Chapter 256 - 255
The call went unanswered and automatically disconnected, shattering Joanna Kennedy’s last shred of hope. The mountainside was collapsing, sending rocks tumbling down. The crowd stopped, turned, and ran.
Through the swirling dust, a few lucky survivors limped out.
’Not Simon Lockwood... not Simon Lockwood...’
’Where’s Simon Lockwood? Why isn’t he coming out...?’
Joanna Kennedy’s mind went blank. She turned against the tide of people and started to run up the mountain.
Anna Yates, coming to her senses, grabbed Joanna Kennedy and desperately tried to drag her to the safety of the car. "Jo! Jo, you have to listen to me..."
Joanna Kennedy’s eyes were bloodshot. She struggled so violently that the sleeve of her down jacket ripped completely open, exposing a long gash on her arm to the biting wind.
Anna Yates couldn’t take it anymore and screamed through her tears, "Joanna Kennedy, get a hold of yourself!"
A rock rolled past with a heavy THUD. In the instant Joanna Kennedy froze, Anna Yates moved with lightning speed and hit the central lock button.
When Joanna Kennedy realized what had happened, she started yanking at the door handle like a madwoman, not even pausing as the motion tore her wound open again. Fighting back sobs, she begged, "Anna, please let me out. Please, just let me out."
"You go! Don’t worry about me, just let me out!"
Anna Yates paid her no mind, her hands trembling as she tried to start the car. "Jo, the rescue team will be here. I’m taking you back. I’m taking you back..."
The instant the engine turned over, the keys were snatched from the ignition, stalling the car. Anna Yates broke down. "Joanna Kennedy, I told you the rescue team will come! Just come back with—"
"I said, open the door!" Joanna Kennedy cut her off, eyes red and tears streaming down her face. "Anna, I’m begging you..."
......
"...Simon Lockwood is still in there." Joanna Kennedy viciously wiped away a tear, struggling to control the tremble in her voice. "Anna, I have to find him. I have to go find him..."
Joanna Kennedy’s face was a mess of tears. Her once bright, clear eyes were now filled with such sorrow and devastation that not a single trace of their usual light remained.
Anna Yates’s mind was blank, but she still said, "But I can’t just watch you go to your death..."
Joanna Kennedy was her friend; Simon Lockwood was not. In this absurd, man-made accident, her choice was Joanna.
Joanna Kennedy’s desperate, tear-choked voice echoed in the quiet car. "But you’re just sentencing me to death right now."
"........."
It was impossible to say how much time had passed. It might have only been a few seconds, but to Anna Yates, it felt as painful as a century.
The door opened, and Anna Yates watched as Joanna Kennedy ran recklessly up the mountain. She stumbled and fell, but quickly scrambled up again, continuing on toward the abyss...
Anna Yates didn’t know if she had done the right thing, but she thought, ’This is Joanna Kennedy’s choice. She chose Simon Lockwood.’
The rockfall stopped. The people who had been hiding ran back toward the disaster. Amidst the chaos, Anna Yates saw a man walk out of the mutton soup restaurant. He was tall and carried himself with a cold, distinguished air.
’It’s Liam Valentine,’ Anna Yates thought. ’Valentine didn’t lie to me.’
This accident was Liam Valentine’s masterpiece. Joanna Kennedy wasn’t from this world; between her and Simon Lockwood, only one could survive.
Liam Valentine calmly surveyed the wreckage, looking as if it had nothing to do with him, yet also as if he pitied those who had lost their lives.
The instant their eyes met, Anna Yates saw Liam Valentine give her a faint, emotionless smile.
*
The blue guardrail was buried beneath rock and dirt. Behind it lay the collapsed mine shaft.
Tear-streaked women and elderly men ignored the protests of others, digging at the rocks with their bare hands. Faint, pained cries for help could still be heard.
They were the sounds of people trapped in the mine below, people who hadn’t yet succumbed.
Living, breathing people.
"It’s all the fault of those goddamn leaders who said they had to open the mine! And now... and now..." a woman’s shrill voice cried out, before she covered her face and burst into bitter sobs.
"What’s the point of saying that now? We have to save them!"
"Save them how?! They’re buried under there! We don’t even know if they’re dead or alive. How are we supposed to save them? You tell me how!"
A desperate villager collapsed to the ground, crying so hard he nearly fainted. He then started cursing the leaders and the rich, who only wanted to make money, for causing so many deaths.
Resigning themselves to fate, no one moved to clear the rocks from the mine entrance. The agonized cries for help from within the shaft grew fainter, while the villagers began to discuss whether they could still get paid, and if the compensation would be higher for deaths.
Joanna Kennedy’s face was deathly pale. Her white down jacket was already filthy from the chaos, the torn sleeve revealing her still-bleeding arm, but she couldn’t feel the pain.
Lives were being lost with every passing second. The rescue team hadn’t arrived yet. The only hope was the strength of these residents.
Joanna Kennedy’s hands were trembling—trembling uncontrollably. Blood dripped from her fingers to the ground. In the depths of her overwhelming grief, she heard her own voice, so calm it was unlike her. "The people inside are still alive. Are you just going to stand here and hold their funeral?!"
Her voice wasn’t loud, but its calmness was almost cold-blooded. The scene fell silent for an instant, then erupted into a torrent of angry shouts.
"What’s that supposed to mean? Who are you trying to jinx?! We have family in there too! You think we don’t want to save them?!"
"The state conscripted these workers and killed my son! If my son is dead, the state has to be responsible!" a gray-haired old man’s voice trembled with anger, his eyes wide. "Who are you? How dare you speak here?!"
"If we start clearing the mine and we fail to save them, what if the state turns around and accuses us of killing them?!"
They’d have no way to defend themselves. They would not only lose their family members but also the compensation money. And if a second collapse happened, they could lose their own lives as well.
The villagers, who had just been full of grief, seemed to transform, their eyes bulging with anger. "You tell us to save them? Easy for you to say! Can you represent the state? Can you guarantee our safety?!"
"I can."
In the dead silence, Joanna Kennedy dug her nails into her palm and raised her voice. "I’m the investor for this project. Any villager who helps with the rescue, regardless of the outcome, will receive ten thousand. For every person you rescue, I’ll add two hundred thousand."
"If there’s an accident during the rescue," Joanna Kennedy promised, "your family will receive one million in compensation!"
The area was deathly quiet. Even the town official who had just rushed to the scene stared with wide, shocked eyes, proving just how stunning Joanna Kennedy’s words were.
The crowd soon erupted with gasps of astonishment. Even those who were just bystanders started asking, "Is that for real? Two hundred thousand for each person saved?!"
"Ten thousand just for helping with the rescue?!"
"She’s not lying, is she?"
Just as the doubtful whispers began, someone asked, their voice wavering with uncertainty, "You... are you Joanna Kennedy?!"
Joanna Kennedy? Who was Joanna Kennedy?!
The middle-aged villagers didn’t recognize celebrities, but the younger ones were always online. What’s more, Joanna Kennedy had recently visited Oakhaven for a charity event. Soon, more of the younger crowd recognized her.
A celebrity. A public figure. A rich person.
That made things easy. If she went back on her word and refused to pay, they could just leak it to the media.