Throughout the rest of the night, Salome did not contact Shirley or the others. Similarly, neither Shirley nor anyone else received any signals on their phones. Of course, no rescue team or anyone else came to the dormitory that night. The only sounds were the wind outside, the eerie chirping and howling of insects and animals, and occasionally, the sound of something crashing against the windows.
Shirley found herself desperately trying not to think about what might be hitting the windows.
Due to their unease, the five of them kept the lights on while sleeping. Fortunately, the power supply in the dormitory remained stable that night: to prevent power outages, the solar panels on the roof of the dormitory stored the electricity generated during the day in a special battery bank for use in emergencies. Although the amount of electricity stored in this way was not much, it was sufficient for the current situation, as it was summer vacation and most students had already gone home. In this dormitory, including the dormitory supervisor, there were only 15 people, so a little electricity was enough.
However, they soon realized that even the light could not alleviate their anxiety.
Although the ‘transaction’ mentioned by Salome sounded terrifying, it was only after lying down and starting to think seriously that Shirley began to feel a deep sense of fear: although the horror in the mist had only shown a small part of the iceberg the previous evening, who knows what even more terrifying things might appear?!
‘Fear comes from insufficient firepower,’ as the ancients said. And Salome’s appearance meant that a channel for buying ‘firepower’ with ‘life’ had appeared. Of course, Shirley had great faith in Ji Bingyao and Eileen—she had an ability, inexplicable even to herself, to make people who had been in long-term contact with her instinctively trust her… Sometimes, this trust could become so intense that it turned into an unclear relationship, as evidenced by the ‘Pink FM Tuning’ band and other clubs that disbanded after jealousy and infighting due to Shirley’s involvement.
But the problem was that Shirley’s ‘ability’ (if it could be called that) seemed ineffective against strangers. And she was not sure whether Salome would contact others and offer the same conditions. Although the need for weapons for self-defense was not yet urgent at the moment, what about tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? If the rescue did not come soon, in desperation, would someone be willing to accept this ‘transaction’ and stretch out a poisonous hand towards them for weapons and ammunition?
Just thinking about this, even with a loaded handgun on the bedside table within reach, Shirley still felt no sense of security. However, the lack of security was not just felt by her: Ji Bingyao and Eileen, who were also crammed into the large bed, were equally anxious, and Shirley could even feel their hands and feet trembling slightly as they slept and turned over.
After hesitating for a while, Shirley could no longer hold back and slowly extended a hand to Ji Bingyao’s back… She did not want to be misunderstood and had no intention of taking advantage of the situation. It was just that, under the intense fear and anxiety, the biological instinct etched deep into her genes was driving her to find someone to rely on, someone behind whom she could hide. And in the group of girls, the strongest was Ji Bingyao, who could provide such comfort…
‘I have no other intentions… I have no other intentions… I have no other intentions…’ Shirley kept muttering to herself as she extended her hand—although the relationships with the other girls around her always developed into awkward ‘that kind of situation,’ in all conscience, her sexual orientation was completely normal! If they could get through the current difficulty, she would explain her thoughts to the other members of the band and try to dispel their unrealistic ideas, after all…
‘Sniffle sniffle sniffle… Shirley!’
Before Shirley’s fingertips could touch Ji Bingyao’s shoulder, the alert Ji Bingyao had already grabbed her hand, starting to whisper. For a moment, Shirley thought she had been tricked. But she soon realized that the other person was actually talking in her sleep.
But the problem was that even in her sleep, Ji Bingyao’s strength was really impressive!
‘Shirley, don’t leave me!’ After grabbing Shirley’s hand, Ji Bingyao rolled over and, like an octopus, used her hands and feet to tightly wrap around Shirley. Then, their faces came so close that they could smell each other’s breath, and Ji Bingyao’s hair fell on Shirley’s face, tickling her and making her almost sneeze.
‘Shirley, please stay in the band, I… I’m willing to share you with Alice… No, even if it’s four days for her and three days for me, just don’t leave me… If you’re not there, my life will fall into a darkness, and you are the last light in that darkness… If you insist on abandoning me, I’ll jump from the building right now and end this worthless life…’ Ji Bingyao kept muttering, ‘If you leave me, I’ll kill you first and then kill myself…’ Just as Shirley’s mind was in chaos, another heavyweight comment directly made her lose her sleepiness. Of course, the previous fear and anxiety were temporarily forgotten—perhaps because she heard Ji Bingyao’s dream talk in a half-asleep, half-awake state, the confused Eileen directly embraced Ji Bingyao, ‘A world without Shirley is meaningless…’
Eileen spoke while embracing the mistakenly identified Shirley, Ji Bingyao. Then, the latter also confusedly let go of Shirley and turned to accept Eileen’s passionate embrace. It was only when their lips touched that they both shivered and woke up.
A high-pitched scream that could wake the dead echoed through the dormitory.
‘You girls, what are you making so much noise about in the dormitory?!’ Just as the two, still entwined, frantically tried to separate, the dormitory door opened. A plump, bulky mummy… no, that was actually Miss Huang, the dormitory supervisor, wrapped in bandages, appeared at the door, her eyes burning with anger through the layers of medical gauze, ‘Well, things are chaotic outside, and you’re doing something so shameless! What a generation! Truly, the world is in decline, and people’s hearts are corrupt…’
‘Um… Miss Huang…’ Seizing the moment when Ji Bingyao and Eileen were attracting each other’s attention, Shirley quickly hid the handgun and spare magazines from the bedside table, ‘You told us to stay in the dormitory and not go out, remember? Because it’s not safe to sleep alone in one’s own dormitory, so we’re staying together… This shouldn’t violate the rules, right?’
‘Well… okay, but things are different now,’ Miss Huang grunted heavily, ‘You girls, you’ll all come with me in a bit!’
‘Go out? Has the rescue team arrived? Or has the police or fire department come?’ Excited, Xia Hua, who was sleeping on the floor with Lu Ying, asked.
‘No!’ Although this dormitory supervisor usually had a terrible temper, Shirley and the others vaguely felt that her emotions had become even more volatile and unstable since being attacked by insects, ‘Those useless idiots, tax thieves, not a single one shows up when something happens! So we have to figure something out on our own!’
‘Um… so what’s your plan…’
‘We’ll organize a team and leave here to check the situation outside!’ Miss Huang said, ‘Shirley, Eileen, Ji Bingyao! You three are usually the ones causing trouble. Now is your time to show what you’ve got! You have five minutes to get dressed, grab your stuff, and meet in the first-floor lobby!’
After shouting this, Miss Huang immediately left the dormitory door. Shirley and the others were left staring at each other.
‘That crazy old lady, I wish I hadn’t saved her yesterday,’ Ji Bingyao said angrily, ‘The school has lost contact with the outside world for nearly eighteen hours. At this point, the fog hasn’t cleared, and no rescue personnel have arrived, which means the situation is definitely very bad. There may be unforeseen dangers. Leaving now is just stupid behavior!’
‘Right, did that old lady forget who she was passionately kissing yesterday?! Healed wound, forgotten pain, this person’s memory is terrible!’ Eileen nodded in agreement, ‘Until someone comes to rescue us, I absolutely will not leave here! Shirley, what about you?’
‘I will go.’
‘Eh eh eh eh eh?!’ Both Eileen and Ji Bingyao were greatly surprised—after all, they had been very sure that Shirley would definitely not participate in such a foolish head-hunting operation. Only Xia Hua showed a hint of excitement.
‘That… Shirley, are you not feeling well?’ Ji Bingyao licked her lips and placed a hand on Shirley’s forehead.
‘My mind is very clear,’ Shirley said with a mixture of laughter and tears, ‘I’m afraid we have no choice but to go out.’