. These three people were carrying heavy luggage, just like Danny when he first came here.

Danny’s face changed again, but this time he could control himself. He shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know those three people. But someone heard him muttering, “Could it be that outside…” The following words were inaudible.

At this time, the water station manager came over and posted another piece of paper on the bulletin board. People immediately gathered around to read it:

Water Outage Notice

There will be a two – day water outage tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The outage area covers the whole town. Please make preparations for water storage.

Water Station

June 12th

Danny looked at the bulletin board and then at the new – comer family. An extremely painful look appeared on his face. Suddenly, he turned around and ran like crazy towards his home. The ferocious expression on his face scared many people.

People looked at Danny and then at the three new – comers in the distance. Besides being confused, they also felt a bit scared. Everyone realized that something was wrong. Had something big happened outside that they didn’t know about?

That night, people heard “bang – bang” and “crack – crack” sounds outside. They guessed that it was the three uninvited guests arranging things in their new house, so they didn’t pay any attention.

Early the next morning, people came to Danny’s house. They found that he had closed all the doors and windows, and no one answered when they called his name. Afraid that something might happen, they broke the door open in a few tries and rushed into Danny’s house together.

What presented in front of them was a strange scene: In the middle of Danny’s living room, there was a big square hole, like a large pool. Looking down, it was at least ten meters deep! And Danny was standing by the pool, turning on the faucet and using a soft water pipe to fill the pool with water. His hands were shaking constantly. It turned out that the noise last night came from Danny’s house. He must have hired at least thirty workers to dig such a large pool overnight.

When Danny saw everyone, a look of helplessness and relief appeared on his face. Before anyone could speak, Danny said, “Since you’ve all seen it, I have to tell you everything – actually, there is no more water in the outside world.”

“Is there no more water on Earth?” People couldn’t believe their ears.

Danny continued, “I’m an exploration scientist. Your town is the only place on Earth that still has water now. It was very hard for me to find this place. I thought it would be very safe here, but there have been two water outages in a row, and the outage time is getting longer and longer. I can’t see any hope either.”

People seemed to understand something. One person angrily asked, “Then why didn’t you tell us earlier!”

Danny held his head in his hands, looking very guilty, and said, “I was afraid that if I told you, the news would spread, and countless people would come here from the outside to grab the water… Although I tried my best to keep it a secret, three people still came yesterday. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Another person asked, “Why do we still have water here?”

Danny said, “I don’t know why either. Maybe it’s because you know how to cherish water, so God has given you an extra blessing.”

As he said that, Danny took out a laptop from the drawer, typed on it for a while, and then turned the screen towards the people. On the screen, there were several big lines of words:

Water Outage Notice

Due to the unreasonable use of water resources by humans, there is a serious shortage of water resources. Starting from tomorrow, there will be a 12 – month water outage. The outage area covers the whole world. Please make preparations for the end.

God

On the Eve of the End of the World