"What does 56 degrees even mean?"
The coronavirus can only survive for 30 minutes at 56 degrees Celsius.
But what about humans?
I was gasping for air, and so was he.
The small space we were in was filled with the sound of our heavy breathing.
The temperature around us was rising, and every breath felt like inhaling hot air in a sauna—thick, stifling heat pressing down on us.
56 degrees?
56 degrees!
56...
"But hasn’t India experienced 55 degrees for several years now?" I couldn't help but argue.
The number was so shocking that I doubted what Lu Zhou had heard. Maybe it was 46 degrees. Even 46 degrees would be terrifying, so how could it possibly rise to 56 degrees in such a short time?
Lu Zhou's expression was grim. "I’m asking you, do you plan to go back home, or stay in the car?"
"And what about you? Are you going home or staying in the car?" I threw the question back at him, leaning on my knees as I struggled to catch my breath.
The high temperature had thinned the air, and after climbing so many floors, I felt like I was on the verge of bursting into flames.
Lu Zhou didn’t answer. He opened a bottle of water, drank half of it, and poured the other half over his head.
His face was flushed red from the heat, and the dark circles under his eyes had disappeared.
I took out my last bottle of water from my bag, drank half of it, and poured the rest over my head as well.
The cold bottle had been sitting next to the duck, which had defrosted about 80%, providing a slight chill that helped me clear my head and forced my heat-stricken brain cells to start working again.
It was around 4:30 PM. The sun wouldn’t set for at least another hour and a half.
Without air conditioning, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors is generally 3 to 5 degrees. This means if I go back home, I could be facing temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius.
But if I go back to the car...
CRASH!
As I hesitated, I suddenly heard the sharp sound of glass shattering.
The high temperature had caused the metal window frames to warp, breaking the glass.
An even hotter wave of air rushed in immediately.
"We have to move. I'm going home; you can do what you want." Lu Zhou said anxiously, rushing up the stairs.
I didn’t think twice and followed closely behind.
The impact of the high temperatures was more severe than I imagined. As soon as we started moving, we heard the continuous sound of glass breaking. Some windows even fell out of their frames, shattering into pieces on the ground.
By the 13th floor, I was exhausted, panting like a dog, with my tongue hanging out. My legs were so stiff that I couldn’t move.
Lu Zhou turned around and grabbed me, pulling me along with him up the stairs.
Hot.
The heat felt like it had taken physical form, transforming into a fire-breathing dragon that chased us relentlessly, its scorching breath threatening to incinerate us at any moment.
14th floor.
15th floor...
It was unbearably hot. The sweat on my body evaporated the moment it hit the ground.
By the last flight of stairs, I was practically crawling, my palms burning from the hot surface of the steps, but my throat hurt too much to even scream.
"We have to get inside quickly."
Lu Zhou fumbled with his keys, unable to pull them out.
I grabbed the back of his shirt and pointed to my door.
"The password is 0726."
Ding! Welcome home.
Thankfully, the digital lock hadn’t been damaged by the heat.
We tumbled inside, greedily breathing in the last remnants of cool air.
"That’s a big freezer," I heard Lu Zhou say with delight.
Coming back home was the right decision. I had stored so much ice, and fearing a water outage, I had also stored a large amount of water in the bathroom. We should be able to survive the remaining hour and a half.
A while later, I was lying in the bathtub filled with water, with a few chickens floating around.
Lu Zhou sat on the toilet lid across from me, soaking his feet in a basin with a duck, another basin resting on his lap, his hands submerged, holding a duck to cool off.
The bathroom was filled with frozen chickens and ducks, creating a somewhat absurd scene. But it was effective—at least the temperature in the bathroom had dropped to a tolerable level.
"You’re quite resourceful, stocking your freezer with so much meat. Were you preparing for a zombie apocalypse?" Lu Zhou joked as he played with the duck in the water.
"I’d actually prefer a zombie apocalypse—at least then I could hunker down at home for a few months without worrying about being roasted alive." I replied coldly, looking out the window.
This window, perhaps because it was smaller and in the shade, hadn’t shattered yet. Outside, the city still glowed with a golden hue, creating an illusion of prosperity that felt completely unreal.
If this were a dream, I wished I could wake up.
Two hours later, the sun finally set.
The rooftops of the city lost their golden sheen as darkness gradually enveloped the land.
Another hour passed, and through the window, I could see that some floors in the buildings around us had lit candles.
It seemed that quite a few people had decided to stay put in their homes.
Lu Zhou opened the bathroom door and stepped out, taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly.
"Finally, the temperature is dropping."
He didn’t need to tell me—I could feel it too. The water in the bathtub was starting to feel cold.
I stood up from the bathtub, thinking of cleaning myself up, but as soon as my foot touched the floor, I was hit by a wave of dizziness.
Oh no!
The next second, my eyes closed on their own, and I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the ceiling fan in the living room.
I was lying on the floor in the living room, and the sky outside had a faint light.
Had I been out cold the entire night?
"You’re awake?"
Lu Zhou handed me a bottle of drink.
"I have one good news and three bad news— which one do you want to hear first?"
"The good news…"
I was startled by how hoarse my voice was, quickly taking a sip of the drink.
Lu Zhou nodded. "The good news is that you’re still alive."
"And the bad news?" I asked, taking another sip.
The drink was at room temperature but very refreshing. After drinking a bit more, I started to feel some strength returning to my body. I sat up and stretched my limbs, feeling like I had narrowly escaped death.
"The bad news is that the water supply stopped last night, the power still hasn’t come back, and there’s no signal on our phones."
No water, no electricity, no communication.
I sat there in silence.
If today was going to be as hot as yesterday, it would be even harder to survive.
"Oh, and one more piece of good news—our phones’ radio function still works. We can listen to the news until the battery runs out. I have 1% battery left." Lu Zhou said with a grin as he turned on the radio.
"Zzz... This is China National Radio, China National Radio, China National Radio. All citizens are advised to stay indoors during the day, keep hydrated, and avoid going outside. Rescue operations are ongoing. The current heatwave has affected nine provinces nationwide, with the highest temperatures expected to reach 60 degrees Celsius… Zzzz… Zzzz…"
The phone battery died, and it shut off automatically.
I stared at him, numb.
60 degrees?
That number made me feel like I was living on the Flaming Mountain.
"Got a power bank, by any chance?" Lu Zhou still had the energy to joke.
I walked into the study, opened a drawer, and pulled out two power banks. Just as I was about to hand them to him, a thought suddenly struck me.
A power bank... charging...
"Lu Zhou, come in here and give me a hand!"
I dragged a chair over and placed it under the bookshelf.
"What are you doing?"
"Take down the bottom-most package from the top shelf—the square one."
"This one? It’s a bit heavy, be careful."
Lu Zhou climbed onto the chair and pulled down the package.
"Yes, this is the one."
I was thrilled, carefully setting the box on the floor.
"What’s this?" Lu Zhou asked.
"A solar-powered home charging device!"
"What?"
"A solar-powered home charging device! I bought it a while ago but never opened it!"