For several days, the convoy held at the western staging point while the relief team traveled from White Orchard. Han kept a watch on the bridge and the northern breach. Ning sent one short message each day with the team’s location and water count; the last said they were beyond the western ridge. The families rationed supplies and waited with the carts turned toward the safe road.
Ning reached the western ridge with the relief team.
She came on foot beside the lead water cart, carrying the shelter list she had prepared at White Orchard. The road had left dust in the folds of her clothes, but she moved quickly when she saw the signal lantern. Qinghe met her at the ridge and gave a brief account of the breach, the bridge fight, and the missing squad.
Ning checked the transport numbers before she embraced Yan. “You look like you’ve been carrying things.”
“A few.”
She saw the bandage across his back. “That’s a burn.”
“A beam bracket caught me during a rescue. I treated it after Qinghe checked it.”
Ning rested her hand on his shoulder, then let go. “We can talk after we count the injured.”
