Zeyu stared at the radio in Manager Chen’s hand.
Distribution Manager Gao had asked about payment as though they were discussing a shipment waiting at a depot.
He hadn’t denied what Lili had told them or tried to explain why she had been tied up in the van. He simply wanted to know what Zeyu would give him.
The mother whose daughter had left with the first group moved closer to Manager Chen, looking between the radio and the mobile base.
"What are you asking for?" Zeyu said through the speaker.
Hanchuan stayed quiet behind him. Zeyu knew the others were listening, but no one interrupted as Manager Chen released the button to hear the answer.
"Fuel. Batteries. Food, if you have it," Distribution Manager Gao replied. "We’ve been feeding these people and keeping the generators running for days. That costs us."
Zeyu looked at the containers beside the service department. The employees had spent days draining fuel from the cars, believing it would help get their families somewhere safe.
"You’ve already taken fuel from this branch," Zeyu said. "And you’re making their families work for you."
"They’d have to work wherever they went," the distribution manager replied. "At least they have a roof here."
The mother caught Manager Chen’s wrist and pulled the radio closer.
"My daughter is twelve," she said into it. "She went with her grandmother. Are they alive?"
Manager Chen hurriedly pressed the button and asked her to repeat herself. She did, holding his arm with both hands while they waited for an answer.
"There are a lot of people here," Distribution Manager Gao said. "What are their names?"
The woman gave both names slowly. He asked her to repeat her mother’s name, then fell silent.
Zeyu could hear the engine running beneath his feet. Outside, Manager Chen held the radio between them while the woman waited, barely moving.
"They’re here," the distribution manager said at last. "You can have them back tonight if Director Song and I can agree on a few things."
The woman looked up at Zeyu.
He nearly asked how much fuel the man wanted. He had spent years negotiating prices, and the question came easily.
If he had a number, he would have something to work with. He could count the batteries, measure the fuel, and decide what to offer.
Behind him, Zhiyi spoke quietly.
"He hasn’t let her hear either of them," Zhiyi pointed out.
Zeyu glanced toward Lili. She was still sitting in the van, holding her freed wrists against her stomach. When she noticed him looking, she shook her head.
"Let them speak to her," Zeyu told Distribution Manager Gao.
"They aren’t beside me," the man replied through the radio. "You can speak to them when you get here."
"Then bring them to the radio," Zeyu said. "Before we discuss anything else, let her hear them."
"You’re sitting in an air-conditioned truck asking me to run around a workshop," the distribution manager snapped. "I’ve got people to look after."
Zeyu leaned closer to the microphone. The man had repeated the names he’d been given and said what the mother wanted to hear. Nothing more.
"Then you can get two of them to a radio," Zeyu replied.
"Please," the mother said, stepping toward the mobile base. "If he says they’re there—"
"You just told him their names," Zeyu interrupted. She stopped, and he forced himself to lower his voice. "He hasn’t told you anything that proves he’s seen them."
Manager Chen lowered the radio a little. Near the driver’s door, an employee called for something to tie up the two men from the van.
The injured man still held his metal bar, though someone had wrapped the towel around his bleeding forearm.
The radio crackled again.
"If supplies are a problem, we could discuss the vehicle," Distribution Manager Gao suggested.
Zeyu looked at the damaged windshield. He remembered the gunshot, Zhiyi clutching her cushion when he braked, and Hanchuan leaning across her to shield her. Jingwei had kept telling him the glass had held while he drove them backward.
"No," Zeyu said through the speaker. "You’re not getting the vehicle."
"You could bring everyone here in it," the distribution manager replied. "Your friends, too. We have room."
"I’m not bringing anyone to you," Zeyu told him.
The mother glanced past Zeyu toward the seats behind him. He saw her looking at his friends, then farther into the mobile base.
"Then leave my drivers alone," Distribution Manager Gao said. "They’ve got a load to collect."
The employee holding the driver dragged him farther out of the van. The driver stumbled and caught the edge of the open door.
"You want the fuel?" the employee shouted toward the radio. "We’ll bring it. Tell him to have our families outside when we get there."
Manager Chen looked up at Zeyu, waiting for him to answer. Zeyu stayed silent.
"Tell him," the employee insisted, tightening his grip on the driver’s shirt.
Manager Chen raised the radio and passed on the offer.
"How much fuel have you got?" Distribution Manager Gao asked after a pause.
The employee looked toward the containers, and another man called out an amount. Zeyu barely heard him. People were already crossing the lot to check lids and argue over which containers were full.
Now that they had something to trade, they were preparing to go.
The mother returned to the van and picked up a blanket from the ground. Her hands shook as she folded it and tucked it under her arm.
"Don’t take all of it," Lili called from the back of the van.
No one stopped. Two men were already lifting a container between them.
"What will you give him when he asks for more?" Lili demanded. "You can’t take everything."
"Then tell us where they are," the employee holding the driver said, turning toward her.
Lili drew back against the crate. The woman beside her rested a hand on her shoulder, but the employee had already turned to his captive.
"He knows the way," the employee said, pulling at the driver’s torn shirt. "He can take us."
Zeyu looked over his shoulder at Hanchuan. His friend met his eyes but said nothing. He wasn’t going to make this decision for him.
Zeyu would have to choose whether to follow them.
He pictured driving toward that workshop.
The people there already knew about the mobile base. Zhiyi would be behind him with her injured leg on a pillow, and all six of them would be depending on a man who had tied up a young woman to keep her quiet.
Zeyu faced forward and reached for the speaker control.
"We’re leaving, Manager Chen," Zeyu said. "Keep everyone out of the lane."
The manager stared up at him. "You’re not coming with us?"
"No," Zeyu replied. "And his agreeing to meet you doesn’t mean you can trust him."
Manager Chen looked toward his pregnant sister-in-law. She had picked up her bag again and was waiting near the showroom.
At the back of the van, the man whose wife had been crossed off the list helped her toward the open doors. She leaned against him, dragging one foot through the dust.
"You can’t put her in there," the injured employee told him. "We need those places for the people we’re bringing back."
Her husband stopped beside the door and adjusted his arm around her.
"She can’t stay here by herself," he said.
The injured employee looked toward the mobile base, then pointed at it with his bloodied bar.
"Ask him," the employee replied. "He’s the one leaving with empty beds."