"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
Murphy, who had already dropped out of school, came out of her room and went straight to the kitchen to find her grandfather Donald, who was making lunch.
"Some unfamiliar men have come in. Should we tell Dad?"
Murphy nervously grasped his grandfather's hand.
Donald suddenly remembered something; strangers rarely visited their place. He immediately stopped what he was doing, patted his granddaughter, and said, "Go upstairs and hide. Tell your father on the radio that I'll deal with those people."
Murphy ran up the stairs.
Donald had no time to waste. He went to the armory on the first floor, quickly opened it with a key, and pulled out a shotgun.
Click!
The bullet is chambered.
Donald went behind the door, crouched down behind the wall beside it, and pointed the dark muzzle of his gun at an angle towards the door.
At this moment, his movements were nimble and his expression was calm. He did not look like a man born at the turn of the century and nearly seventy years old. Instead, he looked like a seasoned veteran.
Although many worthless starving people are usually driven out of the living areas and left to die in the desert, nothing is absolute and there are bound to be some who escape.
Some starving people who escaped capture often roamed the farms and city sewers. One day, you might suddenly find them eating a large patch of raw corn, lying on the ground fast asleep, or even being ambushed by starving people in the cornfield.
In addition, various forms of looting by starving people were commonplace.
Donald has dealt with these people nearly ten times in the past twenty years, and he's become incredibly adept at it.
Tap tap...
Footsteps gradually sounded outside the door, and it wasn't just one person.
Donald's breathing quickened, his face flushed, and his hand slowly reached for the doorknob; he intended to strike first.
The footsteps grew closer until Donald was certain they were standing outside the door.
call!
The old man, holding a long gun in one hand, forcefully pulled the door open, then quickly gripped the gun with both hands, pointed the muzzle at the figure outside, and roared loudly: w.
"Get out of here! You robbers!"
"You're welcome here with only.41 caliber bullets!"
Bang!
Jody raised her hands and fell backward...
The local sheriff who was leading Jody around was stunned.
" Donald! What are you doing!?"
Put the gun down immediately!!!
Half a minute later, Jody, covered in cold sweat, was helped up from the ground by the sheriff.
Donald didn't fire; he was just startled and fell to the ground, which hurt quite a bit.
Jody secretly rubbed her buttocks, feeling she had learned something new.
The sheriff chimed in, "Mr. Jody, you're very lucky."
Luckily you're white.
Otherwise, judging from Donald's wary stance just now, he definitely would have opened fire immediately...
Donald invited Jody and the others into the house to sit down, apologizing to Jody while explaining that his behavior was a normal reaction on the farm.
Because farms were very isolated in that era, and to prevent theft of grain and damage to crops, the area was patrolled day and night; strangers couldn't enter without someone they knew.
Jody wasn't sure if this was normal. He had always lived in the base and didn't know much about the outside world, but judging from the sheriff's demeanor, Donald's words probably weren't far off.
In short, let's get this done as quickly as possible.
"Where's Cooper? We're here to see him."
Murphy went downstairs again and looked at the men in black suits, looking like elites. "Dad is still in the fields, but he's back now."
Just now, her father received the message she sent via the car radio.
They're definitely heading back now.
The group sat for a while longer. Donald tried to find out more about Jody and the others' identities, but to no avail.
For ordinary people, even the existence of NASA is a secret and cannot be told to others casually, let alone the fact that their mission this time is very special.
The silence inside the house didn't last long before the sound of a car rushing outside. Jody guessed that Cooper was returning, so she quickly got up and walked towards the door to greet him.
Then...
The next second, he skillfully raised his hands.
Cooper even came in carrying a spray bottle!
And it wasn't just him; his son Tom was with him too, and those two guys each had a shotgun!
The moment I stepped inside, two gun barrels were already pointed at me!
"Calm down!"
" Cooper, I'm Donald, they're not bad."
Don't be nervous!
"Dad!"
The calls from their family brought the two men, one big and one small, back to their senses, and they slowly put their guns down.
"Who are you people?" Cooper asked warily, looking at the men in suits in front of him.
Jody breathed a sigh of relief. What a mess this is!
Why have I been held at gunpoint the whole time I came here today...?
I was your former colleague.
"Colleague?" Cooper looked Jody up and down. "I don't know you, or any of you."
So it can only be 'sort of'. Can we find a quiet place to talk?
Cooper hesitated for a moment, then pointed to his car parked outside. "Let's go there."
Jody nodded, telling the others to wait for him inside, while he and Cooper went to the car alone to discuss the matter.
The two sat down in the driver's seat and the passenger seat, one on each side.
"What's the matter? I've been retired for a long time." Cooper glanced at Jody out of the corner of his eye; the man in the suit did indeed have the air of someone who worked at NASA.
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Jody, and I'm currently the head of NASA."
" Cooper is a farmer now."
After a brief introduction, Jody got down to business:
" Cooper, I'm sure you've already guessed we're here... We have a new project now, are you still willing to fight for the future?"
"To become an astronaut again?"
"Yes, we are currently facing a severe shortage of astronauts."
Cooper pursed his lips and remained silent. Jody's words reminded him of his past, and he truly missed his time as an astronaut.
However, things are different now than before.
Cooper shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jody, but I'm fighting for my family now. Without me, they might starve."
After saying that, Cooper prepared to get out of the car, ending the conversation.
But Jody, sitting in the passenger seat, said just one sentence that made him stop opening the car door:
"For decades, we have been searching for a way to save all of humanity, and we have found it."
Looking at Cooper, who was frozen in place, Jody continued, "If our plan succeeds, your family, my family, everyone else's families, everyone on Earth will be saved."
"How about it?"
Would you be interested in listening to this?