Chapter 254: They’re Armed

Jingwei moved the boat’s image onto the larger screen and pulled a chair toward the controls.

The child had stopped struggling, though his mother kept reaching for him whenever the armed man looked toward the tower.

Each time, the man shifted his leg and pushed the boy farther from her.

At the window below, people were arguing over something Jingwei couldn’t hear. A woman disappeared into the room and returned carrying a shopping bag against her chest.

"That’s mine," someone shouted behind her. A man caught her sleeve, but she shook him off and leaned over the sill.

"Let the boy go," the woman called down, lifting the bag. "There’s food in here. Come closer and take it."

The boatman beside the engine looked toward his armed companion.

After a moment, he steered back against the building, where the woman lowered the bag by its handles. He caught it and opened it immediately.

Jingwei watched him push aside a folded towel and lift out a packet. The man at the window was still trying to reach past the woman, his face twisted with anger.

"That’s enough for the kid," the armed man said, releasing the boy’s coat. He caught the mother’s shoulder when she tried to follow her son toward the window. "You’re staying until they bring the rest."

The mother grabbed her child before the boatman could lift him. She held him against her so tightly that his feet left the floor.

"They paid you already." Her voice shook as she backed beneath the plastic sheet. "You said we could get out."

The gunman raised his weapon, and the people at the window pulled away. Only the woman with the empty shopping bag remained. She stared at the child, then lowered her arms.

Jingwei turned down the sound when the shouting began again. He could still hear it, but it no longer filled the sitting room.

Zhiyi came to stand beside his chair. Her fingers rested briefly against the back of his neck before she leaned toward the smaller screen, where he had kept the stairwell views open.

"Someone is coming down," she said, pointing toward a man moving quickly past the abandoned bedding. "He was at the window before the bag appeared."

Jingwei followed him through the cameras.

The man wore a green jacket and carried nothing. When he reached the flooded floor, he stepped over a bundle in the hallway and went straight to the window.

He pushed between the woman and the angry man behind her.

"Wait," the newcomer called to the boat. He held up both hands when the gun turned toward him. "You’re asking the wrong people. There’s food upstairs."

Zeyu stopped pacing behind Jingwei’s chair. On the screen, the gunman looked up along the building before returning his attention to the window.

"Then bring it down," the gunman replied. He kept one hand on the mother’s shoulder while she tried to move the child behind her.

The man in the green jacket shook his head.

"We can’t get through their doors," he explained. "They’ve got power up there. We saw them arrive with a truck, and they took it into the private garage."

Jingwei enlarged the man’s face and saved the image.

He had seen him carrying bedding during the first night, helping another person drag a mattress around a stairwell corner. He still had no idea how the man would react if someone showed up with a gun.

Hanchuan came closer as the boatman tied a rope through the window frame.

"How many are getting out?" Hanchuan asked, watching the passengers shift aside.

"Both men," Jingwei answered. He stood and picked up his rifle from the cabinet beside the desk. "Shichen, stay on the cameras. Tell me which staircase they use."

Qinghe moved the chair out of his way while Zeyu checked the other approach. Nobody suggested meeting the men downstairs.

Zhiyi caught Jingwei’s sleeve before he passed her. He turned toward her, and she straightened the collar that had folded beneath his rifle strap.

"Your radio is still charging," she reminded him, reaching for it on the counter. He bent enough for her to clip it in place, then touched her wrist before letting go.

"Stay with Shichen," Jingwei told her. "I’ll come back here when we’re finished."

Hanchuan followed him into the corridor.

Behind them, Shichen reported that the mother and child had climbed through the window as soon as the armed man turned away. Other passengers followed, leaving the boat almost empty.

Jingwei was glad they had taken the chance. He kept walking.

At the protected entrance, he checked the view outside before opening the small cover beside the door.

The passage beyond the barrier remained empty. Farther down, the stairwell light came on as the three men climbed toward them.

They stopped twice to catch their breath.

Jingwei watched the man in the green jacket point upward while the gunman leaned against the railing.

His companion had taken a short metal bar from somewhere below and kept tapping it against his leg.

By the time they reached the final landing, Jingwei had settled behind the protected opening. Hanchuan stood at the adjoining position, watching the stairwell door through the camera.

The recorded warning sounded when the men entered the passage.

The man in green stopped immediately. The other two looked toward the ceiling, then at the locked entrance.

Jingwei pressed the intercom button.

"You’ve reached a private floor," he said. "Turn around and take your weapons with you."

The gunman wiped rainwater from his face with his sleeve. Behind him, the man in green began explaining where the camera was, pointing directly toward the lens.

"We’re collecting supplies," the gunman called. "You can send something down, or we can stay here until you change your mind."

Jingwei watched the weapon hanging beside the man’s thigh. The passage was dry, and there was nothing preventing him from leaving.

"You aren’t collecting anything here," Jingwei replied. "Go back downstairs."

The gunman glanced at his companion, who stepped forward with the bar. At the same time, the man in green backed toward the stairwell.

Jingwei kept the rifle steady.

When the companion struck the door, the warning sounded again. The gunman raised his weapon toward the camera, and Jingwei fired before he could pull the trigger.

The shot threw him backward against the wall. His gun struck the floor, and his companion dropped the bar as he stumbled away.

Behind Jingwei, Hanchuan opened the speaker.

"Leave the weapon," Hanchuan said. "Take him and go."

The man in green had already reached the stairwell. He pulled the door open, nearly knocking over someone coming up behind him.

Jingwei watched a fourth man appear on the landing with a radio in his hand. He looked past the fallen gunman toward the protected entrance, then stepped back out of the camera’s view.

"Don’t bring the others up," the newcomer said into the radio. "They’re armed."