tkworld Chapter 481 Search and Rescue
Chapter 481 Search and Rescue
She strained to reach forward, while the child cried loudly in her arms.
She glanced down at the child one last time, tried her best to hand the child to the soldier, but she herself was too far away to be rescued and drifted away.
Xu Xiaoyan closed her eyes helplessly.
More and more people gathered on the high slope, all huddled together, shivering, and no one spoke.
Occasionally, someone would let out a suppressed sob, which would immediately be soothed by those around them with pats on the shoulder or handshakes.
Xu Xiaoyan opened her eyes and looked down at the floodwaters.
She thought of that overly friendly guy who called himself Xiao Li. Where was he now?
Xu Xiaoyan searched through the crowd but couldn't find the tall, thin figure or the backpack that was half her height.
She opened her mouth, wanting to call out "Xiao Li," but her lips moved without making a sound.
The rain gradually subsided, but the floodwaters did not recede.
People huddled together on the high slope, shivering from the cold.
Some people took off their soaked coats, wrung them out, and put them back on, but they were quickly soaked again by the rain.
Someone held the child, warming the child's cold little hands and feet with their own body heat.
Someone was leaning on another person's shoulder, eyes closed, lips moving incessantly, it was unclear whether they were praying or chanting.
As dawn broke, the floodwaters finally receded, revealing the valley below. What was a relatively dry campsite yesterday had now become a vast mudflat.
The mud was ankle-deep, and everywhere were ruined backpacks, scattered clothes, broken branches, and other debris whose original shape was no longer recognizable.
After the water receded, a thick layer of yellow mud was left on the ground, covered with countless deep and shallow footprints and drag marks.
The campsite, once crowded with people, is now deserted.
The people on the high slope slowly walked down, looking around and calling out the names of their family and companions.
"Dazhuang—Dazhuang, where are you—!"
"Mom—Mom, answer me—Mom—"
"Old Li! Old Li! Come out here, Old Li!"
But no one responded.
Someone recognized their family member's clothes on the roadside, squatted down, picked up the clothes whose color was no longer recognizable, buried their face in the clothes, and their shoulders shook violently.
Someone found their child's shoe, a pink bunny shoe. The person hugged the tiny shoe, knelt in the mud, and wept bitterly.
Xu Xiaoyan saw Xiao Li's luggage; the half-person-high hiking backpack was hanging on a tree about a kilometer downstream from the campsite.
The bag's zipper had burst, and its contents were scattered all over the floor.
Several neatly folded clothes, an unopened bag of cookies, a half-read martial arts novel, a family photo, and that plush toy.
The toy was completely ruined. Its once snow-white plush was now stained grayish-brown with mud, and the button for one of its eyes was missing, leaving only a loose thread.
The other eye was still there, crookedly sewn onto its face, tilting its head to look at this gray world.
Xu Xiaoyan picked up the family photo.
In the photo, it's barely discernible that a young woman is holding a baby, a middle-aged man is standing beside her, and Xiao Li is standing on the far side, smiling brightly.
The search lasted the entire morning.
Team Leader Gu led his men forward inch by inch, following the direction in which the floodwaters had receded.
The mud was up to their calves, and every step required a lot of effort, but no one stopped. They called out the names of the missing people, and when their voices became hoarse, they blew whistles.
Finally, eight survivors were successfully found.
Some of them were swept downstream onto the mudflats, where they were blocked by a broken tree, half their bodies buried in the mud, unconscious, but still alive.
Some were stuck in the crevices of the rocks, suffering multiple fractures and turning pale with pain, but remained conscious.
The moment she saw the rescuers arrive, tears streamed down her face like a burst dam. "I thought I was going to die. I thought no one would come looking for me."
The remaining people could never be found.
Captain Gu stood deep in the valley, facing the direction of the water flow, and slowly raised his right hand to his forehead, giving a military salute.
Everyone bowed their heads, praying that the departed rest in peace.
When they returned to their base, the rest of the group gradually came back.
Some people were carried back from the riverbank downstream by soldiers, covered in mud, delirious, and repeatedly murmuring the names of their family members.
Some people climbed up the mountainside to higher places, and only dared to come down after the flood receded. They walked back using both their hands and feet, wearing out their shoes and getting blisters all over their feet.
Others were found by members of other teams, huddled in a crevice, shivering, unable to utter complete sentences.
People gathered from all directions on the small hill that had been chosen as a temporary assembly point.
As each person approaches, everyone's eyes will turn to them, hoping to spot someone they know.
Someone actually recognized their family member, rushed over excitedly to hug them, and the whole family burst into tears of joy.
As evening approached, each team began counting heads.
The numbers were reported one by one, summarized, and summarized again, until finally the number that silenced everyone was revealed.
There were 86,000 people when they set off, but now there are only 72,000 left.
After it got completely dark, the team leaders were summoned together for a meeting.
Xu Xiaoyan was not far away and could just hear some fragmented conversations, interspersed with professional terms she didn't understand.
But the core issue quickly became clear: the river in front of us.
After the flash flood, the river swelled dramatically, flowing much faster and at a much higher level than before.
The original plan to wade through the water was no longer viable. Gu's voice came from the crowd, steady but heavy: "We can't take the original route anymore, it's too dangerous. We have to take a detour."
"How far is the detour?" someone asked.
"We'll go another twenty or thirty li and cross the shallows upstream," said Captain Gu.
"I've gone to investigate. There's a section of the river upstream that's quite wide, the current is dispersed, and the water level is shallow. The deepest part is about waist-deep."
After a brief silence, someone raised the question everyone was thinking but dared not voice: "Taking a detour? I wonder if the people have enough food..."
Several team leaders spoke at the same time, their voices mingling together, making it difficult to understand exactly what they said, but the anxiety and helplessness in their tones were the same.
The issue of food rations has become a sword hanging over everyone's head these past few days.
The supply truck was slow to arrive, and everyone had fewer and fewer compressed biscuits. Some people had started eating only half a biscuit a day, holding the other half in their hands, reluctant to eat it.
Team Leader Gu's voice rang out again, "Even if it's not enough, we have to leave. Staying here is just waiting to die. Taking a detour offers a glimmer of hope."
No one spoke anymore.