Nan Shan District.
Inside Guang Ming Subdistrict’s alley.
The ground felt like it was going to split. Loud rumblings came from underground, and the ground was shaking. A low-rise house on the west side collapsed.
It’s an earthquake.
Even an idiot knows an earthquake is happening now, at least 7.5 on the Richter scale.
The owner of that collapsed house saw his house collapse. He was one of the few dragged out by Pang Gang and his men a few minutes ago. Tears started flowing from his and his wife’s eyes. If Dong Xuebing had not ordered to forcefully dragged them out, they would have been buried under the debris. The irony is they even hit the Police Officers who dragged them out earlier. All the residents were stunned.
It is an earthquake!
The Subdistrict Office did not lie, and they are not using this as an excuse to tear down their houses.
This place is dangerous.
Rumble! Another wall collapsed.
Dong Xuebing steadied himself and shouted. “Hurry! Get out of the alley!”
Zhou Yanru screams. “Hurry and leave this place! Run!”
Everyone regained their senses and started running towards the main road. Everyone knows they need to be in an empty space to be safe.
Pang Gang and his men were about to leave.
The Subdistrict Office staff were also panicking and running out of the alley.
As Dong Xuebing was about to leave, he noticed a few people were standing outside a house. They are Old Man Cheng, his son, and his daughter-in-law.
“Where is my grandson?!” Old Man Cheng shouted. “Where is he?!”
The daughter-in-law screamed. “He is inside the house! I didn’t bring him out!”
Old Man Cheng’s son was about to shout something when he lost his balance from the earthshaking and fell. He calls out for his son on the ground.
A boy’s cries can be heard faintly amid the loud crashes and rumblings inside the house.
Everyone’s heart sunk. There’s someone in the house!
The surrounding houses are collapsing. These houses are too old and cannot withstand an earthquake at this scale. Whoever enters the house to rescue the boy will most likely be killed. Many of Old Man Cheng’s neighbors did not help him. Instead, they continue running out of the alley for safety. Only Zhou Yanru, Pang Gang, and some Police Officers look back. Director Dong is still standing there and is not running.
“Director!” Zhou Yanru shouted. “Come over here!”
“It’s dangerous!” Pang Gang shouted.
Crash! Another house’s wall collapsed.
Old Man Cheng’s son had hurt his foot and could not stand up. His daughter-in-law was shocked, and her legs were trembling. She couldn’t even move a step. It was Old Man Cheng, in his seventies, that tried to rush into the house with his walking stick to save his grandson.
Dong Xuebing stopped Old Man Cheng and shouted to Pang Gang. “Bring them out! Hurry!”
Pang Gang and two officers ran over. One of them carried Old Man Cheng on his back, the another carried Old Man Cheng’s son, and they started running out of the alley.
“My son! My son is still inside!”
“Let me go in!”
Rumble! Another part of Old Man Cheng’s house collapsed.
When everyone was shocked by the collapse, a figure rushed into the house. It’s Dong Xuebing.
Zhou Yanru screamed. “Ah!!! Director!”
Old Man Cheng’s daughter-in-law is sobbing. “Please save my son! Please….”
“Old Pang, bring everyone to safety.” Dong Xuebing shouted from inside of the house. “I will save the child!”
Pang Gang’s eyes turned red, and he shouted, “Go! Run!”
Zhou Yanru turned to run back to the house. “Director is still inside! Hurry! We need to save him!”
“Stop Director Zhou and drag her out!” Pang Gang’s voice is hoarse from shouting.
Two officers immediately grabbed Zhou Yanru by her arms and carried her out of the alley.
The ground had been shaking for more than twenty seconds. Most major earthquakes averaged around thirty seconds in their first wave. The few seconds had changed the whole alley.
Five out of ten houses had collapsed.
The house Dong Xuebing ran into was barely holding on, and many Subdistrict Office staffs were worried.
Dong Xuebing had run into the house, and he heard a child crying in a room on the east. He immediately rushes towards that room. Although Old Man Cheng was scolded and injured, he could not let a child die before him. As the Subdistrict Office Director, he needs to protect his residents. He cannot let anyone die before him.
I got to save that kid!
This is the only thought in Dong Xuebing’s mind.
Dong Xuebing jumped into the eastern building, and it was a mess. Furniture toppled over.
“Is there anyone here?!” Dong Xuebing shouted.
No one answered, but Dong Xuebing could hear cries inside a room.
Dong Xuebing ran towards that room and saw a boy around five years old, hiding under a table, crying.
Dong Xuebing is overjoyed, and something happened when he was about to get closer.
The first wave was about to end, and the old house could not hold up any longer. A loud crash sounded on top of Dong Xuebing.
The roof is falling, and the walls have collapsed.
Dong Xuebing and that boy are about to get crushed!
Dong Xuebing immediately shouts STOP in his heart.
Time stopped!
The roof tiles, dust, and other debris hung less than fifty centimeters above Dong Xuebing.
Dong Xuebing felt a cold chill down his spine. He rushed inside to carry the boy and jumped out of the room through a collapsed part of the wall.
STOP deactivated.
Time resumed.
A cloud of dust blocked everyone’s view. A loud crash followed, and the eastern building came crumbling down.
The small boy did not know what had happened. His hands are wrapped around Dong Xuebing’s neck, and his head is buried in his chest. He is crying and doesn’t dare to open his eyes.
Dong Xuebing patted the boy’s head. “Don’t worry. You are safe now.”
“Sob… sob…. I am going to die!”
“No. You won’t. I will bring you to your parents.”
“Really?!” The boy opens his eyes and looks at Dong Xuebing.
“Yes. I don’t lie.” Dong Xuebing carried the boy. He did not let down his guard as he walked quickly out of the compound.
The first wave of tremors is over, and the earth stops shaking.
Most of the buildings in the alley had collapsed. This is the power of a natural disaster, and no one can go against it. The situation here should represent most parts of Fen Zhou City. Dong Xuebing’s heart sunk. He is worried about his Subdistrict’s residents, women, and family members. He carried the boy and ran out of the alley.
More than a hundred people had gathered in an empty space outside the alley.
These people are the ones who escaped earlier. Zhou Yanru, Pang Gang, Old Man Cheng, and the rest of the residents looked at their houses.
Suddenly, Old Man Cheng’s house disappeared behind a cloud of dust.
Old Man Cheng’s daughter-in-law turns pale and falls to the ground, crying.
Old Man Cheng almost fainted.
“The house had collapsed!”
“My son is still inside!”
“Director Dong!”
“Ah!!!” Many people started shouting.
A few moments passed, and a man walked out from the dust. That man’s forehead and shirt had bloodstains, but his footsteps were steady. He is walking out of the alley, carrying a small boy.
“Look!” A few residents saw it and gasped.
“Someone is coming out.”
“It is Director Dong and the boy!”
“He had saved that boy!”
Old Man Cheng’s daughter-in-law rushed towards Dong Xuebing and carried her son in her arms. “Xiao Hu! Xiao Hu! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have left you in the room! Sob… sob….”
“Mum!” The small boy cried. “I was so scared.”
“Sorry…. I’m sorry!”
Old Man Cheng and his son had rushed over. He saw his grandson safe and sound, and he turned to Dong Xuebing. He looked at the wound caused by him on Dong Xuebing’s forehead and grabbed his hands. He was crying as he thanked him. “Thank you…. Thank you so much!”
Dong Xuebing was pleased when he saw them. “That’s what I should do.”
“I am sorry.” Old Man Cheng apologized. The Subdistrict Office tried to save them, and he refused their help. He even hit the Subdistrict Office Director. The person he hit was the one who risked his life to save his grandson. No words can describe this feeling.
Many of the residents were moved to tears.
