You must die

Ling was still not walking well, so he looked forward to a note being brought to him. Just then Maria came up with dinner and on the tray laid a small piece of paper. Ling eagerly grabbed it and read it.

"Passed well, but my man in the company has informed me that Fay has sent someone to the States. How much he knows is unknown to me, so be careful. Take your medicine and take care of yourself. I'll see you soon. Wei."

Ling sighed and took up his dinner. In front of him was boiled corn, generously drizzled with butter. It tasted sweet and hearty and somehow it took Ling's mind back to his childhood when he had been to his grandfather's farm.

His grandfather loved the land and everything that grew. That's why his land was full of all sorts of things. He was happy to accept any seed and often experimented with crops.

He remembered his grandfather because there, on the farm, he often had to try something new, exotic, and not combinable. So now there were some expiring fatty homemade sausages, corn, tomato sauce, and boiled asparagus in front of him.

He was always given a choice. Maria was not lazy and cooked a lot, just as Wei had promised: the food was never spicy. Ling was unaware that he already had a nickname of his own among the locals.

They called him 'pale-faced queen' behind his back. Even if he tried, the young man would not understand the reason. And it was because of a temporary ailment that he had not been crawling out of his room, and he was being served by Maria.

Still, money can't shut mouths. So the locals rinsed his bones every day at first. And then the local farmer's daughter ran off with the city boy and the topic of discussion changed dramatically.

However, Ling didn't know all this and lived in his little world on the third floor. Sometimes at night he would open a window and look out onto the lighted street, or empathize with the game at the card table below. But he couldn't open the windows for long; the mosquitoes would eat him alive.

Little by little Ling began to get bored. Whereas the first few days he only wished for a speedy recovery and to hear from Wei, now he felt a little discomfort and became bored.

A week after that night Ling crawled out into the sun for the first time. The locals who saw this were even silent for a moment but then went back to their business. When Ling staggered out of the way and decided to go for a walk, two men followed him.

They remained at a distance, talking animatedly about something as if Ling had nothing to do with it. He was not surprised, on the contrary, he had been expecting them and had to make sure that Wei had not wasted his money.

Gradually, the locals grew accustomed to Ling just as they had once done to Jiang Wei. Soon his skin was a smooth honey tan, he had changed into a comfortable linen shirt and breeches, and had acquired slippers and a wide-brimmed hat.

The fact that he bought all this from the local shops made him even more loved. Now he could taste the food without buying it, and if he liked it, he would take a lot and treat others to it.

He soon realized that it wasn't just money that was important to these people. Supply them with a pack of beer or give them a packet of cigarettes and they are yours to the grave. Lyn was surprised by this trait of simple-mindedness, but for the same reason, he quickly bonded with them.

By treating the children to candy, he became an idol to them as well. As school was on holiday, the children hung around, getting slapped by their fathers and shouted at by their busy mothers.

Ling bought a football ball and started kicking it with one foot, then his head. Within a minute, a pack of kids from six to fifteen had gathered around him.

They chattered approvingly and nodded at the man. Then he showed them that he wanted to play with them. The children immediately divided into teams and played a friendly game.

The dust was rising, and Ling, out of breath, had no idea that the local kids knew how to play. They chased him back and forth until the sun went down. Ling thanked the gods, picked up the ball, and staggered back to his room.

After taking a shower, he walked to the window and opened the sashes. Now he had a mosquito net over his window and he could breathe fresh air all night. Standing by the window, he wiped his hair and listened to the conversations. Something he already understood.

This evening it was the same as on other days. The men played cards, drank beer, groped their girlfriends, cursed, and shot at the sky. At times Ling rolled his eyes with a sense of deja vu.

It had been ten days and still no news. The young man was a little worried about his family. Living in a bunker was difficult and the situation was not stable.

Only when Wei returned could he begin to act openly, in the meantime he was covering his rear, saving his father and protecting Ling. The young man yawned and went down to look for food.

Maria no longer brought him baskets of food. As a grown man, he would go to her café on his own and eat with everyone else. After drinking a bottle of beer, he collapsed half-asleep on the bed and fell into a sound sleep.

Ling woke up to a noise. There was acrid smoke in the room. Coughing, he covered his mouth with his sleeve and ran to the window to see that the ground floor was on fire. His eyes widened with horror.

"Fuego!..Fire!.." shouted people outside

Ling quickly ran to the bathroom and, wetting a towel, made a mask. He kept coughing, the smoke stinging his eyes. The young man grabbed and put his things in his bag: money, passport, clothes and some medicine.

Just as he finished packing, Jiang Wei flew into the room.

Quickly glancing at Ling with his belongings, he grabbed his arm and dragged him after him.

Several men ran towards them. In their hands was someone's body. Ling looked back at the young man in amazement as he was carried into Ling's room.

"What's going on?" he thought frantically.

Instead of taking the stairs, Wei dragged him to a remote room in the basement. It turned out to be very cold there, and suddenly Ling realized they were hiding in a morgue.

Without a word, Wei opened one of the chambers and rolled out a trolley. He laid the young man down and handed him an oxygen tank and a mask.

"Don't be afraid, but you will die today in this hospital by fire. Your body will be identified and Shi Ling will cease to exist. Use the oxygen. I'll meet you in a few hours."

That was all he heard from Wei before he was in the cramped, stuffy cell and the lights went out.

He lay in complete darkness and shivering with cold. Gradually the fire spread to the upper floors. The young man was terrified. The cramped space of the cell scared the hell out of him.

Gradually he began to run out of air and fumbled for a mask. Opening the cylinder, he was able to take a small breath.

Ling didn't know if he had enough oxygen until morning and when he would be released. He spent an incredibly hard night drenched in a cold sweat, not knowing all the details and winding himself up.

There was no sound outside.

Tiredness was gradually taking its toll; Ling put a mask over his face and slowly passed out.

The oxygen was running low, and his consciousness became blurred. When at last a bright light blinded him, and someone jerked Ling forward sharply, he blacked out.

Someone was calling to him from afar, but he couldn't tell where the person was standing.

He was walking across the paddy field and his feet were constantly slipping in the muddy mush. He looked back and forth, but as far as his eye could see, there were green rice paddies jerked by a haze of mist.

"Ling!"

"..."

"Ling!"

"..."

"Wake up!"

"Aah," the young man felt the stinging mark of a heavy hand on his cheek.

"Thank God!" someone lifted him off, slung his arm over his shoulder and led him through the rubble, the protruding pipes, the burnt pieces of furniture somewhere outside.

Little by little the young man's eyes became accustomed to the bright light, as immediately a hat was slung over him and he felt a little better. There he could already see that there was hardly anything left of the hospital, people were anxiously discussing the incident while he and Wei went somewhere along the street.

They turned and went into a shop. Ling sat down on a chair and looked up at the man. He was still breathing heavily and his hands were shaking for some reason. He did not look Ling in the eyes, avoiding him. The young man frowned and called out:

"Wei!"

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing-nothing, its fine now, just wait a minute," he looked out the window and ran outside.

Ling looked back at his landlady and nodded at her with a smile. Then remembering something, he turned and asked for water. The woman quickly carried out his request and brought him a bottle of lemonade.

Ling drained it and coughed it up. Wei returned and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the shop. This made the young man feel dizzy again.

He stumbled and Wei picked him up, preventing him from falling. He got Ling into the car and jumped behind the wheel. They drove quickly away and soon left the small town that had become their hometown.

Ling looked around and watched the familiar scenery disappear. When the last house disappeared, he turned his head and looked at Wei. He was very pale and anxious.

The young man had much to ask and much to say, but his innate instincts told him that he should keep quiet. So he stared out the window, at the road, at his hands, and sideways at Jiang Wei.

He knew he would tell everything, but right now he was all like a taut string. Hmm, why was it necessary to 'kill' Shi Ling? Who's he going to be now? The guy in the passport? Ling tried to remember the name and couldn't. He involuntarily yawned and dozed off.

The car stopped at the edge of the cliff when the sky was already darkened by dusk. Jiang Wei carefully unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned back in the seat, sighing with relief.

Pulling the seat back slightly, he closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep. At three in the morning, there was a knock on the car window.

Wei opened the window and took the bags and torches handed to him. He exchanged it for a wad of money and the man disappeared into the darkness.

Ling woke up to a rustling sound and the cold night air. Also, Wei was looking at him.

"Are you all right?" Wei asked.

"Yeah..." Ling felt his throat still tingling from the smoke.

"We'll cross the border today, don't worry, it's all legal. I got the work permit and everything. There's a checkpoint seven kilometers away, but we'll have to walk. The people looking for us have fallen behind for now, and seem to believe you're dead, but not for long. We'll have to disguise ourselves."

Jiang Wei spoke very quickly as if he was afraid Ling would ask something or question his plan. The young man, meanwhile, frowned and again restrained himself from rash phrases. They changed their clothes, changed their appearance, and with the help of lanterns were able to make their way towards the border.

It was not a long way, but it was a difficult one. They were tired and took a short break in the last grove before the checkpoint. Lights were already visible in the distance. Ling drank some water and passed the bottle to Wei.

They caught their breath and made one last dash.

There was a queue at the border even at night. People were thoroughly searched and checked. Here and their scandals broke out and uniformed men flashed by, frightening Ling with their officiousness and seriousness.

When it was Ling and Wei's turn, the uniformed woman scrutinized their documents meticulously. Ling pretended to be mute.

Wei spoke a little Spanish. After carefully checking everything they were supposed to, they were stamped, and with the phrase "Welcome to the USA" they were let into the Emerald City.

After they had walked a couple of kilometers they noticed a flash of headlights, a signal. Wei and Ling got into the car, paid another man, and drove off.

Ling opened the window slightly to breathe in the pleasant fresh air and watched as the sky lit up with the faint rays of dawn. From somewhere in the distance came a growing noise. The sky was getting lighter and planes were flying overhead, quite low.

Somewhere nearby was the TIJ airport. Suddenly Wei turned off the main road. They drove a couple of kilometers until they came to an endless expanse of water. The ocean! Ling was speechless.

He jumped out of the car and ran across the sand. He adored the water! Jiang Wei also got out of the car but didn't go to the water, just sat down on the bonnet. He watched Ling's childlike joy and his heart felt better.

Ever since he left him, exhausted by passion, reason had returned to Wei, and he berated himself every day.

"Animal! How could you!? I just wanted to do it once and that was it, you lousy jerk!" he scolded himself.

And then imagined Ling opening his reddened eyes in the morning, trying to get up but in pain and tears of resentment accumulating in those red corners. Ling couldn't even cuss him out because Wei was gone. He only hoped that Maria and the others were taking good care of Ling.

When they met again, Wei was very embarrassed. The situation did not tolerate any delay and the man was glad that the conversation did not work out. He must have scared the hell out of Lyn by putting him in the morgue. But there was no other way.

It was the only room that could remain intact. Wei had been near Ling the whole time, but he'd forgotten to mention it.

He got out a few minutes early when his men made sure the ambulance had taken the 'body' away.