Chapter 302: Going To Be Very Close

Hanchuan held the pages flat while Zeyu showed him the container numbers.

Several deliveries had been crossed out, with dates written beside them, but most of the entries remained untouched.

He read through food, clothing and equipment intended for places he had never visited, then turned back to the first sheet.

They could spend days opening containers and still have more to search.

Beside him, Zhiyi had stopped trying to read over his arm. Her head rested against his shoulder, and when he moved the paper, she didn’t follow it with her eyes.

Hanchuan set the clipboard down.

"We’ll find the rest after we’ve checked these rooms," he told Zeyu. "We have food for today. I want dry clothes and somewhere we can sleep before we start opening cargo."

Zeyu glanced at Zhiyi, then gathered the pages into a neat stack. "I’ll keep this here. There were clothes in the cabins, but I didn’t stop to see what would fit."

"Bring what’s clean. We can worry about how it looks later," he answered.

Hanchuan slipped his arm around Zhiyi and drew her closer. She opened her eyes when he kissed her forehead, looking briefly confused by the table and the empty dishes before her attention settled on him.

"I wasn’t asleep," Zhiyi murmured, although her fingers had loosened around the towel.

"You can be soon, sweetheart. Qinghe will help you get changed while we finish looking around."

Her hand closed over his wrist. He waited instead of standing, letting her find whatever she wanted to say. "Are you going far?"

Hanchuan shook his head and brushed his thumb along her cheek. "Just these rooms and the passage outside. You’ll hear us moving around."

She released him slowly, and he stood before he could give in to the urge to carry her straight to the nearest bed.

Jingwei joined him at the doorway while Shichen stayed with Qinghe and Zhiyi.

They worked back through the cabins they had already opened, checking cupboards, bathrooms and the spaces beneath the beds.

Hanchuan looked for belongings that might tell him when the rooms had last been used, but most offered only ordinary signs of people having lived there.

A photograph was taped above one desk. In another cabin, a book lay open beneath a pair of glasses.

Clothes hung in wardrobes or sat folded inside drawers, and several beds had been stripped while others remained made.

None of it told him where the occupants had gone.

Jingwei paused outside a stairwell and listened before opening the door. Hanchuan stood beside him while daylight from above showed the first flight of steps.

"We can close this off for tonight," Jingwei said, testing the door after checking the landing. "There’s another way onto the deck at the end of the passage. I want to check that before anyone settles down."

Hanchuan followed him, keeping track of the turns. They found a linen cupboard, a small laundry room and an outside door with stiff catches. Beyond it lay a narrow walkway overlooking the water.

He stepped out far enough to see their motorboat below.

From this height, it looked smaller than he remembered. The salvaged paddles lay across the seats, and water shone in the open hatch.

They would have to go down again before the leaking hull settled too far, but he no longer needed to put Zhiyi back inside it.

Jingwei came to stand beside him.

"I’ll take Shichen down to it once we’re finished here," Jingwei said. "We can empty it and see whether there’s a better place to secure it."

Hanchuan nodded, then looked along the ship. The containers blocked much of the deck beyond the accommodation building. He could see other doors, ladders and passages they hadn’t approached.

"We haven’t checked enough to leave anyone alone yet," Hanchuan said. "We’ll stay in this section tonight and take turns watching the corridor. Tomorrow, we can start working through the rest."

Jingwei closed the outside door when they returned inside. He tested the catches again while Hanchuan continued toward the cabins.

Zeyu met him carrying a folded stack of clothes.

"I found shirts and trousers that look clean," Zeyu said, shifting the bundle to show him a pair of thick socks. "Those should help her foot. There are shoes too, but they’re all too big."

Hanchuan took the socks and a shirt, thanking him before entering the cabin Qinghe had chosen.

Zhiyi sat on the bed wearing borrowed trousers with the hems folded above her ankles. The towel rested across her lap, and Qinghe was kneeling in front of her, carefully removing the wet cloth from her heel. Her dress and life jacket hung over the back of the chair.

She looked up as soon as Hanchuan entered.

He crossed the room and sat beside her, resting his hand at the back of her neck while Qinghe finished. There was a small first-aid box open on the floor, with gauze and a packet of dressings beside it.

"Shichen found it by the stairs," Qinghe explained, following Hanchuan’s glance. "I’ve cleaned the scrape. She needs to keep the pressure off it for a while, but it looks better now that we’ve got that wet wrapping away."

Zhiyi leaned against Hanchuan while Qinghe covered her heel. When he finished, she touched his shoulder before he could get up.

"Thank you," Zhiyi said. "You should change too. Your sleeves are still wet."

Qinghe smiled and covered her hand briefly. "I’ve got something waiting next door. Hanchuan can help you with those socks."

He gathered the supplies and left, pulling the door almost closed behind him.

Hanchuan eased a sock over her uninjured foot first. She watched him fold the loose end beneath her toes, then lifted the other foot without being asked. He took more care with that one, keeping the fabric clear of the dressing until it was in place.

When he straightened, Zhiyi reached for his shirt.

"You’re wet too," she said, rubbing the fabric between her fingers.

Hanchuan caught her hand and kissed it. "Then you can help me find the buttons. My fingers aren’t doing much of what I ask them anymore."

She worked slowly, frowning at one stubborn button until it slipped free. He let her push the shirt from his shoulders, then changed into the dry one Zeyu had brought. It pulled across his back, but he didn’t care enough to find another.

Zhiyi waited while he changed his trousers behind the bathroom door. When he came back, she had moved toward the wall, leaving half the narrow bed for him.

Hanchuan looked at the space, then at her face.

"We’re going to be very close," he warned gently, sitting beside her.

Zhiyi caught his hand before he could stand again. "I know. I moved over as far as I wanted to."

He smiled and lay down, drawing her carefully against him. Her feet rested clear of the bedframe, and she tucked her face beneath his chin while he pulled the blanket over them.

For a while, he listened to his friends moving through the corridor. A cupboard closed, followed by Zeyu asking where Qinghe had put the remaining towels. Zhiyi’s breathing began to slow.

Hanchuan rested his cheek against her hair and closed his eyes, knowing Jingwei would wake him for the first watch.

Before sleep took him, he pictured the stairs above them and the rows of closed doors they would have to open tomorrow.