Chen Shouyi was jolted awake by a knock at the door.
He grabbed the hilt of his sword in a flash. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Father Chen preparing to get up, he hurriedly said, "Dad, go back to sleep. They're probably here for me. I'll go see what they want."
He checked the time and saw that it was already past six. Quickly getting dressed, he went over and opened the door.
Several officers stood outside. Chen Shouyi recognized one of them: Yang Songkun, the lieutenant colonel commanding the troops guarding this villa district.
"Chief Advisor, I'm terribly sorry to disturb you so early!" Yang Songkun said courteously.
"I was about to get up anyway. What is it?" Chen Shouyi asked.
"I came to ask you about the situation outside," Yang Songkun said.
"Let's talk outside." Chen Shouyi closed the door behind him.
The group soon reached the corridor.
Chen Shouyi told them what he knew.
Everyone's expressions darkened as they listened.
"Chief Advisor, what do we do now?" After a long silence, Yang Songkun asked.
"Why are you asking me? Are communications down now?" Chen Shouyi asked.
"I don't know about other places, but communications and power are both out here. The shelter's running on the generators we have on site." Yang Songkun sighed. "We went outside just now and saw that quite a few residents had already left the civil-defense shelters. So I wanted to ask whether it's safe out there now."
Not every civil-defense shelter was as well-equipped as this one, which had considerable supplies and could generate its own power. In fact, most shelters were meant for little more than protection from air raids. Underground parking lots and subway stations also counted as civil-defense shelters.
Without food or water, people inside