Chapter 69 Chapter 69
Juliet struggled to swim forward in the cold, dark water, occasionally bumping into the ceiling or the wall, but she couldn't tell whether she hit the ceiling or the wall.She pulled the trachea desperately, not knowing if she was fast enough.Then she slams up the stairs, hits her head on the helmet, and instantly sees a cloud of gold stars.She was groggy, floating in the water, and the air tube slipped out of her hand.
Later, Juliet slowly regained consciousness, and was so frightened that she quickly reached out to grab the trachea.After a while, her hand touched something and immediately pulled it hard, but soon realized that it was a relatively thin wire.Disappointed, she let go of the wire and continued to grope blindly in the dark.Then her shoe hit something again, but she couldn't tell whether she was on top or below.She began to flip in the water, dizzy and completely disoriented.
Later, she felt that her body was pressed against a hard surface, and she suddenly thought that she must be floating on top, and the trachea must be below.
So, she turned over and kicked hard towards the ceiling, and her body immediately jumped forward.It was pitch black, and she couldn't be sure if the floor was in front of her.Then she felt something wrap around her arm and rub against her chest.She thought it was a wire at first, but it felt soft to the touch, as if it were hollow.It's the air duct.This airless air tube was her last chance to get her out.
She pulled it hard, but it felt loose, so she immediately pulled it in another direction.Pull up very tight.So she started pulling the tube forward, into the stairwell.She occasionally hits the stair boards, but she continues to pull on the pipe.The pipe twisted and circled in the stairwell, and she pulled the pipe with one hand while holding the other hand in front of her to stop it from hitting the wall, the ceiling or the stair board again.In this way, she floated all the way up, turned and passed six flights of stairs, and the whole process seemed to be struggling with obstacles without end.
When she finally reached the top of the stairwell, she was almost out of breath. However, she soon realized that she was not out of breath, but out of air.She had absorbed all the oxygen in the protective clothing, and even the remaining air in the trachea had been exhausted.
She pulled the tube and continued down the corridor, slowly floating her body up toward the ceiling.The buoyancy of the protective suit gradually decreased.She pressed her chin to the radio button.
"Orphan! Can you hear me?"
There is still water dozens of meters deep above, and several floors high. Thinking of this, she suddenly felt suffocated.How long can the air in the protective clothing last?How many minutes?So how long does it take to float to the surface of a stairwell?It will take a long time.Maybe there will be an oxygen tank in the hall. The question is, can she find it?This is not the bunker she used to live in, and she has no time to look for it.All she could think about now was to get to the stairwell and get to the surface.
She tugged on the pipe, kicked furiously, and turned a corner into the central hallway.She felt that the protective clothing was getting heavier and heavier, and her muscles were getting more and more sore due to the lack of oxygen.At this time, she suddenly noticed that a gleam of light began to appear in the water, and it was no longer pitch black, but only darkness.A faint green light.
Juliet pulled the pipe desperately, kicked her legs hard, and her body hit the ceiling from time to time.She could feel the turnstile and the stairwell not far ahead.She didn't know how many times she had walked through such corridors, and two of them were in the dark because of power outages.She still remembers that she was groping forward in such a corridor, comforting other workers, telling them not to be afraid, telling them not to move, she would handle it.
At this moment, she also began to try to comfort herself, deceive herself, telling herself not to be afraid, to move on, not to panic.
At the turnstiles, she began to feel dizzy.The water in front exudes a faint green light, full of temptation.Here, she no longer has to grope blindly, and no longer has to be afraid that the helmet will hit something invisible in front of her.
Then, suddenly, the wires wrapped around her arms, but she flung them free, pulling desperately toward the stairwell.
However, just as she was nearly reaching the stairwell, there was a sudden twitch in her throat.That was the choking response.She involuntarily let go of the tube in her hand. She desperately wanted to inhale, but she couldn't inhale. It felt as if her chest was about to explode.She had a strong urge to remove the helmet and took a deep breath.It was as if a voice in her head was telling her that water could be sucked and you should try it.Even if you breathe water into your lungs, it should feel better than the carbon dioxide in the protective clothing.At this moment, the carbon dioxide in the protective clothing has turned into poisonous gas.This set of protective clothing was originally designed to block the poisonous gas, but now, the poisonous gas is inside the protective clothing.
Her throat twitched again and she began to cough, as she struggled to swim to the stairwell.She could see the rope.A wrench was tied to the end of the rope.She swam desperately to the rope, but she knew very well that it might be too late.She grabbed the rope and pulled it hard, and it felt loose.It turned out that the other end of the rope was loose, and the whole rope began to spiral and sink.
She swam slowly to the surface, very slowly.The air pressure of the protective clothing is not enough, and there is no way to float to the surface of the water quickly.At this time, her throat twitched again, and she vaguely felt that the helmet must be removed quickly.She is getting more and more dizzy, and she will pass out at any time.
Juliette reached for the tenon on the helmet mount.This action seemed familiar, but this time she was already unconscious.She still remembered the stench of rotten soup on her back, and she remembered crawling in the dark refrigerator.Then she remembered: the knife.
Feeling her chest, she saw that the handle of the knife was sticking out of the pocket, and other tools were hanging out of the pocket.At the beginning, the tools were tied with thin strings, because they were afraid that they would float away in the water, but now, they have become in the way and become a burden.They just add weight.
She slowly ascended the stairwell.Due to hypoxic convulsions, the water temperature was too cold, and she was shaking all over.She couldn't feel where she was, forgot what she was doing, she could only feel the fog inside the helmet, and she was trapped in it, almost dead.She aligned the tip of the knife with the tenon and pressed hard.
With a "click", icy water immediately poured into around her neck, countless bubbles appeared in the protective clothing, and the helmet was tilted to one side.Then, she pointed the knife at the tenon on the other side and pressed down hard, the helmet fell off immediately, water poured onto her face and poured into the protective clothing, at that moment, she immediately felt a biting cold, and felt her body began to sink , will soon sink to the bottom.
The biting cold woke Juliet up.She blinked her heavy eyelids, saw the knife in her hand gleaming in the dim green water, and saw the helmet sinking slowly.Then she realized she was sinking too.There was no air in her lungs, and the pressure of tens of meters of water was on top of her head. In a daze, she put the knife in her breast pocket instead of the front pocket of her stomach.She saw screwdrivers and wrenches floating in the water, with threads trailing at the ends.She struggled desperately in the dark water, kicking the water with both legs, and swam to the air pipe.Along the gas pipeline, you have to go up four floors further upstream to reach the water. Bubbles kept coming from the collar of the protective suit, brushing against her hair.Juliet held on to the air pipe to keep her from sinking further.Then, she began to pull hard on the tube, slowly ascending.Her throat kept twitching, and she instinctively wanted to suck something in, whether it was air, water, or whatever.While pulling the tube, she looked up, and at this moment, she saw it.Just under the iron treads, clumps of shiny things.Immediately there was hope in her heart. That's the air bubbles stuck under the stair treads.When she went into the water before, air bubbles gathered under the stair treads. At this moment, there seemed to be countless air bubbles gathered under the stair treads of the entire spiral staircase, which at first glance looked like clusters of mercury. At this time, Juliet suddenly let out a "grunt" from her throat, which was a roar of struggling in desperation.The heavy protective clothing kept dragging her down. She paddled desperately, struggled to swim upstream, then grabbed the railing, pressed hard, lifted her body up, then stepped on the railing, kicked hard, and rushed to the nearest A piece of iron stair, grasp the edge of the stair, and bring the mouth close to the bottom of the stair. She took a deep breath, but at the same time sucked in a lot of water. At that moment, the water that choked her nose was like a ball of fire burning towards her lungs. She suddenly lowered her head and coughed loudly into the water, almost sucking in again. A mouthful of water.Her heart was pounding like it was about to explode.Then she lowered her face to the bottom of the steps again, and this time she took a slow breath through pursed, quivering lips. After a while, the Venus in front of her eyes gradually disappeared.She lowered her head and exhaled out of the step, watching the bubbles rise quickly, then pressed her face under the step and took another breath. Air. She blinked hard, squeezing out a tear.Those were tears of joy after trying my best.She looked up at the stairs above.Her violent movements drove the water, and the air bubbles under those stair treads kept shaking.In the water, the scene in front of her was distorted and deformed. At first glance, the bubbles looked like distorted mirrors. However, she also saw a way out.So she continued to kick the water with her legs, and slowly climbed up the stairs with her hands. After climbing a few stairs, she stopped to take a breath.There is about a dozen centimeters of air under each stair slab, which should be attributed to the people who built the stairs hundreds of years ago.The stairs are welded solidly.This concave box-type ladder design is to make it stronger and more durable, and it can withstand millions of steps.Unexpectedly, this design inadvertently retained the air bubbles floating upwards, saving the air for her.Every time she took a breath, she would kiss the rusty iron sheet unconsciously, thanking it for saving her life.
Emergency lights illuminated the entire stairwell, so Juliet didn't notice that she had passed several landings.She concentrated on sucking the air under the treads, every fifth flight of stairs.Once, she climbed up six stairs in one breath, which was too exhausting, and unfortunately the air under the steps was too shallow, so she sucked too hard and accidentally took a big mouthful of water.So, she decided to keep the five flights of stairs and take a breath.In this way, she slowly climbed up, as if a lifetime was so long.The protective suit was filled with water and was heavy, and the tools dragged by the wires added to her burden.However, it never occurred to her to cut off the tool.She just kept kicking the water with her legs, pulling the air pipe with her hands, pulling her body up with one hand after another, and then moved her mouth to the bottom of the stairs to inhale, sucking up all the remaining air, and she paid special attention to, Do not spit air bubbles under the upper treads.Don't worry, she told herself.Five flights of stairs at a time.It's like a game, jumping grid, jump five grids at a time, don't cheat, be careful not to step on the line.She has been good at playing this kind of game since she was a child, and she is even better now. Later, after an unknown period of time, she put her face close to the bottom of a step board, and found that there was a layer of oil on the surface of the water, and there was a foul smell of oil, and she breathed in a foul smell, and the smell of the water was very pungent. Juliet let out a breath, couldn't help coughing, and rubbed her face with her hands.And her head was still under that step.She gasped for breath, laughed, and slipped out from under the steps, accidentally bumping her forehead against the edge of the steps.She was finally out of trouble.She buried her head in the water as she swam around the railing, her eyes stinging from the oil.She struggled to swim to the stairs, splashing countless water splashes, shouting for orphans, and finally climbed over the railing and knelt down on the stairs. She has finally arrived.She knelt on the stairs, clutching the steps, bent over and lowered her head, panting fiercely, her legs were almost numb.She wanted to yell that she had escaped, but she couldn't make a sound.She was so cold that her whole body was frozen.Her hands were shaking constantly, and she struggled to climb up.It was quiet all around, and the sound of the compressor was not heard, nor did the orphan come to help her. "orphan--?" She climbed the six flights of stairs to the landing, then rolled over and lay down.Some tools got stuck on the steps below, and the end of the line caught in her pocket.Water kept gushing from her neckline, splashing down her neck, forming a pool around her head, and trickling into her ears.She is freezing to death, and she must take off her protective clothing as soon as possible.She turned her head to see the orphan next to her. He was lying on his side with his eyes closed, blood was flowing all over his face, and a few bloodstains had even dried up. "orphan?" She reached out to shake him.Her hands were shaking so badly.What did he do to himself? "Hey, wake up." Her teeth chattered from the cold.She grabbed his shoulder and shook him a few times: "Orphan! Help me!" He opened one eye, blinked a few times, then bent over and coughed, blood dripping onto the platform. "Help me." She reached behind her back for the zipper.At this time, she didn't realize that the people who really needed help were orphans. The orphan coughed violently again, and then suddenly turned over and lay flat.Somewhere on his head was still bleeding, in streaks of blood. "orphan?" He groaned.Feeling her body was almost numb, Juliet struggled to crawl beside him.He seemed to be muttering something, his voice was so hoarse that he could hardly hear it. "Hey——" She leaned closer to his face, feeling her lips were swollen, numb, and still smelled of gasoline. "I'm not called an orphan—" In the middle of speaking, he coughed violently again, coughing up a cloud of blood.He raised his hand, as if trying to cover his mouth, but he couldn't raise it at all. "I'm not called an orphan," he said again, bobbing his head from side to side.At this time, Juliet finally realized that he was seriously injured.Her mind has gradually recovered, and she finally realized his current situation. "Don't move." She said hoarsely, "Orphan, don't move." She struggled to sit up and tried her best to move her body.The orphan blinked at her, eyes glazed over, his gray beard stained reddish with blood. "I'm not an orphan." His voice was hoarse. "I'm Jimmy—" Then he coughed violently again, and began to roll his eyes—— "—and, at last, I—" His eyes closed again, but he still squinted them desperately, as if in pain. "I can finally confirm that from the very beginning, I'm not the only one here. I haven't always been." He said angrily, then tilted his head, and his body suddenly stopped moving.
The biting cold woke Juliet up.She blinked her heavy eyelids, saw the knife in her hand gleaming in the dim green water, and saw the helmet sinking slowly.Then she realized she was sinking too.There was no air in her lungs, and the pressure of tens of meters of water was on top of her head. In a daze, she put the knife in her breast pocket instead of the front pocket of her stomach.She saw screwdrivers and wrenches floating in the water, with threads trailing at the ends.She struggled desperately in the dark water, kicking the water with both legs, and swam to the air pipe.Along the gas pipeline, you have to go up four floors further upstream to reach the water. Bubbles kept coming from the collar of the protective suit, brushing against her hair.Juliet held on to the air pipe to keep her from sinking further.Then, she began to pull hard on the tube, slowly ascending.Her throat kept twitching, and she instinctively wanted to suck something in, whether it was air, water, or whatever.While pulling the tube, she looked up, and at this moment, she saw it.Just under the iron treads, clumps of shiny things.Immediately there was hope in her heart. That's the air bubbles stuck under the stair treads.When she went into the water before, air bubbles gathered under the stair treads. At this moment, there seemed to be countless air bubbles gathered under the stair treads of the entire spiral staircase, which at first glance looked like clusters of mercury. At this time, Juliet suddenly let out a "grunt" from her throat, which was a roar of struggling in desperation.The heavy protective clothing kept dragging her down. She paddled desperately, struggled to swim upstream, then grabbed the railing, pressed hard, lifted her body up, then stepped on the railing, kicked hard, and rushed to the nearest A piece of iron stair, grasp the edge of the stair, and bring the mouth close to the bottom of the stair. She took a deep breath, but at the same time sucked in a lot of water. At that moment, the water that choked her nose was like a ball of fire burning towards her lungs. She suddenly lowered her head and coughed loudly into the water, almost sucking in again. A mouthful of water.Her heart was pounding like it was about to explode.Then she lowered her face to the bottom of the steps again, and this time she took a slow breath through pursed, quivering lips. After a while, the Venus in front of her eyes gradually disappeared.She lowered her head and exhaled out of the step, watching the bubbles rise quickly, then pressed her face under the step and took another breath. Air. She blinked hard, squeezing out a tear.Those were tears of joy after trying my best.She looked up at the stairs above.Her violent movements drove the water, and the air bubbles under those stair treads kept shaking.In the water, the scene in front of her was distorted and deformed. At first glance, the bubbles looked like distorted mirrors. However, she also saw a way out.So she continued to kick the water with her legs, and slowly climbed up the stairs with her hands. After climbing a few stairs, she stopped to take a breath.There is about a dozen centimeters of air under each stair slab, which should be attributed to the people who built the stairs hundreds of years ago.The stairs are welded solidly.This concave box-type ladder design is to make it stronger and more durable, and it can withstand millions of steps.Unexpectedly, this design inadvertently retained the air bubbles floating upwards, saving the air for her.Every time she took a breath, she would kiss the rusty iron sheet unconsciously, thanking it for saving her life.
Emergency lights illuminated the entire stairwell, so Juliet didn't notice that she had passed several landings.She concentrated on sucking the air under the treads, every fifth flight of stairs.Once, she climbed up six stairs in one breath, which was too exhausting, and unfortunately the air under the steps was too shallow, so she sucked too hard and accidentally took a big mouthful of water.So, she decided to keep the five flights of stairs and take a breath.In this way, she slowly climbed up, as if a lifetime was so long.The protective suit was filled with water and was heavy, and the tools dragged by the wires added to her burden.However, it never occurred to her to cut off the tool.She just kept kicking the water with her legs, pulling the air pipe with her hands, pulling her body up with one hand after another, and then moved her mouth to the bottom of the stairs to inhale, sucking up all the remaining air, and she paid special attention to, Do not spit air bubbles under the upper treads.Don't worry, she told herself.Five flights of stairs at a time.It's like a game, jumping grid, jump five grids at a time, don't cheat, be careful not to step on the line.She has been good at playing this kind of game since she was a child, and she is even better now. Later, after an unknown period of time, she put her face close to the bottom of a step board, and found that there was a layer of oil on the surface of the water, and there was a foul smell of oil, and she breathed in a foul smell, and the smell of the water was very pungent. Juliet let out a breath, couldn't help coughing, and rubbed her face with her hands.And her head was still under that step.She gasped for breath, laughed, and slipped out from under the steps, accidentally bumping her forehead against the edge of the steps.She was finally out of trouble.She buried her head in the water as she swam around the railing, her eyes stinging from the oil.She struggled to swim to the stairs, splashing countless water splashes, shouting for orphans, and finally climbed over the railing and knelt down on the stairs. She has finally arrived.She knelt on the stairs, clutching the steps, bent over and lowered her head, panting fiercely, her legs were almost numb.She wanted to yell that she had escaped, but she couldn't make a sound.She was so cold that her whole body was frozen.Her hands were shaking constantly, and she struggled to climb up.It was quiet all around, and the sound of the compressor was not heard, nor did the orphan come to help her. "orphan--?" She climbed the six flights of stairs to the landing, then rolled over and lay down.Some tools got stuck on the steps below, and the end of the line caught in her pocket.Water kept gushing from her neckline, splashing down her neck, forming a pool around her head, and trickling into her ears.She is freezing to death, and she must take off her protective clothing as soon as possible.She turned her head to see the orphan next to her. He was lying on his side with his eyes closed, blood was flowing all over his face, and a few bloodstains had even dried up. "orphan?" She reached out to shake him.Her hands were shaking so badly.What did he do to himself? "Hey, wake up." Her teeth chattered from the cold.She grabbed his shoulder and shook him a few times: "Orphan! Help me!" He opened one eye, blinked a few times, then bent over and coughed, blood dripping onto the platform. "Help me." She reached behind her back for the zipper.At this time, she didn't realize that the people who really needed help were orphans. The orphan coughed violently again, and then suddenly turned over and lay flat.Somewhere on his head was still bleeding, in streaks of blood. "orphan?" He groaned.Feeling her body was almost numb, Juliet struggled to crawl beside him.He seemed to be muttering something, his voice was so hoarse that he could hardly hear it. "Hey——" She leaned closer to his face, feeling her lips were swollen, numb, and still smelled of gasoline. "I'm not called an orphan—" In the middle of speaking, he coughed violently again, coughing up a cloud of blood.He raised his hand, as if trying to cover his mouth, but he couldn't raise it at all. "I'm not called an orphan," he said again, bobbing his head from side to side.At this time, Juliet finally realized that he was seriously injured.Her mind has gradually recovered, and she finally realized his current situation. "Don't move." She said hoarsely, "Orphan, don't move." She struggled to sit up and tried her best to move her body.The orphan blinked at her, eyes glazed over, his gray beard stained reddish with blood. "I'm not an orphan." His voice was hoarse. "I'm Jimmy—" Then he coughed violently again, and began to roll his eyes—— "—and, at last, I—" His eyes closed again, but he still squinted them desperately, as if in pain. "I can finally confirm that from the very beginning, I'm not the only one here. I haven't always been." He said angrily, then tilted his head, and his body suddenly stopped moving.