Chapter 84: Take One Step at a Time

Luo Xingyu was spacing out in her room when she saw Gao Yuan. She stood up and didn't hide her joy as she exclaimed loudly, "You're finally here. Why are you so late? Hurry to the canteen, or else it'll be… What's wrong?"

Noticing the unusual expression on Gao Yuan's face, Luo Xingyu's excitement turned into worry. She lowered her voice and asked, "What happened?"

Gao Yuan wondered if he was really that bad at hiding things.

"I went to look for Uncle Xiang, but he wasn't in his room. Do you know where he went?"

"Commander Wang just called for him. I heard some noise. Is something wrong?"

Gao Yuan took Luo Xingyu's hand, hugged her, and then whispered, "We just saw many small spacecraft emerging from the alien ship."

"Ah!"

Seeing Luo Xingyu's face change instantaneously, Gao Yuan felt a pang of heartache. He kissed her forehead and continued in a low voice, "Don't be afraid. It's not certain what's happening yet, don't be afraid."

Luo Xingyu nodded, then suddenly hugged Gao Yuan tightly and kissed him.

Teeth clashing, they were both a bit clumsy.

A moment later, Gao Yuan gently pushed Luo Xingyu away a little and whispered, "At this time…"

"I'm scared, I'm so scared..."

"Don't be scared."

"I'm afraid I won't have the chance to kiss you later."

Gao Yuan was silent for a moment, thinking what all this was about.

"Don't be afraid for now. Where's your bob bag?"

"Right here."

Luo Xingyu took her bob backpack from the head of her bed. Gao Yuan noticed her psk fanny pack hanging on her waist too.

"Good, from now on don't let go of either bag. If anything happens, stick close to Uncle Xiang. If things get really bad… I'll come for you!"

In a low voice, Luo Xingyu asked, "Do you think something will happen?"

Gao Yuan let out a bitter laugh and replied, "Trouble is bound to happen sooner or later; you should be mentally prepared for that. The aliens won't let things slide, but no one knows what will happen, so what we can do is stay alert. If we detect anything wrong, we must escape quickly."

Luo Xingyu nodded, then asked in a low voice, "Should we escape now?"

Gao Yuan's principle was that a wise man does not stand under a shaky wall. At the first sign of danger, one should run. Running doesn't guarantee safety, but at the very least, it's better to keep a distance from the crowds.

But now, Gao Yuan couldn't bring himself to say they should escape immediately.

Thinking about his squad, who could now be called comrades-in-arms, could he really abandon them and flee alone at the first hint of danger?

That would make him a deserter.

Gao Yuan sighed, then in a low voice said, "We can't leave now, definitely not, I can't do that."

Luo Xingyu nodded and asked, "I understand. So what do we do?"

Gao Yuan replied with resignation, "We'll just have to take it one step at a time. For now, let's get Yu Shunzhou ready. Where's my bag?"

Gao Yuan's bob backpack was also kept at Luo Xingyu's place because he felt it was inconvenient to have it in the shared dormitory.

Luo Xingyu pulled Gao Yuan's backpack out from under the bed. Taking the bag, Gao Yuan whispered, "Come with me now to find Yu Shunzhou, and afterwards we'll look for Uncle Xiang."

Gao Yuan took Luo Xingyu with him to the refugee hospital.

At any time, the hospital was never short of people. Now that Yu Shunzhou's injuries had almost healed, he naturally couldn't continue to stay in a single room.

This also drove Yu Shunzhou nearly crazy; living with four people in a small room didn't make it convenient for him to flirt with the nurses.

"You guys finally came!"

When he saw Gao Yuan, the bored Yu Shunzhou seemed to have found his savior, but Gao Yuan took hold of him, saying, "Let's go for a walk, get some air."

Yu Shunzhou knew something was up when he saw Gao Yuan's face. When the three of them reached a secluded spot, Yu Shunzhou whispered, "What's going on, what happened?"

"There's activity on the alien ship, many small spacecraft have left."

Yu Shunzhou stood still, and Gao Yuan stopped walking to wait for him.

Yu Shunzhou started walking again, then in a low voice asked, "Should we evacuate?"

"Where to evacuate to?"

"Our camp, right?"

Gao Yuan gave a bitter smile before shaking his head at Yu Shunzhou, whispering, "I can't retreat, Uncle Xiang is here, and I'm a volunteer. Running away now would make me a deserter."

"That's not like you at all! Are you confused?"

"Indeed, it's not like me, and I'm not confused. I'm just a survivalist, not a defeatist, and certainly not someone who abandons friends just to save his own life, so I can't go."

Yu Shunzhou was clearly distressed and then said helplessly, "This is troublesome, you guys came here to rescue me, and now if you refuse to run, then of course I can't leave. What kind of man would that make me? I might as well join the volunteers too now that my injuries have healed."

"Don't!"

Gao Yuan glanced at Luo Xingyu, then whispered, "I definitely can't be a deserter, but if things really become irredeemable, I'll certainly run. You understand what I mean, right?"

Do one's best and leave the rest to fate; becoming a deserter was out of the question, but if things really went south and the refuge was doomed, Gao Yuan would certainly run, instead of staying behind to die with others.

So it really was all up to fate; if one died, then there was nothing more to discuss. If one was lucky, then one could think about escaping.

Gao Yuan placed his bob in Yu Shunzhou's hands, saying, "Hold onto this, it's more convenient than me carrying it. If something really happens, meet up with Xiaoyu, and if you must run, head for the camp. Xiaoyu knows the way."

Luo Xingyu suddenly said, "I won't go with him. If you go, I'll go; if you don't, then forget it. I'd rather die with you."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a jinx!"

Yu Shunzhou spat on the ground and also whispered, "Why even run? To tell you the truth, I don't feel like running anymore either. We either leave together or... in any case, I'm not running alone. If things go south, I'll find you both and run together. What about Uncle Xiang?"

Gao Yuan wasn't sure whether Xiang Weiguo would be willing to flee; he felt it was uncertain. After a moment of thought, he said, "Uncle Xiang shouldn't be too rigid; I'll ask him later, see what he thinks. I believe Uncle Xiang will have arrangements for us."

Luo Xingyu grabbed Gao Yuan's hand. Gao Yuan instinctively tried to pull away, but he couldn't shake off Luo Xingyu's hand, and she ended up firmly linking her arm with his.

Yu Shunzhou slung the bob over his shoulder and told Gao Yuan, "Get a gun if there's a chance. Talk to Uncle Xiang, I won't join the volunteers for now, we'll see how things go. Actually, if the Aliens really come again, running might not make any difference... Tsk, tsk, nothing's taboo. If it's time to run, we still have to run. It's up to fate."

That's just how things were; if the Aliens in the sky made a move, the people on the ground were scared witless.

However, at this time, if one weren't concerned about the Aliens' movements, that would be the real oddity.

The three of them went to the cafeteria together for a meal. Judging by the reactions of the people in the cafeteria, they likely hadn't received the news yet.

Feeling too anxious to eat, Gao Yuan forced himself to eat a lot and also forced Luo Xingyu to eat a lot. When there was an opportunity to eat, one needed to eat more; who knew where or even if there would be a next meal.

After the meal, Yu Shunzhou returned to his hospital, and Gao Yuan went to Luo Xingyu's dormitory to wait for Xiang Weiguo to come back.

After about half an hour of waiting, hearing some noise outside, Gao Yuan got up and opened the door, and indeed it was Xiang Weiguo.

Xiang Weiguo glanced at Gao Yuan and immediately said, "We'll talk inside."

Gao Yuan backed into Luo Xingyu's room, and after Xiang Weiguo entered, he shut the door behind him, looking serious. "You want to talk about the Aliens' movements?"

"Yes, you knew? I guessed you knew, otherwise you wouldn't have spoken with Commander Wang for so long."

"We just had a military meeting about the Aliens' movements. There are specialists monitoring it; they've counted forty-six small UFOs leaving the Alien mothership today, but it's not clear where they went or what their purpose is."

Xiang Weiguo sighed deeply and sat down on the only chair, then looked seriously at both Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu.

"What are your plans?"

Gao Yuan spread his hands, saying, "With things like this, I obviously can't leave ahead of time. I'll stay and fight with the troops until the end."

Xiang Weiguo's face brightened with a relieved smile, "That's good, you haven't embarrassed me with your words."

Gao Yuan hesitated, then asked, "What about you, sir?"

"Me? If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have planned to leave. If the worst happens, you and Xiaoyu run, and I'll stay behind."

"Uncle Xiang!"

"Don't say anymore, no need to say anything."

Xiang Weiguo raised a hand to stop Gao Yuan, then he smiled gently, "There's no point saying some things out loud. I'll tell you what we'll do next. First off, we're going to lock down the information. Keep what you've seen to yourselves; letting everyone know won't do them any good, and they'll only panic before the Aliens even arrive."

"I know, I won't blab."

Xiang Weiguo continued in a low voice, "We need to beef up defense, both external vigilance and internal security."

"Internal?"

Xiang Weiguo looked helpless, "This refuge houses over two hundred thousand people. What if another outbreak occurs, and chaos starts from within? Internally, we certainly need to strengthen security too."

"Are we going to significantly increase the number of volunteers?"

"Yes, we must do that. Recruit more volunteers to handle some auxiliary duties; each soldier will lead three volunteers. We also need to construct some defensive works, which will begin tomorrow. It's okay to tell you this."

After finishing speaking, Xiang Weiguo hesitated a moment before placing his hand on Gao Yuan's shoulder and whispered, "Commander Wang told me to convey to you that when necessary... you can take Xiaoyu and leave, you don't have to feel embarrassed about it. This refuge has two hundred fifty thousand people; in this war, one less of you makes absolutely no difference, but if you survive and occasionally speak on the radio, that would be your greatest contribution."