Cave Refuge

Transforming subway stations into underground sanctuaries would not only be costly but could also complicate any attempts to restore them in the future.

So if we talk about the initial modifications of the Ren Defense Area into a shelter, based on a scale of ten, the modification extent of subway station shelters would barely score a three keeping restoration efforts in mind. This equates to quite a shabby job.

While residents had been coerced into participating in the modifications for the Ren Shelters, the transformation of the subway stations into shelters was purely voluntary.

The Ren Shelters are nominally managed by individual streets. Hence, during their transformation, each street paid serious attention to the quality of work.

On the other hand, subway station shelters had no assigned management. All streets were notified, and residents were freely encouraged to sign up for its renovation.

The lack of assigned responsibility, coupled with minimal transformation efforts and limited attention from officials, meant that the completed subway station shelters left much to be desired.

The lack of responsibility was evident in the very sloppy inspection process – this summarily explained the poorly executed outcome.

Upon the advice of Dong Tianyu, after the completion of his street's Ren Shelter, Mr. Thompson took the initiative to join in the modification process of the subway station shelters.

Although People's Square Station was not as grand as Pengville Plaza Station with its two levels, it still had considerable space inside.

Mr. Thompson's reason for joining was to locate a suitable residential area as per the instructions handed to him by his son.

The ideal location should be distinctly away from the subway station entrances and exits, where the temperatures could become extremely cold due to ventilation necessities.

Also, it is not wise to set up camp near the subway lines; despite being warm, it's a path for anyone to escape – thieves included – so that area was not an option either.

On principle, the best spot should be the subway station's surveillance room. But everyone knew that place would undoubtedly be claimed by government officials in the end. It was out of reach.

The next best location would be the shops within the subway station, which could form a closed-off area once the gates were drawn. Still, Dong Tianyu had analyzed that occupying such conspicuous spots so early would likely attract unwanted attention, so they had to be ruled out as well.

Initially, Mr. Thompson was going to pick an arbitrary corner for headquarters. Still, during the modification process, he stumbled upon a U-shaped area within the station, quite by accident.

Through casual conversation, he learnt that this place was reserved for traffic control purposes in the event of a new subway line. After all, People's Square was once the heart of Pengcheng, and officials had planned for it to be the junction for the future number one line and another line.

This U-shaped area was more than twenty meters wide and extended over thirty meters long. Blocking the entrances would create a semi-enclosed space.

Once he found this ideal location, Mr. Thompson invested more effort into modifying this area during the renovation process.

Mr. Thompson made no secret of his actions, but no one paid much attention. After all, those involved in this renovation had already completed the renovations of their nearby Ren Defense Area shelters.

Although they recognized Mr. Thompson's intent to claim this place, they did not intervene. The area seemed small, but minimum, twenty to thirty people would be needed to occupy it.

Since they had no intention of staying here, it wouldn't affect them. Mr. Thompson occasionally distributed cigarettes as well, so people turned a blind eye to his actions anyway.

At this point, everyone had a vague idea about the government's plan. The massive scale of transforming the Ren Defense Areas into shelters was an apparent indication of a coming disaster.

At first, not everyone might have understood, but during the process of modifying their Ren Shelters, they could see the attitudes of the street workers. Realizing that the government officials were serious, they began to take the renovation process more earnestly.

Wealthier and resourceful individuals teamed up, discovered some unique geographical points, and started constructing their private sanctuaries, just like Dong Tianyu.

However, at this time, electronic devices could not be used, making the modification process extremely tough. Besides a few successful cases, most people had given up halfway through.

One night, when Mr. Thompson returned home, he was stunned to find his son at home, although Dong Tianyu had mentioned three months earlier that further meetings would be rare.

Throughout these three months, Dong Tianyu had returned home every ten days to half a month, bringing home cooked food. However, he never stayed the night, always leaving when it was late and there were fewer people around.

Mr. Thompson assumed that like previous occasions, his son would leave after dinner and casual chats, and thus paid it no mind.

He only sat at the dining table after washing his hands and changing his clothes. Just as he was about to tell his son about the great place he had found in the subway station shelter, Dong Tianyu spoke up:

"Dad, it's starting to get colder. We will have to move to the shelter soon. Have you decided whether to go with me or go to the official sanctuary?"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Thompson was taken aback – considering Dong Tianyu's plans, moving into the shelters seemed like an end-of-winter activity. He didn't expect it to happen this quickly.

Seeing that his father did not respond, Dong Tianyu continued, "Dad, haven't you noticed the temperature dropping?"

Thinking about the difference in temperatures between then and the daytime, Mr. Thompson replied, "Isn't it natural for it to be cooler at night?"

Hearing this, Dong Tianyu could only sigh helplessly. The situation was akin to the last time, when there was a sudden dip in temperature during summer. Everyone regarded it as a normal weather anomaly, and nobody paid much attention to it. Yet, once the temperature had dropped, it never rose again.

Dong Tianyu pulled out an electronic watch from his pocket and handed it to his father.

Mr. Thompson took the plastic watch from his son and inspected it closely. Its plastic case and strap reminded him of the cheap watches sold at primary school entrances.

Upon flipping it over, he could see the electronic structure inside through the transparent plastic body. The watch exhibited childish colors in response to any of the five or six buttons pressed.

"Wait a second—the watch is glowing!"

Mr. Thompson suddenly understood the significance of his son's gesture. In disbelief, he pressed the watch buttons again, this time causing the watch to even play music.

Is electronic equipment functional now? Thinking along those lines, Mr. Thompson quickly reached for Mrs. Thompson's handheld fan for a test run. When that failed to work, he remembered that Dong Tianyu had mentioned unprotected electronic devices were liable to damage.

So, Mr. Thompson retrieved a box from under the bed, which contained a thick layer of aluminum-foil wrapped flashlights.

Pushing the switch caused the room's lighting to increase instantly. It verified his son's earlier conjecture.

It seemed as if the coming winter, like his son had predicted, was indeed fast approaching.