HPDBC Chapter 137 Post-traumatic stress disorder
Chapter 137 Post-traumatic stress disorder
Lin Weiwei helped Bai Si'an move towards the door.
The thick smoke was getting increasingly choking, stinging my eyes so much I could only squint.
The ground was wet, a mixture of many different liquids, and very slippery to walk on.
She gritted her teeth, wrapped her arms around Bai Si'an's waist, and dug her fingers into the fabric of his white coat.
Bai Si'an's weight was half on her shoulder, and he was panting heavily, each breath accompanied by a bellows-like rumbling in his chest.
"The door...the door is on the left..." he said in a hoarse voice, weakly raising his fingers.
Lin squinted and looked to the left, where she could vaguely see the outline of the door frame.
She held her breath and quickened her pace.
After taking just two steps, Bai Si'an's body suddenly stiffened.
"Wait..." His voice changed.
Lin Weiwei's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong?"
Bai Si'an was so choked that he could barely speak, but he turned his head toward the lab table.
Through the thick smoke, Lin Weiwei saw that his eyes were fixed on an inconspicuous iron box on the table.
The box was about the size of a palm, connected by several thin wires, and had a small red light that blinked.
"What is that?" Lin Weiwei asked.
"The voltage regulator..." Bai Si'an's voice tightened, "It's connected to that row of battery packs behind it... If we don't turn it off... what if there's a short circuit..." He took a breath, "The chemicals on the entire wall... they'll all explode..."
Lin Weiwei looked in the direction he indicated.
Behind the lab table against the wall was a row of iron shelves, densely packed with glass bottles and jars, covered with all sorts of frightening labels.
Under the shelf, there were several military green square boxes, which were probably batteries.
The flashing red light made her panic.
"I'll go close it!" She wanted to help Bai Si'an to the door first.
"No!" Bai Si'an grabbed her arm, his fingers were icy cold and trembling violently. "You...you don't understand circuits...touching the wrong thing will only make things worse..." He tried to stand up straight, but his legs gave way and he slid down again.
Lin Weiwei quickly supported him: "Then tell me how to shut it off! I'll go!"
Bai Si'an shook his head, cold sweat trickling down his forehead: "I have to... go myself..."
When he said this, Lin Weiwei felt his whole body trembling.
It wasn't the kind of trembling you get from an injury; it was a different kind of fear, a fear that seeped from the very marrow of your bones.
She knew that Bai Si'an was probably so scared because he was reminded of the last accident.
"Bai Si'an..." she called him softly.
Bai Si'an didn't respond, his eyes still fixed on the red light, his pupils shrunken, and his breathing becoming increasingly erratic.
His lips moved, and Lin Weiwei had to lean closer to hear what he was saying.
"...Don't come any closer...Don't touch that wire...Engineer Wang...Engineer Wang, run!"
It's a memory of the last accident.
Lin Weiwei felt a tightness in her chest. She shook him forcefully: "Bai Si'an! Look at me!"
Bai Si'an's gaze wavered for a moment before slowly focusing on her face.
"It's just the two of us now." Lin Weiwei stared into his eyes and said, word by word, "Li Jianguo ran away, there's no one else here. You have to go and turn it off, otherwise we'll both die here. I'll go with you."
Bai Si'an looked at her, making a hoarse sound in his throat.
He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, a hint of ruthlessness shone in them.
"...Help me over there," he said.
Lin Weiwei supported him and turned to walk towards the lab table.
Every step was difficult, and the thick smoke made the two of them cough incessantly.
The floor was a mess; I kicked broken glass and a chair that had fallen over.
Finally, it was moved to the edge of the table.
Bai Si'an steadied himself by supporting himself on the edge of the table and reached for the metal box.
My fingers were shaking so badly that it took me two tries to reach the switch.
"Is...is this the button?" Lin Weiwei asked, noticing two similar black knobs on the box.
Bai Si'an stared at the box, veins bulging on his forehead.
He was breathing rapidly, like a fish out of oxygen.
"The left...the one on the left..." he finally managed to say, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible, "clockwise...to the very end..."
Lin Weiwei took his hand and pressed it on the knob together.
His hands were as cold as ice.
"Turn," she said.
Bai Si'an tightened his fingers, and the knob began to turn. It was very tight, and he didn't have much strength in his hands, so he turned it slowly.
Lin Weiwei helped him, putting her two hands together and twisting them little by little.
The frequency of the red light flashing has slowed down.
Only half a lap left.
Bai Si'an suddenly groaned and swayed.
Lin Weiwei quickly supported him, and with increased force in her hand, she turned the knob all the way to the bottom.
The red light is off.
Almost simultaneously, a muffled thud came from behind.
It wasn't an explosion; one of the glass bottles exploded due to heat.
As the shards flew over, Lin Weiwei instinctively turned to the side to shield Bai Si'an, only to feel a chill on her arm, followed by a burning pain.
"Let's go!" Without looking back, she grabbed Bai Si'an and rushed towards the door.
The last few steps were almost entirely done by dragging.
Bai Si'an was barely conscious; his legs were too weak to stand.
Lin Weiwei held her last breath, kicked open the half-closed door, and dragged the person out of the laboratory.
The two had just fallen to the ground outside the door when an even louder noise came from behind them.
"boom!!!"
A blast of air rushed out of the door, and the scorching wind knocked Lin Weiwei forward.
She held Bai Si'an's head tightly, feeling a burning pain on her back as if she had been hit with a red-hot iron plate.
My ears are ringing, and I can't hear anything.
She looked up and saw thick smoke billowing from the laboratory window, mixed with red flames.
Someone ran over, shouting from near and far, as if through a layer of water.
"Fire! The technical room is on fire!"
"Quickly call someone! Get a fire extinguisher!"
"Is anyone still inside?!"
Lin Weiwei tried to shout, but instead coughed up a mouthful of black smoke.
She coughed so hard it was excruciating, her face covered in tears and snot.
He instinctively reached out to touch Bai Si'an's face.
"Bai Si'an... Bai Si'an, wake up..."
Bai Si'an had his eyes closed, his face was covered in ash, and there was blood foam at the corner of his mouth.
His chest was still rising and falling, but very weakly.
Lin Weiwei's own vision began to blur. Her arms ached, her back ached, and her lungs felt like they were filled with sand.
She tried to call him again, but everything went black, and she knew nothing more.
On the training field, Bai Rongbei had just blown the rest whistle.
As the soldiers were unloading their equipment, Zhao Dayong leaned over, intending to make a joke, but before he could speak, a muffled thud came from deep within the camp.
The sound wasn't particularly loud, but the vibration was very noticeable.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
Bai Rongbei frowned and looked in the direction the sound came from; it was from the technical room.
Immediately afterwards, the alarm blared.
"All assemble!" Bai Rongbei shouted sternly. "First team, go get the fire extinguishers; second and third teams, follow me!"
The team sprang into action instantly.
No one asked any questions; there were only hurried footsteps and the clanging of equipment.
Bai Rongbei ran in the lead, his unease growing stronger.
Technical Room... Bai Si'an is in the technical room today.
As we approached the area of the technical room, we could already see thick smoke billowing out.
Several soldiers were rushing towards that direction with fire extinguishers, and someone was giving loud instructions.
"Commander Bai!" A clerk from the technical department, his face covered in soot, rushed out. Seeing Bai Rongbei, he looked at him like a savior. "The lab exploded! Technician Bai... Technician Bai might still be inside! And Comrade Lin from the propaganda department, he seems to have gone in just now!"