The rain was literally pouring like cats and dogs, up to a point I really thought it would flood the whole base. It wasn’t like the base is a small space, but more like a quadrupled baseball field. If the rain could flood this place, just imagine the amount of water.

All the slaves who were resting along the mountain sides started to run toward the entrance of the mines.

“It’s flooding! Go, just go!”

“Get away! Hey, don’t block my way!”

People yelled while bumping into each other when getting closer to the entrance. It was a wide one, enough for a couple people to enter at once, but due to the huge crowd it didn’t take long before it got jammed up completely.

“Come on, you are so slow!” Rene complained, while crawling on my back and patting my shoulders.

The rain was getting up to my knees, not that I could see it since the moon was covered with black clouds and the torches outside were all extinguished by the rain, it was more like I felt it.

This was early summer, and the night rain was freezing. It felt like icy water.

“Why is the water so cold?”

“Don’t tell me you just noticed it. If you don’t want to develop hypothermia, run faster.”

The darkness further drove everyone to head toward the brightly lit cave, but the entrance was too jammed to make any progress.

We were too far away from all those hassles.

The rain was coming down all over my eyes that I could barely see clearly. What made things worse was that………..

Rene was freaking hugging my neck so tight that I thought he was trying to strangle me!

“Let---------go---------! I can’t breathe!” I finally got my words out.

Rene suddenly realized that, and loosen his arms around my neck, but still crawled on my back like a monkey.

“Hurry up! What are you waiting for! You are a newbie here, and have no idea how bad flooding can get in the base! I don’t freaking know how to swim! Most people were already at the entrance, why are you hesitating?”

Yeah, right, it sounded like I really was a swimming athlete, and was able to get him out of the “pool” in five seconds. That naughty kid was really something!

“Kiddo, everyone is so fast because they don’t have to carry a rice bag on their backs, just shut your mouth or I will throw you into the water.”

Rene immediately stayed quiet. This kid was bug-water-phobic. How was he able to survive all along? I really wondered hard. After a brief moment, I felt bad for saying those harsh words, and explained.

“Look at the entrance, it’s already so jammed up that a fly can’t even make it in, even if we get there, we couldn’t get in anyways. Trust me, we will be okay. I am trying my best here.”

I was moving toward the entrance as fast as I could, while people bumped into us from time to time. While walking, I couldn’t help but to glance over the floating white canvas tents. There was a dim light inside each tent, guessing they were candles. The canvas tents were so white that the darkness was not able to completely cover them. I had always wondered why those tents were built on top of thick rafts. Now the reason was clear.

Those white canvas tents floated on top of the water like ghosts wandering at night. They drifted here and there, but seemed to remain at a similar spot. There should be a line that holds them at certain places. It must be quite dry and warm to be inside.

“Those dudes must be quite comfortable.” I said.

“It’s not the time to think about those guys.” Rene complained.

Just imagine the poor rafts that had to lift those eight feet guards, at least it was built sturdy. While I was thinking how nice it would be to get into one of the tents, someone kicked me in the back of my leg so hard that I fell into the water.

I heard a huge splash, and felt that Rene was off my back.

Then……………

What I didn’t expect was that…………….

I was drowning in a water level only up to my waist!

There was a huge foot that stepped on my back and legs, and then another one, then another one………..

Those guys were freaking stepping on me without even noticing!

Firstly I didn’t know how to swim, therefore not knowing how to hold my breath in the water while panicking. Secondly even if I knew how to swim, there was no way to hold my breath because those guys were trying to squeeze out the last oxygen molecule out of my lungs.

I thought of Rene, realizing he could be in the same situation.

“Nana big sis! Get up! Get up…………”

That kiddo was all right, and it was good to know. He also called me Nana big sis. He finally accepted me as his older sister. It really warmed my heart, but at the same time, the pain from suffocating was so agonizing that I started to grab onto random things.

I didn’t know what I was trying to hold onto, just plain dirt from the ground. My face was buried in the mud, and my body couldn’t budge a bit. Whenever there was a chance to get up, there was someone else stepping on my body, and crushed my hope again.

“Nana big sis…………”

Rene was crying like a baby.

Oh, that little brat was pretending to be a real man, and now cried like a baby.

I heard it all, but couldn’t do anything.

Right before I lost consciousness, someone suddenly pulled me out of the water. I coughed like crazy, and my head and throat were burning in fire.

“Are you still alive!?”

Rene grabbed onto me real tight, and hit my back so hard it really hurt. I wasn’t sure if that actually helped or not, but I coughed up a lot of muddy water.

“If you keep hitting my back, I surely will die.”

Rene’s voice was relieved. “Thank goddess Aniela, you finally can talk. You scare the crap out of me!”

I managed to recover from all the coughing, and was able to breathe normally again.

“Rene, you finally did something good.”

“Did what!?” He was confused.

“Save me, of course. I don’t know that you are strong enough to lift me out of the water. You should go crack some rocks tomorrow. I think you are more than ready.”

“That wasn’t me.”

I hesitated, and wiped the mud off my face while rain kept on pouring.

“It wasn’t you?”

“Nope.”

“Then who was that?”

Rene shrugged his shoulders. “How the hell would I know? It’s so dark here that I can barely see my own fingers. Let's hurry up, it’s getting cold!”

I really wanted to thank whoever dragged me out of the cold water, but that person was probably long gone. Rene held onto my arm and we struggled to move along with the crowd. My head was still quite dizzy due to the suffocation earlier, but Rene was not much better with limited mobility.

“I can carry you.” I suggested, seeing him hopping along like a frog.

Rene snorted.

“You are just too clumsy. I don’t want to risk it again, falling face down into the water is not fun at all.”

I knew he was saying that because he didn’t want to burden me, considering how tight he was holding onto my arms, as if he was helping me to move along. It really took a long time before we made it into the cave.

No one wanted to spend the night inside the cave, although it was warmer and more comfortable. At first I didn’t know why, but after the mine collapse the reason was clear. Nobody wanted to get buried alive while sleeping. There was so much work done to the cave that no one knew when and where it would collapse.

The torches were flickering on the walls, brightening the vast space and darkness. Some people started to get the bonfires going, so they can dry wet clothes. I didn’t notice there was a pile of wood on one of the dark corners, which was quite convenient. It looked like floods were common here.

We started a fire with a few others’ help, and took off the outer layers of clothing to dry, then found a corner to sit down. The air smelled like burnt wood, which reminded me of the countless bonfires with Grandpa Jin and Grandma Sha. The fire flickered, and sparked from time to time.

I coughed a few times to clear my throat.

“You okay?” Rene asked with a childish face.

I smiled warmly, and stared at him.

At first Rene was able to pretend not to know about my deadly stare, but after two minutes, he almost jumped up irritably.

“What do you want to say! Hurry and say it and stop staring at me like that. It literally creeps me out!”