Under the moonlight

They bypassed a pile of ruins and, sure enough, found a small warehouse behind it. The door was made of two pieces of sheet metal, locked in the middle with an iron chain. Xu Ao quickly stepped forward, lifted the lock, and examined it closely for a while, a look of delight appearing on his face.

Huang Meng leaned closer to look, and Xu Ao excitedly said, "Look, here, the keyhole is smooth and bright, without any dust. It must have been caused by frequent unlocking. Maybe there are survivors inside." As he spoke, Xu Ao put down the lock and peered through the crack in the metal door. Huang Meng waited beside him. After a moment, he suddenly shouted excitedly, "Hey, hey, quick, someone's here! Hey, can you hear me?"

Huang Meng was startled by his sudden shout. She instinctively looked around, her muscles tensing involuntarily. Xu Ao, not caring about anything else, pounded on the metal door and shouted, "Hey, I am, I am from country C, can you hear me? Can you let us in?"

Huang Meng didn't know what he saw, but listening to his increasingly loud shouts and the sound of him banging on the metal door, she felt her heart beating faster and faster. She nervously looked around, as if something was about to happen at any moment.

She unconsciously tightened her backpack straps, when suddenly, the whooshing sound of a chain being pulled open startled her. It turned out that someone had opened the metal door, and a middle-aged man was peering at them through the crack. Behind him were several men—young men, middle-aged men, and an elderly man with white hair—all holding sticks and glaring at them angrily.

"Who are you?" the middle-aged man in the lead asked, speaking in Chinese; they were from China.

Xu Ao excitedly took off his backpack, took out his identification documents, and held them up to the crack in the door, saying, "We are embassy staff, can we go in?"

Upon hearing his words, the people behind the door crowded forward to take a closer look. After they finished looking, they couldn't hide their excitement, but they still cautiously exchanged glances. Only after receiving everyone's unanimous agreement did they open the door a little wider.

Only then did they notice Huang Meng standing next to Xu Ao. Perhaps because she was a girl, their hostility lessened considerably, and they quickly let her in. Then, the group hurriedly closed the door, pulled the lock inside, and then passed it out through the crack in the door. In this way, it looked as if the warehouse was locked from the outside.

They followed the group into the warehouse. Inside, there were no other things besides the four walls. The messy machinery had been moved to one side, and the open space in the middle had been cleared out, with a basket placed there.

Huang Meng walked closer and took a look. The woman next to her immediately looked at her warily. There was food that they had worked hard to find, placed in the middle with someone watching over it, so that no one could steal it.

Xu Ao looked around. Apart from a small group of people gathered in the middle, there were people in other corners of the warehouse, some sitting and some lying down, resting. They didn't seem too surprised by their arrival. Xu Ao looked around and it seemed that they were all from China. He didn't see the person from Japan that Yuri had mentioned.

He suppressed his doubts, looked at the questioning and inquisitive gazes of the group of people in front of him, put down his backpack, and solemnly said, "Hello, we are staff members of the embassy, ​​we..."

"Embassy? Where were you all this time? You only remember us now, humph." Before he could finish speaking, a man's voice rang out from the corner.

Xu Ao didn't know how to respond to his words, so he continued with his original idea: "We had planned to come in before, but our presence caused a riot among the local residents, and the mercenaries opened fire to suppress it. We can't just stand by and watch so many innocent people die because of us."

Xu Ao looked at the people in front of him and continued, "So we haven't forced our way in yet. However, as you probably know, the New Deal faction has brought in more mercenaries, and even armored vehicles. At the same time, they have lifted the blockade and carried out a massacre early yesterday morning, killing anyone they saw. Soon they will be conducting a city-wide search. At that time, everyone in the city who is alive will be in danger. We must find a way to get out."

As soon as Xu Ao finished speaking, a silence fell over the surroundings. He looked at the few people standing in front of him. These few were probably the backbone of this group. The rest of them, although they were scattered in various corners of the warehouse, had also heard Xu Ao's words, but no one spoke up. Their eyes were all on those few people.

After a while, the middle-aged man who had opened the door sighed, cleared his throat, squinted slightly, and looked down at the ground. His hoarse voice echoed in the empty and quiet warehouse: "We are roughly aware of the situation you described. Yesterday morning, we heard them firing shots in the street, so you should know our current predicament. Going out means certain death, while hiding here allows us to hold on a little longer."

After the man finished speaking, he looked up at Xu Ao.

He had dark skin, and his half-closed eyes revealed a mature and cunning nature. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and he looked at Xu Ao with his hands in his pockets. The people standing next to him also stared at Xu Ao with the same doubt in their eyes.

His words caught Xu Ao off guard. He was determined to do everything he could to get them to the embassy, ​​and he had always thought that they, trapped in the city, shared the same hope as him. He never expected that the sudden turn of events would change their minds.

Seeing the situation was becoming increasingly hostile, Huang Meng looked up at Xu Ao, who remained relatively calm. After a moment, Xu Ao said, "I know the situation is tense right now, but if we don't take the risk, we'll all die if they search the city. Those people are extremely cruel; we won't have a single chance hiding here. We'll all die anyway, so why not choose to take the risk?"

Xu Ao voiced his thoughts, but the man opposite him continued to stare at him without saying a word. However, the men around him exchanged glances, their resolve beginning to waver.

Xu Ao continued, "We can get in safely, and everyone can get out safely, as long as we plan well. Besides, this can guarantee our safety in critical moments." Xu Ao held up his work badge and said firmly.

Sure enough, the people opposite him changed their expressions after seeing the work ID in his hand. They whispered among themselves, and although it was hard to hear clearly, it was clear that they also thought Xu Ao's words made sense and were worth a try.

But they were clearly indecisive. Xu Ao fixed his gaze on the man in front of him. He still had his eyes half-closed and his head drooping, as if he was thinking or daydreaming. Xu Ao couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

He remained silent. Several people around him leaned closer, sizing up Xu Ao while whispering something in his ear. Xu Ao couldn't hear clearly, but he could roughly guess that they were trying to persuade him to listen to them.

Xu Ao stared intently at the man, trying to discern his thoughts from subtle changes in his expression, but the man seemed to be wearing a mask, his expression remaining unchanged forever.

After waiting for nearly two minutes, the man remained silent, and the people around him exchanged glances. Xu Ao looked at him and asked, "Well, have you made up your mind?"

The man's expression finally changed slightly, as if he were somewhat helpless. As he walked past Xu Ao with his head down, he said in a deep voice, "Come with me."

Xu Ao and Huang Meng exchanged a glance, wondering what he was up to, and followed him with a puzzled look.

The man led them to the innermost corner of the warehouse, where a curtain made of old bed sheets stood before them. He stopped in front of the curtain and said to the inside, "It's me, Lao Wu." He then lifted the curtain and went inside. Xu Ao and Huang Meng followed behind. After the man went in, he stepped aside, and the scene behind the curtain came into full view.

Inside, a small room was enclosed by a curtain. The floor was covered with tattered clothes and cotton wadding, on which lay several people. Some had their heads, some their thighs, and some their abdomens wrapped in gauze, which was stained pink with blood.

Xu Ao glanced over and saw a total of four people lying on the ground. He stepped forward and half-squatted down to examine their injuries. Many of the wounds were too deep. Although the bleeding had been stopped, the bandaging was crude and simple, similar to the man he had met in the house by the roadside. In addition to the fact that the wounds were difficult to heal and were festering, almost all of them had fevers. If they did not receive timely treatment, their condition would be very critical.

Xu Ao frowned as he looked at the few people lying on the ground, barely alive, and slowly stood up and backed away. The man, who was leaning against the wall, raised his chin and looked at Xu Ao, saying, "Hey kid, what do you think they're going to do? Stay here and let them die? Hmph, it'd be better to just shoot them now, clean and simple. What do you think?"

His words seemed to be directed at Xu Ao, but Xu Ao wasn't oblivious to the underlying meaning. Huang Meng looked at him with his head down and brows furrowed, and she knew he was facing a dilemma. He couldn't just abandon them, but taking them with him would make the journey back even more difficult and might even cost the lives of the survivors.

Huang Meng looked at the man and said, "Brother, you should be quite familiar with the situation here. I think we should call everyone together and discuss it. After all, this is a matter of life and death, and we should hear everyone's thoughts." Huang Meng said this only to give Xu Ao some time. She looked at the man eagerly, and after a while, she heard his hoarse voice say, "Alright, let's go."

Xu Ao and Huang Meng followed him to the center of the warehouse. He turned around and said something to the young man behind him, who replied, "Okay!" Then he jumped up and shouted, "Gather up, gather up. Come over here quickly, I have something to say."

As he shouted, the people who were originally scattered in various corners slowly gathered in the center. Huang Meng watched carefully, and soon the crowd was gathered together.

Three girls stood quietly close together, their clothes resembling the same work uniforms, yet different from the uniforms of the factory workers around them.

Huang Meng walked up to them and asked softly, "Aren't you employees here?" One of the girls looked at Huang Meng and said, "No, we are employees of a supermarket in the city. They brought us here. Otherwise, the three of us..." The girl didn't finish her sentence. Huang Meng could roughly guess what she was going to say, so she reached out and patted her shoulder without asking any further questions.

Seeing that everyone had gathered together, the young man jumped down and stood to the side. Huang Meng noticed that there were only about six people in the crowd wearing factory uniforms. Could it be that the rest of them were people they had rescued, like the three girls? Just as Huang Meng was deep in thought, a hoarse but powerful voice rang out: "Friends, we are all survivors of a disaster. We were given a second chance at life. It hasn't been easy for any of us. I know that you all long to return to your homeland and see your loved ones."

After speaking, he turned to Xu Ao and Huang Meng and continued, "Now, there are two comrades from the embassy who said they would take us to the embassy for refuge. But you know what happened yesterday morning. Old Xu, who was helping us go out to find supplies, hasn't come back yet. I was waiting at the door to meet him, but what came was that damn mercenary gang. They drove armored vehicles with machine guns, shooting at anyone they saw. I watched them carry the people they killed onto the vehicles one by one, piling them up like sardines!" He wiped his face, sniffed, and said, "In other words, the current situation is that whoever goes out is likely to be shot dead. I, Lao Wu, never say anything fancy. You guys decide for yourselves. Okay, that's all I have to say." After Lao Wu finished speaking, he put his hands in his pockets, lowered his head, and stepped aside.

Seeing the somewhat agitated crowd, Xu Ao quickly stepped to the center and said, "Gentlemen, listen to me. On our way here, we overheard mercenaries talking. They're going to start searching and massacring the city this afternoon. If we don't leave before they do, we'll all die anyway. So why don't we take a gamble and try our luck?"

Xu Ao's words pushed the commotion to its peak, and the discussions in the crowd gradually grew louder. Seeing that everyone was having trouble making a decision, Huang Meng walked around the crowd to Lao Wu's side and asked at the top of her lungs, "Big brother, I want to ask you, do you have a list of people here? You are an employee of the factory, right? Are you the only survivors in the factory?"

The fifth brother looked at Huang Meng for a while and said, "The survivors from our factory are all here. Besides those few in work clothes, there are other survivors we brought back from outside. They're all from the same country, so we can't just leave them to die! The other employees are from S country; they don't live or eat here, so we don't know their situation after the incident. Hmph~ I guess they're mostly dead. We have a personnel list in the office building in the front, but it doesn't matter whether we have a list or not now." After the fifth brother finished speaking, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. Huang Meng didn't ask any further questions. She thought Yuri's friend was probably also mostly dead.

The argument among the crowd grew louder and louder, and there was no result for a while. Seeing that the noise was getting more and more intense, Lao Wu finally couldn't help but shout, "Keep your voices down! Do you want to attract wolves?"

Sure enough, this sentence worked, and everyone immediately fell silent. At this moment, the old man who had been standing outside the crowd without saying a word spoke up: "Hey, what's the fuss about? It's just a simple matter. Go out and die, stay in and you'll still die. If you go out, you'll be lucky and have a smaller chance of dying. If you stay here and guard, there's no way to survive. You'll all be wiped out. Don't you understand this? Is it really worth arguing about?"

"Grandpa, that's true, but with so many of us, going out would make us too conspicuous. Wouldn't we be discovered immediately and just walk into a trap?"

"That's right, that's right. It's easy for the two of them to come, but it's hard to organize a large group of people when they go out. If one of them doesn't listen to instructions and runs around, it could be a fatal situation."

"Sigh, does that mean we're just going to wait here to die?"

"Look, don't say that, it's bad luck."

Amidst the crowd, voices mingled, yet no unified opinion emerged. Xu Ao watched the crowd with a headache. Time ticked by, and his anxiety made his thoughts chaotic. He kept pulling at his hair. These people weren't from the embassy; he couldn't force them to obey. He could only respect their wishes.

The fifth brother raised his eyelids and glanced at Xu Ao, then lowered his head and pondered for a moment. Afterward, he stood up, walked to the front of everyone, and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, please be quiet. We are grateful for your care these past few days and for your willingness to follow my arrangements. So, let's vote by raising our hands. Those who want to leave, please raise your hands. According to the rule of majority rule, once it's decided, no one should have any further thoughts or opinions. What do you all think?"

As soon as Lao Wu finished speaking, everyone in the crowd looked at each other. Seeing that no one spoke, Lao Wu continued, "Alright, let's start the vote now. Those who want to leave, raise your hands."

The first to raise their hands were the three girls, their faces unusually resolute. Then one, two, everyone looked at each other, and more and more people raised their hands. Xu Ao's furrowed brows finally relaxed as he watched the number of people increase. Lao Wu craned his neck to look at the crowd and said, "Well, the result is in. The minority obeys the majority. Let's not waste any more time and quickly discuss how to get out." After Lao Wu finished speaking, he looked at Xu Ao, waiting for him to speak, but Xu Ao's eyes were fixed on the small room in the corner partitioned off with a bed sheet.