Chapter 281: Where To Go

Hanchuan knelt beside Zhiyi and pulled the handle while she kept her fingers beneath the edge of the panel.

It came up heavily, spilling water across her bare foot before he leaned it against the seat.

The space underneath was already half full.

With each rise of the bow, water washed toward the stern, carrying a strip of torn fabric that caught around a pipe.

Zhiyi watched it pull tight, then float loose again as Hanchuan called Shichen over.

Jingwei crouched on the other side with his flashlight. The beam shook across the water until he braced his wrist against the opening, giving Shichen enough light to lean closer.

"Zeyu, ease off when you can," Shichen called. He pushed the floating cloth aside and reached down, searching beneath the cloudy water. "I need this to settle enough to see where it’s coming in."

Zeyu glanced back, then returned his attention to a broken door rolling through the waves ahead. "I’m getting us clear of this first. There’s more underneath that I can’t see."

Zhiyi looked past his shoulder.

Pieces of their building rose and disappeared around them, some small enough to pass beneath the boat and others large enough that Zeyu had to turn away. She recognized the pale wood of a cupboard before a wave rolled it over.

Hanchuan touched her shoulder, drawing her attention back. "Move beside Qinghe, sweetheart. Give Shichen room to work," he murmured, his gaze concerned.

She shifted along the wet deck, keeping one hand on the seat.

Qinghe had opened a locker beneath it and was pulling out a coil of rope. He passed it to Jingwei, then lifted a folded cover and found a small plastic bucket wedged beneath it.

Zhiyi took the bucket before he could set it down.

"I can get some of the water out," she said. Hanchuan looked at the opening, then moved aside far enough for her to reach it without leaning over Shichen.

"Pass it to me when you’ve filled it," Hanchuan told her, settling beside the rail. "You stay down here."

The first bucket was heavier than she expected. She lifted it with both hands, spilling some onto her knees before Hanchuan took it. He emptied it over the side and gave it back while she adjusted her footing.

By the fifth trip, her shoulders hurt.

She had struck one when the boat dropped from its cradle, and the ache sharpened whenever she reached too far.

She began filling the bucket less, finding a movement she could repeat without stopping.

Zeyu slowed once the larger wreckage fell behind them. The boat still rolled, but Shichen could keep his hand against the damaged section long enough to find it.

"There’s a split down here," Shichen said, looking toward the folded cover. "Qinghe, give me that. I want to see if I can slow it."

Qinghe passed it over and held the flashlight while Jingwei helped Shichen work the fabric into place. Water pushed around it at first and Shichen folded it again, swore when his hand slipped, and changed where he was pressing.

Zhiyi kept scooping from the other end of the compartment.

She could hear a pump running beneath the engine, but the water had hardly dropped. Hanchuan took another bucket from her, his fingers brushing hers as he caught the handle.

Yesterday, those hands had helped her dress for her wedding.

She remembered him standing behind her in the mirror, fastening Jingwei’s clip into her hair. Now there was blood drying along one knuckle, and she couldn’t remember seeing him hurt it.

"Hold it there," Shichen told Jingwei.

He eased one hand away from the cover, watching the water before reaching for the edge of the seat. "I need something stiff enough to spread the pressure. That loose board beneath the cushion might do."

Qinghe lifted the cushion and freed the board. They tried it twice before finding an angle that held the folded cover against the split.

Jingwei stayed crouched over it, his forearm braced across the wood while Shichen checked the edges.

The water began to fall.

Zhiyi watched a fitting emerge along the side of the compartment.

She filled another bucket, wanting to uncover more of it, but Hanchuan caught her wrist before she could lower the bucket again.

"Let Qinghe take over for a while." Hanchuan helped her sit back, then moved the wet hair away from her face. "You’ve been using that shoulder since we opened this."

Zhiyi hadn’t realized he had noticed. She let him guide her onto the seat while Qinghe took her place.

Beside them, Shichen was arranging the rope around the board, testing whether it would stay put without Jingwei’s weight.

It didn’t.

As soon as Jingwei lifted his arm, water slipped beneath the lower edge and Shichen told him to press down again.

"We’ll have to take turns holding it," Shichen said. He sat back on his heels, breathing hard. "I can keep working on it, but don’t leave it alone."

Hanchuan nodded and looked toward the helm. "Zeyu, keep us as steady as you can. We’ll deal with finding somewhere to go once we can stop this getting worse."

Zeyu wiped his face on his sleeve without answering immediately.

Beyond the windshield, rain had swallowed the last shape Zhiyi could have mistaken for a building. He adjusted their course when a wave struck the side, and everyone leaned with the boat.

They kept working while the rain thickened.

Jingwei searched the remaining seat lockers one at a time, passing out life jackets and helping Zhiyi fasten hers before moving on.

Shichen took his place over the patch, then Hanchuan relieved Shichen. The bucket passed between Qinghe and Jingwei until Zhiyi held out her hands for it again.

Hanchuan watched her scoop a smaller amount and let her continue.

She lost track of how many times they changed places.

Her wet clothes rubbed against her knees, and the bucket handle left a red line across her palm. Whenever she stopped, she heard the water trickling around the cover.

Eventually, daylight brightened beyond the windshield. Zhiyi lifted her head, expecting the city to appear through the thinning rain.

Zeyu was already looking.

He turned toward the stern, searching past Hanchuan, then faced forward again.

Zhiyi followed his gaze as the boat climbed a swell. She could see farther now, across uneven gray water to a strip of lighter sky. Nothing rose above it.

"There should be something behind us," Zeyu said. He kept one hand on the wheel while rubbing rain from his eyes. "I haven’t been driving fast enough to leave the whole city behind."

Hanchuan rose from the patch after Jingwei took his place. He stood beside Zeyu, looking in the direction they had come.

Zhiyi searched too.

At last she found a dark speck that vanished between the waves and appeared again farther to their left.

For a moment, she thought it might be the top of a building, then she saw something lift above it and move.

"There’s a boat over there," Zhiyi said, pointing until Hanchuan found it. "I can’t see how many people are on it."

Zeyu looked toward the distant boat, then down at his controls. His hand rested on the throttle, but he didn’t push it forward.

"Which way do you want me to go?" Zeyu asked Hanchuan.

Zhiyi waited for him to answer.

Water touched her foot again, and she lowered the bucket into the compartment while he continued looking for anything he recognized.