After they anchored, a long time passed before the two captains staggered out of the cockpit and onto the deck.
When the two captains saw Captain Zhang, their voices trembled. "We were scared out of our wits. Everything was fine at first, then everyone suddenly went mad. As soon as we realized what was happening, we locked the cockpit door. There's no sound in there, so they stopped looking for us. But when the madness first hit, they bit a lot of people."
Captain Zhang asked, "When did they start going mad? Wait. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything from the moment we left."
The two captains only had one job, to keep the ship ready. It was a special duty, so they didn't have to do anything else. After Captain Zhang led the team away, the two captains stayed on their ship.
There weren't many left on board then, but for a while everything stayed calm.
Two days and one night later, the wounded came back. Captain Wang led more than a hundred people to the shore. Every single person, without exception, was injured. Some lightly, some badly, but almost all of them looked battered and broken.
It was terrifying. Two hundred had gone up the mountain. Half came back wounded. More than the other half had died up there. As for the rest, whether they would ever return was unknown.
They had no time to think about it. They rushed to get the first aid kits from the ships and began treating the wounded together.
After bandaging, the most serious cases were sent below to the cabin. Those not as badly hurt remained on shore. Some even planned to go back and look for Captain Zhang.
That plan never began. The wounded started showing symptoms one after another, then they fell into madness.
Those who got hurt first were the crew guarding the ships, since they were the ones caring for the others. The two captains, who happened to be resting inside the cabin, slipped past disaster.
And that was how it went. The crazed ones chased any sound through the hills, and the two captains hid in the cockpit and did not move.
One of the two captains spoke weakly. "They really are sensitive to sound. We had compressed biscuits in the cockpit, but those things make noise when you chew. Even if it's tiny, they still heard it. The moment we ate, they pounded on the door like crazy. In the end we didn't dare eat at all."
They still drank water.
Captain Zhang soothed them a little, then asked, "We have food on board, right? None of us has eaten properly in days. Bring it up. We'll cook on the deck."
"Yes," the two captains said at once. Captain Zhang followed them to the galley to collect supplies.
It would have been better not to look. The place was a wreck, so messy there was hardly a place to put a foot down.
After gathering what they needed and returning to the deck, Captain Zhang said, "We'll cook outside for a few days. The inside needs a thorough cleaning before we can sleep there. You can't even walk in that mess."
Lao Gao said, "They'll need days to return to normal anyway. We'll give it a simple clean and a round of disinfection. Then we can rest with peace of mind." What Lao Gao really wanted was the cool air of the cabins. Once they got back to their rooms, they could also enter Lan Jin's space. In heat like this, a single bottle of cola fresh from ice would make Lao Gao feel life was complete.
So even the laziest among them agreed. The bare minimum had to be done. Nothing more.
On deck, the pot of curry was already bubbling. The aroma of rice drifted far on the water. Thankfully, the mutant creatures along the shore could follow sound but not scent, or they would have been hurling themselves into the water again.
When the curry rice was finally ready, everyone filled a bowl to the brim, as if one meal could feed several people's worth, and ate heartily under the scorching sun.
After a short rest, they headed below to start cleaning the cabin.
Captain Zhang said, "No need to leave guards on deck. We're in the middle of the water. Let's see if anything can even make it out here."
They had barely stepped into the cabin when a beam of light flashed across the glass and swept past.
They were jumpy now. At the sudden sweep of light, everyone froze in place.
Captain Zhang moved to the rear of the line at once to check on the last person.
Seeing that it was Huang Jinghe, Captain Zhang asked, "Did that green light sweep over you?"
Huang Jinghe shook his head. "No. I was two or three steps from the doorway. It didn't touch me. But it swept across you, Captain Zhang. Also, I don't think it was the green light from the forest."
The two captains blinked in confusion. "Light? Green light? Does the light mean something? We've seen light like that from the cockpit before."
"If you saw it in the cockpit, did it sweep across your bodies?" Captain Zhang asked, suddenly tense.
The answer was obvious. One of the two captains said, "The cockpit windows are huge. There's nowhere to hide. Of course it hit us."
Lan Jin asked, voice steady but firm, "Did you see what kind of light it was?" She had only caught a glance, but she was sure the color felt wrong. The sweep hadn't been green.
The two captains looked baffled, but they were certain. "It wasn't green. It was glaring. I remember it looked yellow. Like the one just now."
"Then that flash just now was ordinary light. So why would a light be reflecting into the cockpit again?" someone murmured.
"Coincidence. An accident. Unless… someone is signaling us?"
…
A signal?
It might really be a signal.
Captain Zhang said quickly, "How does the light usually hit? Any pattern? No, think about it. Someone must be sending a signal. We moved the ship. We're not in the same spot. If it weren't deliberate, it wouldn't line up."
"But who would send a signal in a place like this?"
Good question. Who?
They had just gone below. Now they rushed back to the deck, grabbed binoculars, and scanned the horizon, searching for any sign.
They watched for a long time and saw nothing.
Ling Jiang said, "Maybe it isn't from a person. If it were, they would've noticed us looking and sent the signal again. How could they stay quiet this long?"