Door

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The engineer and the old man pushed open the iron door beside the room they had just left, and a wave of mildew slammed into them so strongly that both men coughed a few times.

The room was not large. Gray food bricks were piled in the corner, and murky bottles of water were strewn across the floor.

“This is the stuff we got in line this morning,” the old man said, looking at the items before him. At the memory of that bitter, astringent taste, his brow tightened on its own.

The engineer said nothing. His gaze had been drawn to the piping in one corner of the room, its exterior crusted with rust and grime.

He stepped closer to inspect it, finding the opening narrow, the pipe running straight up through the ceiling. When he tilted his head back, the darkness inside seemed to have no end in sight.

“This should be a passage for transporting food,” the engineer said, pointing at the opening. “The structure is simple. If we’re lucky, it might go all the way to the top floor. Pity it’s too narrow—no one could squeeze through.”

The old man leaned in as well and peered inside. Seeing how dim and cramped it was, he frowned. “How high does it go? Even if someone could get in, climbing it would probably cost them their life. The stairs are easier.”

“Let’s go. The mildew in here is making me dizzy.” With that, the engineer turned and walked out.

The old man glanced at the pipe, gathered up some food and water, and followed him out.

In her unconsciousness, Yunxian vaguely felt that she was lying on a mat. Everything around her seemed veiled in a thin mist. Faint fragments of conversation drifted by her ear, but she could not make out the words. She wanted to open her eyes, but her body was heavy beyond measure; she could not even lift a finger.

No one knew how much time had passed before a rough hand gently touched her forehead.

“She’s burning up,” someone whispered.

Then another, colder voice sounded. “Leave her. We don’t have the strength to carry another burden.”

The old man did not answer. He took a talisman paper from his robe, carefully dissolved it into water, and held the water to Yunxian’s lips.

The talisman water was cold. She faintly felt moisture at her throat, but her body remained limp and powerless.

The old man sighed. “I’ve done all I can. The rest will depend on her fate.”

The engineer stayed busy through the night, using the materials they had gathered to fashion tools for cutting through the iron net, along with a few crude pieces of equipment.

“The parts from those machines were a huge help,” he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The old man was dozing in a corner.

The next morning, Yunxian’s fever had broken. The old man touched her forehead and said with relief, “I knew this girl had a hard life.”

But soon after, a small patch of black spots on Yunxian’s arm caught his eye.

“What is this...”

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“Mildew disease.” The engineer adjusted his glasses. “From what I can tell, those who are weak are especially prone to infection. And within three days at most, it enters the symptomatic stage. Once symptoms appear, death follows in less than a day.”

The old man’s face darkened at once. He tried again to treat her with talisman water, but this time it had no effect at all.

“This time, she really can’t be saved...” the old man murmured. “When we leave later, we’ll leave her some food and water. That’s all we can do.”

The engineer came over to examine the mildew on Yunxian’s arm. After a moment’s thought, he said, “I’m taking her with us.”

His voice was low, but resolute.

The old man was stunned. “Aren’t you the coldest one here? Since when did you grow a heart?”

The engineer did not reply. He only silently packed the guns they had collected the day before into his backpack.

Half-conscious, Yunxian gradually regained awareness. Looking at the two busy figures before her, she froze. “They’re the ones from the elevator...” She struggled to prop herself up.

The old man heard the movement and turned around. “Well, girl, you’re awake.”

“Why... am I here? You saved me?” Yunxian’s voice was hoarse, carrying a trace of confusion.

The old man laughed heartily. “We did save you, but you should thank him.” He pointed at the engineer, then launched into a long ramble, telling her all about the robot guards and their entire plan in one breath.

At the end, he asked, “Girl, are you staying here, or coming with us?”

Yunxian froze. Her mind, battered by the sudden flood of information, seemed to stall for a moment.

She lowered her head and took a while to process it. Gradually, her eyes cleared. Then she lifted her head and said with firm determination, “I’m going with you.”

The engineer glanced at her, his tone calm. “I don’t know how many of those people will be willing to come with us.”

The old man scratched his head. “This girl is still so weak. Can she even walk? Should we rest another night?”

“Even if she can’t walk, she has to go.” The engineer cut him off coldly. “We don’t have that much time.” His gaze drifted, almost absentmindedly, to the black spots showing at the edge of his sleeve. He had to find a cure as soon as possible.

After replenishing their strength, they took their equipment, food, and water, and left the room.

At the door stood the teenage boy who had brought out the wire, waiting against the wall. The old man looked around and asked, “Just you?”

The boy twisted the hem of his clothes and nodded timidly.

The engineer frowned. What he needed was young and able-bodied people, cannon fodder to stand at the front, not a burden. “No. You stay here. You don’t have the stamina.”

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Tears instantly welled in the boy’s eyes. After a moment’s hesitation, he summoned his courage and said, “Take me with you. My family all died from this disease. I want to avenge them!”

“No!” the engineer refused just as coldly.

“I won’t be a burden. I can do anything,” the boy pleaded on.

The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. “Take him. It won’t hurt anything anyway.”

The engineer cast the old man a frosty glance and snorted. “Then keep an eye on him yourself.” With that, he turned and walked off.

The old man, Yunxian, and the boy hurried after him.

The hall was empty now. Most of the doors were shut tight. Now and then someone would poke their head out from a room, only to be pulled back inside by a companion before the door was slammed closed again.

They reached the corridor, and the engineer lifted the laser cutter he had made the night before. In no time, he sliced a hole through the iron net, just large enough for one person to pass through.

The group successfully made it to the floor above. The main door there was still closed, but the barrier across the corridor was no longer an iron net. It was a metal door.

Yunxian stepped forward and asked, “This is...”

“The higher we go, the stronger the doors’ defenses seem to be. This cutter still works a bit on this floor, though I don’t know what will happen once we reach the upper ones...” The engineer adjusted his glasses.

After speaking, he once again used the laser cutter to open a hole in the door. This time it took a little longer.

On the next floor up, the material of the door seemed even tougher. The laser cutter labored for a full hour before it managed to carve out a hole barely large enough for a dog to crawl through.

“This is humiliating,” the old man cursed as he squeezed through.

The others continued climbing. Just as the engineer at the front set one foot onto the corridor of the fourth floor, a red laser suddenly shot out from a device mounted on the metal door blocking the stairwell entrance.

Everyone retreated swiftly to the staircase landing. The laser struck the wall and instantly burned out a pit of moderate size.

The old man drew in a sharp breath. “What do we do now? We can’t get through. If that beam hits a person, it’ll burn a hole straight through them.”