DPM Chapter 48 Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
When the three men had finished their meal, they rejoined the group, walking along the road.
After the break, there were a lot less people who could keep pace, and—there was now a tentative hierarchy and social order.
Communal animals can construct a new ranking system in no time.
Four more hours of marching, and hunger struck again.
Their human bodies were no more capable of handling starvation than any other species. Every action they took, they expended calories.
There was another round of food theft and eating.
In the dark, the strong became stronger, having had their fill.
And the weak, already with empty stomachs, became weaker.
The group split into two levels, taking only two days to do so.
Kind people were few and far between. Almost no one shared their food with others, because obviously food stores were finite.
Shouting and cursing would subside, only to flare up again like clockwork. Ye Fan still squatted by whatever available carcass when he ate, no one daring to disturb him.
Very early in the morning they’d eaten, waiting for a sun that refused to appear. With their limited human energy, they needed to rest.
The group had been going forward on the road. Although they were loosely organized, some of the stronger people decided to occupy the center of the road as their resting place. The debilitated were squeezed out to the periphery.
Sleeping on the cement of the highway was more comfortable than resting on the grass and dirt. Ye Fan intended to grab a piece of road for the three of them, however Wu Xingyun said: “Eating is a necessity, where we bed down isn’t. Don’t fight people over this. I know you’re stubborn and strong, but bullying people isn’t good……”
Ye Fan was reluctant to listen to Wu Xingyun’s words, being confident he had the strength to compete. But when he turned his head and looked at Wu Xingyun, Ye Fan changed his mind.
The trio went to rest in the underbrush far away from the highway.
A bonfire lit up the surrounding wilderness, and the snaking highway, with its tough, imposing sleepers disorderedly spread out upon it.
Off the road, in mounds of grass, was where the youthful and weaker slept.
And in the outermost, more dangerous periphery was the old, sick, and disabled.
Wu Xingyun and the other two were also at the periphery. The younger men had lent their blankets and coat to their elders, and the cold, nighttime air left them both sleepless.
They had made their own small fire. Luo Guo, wrapped up in a blanket and overcoat was already asleep, while Wu Xingyun, half-frozen, tightly hugged himself.
Ye Fan, sitting next to Wu Xingyun, struggled inwardly for a long time before saying: “We could hold each other while we sleep, that might be a little better. You……You don’t mind, do you?”
Slightly raising his head, Wu Xingyun examined Ye Fan’s face illumined by the campfire.
The childishness of the face had already mostly disappeared. Wu Xingyun didn’t know if it was because of Ye Fan’s mutation, yet in the firelight, Ye Fan’s facial features looked exceptionally handsome. Handsome, with the dangerous trace of death.
“Well, it’s time to have a good rest.” Wu Xingyun spoke ambiguously, and Ye Fan reflected a long while on what the soldier meant.
Still, Ye Fan moved over behind Wu Xingyun, reaching out and gently tugging Wu Xingyun by the shoulder.
When Wu Xingyun didn’t object, Ye Fan’s hand grasped firmer and pulled Wu Xingyun into his embrace.
Bowing his head, Ye Fan saw Wu Xingyun quietly nestled in his bosom, his face lit up by flames. Despite such cruel circumstances, the soldier’s eyes were still bright and his bottom line stayed unchanged.
Ye Fan’s clasp tightened a little more, his voice soft: “Lean against my chest, you won’t be cold anymore……I’ll stay alert.”
Wu Xingyun’s eyelids fluttered down. Ye Fan’s body heat passed onto Wu Xingyun, warming him as he started lightly snoring.
Looking at Wu Xingyun for a very long time, Ye Fan couldn’t sleep. To tell the truth, Ye Fan hadn’t been reconciled to forfeiting a piece of the road until just now. Countryside underbrush wasn’t a suitable place to sleep. It was damp and cold, with plenty of small bugs taking every opportunity to dig in under clothing.
Now though, watching Wu Xingyun fall asleep in his arms, Ye Fan felt his choice had been incomparably correct. Glancing around, Ye Fan noted many other people resting in the same position.
No matter if father and son, or husband and wife, people took care of their most important person, watching over the beloved in the frigid night with their own bodies, making a small piece of the world warm.
Ye Fan’s mouth curved up in a smile, rubbing his chin against Wu Xingyun’s forehead, remembering Wu Xingyun’s words: “Eating is a necessity. I know you’re strong, but bullying people isn’t good……”
The soldier was much stronger than himself, Ye Fan felt. And much kinder. Many times ready to suffer losses rather than hurt others, even in these end times……
Gradually, campfires died out, the area plunged back into darkness.
His eyesight unimpaired by the dark, Ye Fan’s perceptions remained acute, hearing strange footsteps when the final flames of the last bonfire went out.
Looking over to where the sounds were coming from, Ye Fan watched a chilling scene.
Someone who’d been resting the grass was advancing towards the road.
The man’s footsteps were very light, his face battered. He’d been one of those who’d been bullied, his food stolen.
And he wasn’t the only one creeping up on the highway. Others were coming too, seemingly spontaneously.
How Long Can a Person Survive without Food?
Alan D. Lieberson, a medical doctor, lawyer, and the author of Treatment of Pain and Suffering in the Terminally Ill and Advance Medical Directives, explains.
The duration of survival without food is greatly influenced by factors such as body weight, genetic variation, other health considerations and, most importantly, the presence or absence of dehydration.
For total starvation in healthy individuals receiving adequate hydration, reliable data on survival are hard to obtain. At the age of 74 and already slight of build, Mahatma Gandhi, the famous nonviolent campaigner for India’s independence, survived 21 days of total starvation while only allowing himself sips of water. In a 1997 article in the British Medical Journal, Michael Peel, senior medical examiner at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, cites well-documented studies reporting survivals of other hunger strikers for 28, 36, 38 and 40 days. Most other reports of long-term survival of total starvation, however, have been poorly substantiated. [Editor’s Note: Reports of the 1981 hunger strike by political prisoners against the British presence in Northeast Ireland indicate that 10 individuals died after periods of between 46 and 73 days without food.]
Unlike total starvation, near-total starvation with continued hydration has occurred frequently, both in history and in patients under medical supervision. Survival for many months to years is common in concentration camps and during famines, but the unknown caloric intake during these times makes it impossible to predict survival. What is evident is that the body can moderate metabolism to conserve energy and that individual survival varies markedly. The body’s ability to alter its metabolism is poorly understood, but it occurs at least in part through changes in t
DPM Chapter 48 Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
When the three men had finished their meal, they rejoined the group, walking along the road.
After the break, there were a lot less people who could keep pace, and—there was now a tentative hierarchy and social order.
Communal animals can construct a new ranking system in no time.
Four more hours of marching, and hunger struck again.
Their human bodies were no more capable of handling starvation than any other species. Every action they took, they expended calories.
There was another round of food theft and eating.
In the dark, the strong became stronger, having had their fill.
And the weak, already with empty stomachs, became weaker.
The group split into two levels, taking only two days to do so.
Kind people were few and far between. Almost no one shared their food with others, because obviously food stores were finite.
Shouting and cursing would subside, only to flare up again like clockwork. Ye Fan still squatted by whatever available carcass when he ate, no one daring to disturb him.
Very early in the morning they’d eaten, waiting for a sun that refused to appear. With their limited human energy, they needed to rest.
The group had been going forward on the road. Although they were loosely organized, some of the stronger people decided to occupy the center of the road as their resting place. The debilitated were squeezed out to the periphery.
Sleeping on the cement of the highway was more comfortable than resting on the grass and dirt. Ye Fan intended to grab a piece of road for the three of them, however Wu Xingyun said: “Eating is a necessity, where we bed down isn’t. Don’t fight people over this. I know you’re stubborn and strong, but bullying people isn’t good……”
Ye Fan was reluctant to listen to Wu Xingyun’s words, being confident he had the strength to compete. But when he turned his head and looked at Wu Xingyun, Ye Fan changed his mind.
The trio went to rest in the underbrush far away from the highway.
A bonfire lit up the surrounding wilderness, and the snaking highway, with its tough, imposing sleepers disorderedly spread out upon it.
Off the road, in mounds of grass, was where the youthful and weaker slept.
And in the outermost, more dangerous periphery was the old, sick, and disabled.
Wu Xingyun and the other two were also at the periphery. The younger men had lent their blankets and coat to their elders, and the cold, nighttime air left them both sleepless.
They had made their own small fire. Luo Guo, wrapped up in a blanket and overcoat was already asleep, while Wu Xingyun, half-frozen, tightly hugged himself.
Ye Fan, sitting next to Wu Xingyun, struggled inwardly for a long time before saying: “We could hold each other while we sleep, that might be a little better. You……You don’t mind, do you?”
Slightly raising his head, Wu Xingyun examined Ye Fan’s face illumined by the campfire.
The childishness of the face had already mostly disappeared. Wu Xingyun didn’t know if it was because of Ye Fan’s mutation, yet in the firelight, Ye Fan’s facial features looked exceptionally handsome. Handsome, with the dangerous trace of death.
“Well, it’s time to have a good rest.” Wu Xingyun spoke ambiguously, and Ye Fan reflected a long while on what the soldier meant.
Still, Ye Fan moved over behind Wu Xingyun, reaching out and gently tugging Wu Xingyun by the shoulder.
When Wu Xingyun didn’t object, Ye Fan’s hand grasped firmer and pulled Wu Xingyun into his embrace.
Bowing his head, Ye Fan saw Wu Xingyun quietly nestled in his bosom, his face lit up by flames. Despite such cruel circumstances, the soldier’s eyes were still bright and his bottom line stayed unchanged.
Ye Fan’s clasp tightened a little more, his voice soft: “Lean against my chest, you won’t be cold anymore……I’ll stay alert.”
Wu Xingyun’s eyelids fluttered down. Ye Fan’s body heat passed onto Wu Xingyun, warming him as he started lightly snoring.
Looking at Wu Xingyun for a very long time, Ye Fan couldn’t sleep. To tell the truth, Ye Fan hadn’t been reconciled to forfeiting a piece of the road until just now. Countryside underbrush wasn’t a suitable place to sleep. It was damp and cold, with plenty of small bugs taking every opportunity to dig in under clothing.
Now though, watching Wu Xingyun fall asleep in his arms, Ye Fan felt his choice had been incomparably correct. Glancing around, Ye Fan noted many other people resting in the same position.
No matter if father and son, or husband and wife, people took care of their most important person, watching over the beloved in the frigid night with their own bodies, making a small piece of the world warm.
Ye Fan’s mouth curved up in a smile, rubbing his chin against Wu Xingyun’s forehead, remembering Wu Xingyun’s words: “Eating is a necessity. I know you’re strong, but bullying people isn’t good……”
The soldier was much stronger than himself, Ye Fan felt. And much kinder. Many times ready to suffer losses rather than hurt others, even in these end times……
Gradually, campfires died out, the area plunged back into darkness.
His eyesight unimpaired by the dark, Ye Fan’s perceptions remained acute, hearing strange footsteps when the final flames of the last bonfire went out.
Looking over to where the sounds were coming from, Ye Fan watched a chilling scene.
Someone who’d been resting the grass was advancing towards the road.
The man’s footsteps were very light, his face battered. He’d been one of those who’d been bullied, his food stolen.
And he wasn’t the only one creeping up on the highway. Others were coming too, seemingly spontaneously.
How Long Can a Person Survive without Food?
Alan D. Lieberson, a medical doctor, lawyer, and the author of Treatment of Pain and Suffering in the Terminally Ill and Advance Medical Directives, explains.
The duration of survival without food is greatly influenced by factors such as body weight, genetic variation, other health considerations and, most importantly, the presence or absence of dehydration.
For total starvation in healthy individuals receiving adequate hydration, reliable data on survival are hard to obtain. At the age of 74 and already slight of build, Mahatma Gandhi, the famous nonviolent campaigner for India’s independence, survived 21 days of total starvation while only allowing himself sips of water. In a 1997 article in the British Medical Journal, Michael Peel, senior medical examiner at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, cites well-documented studies reporting survivals of other hunger strikers for 28, 36, 38 and 40 days. Most other reports of long-term survival of total starvation, however, have been poorly substantiated. [Editor’s Note: Reports of the 1981 hunger strike by political prisoners against the British presence in Northeast Ireland indicate that 10 individuals died after periods of between 46 and 73 days without food.]
Unlike total starvation, near-total starvation with continued hydration has occurred frequently, both in history and in patients under medical supervision. Survival for many months to years is common in concentration camps and during famines, but the unknown caloric intake during these times makes it impossible to predict survival. What is evident is that the body can moderate metabolism to conserve energy and that individual survival varies markedly. The body’s ability to alter its metabolism is poorly understood, but it occurs at least in part through changes in t
