Chapter Text
A blanket of smoke clouded Xie Lian’s vision the moment he kicked the door open. He can hardly breathe through the gas mask, let alone being engulfed by thick black smoke. He was sweating profusely in his bunker gear. It was the last place he had to sweep before he can retreat when a blur of a silhouette darts between the curtains.
‘A child?’ Xie lian thought, eyes sharpening in alert.
“You don’t have much time Xie Lian! Get your ass out of there!” A snappy voice came through the intercom, making Xie Lian grimace from the loud feedback.
“I think got sight of a kid, or what I think is a kid?” He reports, unsure, but his steps carrying him further into the room that’s filling up with smoke in an alarming rate. “I’m heading out right after confirming it!”
“Headcount is cleared! The whole place is going to collapse any minute-you need to GET OUT NOW!” Mu Qing’s voice cuts through harshly.
“Come on out buddy, we got to go now-” Xie Lian said with a coaxing voice as he crouched low to peek below the desk where he saw tiny feet trying to shuffle away.
“Shhh, it’s okay.” Xie Lian cooed as soon as he caught sight of teary eyes. The little girl relents when Xie Lian pulled and hug her into his arms, but she kept making grabby hands towards the desk as they were leaving.
“Is something down there, sweetie?” Xie Lian carefully crouched low as best as he can with the child in his arm. Underneath the desk was two small puppies bundled up in a torn jacket.
“Oh puppies,” Xie lian murmurs as he reached out to scoop the puppies up. The child eagerly collecting them into her small arms.
Carefully, he sets down the girl and ripped open his turn out gear coat. He then gingerly tuck the little girl with the two puppies inside his coat before clipping them back up, swaddling the little girl and the puppies onto his chest.
“I’m sorry about this tight squeeze little Miss, but we are going to be just fine,” He said softly to the trembling kid in his arms. “Hold on okay?”
“XIE LIAN!” Feng xin’s frustrated voice snapped at him. A chunk of burning celling suddenly came crashing down, narrowly missing his head. Thank god for reflexes.
“Child secured-I’m heading out now!” He said as he weaved through the debris, heading towards the nearest window. Leaning away so the girl safely facing the other side, he struck a precise aim at the glass with his elbow. Successfully breaking it without injuring himself.
“Can you see me?” he poke his head out, scanning the new surrounding. Trying to pinpoint his location. His head already calculating the possible escape routes.
Ground team.
“I need visual! Fucking locate him-” Mu Qing snapped at the ground team. The sirens are blaring non-stop next to their makeshift tent which is annoying him to the point of no return. He was barking orders left and right trying to locate Xie Lian since they lost visual of him the moment he entered that smoking room.
“How did you all MISSED A CHILD-”
“We have visual! He’s too far on the right side-” Ling Wen calls out as the drones she sent out finally caught a visual on Xie Lian’s now exposed location. Feng Xin scrambling to get on his feet, yanking Ling Wen’s monitor to see the feedback from the drone.
“They wont make it in time to deploy the rescue air bag-” Feng xin cussed out a storm as a loud creaking sound had all of them snapping their gaze back to the main monitor.
“6th floor is crashing down!” Ling Wen’s assistant squeaked in horror as the middle part of the building started to cave on itself.
“I can jump-” Xie lian’s voice came through the speakers.
“Are you crazy!” Feng Xin bellowed out, fists bashing on his table.
“It’s 5 floors up,” Ling Wen reasons as she pilots the drone to scan for better escape route as Shi Wudu came barreling inside the tent.
“There’s a bit of awning for straight 2 floors down-” Xie Lian points out when Shi Wudu snatched the radio.
“Xie Lian-” Shi Wudu started before swiftly cut off by Xie Lian.
“That’ll have to do!” Xie Lian calls out before cutting the radio off.
“Xie Lian? Xie Lian!! Fucking bastard-” Mu Qing gritted angrily as he snatched the radio connecting to the EVAC team. “South wing-gogoGO!”
‘This is going to hurt’ Xie Lian thought as he scrunched his nose. Securing the bundle tightly in his arms, the walls collapsing behind him didn’t give him any chance to doubt his decision. With a groan, he leaped down from the window and prayed for the best.
“EVAC GOGOGO-” Pei Ming roared in the intercoms as he charged out of the tent along with the rest of the members inside.
The winds are deafening as Xie Lian soar down from the fifth floor in a free fall. Bracing himself for impact as the first awning gets more closer by the second. Tightening his grip on the bundle on his chest, he shut his eyes tightly and gritted his molar as he felt his foot makes contact with the awning two floors down.
Excruciating pain shot up from his legs to his spine as his weight tore through the first thin roofing, breaking most of his momentum as he crashes through the second one. The pain almost making him lose the tight hold he had on the kid with the puppies. Clenching his jaws to swallow down his cries as he felt something snapped when all of his weight descended on one of his foot on the final tumble. He thank his rare lucky star as the his final fall was broke by a huge dumpster can. It was half filled, the fall still hurts and he is very sure that he felt one of his limb is bent at a very wrong angle, but it is definitely way better than landing in a splatter on a flat ground.
He groaned, winded from the impact. A cough ripped out of him as blood filled his lungs.
‘Yup, something is definitely broken,’ he thought miserably as the back of his skull throbs like crazy.
It wasn’t even a few minutes later he heard footsteps rushing towards him. Indiscernible shouts was making the throb in his head worsen by the second. Barely able to turn his body to the side as he felt his own blood drowning him when he felt the little girl squirming in his hold.
Next thing Xie Lian knew was a bunch of hands grabbing and pulling him, and suddenly he was laid flat on a stretcher on the ground as more people crowded him. The poking and pulling increases as he cough out another chunk of coagulated blood.
“LIAN!” Feng Xin calls out frantically as he skid down on his knees next to Xie Lian. Trembling hands reaching out but hesitant to touch Xie Lian’s bloodied body.
“K-kid,” was all Xie Lian managed to gurgled out before another set of cough racked through him.
“She’s okay-we got her, she’s okay! You are going to be ok Lian-” Mu Qing’s voice floated through and it was all it took for him to finally succumbs into the pulls of unconsciousness.