OBS Chapter 66 Speed of Life and Death
Chapter 66 Speed of Life and Death
Lin Ran's gaze sharpened as he spotted a spot with several broken plum trees. The trunks had been snapped off by mud and rocks, the crowns lay fallen to the ground, and the green plums were scattered everywhere, half-buried in the mud.
Lin Ran hoisted the shovel onto his shoulder and ran in that direction.
Zhao Qian and Wu Weimin followed, shovels in hand. "Are you sure you want to dig here?" Zhao Qian wasn't questioning them; he wanted to know the basis for his claim. He realized he was actually asking a student for their opinion.
"Is there a drainage culvert in the mountains nearby?"
Wu Weimin was taken aback. "There is one." He didn't understand how Lin Ran knew.
"Where exactly is it located?"
Wu Weimin stared at the collapsed area for a few seconds, lost in thought. He was trying to recall. He was in charge of this training area and knew the terrain well. He looked up and pointed to a spot about five meters ahead of Lin Ran's feet. "Before the collapse, the culvert exit was right there."
Lin Ran started digging directly, inserting the shovel into the mud, stepping on it to press it down, flipping it out and throwing it aside.
Zhao Qian and Wu Weimin also started digging. The three shovels rose and fell, shoveling mud aside one scoop at a time. No one spoke, only the sound of shovels digging into the mud and the sound of breathing.
"Could they be taking shelter from the rain inside the culvert?" Zhao Qian said as he dug.
Wu Weimin's eyes lit up. "The landslide has blocked the culvert entrance. If we're really inside, it's actually good news. At least we're not buried under the mud." Being buried in the ground and being blocked in a culvert are two different things.
Buried in the ground, they might die within fifteen minutes, but if they are in a cave, their survival time is greatly increased!
"But the space inside the culvert is small, and the air is limited." Zhao Qian tossed a shovelful of mud out. "We have to be quick." He was right. The culvert was for drainage, not for sheltering people. The air inside wouldn't last long. Two people in a confined space would consume air at twice the rate.
Lin Ran didn't speak. He was wondering what Su Peixue was doing. Was she scared? Was she hurt? Was there enough air?
These thoughts kept popping up, but he suppressed them one by one. Now was not the time to think about these things. Dig. Dig faster!
Inside the pitch-black culvert.
Su Peixue's fair face was covered with a little bit of mud and water.
The phone's flashlight shone, casting a beam of light on the opposite cave wall. The cave was small; two people could huddle inside, their heads resting on a rough cement ceiling. When sitting, their backs could touch the wall, their legs couldn't be stretched out, and the air was filled with the earthy smell.
Song Yin huddled next to her, hugging her knees, her teeth chattering. "What do we do? We're buried in a hole!" Her voice was unusually loud in the cramped space.
Su Peixue pursed her lips. She didn't know what to do either.
Song Yin's shoulders trembled, and fear and guilt brought tears to her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Xuexue, I shouldn't have asked you to come pick plums with me. It's all my fault!"
She truly regretted it. If she hadn't dragged Su Peixue along to pick green plums, they wouldn't have come to the culvert to take shelter from the rain!
Su Peixue took a green plum out of her pocket, wiped it on the corner of her clothes, and handed it to Song Yin.
"Since things have come to this, eat a plum. Don't cry. The oxygen in the cave is limited. Slow down your breathing; maybe you can hold on a little longer. Wait for rescue."
Her voice was calm, not because she wasn't afraid, but because she had experienced something far more terrifying. As a child, she had been beaten by Zhai Daqiang and locked in a dark room, starving for days; that fear was even deeper than what she felt now.
Now, at least we know Lin Ran is outside.
Song Yin took the green plum, clutched it in her hand, and her sobs gradually subsided. She shrank to Su Peixue's side, shoulder to shoulder.
"Will anyone really come to rescue us? Nobody knows we're in this abandoned culvert." Her voice was soft, trembling with a mixture of fear and anticipation.
Su Peixue leaned against the cave wall.
Yes, I know. The zookeeper will definitely know.
Time passed slowly in the dimly lit culvert. The air inside was getting worse, and each breath required more effort than usual.
At first, I just felt stuffy, but later it felt like I couldn't get enough air in, and it felt like something was pressing down on my chest.
Su Peixue knew these were symptoms of oxygen deficiency.
She looked up at the cave ceiling, where there was a steel mesh. She shook Song Yin awake.
"Take off your belt."
Song Yin was puzzled, but she still obediently took off her belt and handed it to her.
Su Peixue tied the two leather belts together, held them in her hand, and swung them at the steel mesh.
The sound of metal clashing was especially loud in the narrow hole, thud, thud, thud.
My arm ached with each strike, and after dozens of strikes, it was so sore I could barely lift it. I was consuming even more oxygen. Strenuous exercise accelerates oxygen depletion.
Breathing became even more difficult, and Su Peixue slowly slid down the cave wall, curling up on the ground. Song Yin huddled beside her, too exhausted to cry, only her very soft breathing remaining.
The girl felt drowsy and sleepy, and wanted to go to sleep.
She missed Lin Ran.
Su Peixue picked up her phone; the battery percentage in the upper right corner of the screen was three percent.
She opened the memo app and tapped lightly on the screen with her finger.
[Don't be sad, zookeeper. Xuexue has gone to see her mother.]
The phone screen went out, and it was completely dark inside the cave.
Su Peixue closed her eyes. She had thought about dying many times before, feeling that she had no attachment to the world and was just living out of habit.
But meeting Lin Ran made her realize that the world is a wonderful place.
He would bring her roasted chicken legs, blow-dry her hair, hold down her skirt on the giant swing ride, and apply medicine to her arm when she cut it.
I might scold her, but I'd never really yell at her. So this is what it feels like to be cared for.
Unfortunately, it's coming to an end.
As darkness fell, the rain gradually swallowed the light. The searchlight above Lin Ran's head cast a white beam in the rain, shining on the mud, and the reflected light was so bright it made one's eyes sting.
They've been digging for three hours already.
The shovel was plunged into the mud, stomped on to press it down, then flipped over and tossed aside. This was repeated over and over. My arms were long since numb.
The rain intensified, and mud mixed with gravel flowed down the hillside, filling in gaps that had just been dug. The exact location of the culvert entrance was difficult to pinpoint. Wu Weimin's direction was correct, but the landslide had completely altered the landscape; the original landmarks—a plum tree and a protruding rock—were gone. The three men could only dig in the general direction based on Wu Weimin's memory.
Zhao Qian's searchlight flickered. He planted the shovel on the ground and took his phone out of his pocket. The rain was too heavy; the water on the screen kept accumulating after he wiped it off, so he had to shield his eyes with his palm to see clearly.
The sound of rain drowned out the voice on the other end of the phone; only a few words could be heard.
Large-scale landslide,
Evacuation is necessary.
Zhao Qian hung up the phone and wiped the water off his face.
"Orders from higher command: large-scale landslides have already begun in some areas, and we must evacuate immediately. There are also landslides on the way to the base, and the rescue team... is blocked."