17. - Our selfish behavior/+/first contact

After dinner at Station 2, in the territory of the three who apparently think this is their home, we went downstairs to our station one by one. We all decided to avoid the stairwell and took the elevator.

First Zhan and I, together with Leni and Han went downstairs, half an hour later Yanli and Missy followed, together with Meng Yao and another half an hour later, the rest of our group arrived.

I wanted to write this first because I am so happy. I finally know what time it is and what date it is. After Zhan and I returned to our station, I took a closer look at the charger for my brother's camera, and, I was able to charge my cell phone battery with it!

Of course, we don't have network signal down here, and I didn't expect it anyway. But just knowing that today is already Saturday, 08/03/2019 means so much to me. It means I actually have to go back to work on Monday. And that also means we're three days overdue. That means, theoretically, the police should already be looking for us.

Zhan just said to me earlier that if they went into the cave, they would have to find the remains of the bend lights there and would only have to follow this trail and would at least get as far as the locked first door. I hadn't even thought of that anymore. These stupid bend lights have already completely slipped my mind. Maybe there is hope after all.

*~*~*

The canned food doesn't really seem to be good for all of us. Many of our group complain about stomach ache or nausea. I just went to the bathroom for the second time in thirty minutes.

Zhan and André made a wheelchair for Han. They found a wooden chair and added the wheels from a desk chair to the legs. André also took the backrests off the desk chair and added them to the wooden chair. From now on, we can push Han around and not have to carry him.

Leni found a stand for infusions. She kicked the wheels off of it with her healthy foot and now uses the stand to get around better. Every step she takes with it, the thing rattles. I guess we will never have to look for her this way, because she can be heard everywhere with it.

My brother, Cheng and Yanli try to figure out from the files and documents that Meng Yao and Missy have gathered. But judging from their facial expressions, they are not very successful at it.

Meng Yao and Missy sit together and try to figure out if we can use some of the cages from below as a kind of trap. They are thinking way too far ahead on this. Maybe later or tomorrow morning I'll give them a tip on how it might work to make a live trap out of a cage.

*~*~*

Because of my stomach ache, I went to bed earlier and just woke up. The light is off. My watch says it's just after midnight. Zhan is not in the room with me. The door is open a crack, though. I'll go see where he is.

*~*~*

I had found Zhan. He was sitting with André in the hallway around the corner, the two of them were talking. When they noticed me, Zhan told me to sit with him, which I did. Zhan then asked André to tell us a little about himself and his friends. I feel more ashamed now than ever that we relied on him all this time, but didn't even ask him who his friends were.

"I'll spare myself from telling you the name of the place where I grew up. It was so small that it wouldn't tell you anything anyway. I grew up with my parents, my two older brothers and my three little sisters. Anna, the woman who was with my group, was my fiancée. She was not well because she was pregnant. We only found out about it a week before this trip and she was three months pregnant then. We were going to get married on December 6 in Poland. She was looking forward to the fact that on our wedding pictures her belly would have been visible then. After we found out about her pregnancy, I wanted to cancel the trip, but Anna insisted and said that we would not be able to travel again so soon and everything was already paid for. The guy who was as tall as me, his name was Boris and he was my big brother." André stopped and rubbed his eyes.

Zhan handed him a few sheets from a roll of toilet paper. After a few minutes, André had regained his bearings and continued.

"The smaller guy, with the gap in his teeth was named Anton and he was my best friend since kindergarten. The two of them were only here because I invited them. They couldn't have afforded it at all, even though they both had jobs in Germany. My brother has a wife and three small children at home in Poland. How can I explain to them what happened? How can I ever step under their eyes again?"

I always don't know how to act in such situations and said quietly, "It's not your fault. No one could have guessed what was going to happen to us. And still we can't be sure that they might not have survived after all."

For the first time in my life, I felt truly ashamed. Not because of what I said, but because of the behavior of myself and everyone else in our group. Each of us had behaved so selfishly that it had not even occurred to us to ask André how he was doing. We all had only in mind not to lose our loved ones and our friends.

Every day we looked André in the face, knowing that he had lost all those who were with him. We had not even thought it was necessary to ask who they were.

Zhan put his hand on André's forearm and whispered something I couldn't understand. The next moment André wiped the tears from his face and smiled. "I'll go check on our patients then. Don't stay up too late, who knows what we'll be facing later." He said and then disappeared into his room that he shares with Han and Meng Yao.

I wonder what Zhan whispered to him and if that caused André to calm down and even smile.

*~*~*

After our conversation with André, I took Zhan's hand and pulled him with me to our room. I clung to him tightly so that he couldn't just disappear again without me noticing.

We then listened to some music stored on my phone and fell asleep. Fortunately, I can now recharge the battery if necessary.

Punctually at 6 am came again the monotone voice over the speakers and announced that light on and it's time to get up. We are all rebels though and stayed in our beds. It was already after 9 am when we finally got up.

We all found ourselves in the large visitors room talking about the day's plans when we heard the two elevators. Cautiously we approached the elevators and checked, no one was there. André pressed the call button for the elevators and both doors opened. Inside we found a big surprise.

Both elevators had been filled with food, water bottles, clothing, cosmetic items like toothpaste, shower gel and hair wash, and medicine for all of us!

We cleared everything out of the elevator when a man's voice was heard over the speakers. 

"To the new residents of Station 4, welcome to the Crane Institute. Following are a few instructions and information. Since you have chosen to stay in Station 4 and among yourselves, we have put together what you need. Among other things, fresh food. To cool your food, use the refrigerator in station 5, where you can also cook or heat your meals in the staff's small kitchen area. The supply also includes pills, which are a broad-spectrum antibiotic, as well as a supplement. The antibiotic must be taken once a day and always at the same time. The supplement is taken with each meal. Please do this voluntarily so that we do not have to force you to do it. It serves only your health and is not dangerous! - Furthermore, there are two medical kits and disinfectants in the elevator to create a sterile room. You should use this room to help your friend who is injured on his leg. Detailed instructions from one of our doctors on the proper care/treatment/surgery of the wound can be found in a case labeled "Sterile Surgery Set". There is also an antibacterial ointment, painkillers, sterile compresses and bandages for the wound in an extra case. For the ankle of your injured friend, you will find a cooling gel as well as support bandages and an appropriate walking aid. Both injured people should be wearing compression stockings, which are also included. And, it is important to give them a thrombosis injection every day, for the next 5-7 days. You should keep this in the refrigerator of one of the labs in your station. - You are allowed to move freely around the institute and look at everything. However, please avoid contact with our long-term guests on station two if possible, because they feel threatened by you. We have observed Julia mixing a powder into your food as she warmed it up for you. So it is advisable to stay away from them and not to accept anything from them. It will not be necessary to bring down the two friends of yours remaining at station 2 to you at station 4. - I repeat again, stay away from Station 2 and the long-term guests and do not accept anything from them! In the coming days, a couple of staff members will contact you. Follow their instructions! They will examine you medically. They will take blood samples and saliva samples. If necessary, you will also be asked to give a urine sample. They will explain everything to you. Until then we ask you for patience and not to make any rash actions. You are not in danger here! End of announcement."

This announcement was repeated two more times. We took the groceries downstairs and put them in the fridge, sorted the cosmetics and divided them among each other and so did the new clothes. New, slightly less ugly jogging suits, underwear, shirts and socks. There was also fresh bedding. Everyone got a new pillow and a new blanket.

André took care of the medical equipment and medications. He looked at our pills and then handed them to us, since he considered them to be safe. In fact, he had found that this broad-spectrum antibiotic was very expensive and therefore rarely prescribed.

And while André then followed the doctor's written instructions on how to treat Han's wound, we all sat together and talked. Of course, only about them, who actually contacted us, as we already suspected.

So our stomach aches and nausea, didn't come from the food, but from what that bitch Julia mixed in there for us. I would like to strangle her, this dirty bitch! She better stay away from me, because I don't think I'm not going to do anything in this case just because she's a woman.

After a little over an hour, André returned from the room, which the women hurriedly had disinfected. He had given Han an anesthetic injection and then opened his wound again. Cleaned it as instructed, removed dead skin and sutured it with surgical sutures. He smeared the antibacterial ointment on it, put a compress on it and then bandaged everything cleanly.

Now, if he did everything right, Han should be feeling better very quickly. The situation is different with Leni's ankle. It will take longer. But with the new walker, the cooling gel and the support bandage, she should be fine.

Zhan and I moved all our new stuff into our room. Shower gel, hair wash, toothpaste, towels, deodorant, the new clothes and bedding to be more specific.

Right now, it looks like we're all going to comply. But, that's not the case, of course. We want to see what kind of people come to us and what they tell us. And as soon as Han feels better and Leni too, we'll get out of here!