Chapter 280: Coming Up From Underneath

Hanchuan’s hand slipped on the wet wall as he tried to stand.

Zhiyi felt his arm tighten around her before his knee struck the floor again, and she caught the doorframe beside them to keep from sliding back toward the kitchen.

Water washed over her fingers, carrying grit that scraped beneath her nails.

"Put your foot against the frame," Hanchuan told her, leaning close so she could hear him. "I’ll lift you. Keep hold until you’re standing."

She did as he asked, pressing her slipper against the wood while he got beneath her arm.

Ahead of them, a narrow light moved through the dust. Jingwei had switched on the flashlight he carried, and its beam caught Zeyu struggling with the equipment-bay door at the end of the corridor.

The door opened a few inches before stopping. Shichen put his shoulder beside Zeyu’s, and together they forced it far enough for Qinghe to squeeze through.

"Come this way," Qinghe called, holding it from the other side. "There’s room if you turn sideways."

Zhiyi followed Hanchuan along the wall.

Behind them, metal scraped against concrete with a sound that made her teeth hurt. She looked back once and saw the ship’s hull through the broken kitchen doorway.

The cupboards had disappeared beneath it. Water poured around its sides, bringing pieces of the dining table into the corridor.

Hanchuan drew her attention forward with a hand against her cheek.

"Look where you’re going, sweetheart," Hanchuan said. "We need to get through that door."

The equipment bay was brighter, although she couldn’t understand why until they reached it.

A long section of the outer wall had pulled away from the ceiling, letting daylight and rain through the gap.

The mobile command unit stood at an angle across its parking space, one rear wheel hanging above a split in the concrete.

Zeyu stopped beside it. His gaze went toward the driver’s door, then down to the widening break beneath the tires.

Before he could move, a restraint tore loose from the floor and struck the side of the vehicle.

"The boat," Hanchuan ordered, guiding Zhiyi past him. "Zeyu, get it started. We’re leaving everything else."

Zeyu swallowed and turned away from the vehicle.

He climbed over the side of the motorboat while Shichen went to the launch controls beside the outer doors.

Jingwei stayed behind them, shining his light over the floor as Qinghe helped Hanchuan bring Zhiyi across.

She had walked through this room often enough to know where the boat stood without looking.

Now she kept reaching for things that weren’t where she expected them to be. A cabinet had fallen across the walkway, and the deck beneath her feet sloped toward the back wall.

"Step over here," Jingwei said, taking her elbow as Hanchuan climbed aboard. "He’s got you."

Hanchuan reached down, and Zhiyi let him lift her over the side. Her slipper caught on the edge and fell beneath the launch cradle.

She stared after it until Qinghe climbed in behind her, blocking her view.

The engine coughed, then caught. Zeyu leaned over the controls while Shichen pressed the button that should have opened the outer doors. Nothing happened beyond a brief grinding noise from above.

"The right side’s caught," Shichen called, looking up at the bent track. "Jingwei, help me with the bottom."

They lifted together as rain blew beneath the rising door, followed by a wave that spread around their ankles.

Zhiyi watched the water reach the launch cradle and realized the bay was sinking toward it.

Hanchuan saw it too. He moved toward the stern, keeping one hand on the rail while he watched the men outside.

"Get aboard as soon as it clears," Hanchuan told them. "Don’t wait for it to open all the way."

Shichen pushed the door higher and wedged its edge against the twisted track. Jingwei ducked beneath his arm to release the bow restraint.

The boat shifted on its cradle, and Zhiyi caught the seat in front of her while Qinghe braced beside her.

A crash behind them made Zeyu look up.

The floor beneath the mobile command unit had dropped. Its rear end sank through first, pulling the front upward until Zhiyi could see the underside.

For a moment it hung there, held by the remaining strap. Then the concrete around the anchor broke away, and the vehicle disappeared with it.

Zeyu’s mouth opened, but Zhiyi heard nothing from him. His hands remained on the controls as water surged through the broken floor.

Meanwhile, Jingwei climbed aboard while Shichen freed the last catch on the cradle. The boat began moving before Shichen could straighten, sliding toward the open doors with him still beside it.

Qinghe reached for him. His fingers caught Shichen’s shirt, and Hanchuan seized his arm as the hull passed through the opening. Together they hauled him over the side just before the stern dropped into the water.

Zhiyi struck her shoulder against the seat. Cold water came over the rail, soaking her hair and running into her mouth.

Hanchuan crouched over her while Zeyu steered away from the wall, the engine straining beneath the noise of the building coming apart.

Outside, people were climbing through windows along the next stretch of wall.

A man jumped with a cushion held against his chest, landing close enough that water splashed across Jingwei’s back.

Others followed him, some slipping before they could clear the broken frames.

"Please, wait!" a woman screamed from the water. She reached the side near Zhiyi and caught the rail, her wet fingers sliding over it. "Let me in. I can see you!"

Zhiyi moved back as Hanchuan stepped between them. The woman tried to pull herself higher, but he removed her hand from the rail and pushed her away.

"Keep moving," Hanchuan told Zeyu, raising his voice over the engine.

Jingwei used the boat hook to keep another man from catching the stern. Qinghe stayed beside Shichen, holding him upright while he coughed water onto the deck. None of them asked Zeyu to stop.

A section of wall fell where the woman had been swimming.

The wave lifted their stern and threw Zhiyi against Hanchuan’s legs. He caught her beneath the arms, lowering her between the seats as the boat pitched forward.

Through the rain, she could still see people at the windows. One held out both hands toward them while the floor beneath him sagged.

Then the windows dropped together, and the water covered the opening.

Zeyu kept steering away as the tower folded behind them.

Zhiyi watched until dust and spray hid what remained, still expecting to recognize a room, a piece of furniture, something that would make it possible to understand how much had gone.

Hanchuan’s hand settled at the back of her neck. She looked up at him, then past him, counting the others where they crouched or stood aboard the boat.

Water splashed against her bare foot.

At first, she thought it was what had come over the side. Then she saw it welling through the seam beside the rear floor panel, spreading faster each time the hull struck a wave.

Zhiyi reached for Hanchuan’s wrist before he could move away.

"Help me open this," Zhiyi said, pulling at the recessed handle. "There’s water coming up from underneath."