Open plaza.
The situation is tense.
Wang Yuling anxiously asked. “Director, what should we do now?”
Dong Xuebing is more anxious than her, but he remains calm. “Our Subdistrict is prepared for this disaster, and our casualties should be the lowest in the City. Yuling, I need you to organize a rescue team with our extra manpower to go to the District and other Subdistricts. Also, inform Guang Ming Garden’s Secretary Geng and Director Zhou to do the same. We will extend our rescue efforts to the whole Nan Shan District.”
“Then what about you?”
“I will go to the District Party Committee Building.”
“But Director, we….”
Dong Xuebing did not say anything and rode his bicycle towards the District Party Committee Building. He had made arrangements in his Subdistrict from the information he got from the ‘future’ newspaper. Still, the newspaper did not state the situation in other areas. He thought the District Party Committee would have contingency plans for disasters, and Geng Yuehua would be safe there. He did not expect the District Party Committee Building to be on fire. He would have dragged Geng Yuehua out from the District Party Committee Building before the earthquake if he knew about it. It is too late to think about these now.
Geng Yuehua….
You must be safe!
Wait for me! I am on my way there!
Dong Xuebing’s subordinates are not around, and he can show his uneasiness and worries. He rode out of Guang Ming Subdistrict towards the District. He got to navigate through cracks and abandon vehicles on the roads. He even got to get off his bike and carry it over a 1-meter-deep crack on the road.
Debris was everywhere.
This is the first time Dong Xuebing left his Subdistrict after the earthquake.
He is devastated by what he saw.
Bodies are lying by the roadsides, and puddles of blood are seeping out from the debris.
Survivors are crying besides their dead family members, and some are sitting by the side in a daze.
Dong Xuebing stopped his bike and shouted. “Go to your Subdistrict’s relief centers or empty spaces! It is dangerous to remain here! Hurry up! Another tremor might happen soon!” He is shocked by the destruction he saw and feels lucky his Subdistrict still has not found anyone dead. Other than Guang Ming Subdistrict, the situation in other areas should be like this. Bodies are everywhere, and his Subdistrict should do all they can to help other Subdistricts.
The nearer Dong Xuebing got to the District Party Committee Building, and he saw more bodies.
Some bodies lie at the foot of a building, and advertising boards crush some. Blood is also dripping out from abandoned vehicles.
Dong Xuebing is worried and frustrated when he thinks of Geng Yuehua. She is in danger now, and he wondered if she is still alive. He sped up and used all his strength to ride his bike towards the District Party Committee Building.
District Party Committee Building.
A raging fire engulfed the District Party Committee Building, and people shouted and screamed outside.
“Hurry! Put out the fire!”
“We can’t! The fire is too big!”
“Where is the fire department?!”
“They are five kilometers away! The roads are blocked, and their vehicles can’t pass!”
Part of the District Party Committee Building had collapsed, and the building is leaning to its side. All the windows were smashed, and the fire had reached the third story. Black smoke is coming out from the windows, and the fire is spreading rapidly.
Outside of the District Party Committee Building.
District Party Secretary Wang Anshi, Executive Deputy Mayor Shen Fei, and other leaders are standing there with dozens of District Party Committee staff.
Shen Fei had just run out from the building, and his face was covered with soot. “Mayor Geng is still inside! We got to save her!”
Wang Anshi shouted furiously. “Why didn’t you bring Mayor Geng out with you all?!”
Some of Ma Jian’s hair was burnt away by the fire. She replied. “I did not see Mayor Geng when I was coming out, and it’s too late when we discover she is still in the building.”
“How many people are inside?” Wang Anshi asked.
“There should be slightly more than a dozen people trapped inside. If we include the ones going in to rescue them, there should be more than twenty people.”
“Call the fire department and get them to come over as soon as possible!” Wang Anshi shouted.
Everyone is looking at the District Party Committee Building anxiously.
Most of the staff had escaped from the building during the earthquake. The District Party Committee Building’s structure had barely withstood the earthquake, and it almost collapsed. The remaining staff was trapped inside the building, and Wang Anshi and Geng Yuehua immediately ordered a rescue team to save them. Despite objections, Geng Yuehua, Ma Jian, and Shen Fei joined in the rescue. They carried the injured staff out slowly, and an explosion happened in one of the rooms on the ground floor. Fire quickly spread across the floor, and Shen Fei, Ma Jian, and other rescuers quickly pulled the survivors out of the building. But when they are outside, they realize Geng Yuehua is missing. She might have gone upstairs, and the fire is too big for them to enter. The fire spreads quickly, and no one can enter the building to save her.
The fire is getting bigger.
Anyone who goes in now will be burned alive.
No one can do anything except watch the fire spread to the upper floors.
Dong Xuebing arrived and saw many bodies on the ground outside the building. They had been dead for some time, and he had met some of them before. They are the District Government’s Staff Members. A group of injured staff is resting in an open space away from the building. They are taken care of by the surviving staff. These people have broken arms and legs, and the fire badly burned some.
Dong Xuebing threw his bike and rushed over anxiously. “Where are the rest that was trapped inside? Who else is inside?!”
Everyone saw Dong Xuebing and had complicated feelings.
But everyone knows this is not the time to talk about other things.
Secretary Ma is crying. “More than twenty people, including Mayor Geng, are still in the building.”
“Where is the fire department?!”
“The roads are blocked!”
Dong Xuebing’s face changed as he looked at the raging fire.
Geng Yuehua is still inside!
At this time, Geng Xinke and two Guang Ming Subdistrict Office staff arrived on bicycles. “Where’s my sister?! Where is she?!” He had heard the news on the radio and rushed here.
Ma Jian looks at Geng Xinke and points to the burning office building.
The building is five stories, and the stairs had collapsed from the fire.
“Sis!” Geng Xinke shouted, and his legs gave way. The two Guang Ming Subdistrict Office staff quickly supported him.
Everyone is feeling bad. Mayor Geng had risked her life to rescue others during the earthquake. She earned everyone, including those from the Wang Faction, respect. Even Wang Anshi doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her.
But the fire department can’t reach the District Party Committee Building, and they don’t have the equipment to put out the fire.
When everyone was feeling helpless, Dong Xuebing ran towards the burning building.
Shen Fei is shocked. “Xiao Dong!”
“Dong Xuebing!” District’s Commission for Discipline Inspection Secretary Wu Liang shouted.
“Director Dong!” Everyone knows it is impossible to save Geng Yuehua and the rest from the building.
Dong Xuebing ignored their cries and ran to the front of the building. He looked at the smoke coming out from a window and jumped through it. The fire was too big, and half of his shirt was burned away immediately.
“STOP!”
The fire froze.
The flames hovered in mid-air.
Dong Xuebing is worried for Geng Yuehua, and he runs towards the stairs.
But to his horror, the stairs had collapsed, and there was no way for Dong Xuebing to go upstairs.
Dong Xuebing couldn’t find another way to go upstairs and deactivated STOP. He shouted in an area that was not burning. “Mayor Geng! Mayor Geng!”
No one replied.
The only reply Dong Xuebing got was the thick black smoke and flickering flames.
Dong Xuebing could not hold on anymore. He had breathed in the smoke and was getting giddy. He covered his head and jumped from the same window.
“Xiao Dong had come out!”
“Come back here!”
“It is too dangerous to go in!”
People shouted at Dong Xuebing.
But Dong Xuebing is not leaving. He looked at the burning building and felt his heart shattered.
Yuehua!!!
Suddenly, a survivor shouted.
“Look! Upstairs!”
“There are people on the rooftop!”
“It’s Mayor Geng!”
“The rest of the staff are with her! It’s them!”
“They are alive!”
Dong Xuebing heard it and quickly ran a few steps back. He looked up and saw Geng Yuehua holding on to an injured staff on the rooftop, looking at them. A few staffs are with her, and the female staff is crying and shouting for help.
“Save us!”
“The fire is reaching us soon!”
“Help!”
Geng Yuehua did not say anything. She looked at the people beneath her feet and closed her eyes slowly.
Ma Jian, Wang Anshi, and the rest are relieved to know they are still alive. This is a piece of good news. But how are they going to save them?!
