Xu Lei - Search for the Buried Bomber

“To the water dungeon!” yelled Wang Sichuan, running out in front. “The water won’t be able to rise that high!”

I knew it was already much too late. The path to the water dungeon was rugged and difficult to navigate. The water would be over our heads before we made it there. By then we wouldn’t have strength left to resist the fierce pull of the current. Still, regardless of everything, I sprinted on. Had I taken a moment to stop and consider, I might have realized that gathering together anything that could float and preparing to be overtaken would have been the wisest course of action. At the time, though, only a single word flashed through my mind: R un!

We ran as fast as we could. By the time the water reached our knees we still had no idea how much farther we had to go. We could no longer see the rocks that stood in our way. Wang Sichuan was the first to fall. It was not some casual tumble, and when he came up his face was covered in blood, but he didn’t stop for a moment. One after another the rest of us went down as well, but we immediately struggled to our feet and kept going. With each fall, getting back up became more exhausting, our hands and knees bleeding and torn. Mindlessly, heedless of everything, we continued on. We were moving so slowly our progress was negligible. The force of the current began to pick up and soon we could barely manage to stand in place. As soon as we relaxed our efforts in the slightest, the river would lift us up and sweep us back the way we’d come. We could go no farther.

It was then that Wang Sichuan, who was still out ahead, finally gave up running and began to scramble toward the side of a gigantic boulder. We knew what he was thinking, and that each of us had no hope of surviving on our own, so we followed his lead. By the time we’d reached it, the water was already lapping at our waists. We toyed with death in every step we took. All we could hear was the thunderous crash of the water all around, the sound amplified by the narrow cavern. The noise was deafening, and we had to shout to be heard. We locked our palms together, Wang Sichuan stepped on them, and we hoisted him atop the tall rock. Then he leaned over its face, reached down, and pulled us up one by one.

After climbing to the highest point of the rock, we huddled together and looked down. Any hint of the dry land we had crossed only a short time before was now thoroughly hidden beneath the waves.

The boulder was fifteen feet tall. The water would be that high in ten minutes, though I doubted our nerves could stand to wait that long. Sitting there, watching the water move closer and closer, feeling our hearts thumping fast enough to burst in our chests, having not the slightest idea of what to do next—it was a hellish kind of torture.

Among us, the deputy squad leader remained the most calm. He seemed to have already made his peace with the world. He moved to the side of the rock, sat down, and pulled out his cigarettes. They were soaked to ruin. He tried to light one several times, but finally threw them into the rising water. Wang Sichuan had the greatest resolve. As he shined his flashlight across the cave wall, he yelled for me to come and look for evidence of a waterline. We might determine approximately how high the water would rise, then make whatever preparations remained to us. I hurriedly searched and at last I found it—far, far above our heads.

One of the young soldiers began to cry. They were simply too young, and though we tried to console them, it made no difference. As for me, I felt only restlessness awaiting my death. I didn’t have long to wait. Soon the water was above our feet, and with it a feeling of terror spread through us. Everyone held their breath. With faces pale as ghosts, we waited for that final moment when the water would wash over us and all would be gone.

It was then that Wang Sichuan, who had never given up for an instant, suddenly roared and pointed at a section of the cave wall. There jutted the rocky spine of a waterfall. “If we swim over there,” he said, “we can climb up as the water rises. At least we’ll be able to survive a little while longer.”

He had us shine the way with our flashlights, and without another word, he leaped into the swift current. He was swept along, now sinking, now submerging, before he righted himself, got his bearings, and began swimming hard for the waterfall. It wasn’t far. With the speed of the current pushing him along, he was soon able to grab hold of the rocks and climb up. He switched on his flashlight and signaled to us that he was all right, that we’d better get over there fast. The deputy squad leader jumped in with his young soldiers. In a moment, they too had made their way over to the waterfall, almost as if there was nothing hard about it. I was ready to go. I slapped Pei Qing on the shoulder, said to him, “Let’s go for it,” and prepared to jump.

He grabbed me back from the edge, his face deathly pale. “Stay out of the water!” he said.

I was astounded. “What’s wrong?”

He pointed at the white water swirling just beyond the rock. “Look!” he said. “There’s something in there!”

I switched on my flashlight and shined it on the water beside the rock. There, out of nowhere, was a long black shadow, silently riding the current, its body absolutely still.

Words cannot describe the urgency and disorder of that moment. The white-capped rapids were already above my ankles, Wang Sichuan was bellowing our names from his perch atop the waterfall, Pei Qing was gripping my arm as if he would rather die than release it, and there, in the water just beyond the rock, some dark apparition seemed to be waiting for us. I didn’t know what to do even before the thing appeared. I had no energy left now to consider an additional factor. “You see ghosts and spirits everywhere,” I shouted at Pei Qing. “Even if there were sharks in the water, we’d still have to go for it!”

Pei Qing refused to listen. With a death grip on my arm, he rolled up his pant leg and yelled, “Take a look at this!”

I lowered my head and looked. A dark black mark had appeared on his calf, like a bruise where something had grabbed hold of him. “I didn’t fall into that cage back in the water dungeon,” he continued, “something pulled me down. I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with the water here.”

Nonsense, I thought, but I remembered what I’d seen in the water and my words caught in my throat. Wang Sichuan continued to yell for us. He couldn’t understand what the hell was taking us so long. After hesitating only a second longer, I realized it didn’t matter whether we jumped in or waited. The water was already at our knees. Regardless of what kind of thing had grabbed Pei Qing, regardless of whether he was willing or not, I gripped his arm and leaped desperately into the river.

The current picked us up in a flash. We were flipped over and around in the waves before I found some measure of stability. All I could see of Wang Sichuan was the beam of his flashlight shining over the water, but that was enough. I took a deep breath and, with all the strength in my body, swam in his direction. I swam wildly, absent of any technique. My eyes saw only the beam hovering in the darkness while my arms worked as hard as they could to get me there. I knew neither how long I swam nor how much farther I had to go. My mind was a blank and I heard only silence. At last, I felt something grab hold of my arm. Wang Sichuan and the others pulled me ashore. Gradually I regained my senses. I could hear once more the thunderous roar of the water crashing all around us.