Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
The Mysterious Realm of Qiu Tu
墨書 Inktalez
I stood in the blood-stained living room, my trembling hand still clutching a fruit knife. When my drunken husband swung his fist at me once more, in desperation, I slashed his throat with the knife, trading my freedom for a ten-year prison sentence.
I am a doctor, having saved countless lives over the past decade, yet I could not save myself. I endured ten years of domestic violence, and now I must spend another ten years to regain my freedom. The prison where I serve my sentence is on the other side of Nanshan, which should have been just a short passage through the Nanshan Tunnel. However, due to the recent heavy snowfall, the entrance to the Nanshan Tunnel was blocked last night by falling debris from the mountain. The tunnel is temporarily closed, and we have no choice but to take the mountain road.
In the prison van, besides the driver, there were only two guards with me—one appeared to be in his thirties, while the other was older. They had been chatting occasionally until we hit a bumpy stretch of winding road; then they fell silent, both staring out of the window. Outside was a vast expanse of snow-covered mountains. For the next ten years, Nanshan would be the only scenery I could see.
I was quite familiar with Nanshan, especially several famous mountaineering routes, which had been my primary way to relieve stress. Whenever I wanted to briefly escape that home, I would gather a few friends for mountaineering and camping trips.
Suddenly, a piercing screech of brakes filled the air! My body lurched forward violently before crashing back into my seat. The driver shouted loudly from the front, "Hold on!" as the prison van careened uncontrollably toward the guardrail. The guardrail crumpled like paper upon impact, and we were thrown into the air along with the vehicle.
I glanced at the guard beside me; his terrified eyes met mine, but there was no time for reaction. In the next moment, the world spun wildly around me.
The sound of metal tearing pierced my eardrums, and shards of glass danced before my eyes. I struggled to curl my body, the seatbelt digging painfully into my chest, while the back of my head throbbed from an impact with something hard, the pain nearly causing me to lose consciousness.
Finally, the Prison Van came to a halt, crashing heavily into the snow. A biting cold wind rushed in through the shattered windows, mingling with the scent of gasoline and a strong metallic tang. It was the smell of blood—not mine, but someone else's. Someone was hurt, and it could be very serious.
With handcuffs still on my wrists, I fought hard to unbuckle the seatbelt and struggled to crawl out from the wreckage of the deformed Prison Van. Every movement sent waves of pain through my body as if I were falling apart.
I made my way around to the driver's side and peered through the broken windshield. The driver's body was twisted at an unnatural angle, his eyes wide open, devoid of any signs of life. From this angle, I could see into the back compartment through a gap in the wreckage. There lay an older guard with a large shard of sharp metal embedded in his chest, blood pouring from his mouth as he gasped for air.
I called out "Officer" twice before he gradually stopped breathing. Just then, a faint groan came from the other side of the van. I followed the sound around to the front.
It was another guard—he was still alive! Trapped beneath the overturned compartment.
"Officer!" I rushed over and crouched down to assess his condition. His left leg was pinned under the vehicle, but thankfully it hadn’t hit any vital areas.
"Hang on, I’ll help you," I said. I found a broken Metal Pipe and tried to use it to pry up the weight pressing down on his leg. However, the handcuffs restricted my wrist movement, making it difficult to apply force.
"Reach your hand over," he urged. I hesitated for a moment before seeing him struggle to pull a key from his pocket.
With a click, the handcuffs sprang open.
I flexed my stiff wrists and gripped the Metal Pipe tightly again, using all my body weight to push down with all my strength.
"Hurry! Get yourself out!" he gritted his teeth and, taking advantage of a slight shift in the vehicle's position, desperately dragged his left leg free.
With a jarring metallic crash, the vehicle hit the ground again. I knelt weakly on the snow-covered ground, gasping for breath alongside the injured guard.
I quickly assessed his injuries; fortunately, there were no fractures, and the open wounds were not severe—just some sprains and soft tissue bruises. He briefly muttered a "thank you," and I nodded, helping him to his feet.
Upon learning that two of his colleagues had tragically perished, the young guard's eyes reddened. As a doctor, I had witnessed death many times, yet at that moment, an unfamiliar heaviness settled in my heart.
However, we didn't have much time to mourn the fallen; we needed to find a way to call for help. We searched separately for a while and eventually found a cellphone on the driver, but it was dead and unresponsive.
The young guard continued to check the radio equipment on the vehicle, attempting to contact rescue services. After fiddling with it for some time, all we could hear was static; it seemed the equipment had been completely damaged in the accident.
It appeared that we would have to wait for rescue right where we were. Just then, small rocks suddenly tumbled down from the slope above us.
We realized that a steep hillside loomed over the prison van, covered in thick snow. During its roll down, it had dislodged several rocks, and there was a constant risk of rockfalls or landslides in this area.
"We can't wait for help here; it's too dangerous," the guard urged as he pulled me back.
"Then where do we go?" I asked.
He thought for a moment and pointed downhill. "Let's head that way. If we move downwards, we should be able to find the main road where rescue teams are more likely to spot us."
Without delay, we quickly rummaged through the vehicle and found a pack of biscuits, a lighter, and a small first aid kit. Then I supported him as we leaned on each other and trudged through the deep snow towards the slope below.
Comment 0 Comment Count