Yan Bubu didn’t sleep too deeply. He kept waking up with a start and reaching for the person next to him. After not being able to locate him for a few moments, his dazed eyes would open, only to realize that Feng Chen was still at Medical.
His mouth was very dry, so he slowly got out of bed to drink some water. Yet the lunchbox was empty.
When Feng Chen was around, the two lunchboxes always had cooled boiled water in them. Thank goodness there was still some left in Feng Chen’s lunchbox. Yan Bubu picked it up and drained it dry.
So what if he wet the bed? It didn’t matter since Big Brother wasn’t around.
Yan Bubu went back to bed. He tugged the fleece blanket over to wrap himself up and yawned for a long time.
Soon it would be a new day. He would go to Medical first thing in the morning to pick up his big brother…
BOOM!
The deafening explosion made Yan Bubu’s eyes snap wide open. He was fully awake now.
The first thought that crossed his mind was that there was another earthquake. He scrambled off the bed onto the floor and got under the bed.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The explosions continued. Yan Bubu hugged his head and curled into a ball as the room and bed trembled.
“Stop it, stop it, stop it…” The earthquake was still fresh in his mind. All the fear he buried deep down was rekindled. He shivered while covering his ears, screaming with his eyes tightly shut.
The explosions stopped after seven or eight times in a row, but it was soon replaced by an ear-splitting alarm.
Yan Bubu let go of his ears and crawled out from under the bed with trepidation. He reached for the door.
There were already many people standing in the corridor, poking their heads out from the metal bars to look down. Yan Bubu wasn’t tall enough to see anything but the darkness in midair. He didn’t know what they saw, but he could hear their conversations.
“Don’t panic, it’s not another earthquake.”
“Did something explode? Look at all the flames down there.”
“Is it the limestone generator room that exploded? It can’t be! The power’s still on…”
“Then there should be no problem. Oh right, maybe they dug into some sort of methane gas deposit down in the mines and triggered an explosion?”
“En, that makes a lot of sense.”
The shrill alarm didn’t stop with the explosions. It continued to blare non-stop, resounding throughout the entire underground space. Those who found that it wasn’t another earthquake had relaxed a lot, but the alarm made them nervous again.
“Why hasn’t the alarm been lifted? Could something have happened?”
“Not sure. We’ll have to wait and see.”
The alarm finally stopped, but then a stern voice came out of the intercom with a significant echo.
“The settlement is under attack. Everyone, return to your rooms and do not go outside without permission until further orders are issued.”
It was Major General Lin’s voice.
Attacked? By what?
The crowd was staring at each other when a panicked cry came from the water room, “This is bad! The air displacers are spewing out water! We’re doomed!”
Meanwhile, in Hive B’s ground floor water room, the air displacer fan blades had already been taken off. A group of people emerged from the raging current of water one after another.
Chu Shi took out a gun from his back. The others also readied their guns and followed him out of the water room.
Outside Hive B, a dozen soldiers were crouched on the ground taking care of the blown drainage pipes. The walkie-talkie in one soldier’s hands kept going off.
“The drainage pipes on the west side of the square were blown up and have filled with debris. The west part of Drainage System C has been paralyzed.”
“The drainage system outside Hive C was also damaged. The entire pipe is broken beyond repair.”
“The air displacers in Hive B are gushing out water! So far water has been reported coming out on floors one through ten. Other floors have not been inspected yet, but there is water flowing down from the upper floors.”
……
A soldier who was crouched on the ground just got up when he saw a group of people coming out of the water room. After spotting the guns in their hands, he immediately went for the pistol at his waist while shouting in surprise and anger, “Stop! Who are you people?!”
Dense gunfire rang out. The group of soldiers all fell down in an instant.
Chu Shi took a cigar out of his sealed breast pocket after firing and held it in his mouth, waiting for the subordinate next to him to light it.
Behind him was the Hive building with water pouring out of every floor. Every corridor window had a curtain of water in front of it.
Searchlight beams fell on the curtains of water, refracting dazzling light. The Hive seemed to be made of crystal right now.
“Where does that boy from the Feng family live?” He exhaled a smoke ring and asked the person beside him.
The man wearing a black tracksuit was the same person who planted the bombs on the drainpipes. While changing into the diving suit someone else handed him, he replied, “There are too many people in here. I searched for many days but couldn’t find him. Only yesterday did I receive word that he and another child are living on the 65th floor of Nest A Area C.”
“Let’s go pay him a visit.” Chu Shi slung his gun over his shoulder and strode towards Hive A. The others hurried to follow.
Although Major General Lin told everyone to stay in their room and await further orders, no one could possibly do that under these circumstances. They all ran frantically around the corridor, asking each other about the situation.
“Are you sure? The air displacers on each floor are spewing out water?”
“Don’t panic, the drainage system here is very capable. Any amount of water can be drained away if we just fix the air displacers.”
“Someone from the floor below just came up and said the drainage systems have been blown up.”
“What?! Blown up??”
Yan Bubu was still standing in the doorway, listening and half-understanding these people’s conversations.
Then a middle-aged man suddenly yelled, “We’re trapped here! As soon as the gates of the settlement are opened, the whole place will be flooded. With the drainage system damaged and all the air displacers spewing water, we can’t possibly fix them all in time!
There’s got to be thousands of them in this place! I was just down there and water is already starting to pool in the square. The ground floors of the Hives, Military HQ and Medical will be flooded in a while…”
As soon as the middle-aged man’s words fell, everyone else freaked out. Some said they were going to look for Major General Lin, others began to cover their faces and cry, yelling that everyone would drown here.
The more sensible ones rushed back to their rooms. After all, the Western Union Army was still here. They wouldn’t allow things to deteriorate to that point. And in case they have to leave the settlement, they would take everything they could with them.
Yan Bubu didn’t understand all of what was going on, but he got the gist. One sentence was particularly clear to him.
Medical was about to be flooded.
But his big brother was still inside!
The intercom suddenly sounded: “Listen up everyone, evacuate downstairs immediately, evacuate downstairs immediately and wait for further orders.”
The crowd immediately scattered to go back to their rooms to pack. Yan Bubu booked it to the lift, until he remembered something and hurried back to C68.
He dove under the bed and ripped the tape away. When he came out again, he was holding the cipher box.
He stuffed the box into his overalls’ chest pocket, but it was bulging and too obvious from above. Thus, he stuffed the cipher box in his cloth bag with Binunu and then slung it over his shoulder.
He didn’t forget about Feng Chen’s backpack either. He rolled up the two fleece blankets on the bed and stuffed them in along with the two lunchboxes.
It was chaos outside when Yan Bubu came out the door again. There were panicked people running around in the corridor as water steadily poured out of the water room, flowing through the metal barred windows in the corridor to the outside of the building.
Yan Bubu avoided the people stomping around and hurried towards the lift.
“Jingjing, Jingjing, ah.” Yan Bubu turned and saw Wu You standing in the distance, holding a large pile of things in his arms. The sweating man waved at him. “Don’t run around, Jingjing. Come with Uncle Wu.”
Yan Bubu waved back. “No need, Uncle Wu. I’m going to pick up my big brother.”
All the people in the way prevented Wu You from going over. He couldn’t hear what Yan Bubu was saying either, he could only shout while watching him head towards the lift.
Yan Bubu walked to the end of the corridor. The several lifts there were all busy. He was so anxious that even a few minutes’ wait was too much. Thus, he headed for the fire escape and trotted down the stairs.
Little did he know, just as he went down a second flight of stairs, a lift stopped on the 65th floor and a group of people led by Chu Shi came out.
Yan Bubu ran down a dozen flights in one breath. He panted from exhaustion. When he looked out again, he saw an empty lift parked on this floor and jogged in, pressing the button for the ground floor.
The lift began to descend. The rumbling sound of water flowing and the chaotic shouts of panic could be heard on every passing floor.
When Yan Bubu reached the 30th floor, the lift stopped and a few people came in. Major General Lin’s voice once again came over the intercom in the underground space.
“…Immediately go downstairs in an orderly manner to the northeast corner of the square. There will be an emergency passage to the surface opened there. Do not crowd or push. Everyone will be able to get out.”
The people in the lift all let out a long breath.
“I told you the army would definitely have a plan. How could there be no emergency passage in such a large underground settlement?”
“Yes, yes. That sure puts my mind at ease.”
……
The lift went all the way down to the bottom floor.
A layer of water had already accumulated here. When the lift stopped, the water rushed in through the metal bars and made everything up to Yan Bubu’s knee wet at once.
In this situation, no one had the presence of mind to care about an unaccompanied child in the lift. As soon as the metal bars parted, everyone scrambled out, ready to go to the northeast corner of the square’s emergency passage.
Yan Bubu followed them, wading through to the square outside the Hives.
The whole square was also flooded, but at least the water wasn’t too deep yet. Some soldiers ran around calling out orders loudly. Other soldiers inflated folded and compressed lifeboats through their valves. Soon, there were a fleet of lifeboats on the water.
Yan Bubu tightened the straps of the backpack and bypassed the busy people. He alone walked towards the medical station in the northwest corner.
He had to cross diagonally through the whole square to get there. Although this square was fairly flat, there was still some ore scattered around. Now that there was water everywhere, it was no longer possible to see the ground. Yan Bubu tripped several times, falling face first into the water.
“Cough, cough!” He climbed to his feet, a soggy mess as he choked and coughed while wiping the water off his face. He continued to walk in the direction of Medical.
The intercom continued to come on, but it was no longer Major General Lin who was speaking.
“…Attention, people in Hive A Area C’s 65th floor. There is a small group of gun-wielding thugs on your floor. Everyone should go back to their room and clear the corridor. The army is heading over immediately. Attention, people in Hive A Area C’s 65th floor. There is a small group of gun-wielding thugs on your floor. Everyone should go back to their room and clear the corridor. The army is heading over immediately…”
Yan Bubu didn’t pay attention to what the man was saying. He was too worried about Feng Chen in the medical station. However, the words ‘Hive A Area C’s 65th floor’ still entered his ears.
Wasn’t that the floor where he lived?
Yan Bubu glanced back, but he really couldn’t tell from here the floor he lived on. He only vaguely heard what seemed to be gunfire coming down from a very high floor.
Not interested in what was happening up there right now, he turned back around and headed in the direction of the medical station.
The water kept rising. It was only at his knees when he came out of the lift. Now, barely halfway through the square, it was up to his thighs. Yan Bubu didn’t dare to stop for a second. He increased his pace and waded through the water.
Fortunately, he’s picked limestone in the mines for a while. He was familiar with the square. Even if he couldn’t see the ground, he could recall the most even route and quickly crossed most of the square.
Getting closer to the medical station, the scene there was already evident. A number of doctors in white coats and nurses stood at the gates, queuing to transport patients onto lifeboats.
Yan Bubu thought that Feng Chen might be among those patients so he was in high spirits. He eagerly strode through the water.
A few dozen meters away from the medical station, the water has flooded to his chest. His feet could barely stay on the ground. Every time he took a wavering step, he ran the risk of headplanting.
He had to be more careful in order to keep his balance.
“I’m a Binunu… A little chubby…Binunu…”
Yan Bubu was panicking at all the water surrounding him, so he quietly sang a song to bolster his courage. Yet after a few two lines he started to ramble, “Which foot is this? The left? No, it’s definitely the right foot. Which side is right again? Let’s just say it’s the right foot… Careful now. Slowly move it forward and step firmly. Ha, I did it…”
By the time Yan Bubu made his way like this to the entrance of the medical station, the floodwaters had reached his chin. He had to tilt his head back to keep his mouth above the water while also having to hold on to the fence next to him to keep himself from floating up.
It was a nurse escorting a patient onto a lifeboat who first spotted him. She pointed at him and exclaimed, “Ah! Look over there, there’s a head floating on the water!”
Yan Bubu heard the commotion and brought his chin down to look. The nurse let out another shriek, “It, it’s alive!”
“It’s a child!”
A doctor jumped into the water and waded his way towards Yan Bubu. He lifted him out of the water and brought him to the steps outside the medical station’s lobby.
The water had already flooded over the steps and filled the hall. After the man put Yan Bubu down, he asked, “Why are you here, child? It’s dangerous to be out there by yourself. Where are your parents?”
Yan Bubu was soaked and carrying a backpack, so it didn’t seem like he came from Medical. The only other possibility was from the Hives across the square.
“I came to find my big brother.” Yan Bubu was soaked to the skin and shivering uncontrollably.
“Your brother? What’s his name?”
“Qin Shen.”
The whole medical station was a mess right now. Some patients on crutches braced against the wall as they made their way down the stairs. Others slowly walked supporting each other. And those bedbound couldn’t move at all. They could only rely on the doctors and nurses to push them into the lobby. Dozens of beds were parked in the large lobby and corridor.
The elevator was still transporting down more beds with patients, but there was no more room to put them.
So some beds had to stay in the elevator. Whenever someone upstairs called the elevator, they would go up and down too.
The doctor had never heard of the name Qin Shen. He took it to be the name of a patient here. Someone nearby called for him, so he hurriedly left after saying, “Wait here and leave with your brother when you see him.”
Yan Bubu burrowed around in those gaps between stretchers and people, looking at all the people on the beds at least once. He didn’t see Feng Chen here. He stood by the stairs, his eyes fixed on the people coming down.
“Hurry up, hurry up! The water is rising fast and there are still so many people who have not evacuated. Hurry up!”
The water in the lobby rose higher and higher. The legs of the hospital beds were half submerged. The patients who were in relatively good condition were helping to lift the people in the beds onto the lifeboats.
Everyone was running around shouting anxiously. Yan Bubu was unwilling to wait any longer and simply went up the stairs.
The second floor corridor was just as crowded. Patients held their own IV stands as they went down. Yan Bubu sped past them in the opposite direction. Every time he passed a room, he would look inside.
No one cared about him now. He searched the whole second floor but didn’t find Feng Chen, so he went up to the third floor.
Author’s Corner
Don’t be scared. Although this is a story about hard times, it’s not all bleak angst. It’s not going to end with just the two of them alive. As for the empty city mentioned in the synopsis, that’s a spoiler I can’t disclose yet. Still, not everyone will die. Don’t be scared.
