Chapter 29 Ashes

All night the shock of the storm was felt in the great house.Over the past three days, the sun's unusual exposure has caused strong sea breezes to blow across the Atlantic Ocean.When I was sleeping, I could still feel the shaking in the wind.Half asleep and half awake, I would be startled by a sudden gust of wind and sit up in bed.I slept very restlessly, and I had nightmares again and again, and the howling wind seemed to linger in my dreams.At dawn, I put on my clothes and went downstairs to find Carol.Lawton.At this time, the windows were still crackling by the wind. The house has been without power for several days.The window at the end of the corridor let in some sparse light from the rainy day, and the hallway on the second floor looked a little dim in the faint halo.Walking down the oak staircase to the hall downstairs, two bay windows with glass on three sides fluttered in the wind, and the light coming in from the windows was like pale roses.Carol was winding the antique metal clock in the living room.

I asked her: Is Diane okay? Carol glanced at me and said: Still the same.Then she turned to wind the clock with the brass key.I just came out of her room, Tyler, I was taking care of her. I know.How is Jason? I've helped him get dressed.He's better during the day, and I don't know why.At night he was sad.He suffered a lot last night. I'm going to see both of them.I didn't bother to ask her if she had heard anything, if she had heard of any new regulations from FEMA or the White House.It's probably useless to ask her, Carol only lives in the world of big houses.You should go to sleep.

I am sixty-eight years old and I don't sleep as much as I used to.But, you're right, I'm a bit tired and I need to go to bed and lie down.I'll go to bed when I set the clock.Without winding the clock, the clock slows down.do you know?Once upon a time after your mother passed away, Mary would wind up this clock every time she came to clean.But Mary stopped coming six months ago.For the past six months the clocks had stood at four-fifteen.I remember a joke about being on time twice a day. You start by telling me how Jason is doing.I was so tired last night, I just heard Carol briefly talk about Jason's condition.A week before the time spin disappeared, Jason came running back without warning.The night the stars reappeared, he began to get sick.His symptoms came in fits and starts, with numbness in parts of his body, loss of vision and fever.Carol had called a doctor, but with the current chaotic situation, it was impossible for a doctor to come.So Carol had to help him check it out herself.However, she couldn't diagnose what was wrong with Jason, and there was nothing she could do except make him comfortable.

She was terrified that he would die.However, no matter how much she worried, no one in the outside world would know about it.Jason told her not to worry.He said: "Everything will be back to normal soon. She took his word for it.She said that she was not afraid of the red sun during the day, but she was afraid of the night coming.For Jason, the night was nothing short of a nightmare. ☆ I ran to see Diane first. Carol let her sleep in an upstairs room.It was the room where Diane used to sleep, but it had been used as a guest room since she left the house.I found her to be stable enough to breathe on her own, but that wasn't reassuring.This is just part of the pathological nature of cardiovascular depletion, like the ebb and flow of the tide.However, with each attack of symptoms, her resistance and strength became weaker.

I kissed her dry, hot forehead and told her to rest.However, she can't seem to hear me. Then I ran to see Jason.There is a question I must ask him carefully. Carol said that Jason had returned to the big house because of a conflict at the foundation.She didn't quite remember what he said, but it seemed to have something to do with Jason's dad, and it involved the dead black man, the little wrinkled black man, the Martian.She said Edward was playing tricks again. The Martian.It was the Martian who gave Jason the life-extending medicine, allowing Jason to transform into the fourth year.Those medicines were supposed to cure him of some disease and save his life, but now, that disease was killing him.

☆ I knocked on the door of his room and walked in.he is awake.He lives in his old room, the room he lived in thirty years ago.When he was still living there, we were young, living in a small world that belonged to children.Back then, the sky was full of stars.There was a wall in the room that once hung a poster of the solar system. Now that the wall chart is gone, the small rectangular area on the wall seems to be a little brighter than the side.The carpet in the room, on the same rainy day, we knocked over Coca-Cola, dropped bread crumbs all over the floor, made it dirty, and later asked someone to clean it and bleach it with water.

Now, Jason is back in this room again. He said: "It sounded like Taylor. He was lying on the bed, fully dressed.Kahlo said that Jason insisted on grooming himself every morning.He was wearing clean khaki pants and a blue cotton shirt.He propped up his back with pillows, and he looked very conscious.I said: Xiaojie, the room is full of darkness. You can turn the blinds open. I opened the blinds, but the room wasn't much brighter, just a little more of an eerie amber sky.Let me check it for you, okay? Of course good. He wasn't looking at me.Or it should be said that his face was facing the empty wall, but his eyes didn't seem to be watching.

Carol said your eyes couldn't see well. There is a term in your medicine called the psychological defense mechanism of denial, and Carol is having this problem right now.In fact, I've gone blind.Since yesterday morning, my eyes can't see anything. I sat on the edge of the bed next to him.He tried to turn his head towards me, smoothly but painfully slowly.I took out a small pen-shaped flashlight from my shirt pocket and shone it on his right eye to see how the pupil reacted. Pupils are unresponsive. The situation is more serious. His pupils will flash.His pupils sparkled like tiny diamonds set in them.

Jason must have felt me ​​jerk back. He asked me: Is it that bad? I am speechless. His face became more gloomy.He said: Taylor, help, I can't look myself in the eye.You must tell me what you saw. This Jason, I don't know what that is.That's not what I'm diagnosing. Please, describe it briefly. I managed to sound like a doctor.It looks like some kind of crystal has grown in your eye.The sclera of the eyeball appeared normal, and the iris did not appear to be infected.But your pupils have been completely obscured by what looks like mica.I've never heard anything like it.This should be medically impossible and there is no way I can treat it.

I stood up, found a chair and sat down.For a long time, there was no sound in the room, only the ticking of the clock beside the bed could be heard.That was another of Carol's curios. Later, Jason took a few deep breaths and forced a reassuring smile on his face.Thank you, you're right, that's not something you have the means to heal.However, during this period, uh, in the next few days, I still need your help.Carol wanted to help, but she couldn't figure it out. I don't understand either. The rain outside the window is getting heavier.It's not exactly medical that I need your help with.

if you could explain this I can at most explain part of it. Then just tell me, Xiaojie, I'm a little scared by you. He lowered his head, as if he was listening to something.I didn't hear any sound, or couldn't hear that sound.I thought to myself, did he lose his mind and forget that I am still here.Then he finally said: Simply put, my nervous system has been replaced by something.That stuff is out of my control.My eyes showed nothing but an outward sign. Do you have a disease? No, but that's an effect. Is this condition contagious? exactly the opposite.I believe this is unique.Only I have this disease, at least on our planet. So, it has to do with life-extending medical treatments. You can say that.But I No, Xiaojie, you have to make this clear first, and then go on.No matter what your problem is, is your current condition a direct result of the injection I gave you last time? Not directly caused, no it's definitely not your fault.That's what you're worried about. Now I don't care whose fault it is.Didn't Carol tell you that Diane was sick? Carol said she seemed to have a cold Carol wasn't telling the truth.That's not a cold, that's the end stage of cardiovascular exhaustion.I drove more than 3,000 kilometers, passing through countless places that seemed to be the end of the world.why?Because she is going to die, Xiaojie, there is only one way I can think of to save him.However, after hearing what you said just now, I began to feel uneasy. He was shaking his head again.Maybe it was an involuntary movement, as if he wanted to focus himself. I was about to ask more questions, but he said: Mars life technology still hides many secrets, and Wan Nuowen didn't tell you, Edward once suspected it.In fact, his suspicions were quite well founded.For thousands of years, Martians have developed very sophisticated cutting-edge biotechnology.The fourth year, which Van Novin tells you about, is a product of hundreds of years ago, a life-extending process and a social norm.Since then, however, the technology has continued to improve.In Wan Noven's generation, the fourth year is more like a platform, a biological control system.It is capable of attaching more complex programs.So, not only the fourth year period, but also the 4.1 period, 4.2 period, do you understand? Then I will give you medicine The injection you gave me was a traditional treatment drug, the standard fourth year. but? But then I append again. Is the medicine you added also brought by Wan Novin from Mars? Yes, what it does is Needless to say the function first.Can you be 100% sure that your current condition is not caused by the initial drug treatment? One hundred percent sure. I stand up. I walked to the door.Xiaojie heard it.He said: I will tell you later, and I still need your help.Taylor, do everything you can to save her, I hope she can live.However, I must tell you that my time is running out. ☆ I went to my mom's house and went to the basement to remove the broken piece of wall.The box containing the Martian medicine is still where it was, and no one has touched it.I ran across the lawn with the box and went back to the big house.On the lawn, the amber sky was pouring rain. Carol is in Diane's room.She was holding on to the mask as Diane breathed oxygen. I said: Unless you have a way to conjure another oxygen tank, otherwise, we have to save some. Her lips were a little blue. Let me see. Carol stepped aside.I close the valve on the oxygen tank and remove the mask.Care must be taken with oxygen.Oxygen is essential when a patient is struggling to breathe, but it can also cause trouble.Excess oxygen can cause the alveoli to rupture.My concern is that if Diane's symptoms continue to worsen, we will have to increase the amount of oxygen used to maintain the oxygen levels in her blood.Balanced supplemental oxygen therapy requires the use of respirators.The problem is, we don't have respirators. We don't even have any medical equipment to measure her blood gases.Her lip color looked pretty normal when I took the oxygen mask off, though.However, her breathing was shallow and rapid.Although her eyes were open, she appeared drowsy and unresponsive. I opened the dusty box and took out a bottle of Martian medicine and a syringe.At this moment, Carol looked at me suspiciously.what is that? Maybe that was the only thing that saved her. Yeah?Taylor, are you sure? I nod. She said: You didn't understand.I mean, are you 100 percent sure?That's the medicine you gave Jason last time, right?The last time he had atypical MS. I don't need to deny it.I said: yes. Maybe I haven't seen a doctor for more than thirty years, but it's not like I don't know anything.Since the last time you were here, I've done a little research on atypical MS myself.I checked the abstracts of some medical journals.Interestingly, there is no cure for that disease, no magic cure.Even if there is, I don't believe that drug can be used to treat cardiovascular weakness.So, Tyler, I'm guessing that the medicine you're going to give Diane right now probably has something to do with the wrinkled guy, the guy who died in Florida. Carol, I don't want to explain anything.Obviously you've already figured it out. I don't want you to explain anything to me, I just want you to reassure me.I want you to tell me that what this drug did to Jason didn't happen to Diane. I said: no.However, I think Carol knew I was holding back something.What I didn't say was: as far as I know. She looked at my expression.You still care about her. Yes. Carol said: "The indomitable nature of love never fails to amaze me." I stuck the needle into Diane's vein. ☆ At noon, the house was not only hot, but also terribly humid, as if moss was about to grow on the roof and hang down.I sat next to Diane to see if the injection I had just given would immediately cause me to vomit.Suddenly, I heard someone knocking on the door of the house, knocking continuously.I thought to myself, could it be a thief or a robber.When I went down to the foyer, Carol had opened the door, saying thank you to a fat man.He nodded and left. Carol closed the door and told me: That's Emile.hardy.Do you remember the Hardy family?Their family has an old house from the colonial period, on the other side of Jishan Road.He is publishing a small newspaper himself. newspaper? He held up the two sheets of paper that were stapled together and showed me.The paper is about the same size as regular letter paper.Emile's family has a generator in the garage.He would listen to the radio at night and take notes, then print summaries to send to neighbors.This is the second one he sent.He is a very kind person, but I don't know what is the use of looking at these things. May I take a look at it? Take it if you want to see it. I took the newspaper upstairs. Emil, a reporter who plays tricks, runs a newspaper in a decent way.The newspapers mainly wrote about the crisis in Washington and Virginia. For example, there was a list of areas announced by the government that were prohibited from passing, as well as fire evacuation areas.In addition, the government is already rushing to repair water and electricity public facilities.I browsed briefly.There are several news items below the newspaper that caught my attention. The first news is that the recently detected solar radiation values ​​​​from the ground are high, but not as strong as expected.The news reads: Scientists in official institutions are quite confused.But also cautiously optimistic.They believe that human beings should have a chance to continue to survive for a long time.No sources were cited in the news, so it may just be a fabrication by some current affairs commentator to prevent further panic.However, from my own experience, the New Sunshine, odd as it is, doesn't feel instantly fatal. Yet the newspapers say nothing about the sun's effect on farmland, the climate, or entire ecosystems.The unrelenting heat and torrential rain felt out of the ordinary. There is also a piece of news at the bottom, the headline is: Silver arcs appear in the sky around the world. That's what Simon pointed out to me when we were in Arizona, the silver wire shaped like a C or an O.It can be seen everywhere from Anchorage in the far north to Mexico City in the south.There are also some sporadic reports from Asia and Europe, the main content is the local emergency crisis, but there is also a little mention of the Silver Line incident.Emil.Hardy also added a postscript at the end of the news: The receiving situation of TV news is up and down, but a similar phenomenon can be seen in the pictures transmitted from India, on a larger scale.Not sure what that means. ☆ When I went to Diane's room with her, she woke up suddenly. She said: Taylor. I hold her hand.Her hands were dry, warm, and somewhat unusual. She said: "I'm so sorry. Nothing to be ashamed of. I feel very embarrassed when you see me like this. You will be fine.It may take a little while, but you'll be fine. Her voice was very soft, like falling leaves.She looked around the room and suddenly recognized where she was.She opened her eyes wide and said: I'm home. You are home. Call me by my name again. I said: Diane, Diane, Diane. ☆ Although Diane was very ill, it was Jason who was really on the brink of death.That's what he said himself when I went to see him. Carol told me that he hadn't eaten anything today.Xiaojie drank some ice water through a straw, but refused to drink anything else.He could barely move his body.I asked him to raise his hand, and he tried his best to raise his hand, but his movements were very slow.Later, I had to press his hand back.All he had left was to speak clearly, but he was already mentally prepared that he might not even be able to speak at that time.He said: If tonight is like last night, I'm afraid I won't be able to speak clearly from night to dawn.As for what will happen tomorrow, who knows?I have something to say quickly while I can speak now. Can you tell me why your condition is so serious at night? The reason is simple, I'll tell you later.Now, I want you to do one thing for me first.My suitcase is in the closet.Did you see it? see. Open the suitcase.There's a tape recorder inside, help me find it. I found a boxy, shiny silver thing about the size of a pack of cards.Next to the tape recorder was a stack of brown paper bags with names I didn't recognize.I said: is this it?As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I cursed myself secretly: Pig head, how could he see it. If there is a trademark of Sony brand on it, it is right.There should also be a box of blank memory cards underneath. Yes, I see it. Okay, let's record before it gets dark.Maybe I can say a little more after dark.No matter what happens, don't turn off the tape recorder when it's on.When the memory card is full, replace it with a new one, and when it is dead, replace it with a new battery.Do me this favor, will you? As long as there is no emergency on Diane's side, I will stay here.when are you going to start He turned his head.The pupils of his eyes looked like fine diamonds, shining with a strange light. "It's best to start now," he said.