After the bath, it was already completely dark out. Yan Bubu wrapped himself in the fleece blanket Feng Chen tossed over and fumbled his way to the bus like a little blind person.
With a soft click, the bus lit up its surroundings.
“Ha!” Yan Bubu looked at the homemade gas lamp in Feng Chen’s hand with both surprise and excitement. “You’re so cool, Young Master! How are you so good at everything?”
He just saw Feng Chen fiddling with that little iron box. He never thought it would turn into a lamp.
Feng Chen hung the gas lamp on the armrest of the driver’s seat and made a rare joke, “Because I recited the magic spell. Awu…benggaya.”
Yan Bubu laughed. “No, no. It’s Awubengga Adawuxiya.”
Feng Chen fished out a new pair of pants and T-shirt out of his backpack and tossed them to Yan Bubu. “Put these on.”
Yan Bubu slowly put on his clothes and plopped down on the seat. He watched Feng Chen continue to do other things and chattered nonstop.
“Young Master, when will Master and Mistress come to pick us up?”
“Soon.”
“How soon is soon?”
“Soon.”
Gradually, Yan Bubu’s voice trailed off, replaced with the sound of even breathing.
Seeing he was asleep, Feng Chen put down his tools and took his own clothes out of the backpack. He went around to the back of the bus to bathe.
This April night was perfectly temperate, but Feng Chen didn’t feel this was a good sign. A spark of worry crossed his mind.
He hoped that his father would send someone to pick him and Yan Bubu up soon.
The thought that something bad had happened to his parents never crossed his mind. Their safety was never in question for him. Or rather, he refused to think too much about it, not allowing himself to doubt.
After his bath, he washed the clothes they changed out of and hung them out to dry on the front of the little car nearby before going back to the bus to sleep.
When he stepped into that endless snowfield again, Feng Chen didn’t feel even a trace of panic. He understood that he had fallen asleep and was in a dream again.
That large cocoon was still in the distance, quietly standing amidst the wind and snow. It felt as familiar as ever.
When he got closer, he found that the black shadow inside the large cocoon had become a little clearer, no longer a chaotic mess. Through the egg-like shell, he could faintly make out the head and torso of the black shadow.
He put his hand on the shell, feeling it beat with his heart in unison.
Ba-dum, ba-dum.
It was like a summons, or a warm greeting just for him.
In the following days, the two ate the entire crab and began rummaging through the ruins for food again.
Those residential neighbourhoods have long been looted clean, so they chose places that were easily overlooked. For example, office buildings that hadn’t completely collapsed yet or the remaining half an arcade. They could always find some instant ramen or snacks like potato chips to sate their hunger.
However, the temperature rising day by day had spoiled much of the food. The corpses buried under the rubble also began to rot, filling the air with the lingering stench of decay at all times.
More and more people couldn’t take it anymore and chose to go to the settlement set up by the Western Union Army. When Feng Chen and Yan Bubu went to that well from before to get water, there was barely anyone in line. Only two or three people remained. When they went to the streets to look for food, they barely ran into anyone else.
The Western Union Army’s hovercrafts traveled through the streets, their loudspeakers repeating: “…Have your IDs ready. After your identity is verified, you will be allowed entry into the underground settlement.”
On the way back from fetching water today, Yan Bubu put down the half full basin and used his hands to shade his eyes as he looked up at the sky.
The sun was nowhere to be seen, but it was still too bright and painful to look up. A silvery white plane approached.
The small military aircraft poured large swathes of white powder down onto the debris.
Seeing that the powder was about to reach them, Feng Chen dragged Yan Bubu under the eaves of a house and covered his mouth and nose. He barked, “Close your eyes.”
The plane whistled by. The two of them reopened their eyes after a moment.
White powder still drifted above the city on the wind, like a light snowfall. There was an irritating smell in the air.
“Cough, cough. What is this?” Yan Bubu kept shedding tears. His nose was rubbed red.
Feng Chen’s eyes were also red. He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. “It’s a disinfectant powder for epidemic prevention. Stop talking and cover your mouth.”
The water they just got had a layer of white dust on it, so they had to go back for a fresh batch. Luckily, this well used a pump so the water wasn’t contaminated.
In the afternoon, the temperature steeply increased. Feng Chen looked at his smartwatch. The temperature had spiked ten degrees in just an hour.
The bus trapped heat like an oven. Yan Bubu had stripped down to just his pants, but he still kept shouting it was too hot. His mop of curly hair was sticking together as his face flushed red. He lay on the seat and irritably tossed around.
“It won’t be as hot if you stop moving.” Feng Chen sat motionless, in much better shape than Yan Bubu. Still, the back of his T-shirt was also stained with sweat.
“Young Master, I think I’m almost done cooking. If I do get cooked, you can soak me in a tub of water too. I’m bigger than a crab so you can eat me for a few days.” Yan Bubu climbed up for his water and gulped down half a bottle.
Feng Chen glanced at his watch and found that the temperature was still rising. In just these few moments, it had already risen by another four degrees.
“Come on, let’s go find some shade instead of staying in the bus.”
Although it was just as hot outside, there was certainly somewhere cooler than the bus.
Yan Bubu went to put on his shoes when Feng Chens stopped him, “Put all of your clothes back on before you go out.”
“But I’m wearing pants.”
“You mean your underpants?” Feng Chen’s voice was stern.
If he didn’t forbid it just now, Yan Bubu would’ve taken those off too.
When Yan Bubu was all dressed, Feng Chen stuffed several bottles of water in his backpack and the two headed out of the parking lot.
The air was hot and humid, coating every pore. Through the steaming air, the distant ruined walls seemed to twist like mirages.
There were no birds in the sky and not even an ant on the ground. The usual Western Union Army hovercrafts patrolling around with a loudspeaker also were nowhere to be seen. The whole city was deathly silent like a large tomb.
The two entered a half-collapsed office building and sat down against the wall of a spacious lobby.
Although it was hot here too, it was much better than on the bus. Yan Bubu simply splayed himself out on the slightly cool tile floor. Feng Chen didn’t stop him. He wanted to do the same after all, he just had better self control.
Not a moment later, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs. A middle-aged woman helped her husband slowly down the stairs.
The woman’s eyes widened in surprise after she spotted Yan Bubu and Feng Chen. “Look Dear, there are two children here.”
Feng Chen didn’t say anything. He just tilted his head to observe them, but Yan Bubu sat up from the floor and greeted, “Hi Auntie.”
The man didn’t look too hot. He seemed to be down with something. When he saw Feng Chen’s indifferent expression, he asked Yan Bubu, “Little friend, why are you here? Isn’t anyone taking care of you?”
Yan Bubu replied seriously, “It’s too hot where we’re staying, so we came to sit here for a while. I do have someone taking care of me.”
Of course he did. His young master, ah.
The couple thought Yan Bubu meant they had adults with them who were elsewhere at the moment.
“Tell the grown ups in your family that the Western Union Army announced they are going to thoroughly disinfect the city to prevent epidemics yesterday. In a few days time, the disinfectant powder spray will be mixed with Dong…what is it again?”
“Donglin desiccant.” Feng Chen suddenly said.
“Yes, that.”
Feng Chen’s expression changed.
The woman helped the man outside. “We’re going to the underground settlement right now, actually. I heard that Donglin or something is deadly if inhaled. Tell the grown ups in your family to hurry up and go to the settlement site. There’s no time left. Besides, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, so what’s the point of staying outside? You’ll die of heatstroke out here.”
Feng Chen, who had been silent this whole time, suddenly spoke up, “Auntie, do you have to show ID to enter the underground settlement?”
The woman: “Of course. The Western Union Army is very strict on that.” She seemed to think of something and turned to look down at Feng Chen and Yan Bubu. She said comfortingly, “Tell your family’s grown ups they don’t have to worry. Even my neighbour who went to jail for theft was able to take his family there.”
“Thank you.”
Feng Chen knew she had misunderstood. He and Yan Bubu’s situation wasn’t as simple as a felon in the family.
“Bye Auntie and Uncle.” Yan Bubu watched the two disappear outside before putting down his hand. He turned to see Feng Chen looking very serious.
Like something big was about to happen.
“Young Master.” Yan Bubu called out uneasily.
Feng Chen’s lips were tightly pursed, his jaw tensed. Only after a long time did he say, “Yan Bubu, I need to think of a way to get us into the underground settlement.”
In the evening, when the temperatures weren’t as hot, the two returned to the bus.
Feng Chen took out his tool bag again, fiddling with a chip with powered tweezers. Yan Bubu didn’t dare to disturb him, so he lay next to the teen with bated breath. He waited until Feng Chen looked up to roll his neck before he hurriedly asked, “What are you working on, Young Master?”
“I’m making a keycard that will let us access the Institute.” Feng Chen moved his somewhat stiff right arm back and forth. “There’s a pharmaceuticals factory in the city’s west end that the public thinks is just another company. In fact, even the Western Union Army doesn’t know that it’s actually a secret research institute of the Eastern Union Army. The Institute is no ordinary building. It was built in accordance with the military’s level three defense specifications, so it might be fine even after the earthquake. Let’s go take a look. If it didn’t collapse, the equipment inside should still be usable.”
“Wow…” Yan Bubu exclaimed from the bottom of his heart. His eyes were filled with adoration.
Actually, he didn’t understand a word Feng Chen just said, but that just made it all the more impressive. He felt like there was nothing in the world Feng Chen didn’t know, and no problem too difficult for him to solve.
Feng Chen lowered his arm and glanced at him. “I’ll take you there tonight and alter our IDs.”
“Okay.” Yan Bubu nodded his sweaty head. “Let’s wait a bit–”
Boom!
A sudden heavy sound interrupted Yan Bubu’s words. The bus shook a few times as if it had been hit hard. Yan Bubu reached out to grab Feng Chen’s hand when he saw a furry head poking through the front window.
“Ah! T-tiger! Young Master, there’s a tiger!”
The row of windows in front of them were open. The head of a large tiger was inside, its sharp claws digging into the edge of the window as it swiftly tried to maneuver its way inside.
“Roar!” The tiger turned toward the two and roared, revealing its scarlet jaws and serrated teeth.
