Chapter 166 Hell monsters are not covered by accident insurance
Ordinary people don’t care what the big shots think or do. The residents who narrowly escaped from Houston only care about whether they and their families can maintain their lives.
Elman Voight is an engineer at an oil refinery in Houston. Although everyone usually calls himself an "engineer," his family knows his own business. He is just a technician slightly higher than the lowest-level workers.
Working hard to survive in the fourth largest city in the United States with a salary slightly higher than the average salary.
Like most of the middle class in America, Elman is burdened with various loans, including student loans for college, mortgage loans, car loans, credit cards...
The monthly reminder bills were like shackles that tightly bound him, making it difficult for him to breathe.
The salary will be transferred by the bank as soon as it is received. Every month it is like working for the bank.
The once passionate young man was eventually smoothed by time and life. He did not dare to contradict his boss, and his character became submissive. I work overtime and diligently without complaint, for fear that my boss will take the opportunity to fire me.
Once he loses his monthly income, Elman will be hanged by the chains of the loan.
If he cannot quickly find a job that is enough to repay his monthly loan, the bank will take back everything from him and declare his social death, and he will be reduced to a homeless man with nothing from now on.
Many times Elman feels that he is no different from the slaves in ancient times. The only improvement may be that the chain around his neck changes from visible to invisible.
"Dear, it's been three days. If I can't go back to work, I'm afraid my income this month will not be able to repay the loan." His wife Bailey was worried.
The company will never pay for the absenteeism in these days, and may even take the opportunity to lay off employees.
Bailey is also a college student. Like her husband Elman, her grades are average and she cannot get a scholarship. In order to complete her studies, she can only bear high student loans.
This is the norm among young people in America. Some people even have to spend twenty or thirty years to repay their student loans.
Although they are a dual-income family, the two of them have average incomes and live on very little every month. They don't even want children, and are forced to wait a few more years before they consider the issue of children until the pressure on loan repayment is reduced.
Texas authorities have set up multiple temporary shelter camps outside Houston. The camp in the west is the largest and has the largest number of people because Austin, the capital of Texas, is located in the northwest.
Although the area around Austin is still raging with black skeletons, at least the city has been defended and is not as unlucky as Houston.
A large number of Houston residents gathered in the camp. In order to escape for their lives, they basically carried no supplies and could only survive on relief.
“I’m going out to inquire about when I can go back.” Elman put on his coat that hadn’t been washed for several days and walked out of the large tent.
Three days have passed, but the evacuation camps outside Houston still only have temporary relief tents, and no more sturdy prefabricated houses are in sight.
Texas authorities believe that the refugees will go back soon and there is no need to waste the money.
A high wall was erected around the camp. The authorities used the excuse of "protecting the safety of citizens" to block the refuge residents from looking at the city.
The bombing did not cause much smoke. Even though the explosions were heard in the past two days, the residents who took refuge did not think much about it. After all, they thought that the army was entering the city to fight monsters, and it was normal for there to be explosions.
“Don’t worry, everyone, the city is currently undergoing final cleaning to ensure that every skeleton monster is eliminated.”
There are government officials telling lies in front of the camp gate.
“You don’t want a skeleton monster to suddenly jump out of the closet when you go back, right?”
Not long ago, the battle between the National Guard and the evil villain was played on the big screen at the refuge camp. , most citizens hate Steve and the other three. After all, the Ghost Rider's honor is too similar to the Black Skull who caused all this.
The battle lasted for a while. After venting his anger, Steve regained his consciousness and took hundreds of Houston residents who had been rescued from the soldiers' guns to use the Rainbow Bridge to temporarily escape to Asgard.
No one jumped out to get in the way. The Texas authorities immediately sent additional soldiers to wander the streets to lure the black skeletons out of the high-rise buildings.
These soldiers killed a large number of black skeletons and saw many dead people.
Of course there are many Houston residents in the city who managed to survive because they hid well.
But the fate of these survivors was not good. Some were brutally dealt with by the iron-blooded soldiers, and some were transferred to a place unknown to anyone.
In order to cover up what happened in Houston, the American "Fine Eagles" are not afraid to do anything.
The so-called "cleanup" targets not only black skeletons, but also the corpses of residents killed by shock wave bombs and those who were lucky enough to survive.
After another two days of delay, the supplies stored in advance in the refugee camp were at their lowest, and the refugees' anxiety reached its peak, so the Texas authorities had no choice but to release them. "Speed up the follow-up cleanup. Don't delay. The corpses are bagged and taken away. In such a big city and such a disaster, it is normal for there to be a few corpses."
"Those who are still alive The soldiers must be dealt with as soon as possible, and all the disobedient soldiers will be replaced and the obedient ones will be replaced."
...
When Elman and Bailey left the refuge camp, they set foot again. While walking on the streets of Houston, I was stunned by the scene in front of me.
The streets were almost completely destroyed, and the exterior walls of the high-rise buildings on both sides of the road were in ruins, like unfinished buildings with unfinished construction.
“It’s over, don’t even think about returning to work this month.” Bailey looked bitter.
"Don't worry, maybe the bank will have a grace period. After all, if such a big thing happened in Houston, it must be considered a force majeure and it was not our fault."
Elman comforted: "The government If we want to rebuild the city, the factories will definitely start working. At worst, we will go to the construction site to work.”
With anxiety, the couple trekked through the dilapidated streets and spent several hours before finally arriving not far from the city center. residential area.
After "counter-urbanization" began, wealthy people in developed countries in Europe and the United States moved to the suburbs one after another. Urban areas with serious environmental pollution were emptied out. People with a little wealth would choose to live in suburban communities and drive to work in the city.
Elman and his wife are under great loan pressure and can only buy old houses closer to the city center.
This is a traditional brick and wood structure house with two floors, with a courtyard. It is not far from the couple's company, and the commuting time is short.
Unfortunately, all that was left in front of them was a pile of ruins. The wood was all shattered by the shock wave, and one side of the masonry wall also collapsed.
"No...no!" Bailey threw herself into her husband's arms, tears streaming down her face: "This is not true!"
The hope of life is like this house, which collapsed in an instant.
"I'll go find the insurance company!" Elman reacted: "I bought house accident insurance!"
"Really?" Bailey had a glimmer of hope.
“Yes, one weekend half a year ago, an insurance agent came to sell door-to-door sales. He was so eloquent that I couldn’t hold it back and bought it.” Elman was very happy and luckily paid for it in the end. Bought insurance.
"Quick, let's find the insurance policy." Bailey was about to rush to the ruins.
"No, the insurance policy is now electronic. You can check it with your driver's license or social security certificate."
Elman took his driver's license and asked his wife to wait at home. Before the afternoon was over, Elman hurried to Go to the insurance company.
As more and more refugees return to the city, it is no surprise that insurance companies have become a gathering place for this flow of people.
Most of the refugees who have returned home immediately come to the insurance company, and the rest are just because they did not buy insurance.
“Our company understands everyone’s feelings very much, but we are sorry that the current situation does not meet the compensation standards stipulated in the insurance contract.”
At the gate of the insurance company, an insurance agent in a suit and leather suit stood behind a row of burly security personnel, explaining to his customers with regret on his face.
After hearing his explanation, the customers were furious.
"Fake Squid! Who said it doesn't meet the standards? When I bought it, I said it was accident insurance, but now it's not an accident?"
"Yes, if you dare not to compensate, we will Just bring your own gun and ask for it!”
“Don’t worry, listen to me first,” the insurance agent said loudly: “The accidents agreed in the insurance contract only include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, tsunamis, and hurricanes. , meteorite landings and other natural disasters and wars caused by humans.”
"But what we encountered this time was a monster from hell, which obviously did not meet any of the criteria."
While the customer was confused, the insurance broker quickly added.
“It was our company’s negligence not to take heaven and hell into account before. In future contract terms, we will definitely take into account all accidental factors caused by heaven, hell and aliens, and provide everyone with More professional insurance services, I hope you will continue to support our company’s products”
(End of this chapter)