Chapter 32.2: Cockroaches (7)
The first to respond were the teachers and students hiding in the school.
The school had been one of the places hit hardest by the cockroach disaster. When the swarms had stormed the cafeteria and attacked the students, most were defenseless, and many teachers and students had been bitten to death. Yet a small group had managed to escape in the chaos, slipping into the cafeteria’s cold storage room. The freezing temperatures had nearly numbed them, but that cold had also lowered their body heat enough to protect them from the cockroaches’ attacks—they had survived until now.
One by one, other fortunate survivors were drawn out by the broadcast, running from their hiding spots—up in the trees, into the ornamental lake, out of closets, even out of trash bins. Though they emerged battered and messy, some bearing horrific burns and bite marks, the fact that they were still alive already made them far luckier than the many victims scattered everywhere.
The survivors heeded the call and came outside. The adults quickly organized themselves, shepherding students in groups onto several intact vehicles, driving them out of the school and away from the town—further was better.
Those who remained behind looked over the blood and debris-strewn streets, teeth gritting in determination, and instinctively raised their weapons.
This was Lemot, a town built on the desert. Life here had always demanded resilience: enduring blistering heat, persistent drought, and frequent sandstorms, constantly battling the harsh environment. These people were never timid cowards. Every one of them carried the indomitable spirit of desert-born blood. And those fallen to the ground weren’t unlucky strangers—they were students, colleagues, neighbors, friends.
The school’s broadcast reached not only the campus but the surrounding area as well.
Even those who had remained hidden in their homes finally emerged.
People began to scatter, coordinating instinctively. Those less physically capable carried messages, spreading the broadcast word from street to alley; those with first-aid knowledge carried medical kits, going house to house to treat the wounded; the rest divided up the work. Housewives rolled up their sleeves, using brooms and mops to sweep the hidden cockroaches into piles. Young and strong adults armed themselves with alcohol, gasoline, sharp knives, and awls. Some even got in vehicles, crushing mountains of cockroaches beneath their wheels…