Chapter 383
Chapter 383
At 3:00 pm, the tourists finally exhausted all their patience.
"You said the reinforcements would arrive at 2:00 pm. Why haven't they arrived yet?"
The hotel customer service staff came out again and again to explain that they were on the way, but everyone felt the temperature was getting lower and lower.
The sky outside was as dark as evening, and everyone was in a panic.
"Our hotel has done its best.The rescue cars are really on the way.They will arrive at night at the latest.Just like the delay of the flight, they've met some special circumstances on the way.And we can do nothing about it."
Over the crowd came the shouting one upon another.
"Wait until night? I'm not sure if they can make it tonight!"
Everyone's luggage was packed, and 200 tourists were squeezed into the lobby of the hotel's first floor.Even the elevator entrance in the corridor was filled with people.
They were all in a hurry to go down the mountain, but now they couldn't leave.The clamour lasted for half an hour.
During the period, someone tried to rush out of the door, but the moment the door was pushed open, the strong wind and snow swept over, causing several strong men nearby to be unable open their eyes.
They covered their faces with arms, and their bodies were constantly pushed back by the wind.
The large vases, which were three meters high on both sides, clattered to the ground, and their sharp fragments were blown up by the wind.
The crowd screamed in fear.
Christina pulled Geoffrey from the nearby chair into her arms.
The brittle shards flew over and stabbed the wooden chair like darts, which were extremely sharp.
Geoffrey was so scared that his little face turned pale.He shrank into Christina's arms and did not dare to move.
More than a dozen tourists close to the door had been scratched by the shards.Their arms and faces were bleeding and they cried for help in pain.
The door was closed urgently, and then the situation calmed down slightly.
Everyone knew that going down the mountain now was undoubtedly a suicide.
The hotel staff bandaged the injured tourists’ wounds.Fortunately, the bleeding was not serious.But now everyone calmed down.
"We have to wait in such weather."
Christina's face was expressionless, She muttered and lowered her head to pat Geoffrey's little head, and looked at him with her clear eyes.
Geoffrey met her calm eyes, and suddenly, he somehow felt less afraid.
"Thank you." Chandler thanked Christian sincerely.
Thanks to her quick reaction, otherwise, his son would have been scratched by the broken vase.
Christina pinched Geoffrey's cold little face.
"Be on guard at all times in an emergency.Only when you can protect yourself can you protect others."
Geoffrey replied shyly, "I see."
Chandler knew that Christina's grandfather, General Eisenhower, had been strict with her since she was a child.
"I'll go to Barbara and find out what's going on." Chandler stood up.
He felt assured to entrust Geoffrey to Christina.
"Charles, come with me, lest Ray kicks me out again." Barbara had some conflicts with Christina.
It was more convenient for Charles to ask about the situation.
Christina and Crystal were sitting quietly in the corner of the lobby, waiting for them back.
Crystal was a little ashamed.She felt that she was useless.She thought for a while and decided that she was good at taking care of the food.
"Christina, I'll go to the restaurant to get more bread, lest we don't even have enough food tonight."
"Let's go to the kitchen together."
Christina felt that she'd rather walk around than sit idly, so she took Geoffrey to the back kitchen of the hotel with Crystal.
Geoffrey looked up at her in confusion.
"Mrs.Hopkins, do you dislike the bread?"
Under Charles' hard publicity, Christina is notorious for being picky about food.
"No."
She was a little embarrassed.
Normally, customers were not allowed to enter the kitchen, but considering the current situation, no one cared so much.
The three of them sneaked inside and found that there were no employees working in the huge kitchen, and the cutlery was also placed in a mess.
"This hotel is really unreliable" Crystal could not help but frown.
Christina's voice was calm.
"These employees must know something that the customers don't know.They're not in the mood to go to work.Something must have happened."
"Will they run away early by themselves?"
"It's hard to say.Under the severe situation, life is the most important thing"
Just as they walked out of the kitchen, they saw Charles and Barbara chatting in a corner.They looked serious.
Christina walked straight over and heard Barbara say, "Ray has arranged it for me.I'll leave here in ten minutes"
"How can you leave without a car?"
"In this situation, even if there were cars, it would be difficult to ensure a safe evacuation.
As she spoke, Barbara lowered her voice.
"Ray just told me that the eight people who left early in the morning were also out of contact and could not be reached by satellite phone."
There were only three satellite phones in the hotel.
The earliest maintenance team took one, and the eight people who left early this morning also took one.
Now the hotel only had one satellite phone that could contact the outside world.
Christina's footsteps were quite light.
She suddenly walked to two meters away from them and asked in a low and steady voice, "The repair team has lost contact with those people this morning.Can you still leave safely?"
When Barbara heard her voice, she raised her head in shock.
Barbara decided to tell them frankly, "Ray said it's easy to get lost by car in such a snowstorm.Many trees have collapsed and caused roadblocks.The best and safest way to leave now is to take a cable car down the mountain.It's very fast.It only takes 20 minutes to get to the town below the mountain."
Chandler immediately understood.
There were cable cars on the ski resort, and the cable car was indeed the fastest.
But generally, the cable car would stop operating in snowy weather, unless someone forced it to start.
Barbara looked at them for a long time and finally said, "If you guys want to go down the mountain as soon as possible, I'll ask Ray to see if he can make an exception."
Chandler and Charles exchanged a look.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
Before they made the decision, Christina spoke first, "We'll wait here."
Barbara was a little surprised by her refusal and smiled.
"In this situation, if the weather continues to worsen, it will be life-risking.Christina, you don't have to refuse because of me."
Christina's expression was calm.
"The food and the heating equipment in the hotel are enough for all of the people to last at least half a month.I just don't think there's any need to take the risk."
Seeing her calm attitude, Barbara felt a little sarcastic.
"Well, you choose to stay.I'll go down the mountain first."
The head of the hotel, Ray, held a meeting in the manager's office and ordered to let the first batch of people leave by cable.If it worked, they could continue to send people down the mountain.
However, they could not tell everyone about the plan at present, lest there would be a conflict.
"The cable car will automatically shut down in snowy weather.The forced operation will affect the equipment to a certain extent.Can you really guarantee safety?"
Christina didn't want to meddle in this matter, but when she saw Barbara and the other four people excitedly leaving through the back door, she couldn't help but go forward and question Ray.
Ray turned around and glared at her impatiently.
"When we get down the mountain to the town, we'll arrange for you to continue sitting on the cable.But if you hinder us now, no one can leave."
"We are senior members of this hotel.We have the right to leave first!"
The burly bearded man she met this morning roared at her.
They were worried that Christina would run to the lobby and tell everyone about their sneaking away by cable car.
Christina tried to remain patient.
"I just want to say that the mountainside which had the ski resort is quite steep.It's not safe for you to go down by the cable car against the storm."
Ray disdained her words.
"The cable equipment in our hotel is completely safe. And the current snow is not very heavy now. If you are interested, you can put on your ski equipment and ski down the mountain.’’ Christina was angry.
Besides the extreme athletes, who would ski in this weather? Ray and the others were fully dressed and put on eye shields. They walked into the snow and set off for the cable car.
"Let's go back to the hotel." Chandler reached out and tried to close the back door. The wind was so cold that he felt a sharp pain in his lungs when breathing. Charles held the door and made a suggestion.
“Christina and I can follow them to see how they operate. If the cable car is really feasible, we'll have another choice"
Although the food and warmth in the hotel were not a problem, staying here for a long time was also stressful. Christina wrapped herself tightly and walked out with Charles in the snow. It took about half an hour to walk from the hotel to the ski resort.
Along the way, Christina paid attention to the scenery around her. Except for those advertising signs that were blown into a mess, there was a complete whiteness in front of her. The sky darkened, and the thick layer of cloud above her was oppressive.
After walking for a while, Christina and Chandler could see that the team of five had got into the cable car. The main switch of the cable was forced to start, and over there came the sound of the engine. From afar, they could see the excitement of the five people in the cable car.
The cable car started slowly. Charles looked at them.
"It really seems feasible” Compared to the automobile, the cable car was much faster, and it was not afraid of bumping into roadblocks or getting lost.
"Charles, what's that over there?" Christina suddenly reached out and grabbed him anxiously. Charles did not react and looked in the direction of her finger.
"Nothing. Just a frozen river. What's so strange about it?"
"No, on the river bank...” Charles looked ahead and saw a piece of metal equipment on the right.
"On the bank of the river, that's the power supply equipment for the hotel..."
“I mean the left bank!" She shouted anxiously.
There was a roar in the sky. A towering tree on the left bank, which was shaking, fell down in the strong wind and hit the power supply equipment on the right.
A flame rose up and the equipment exploded, shaking the nearby snow- capped mountains. Charles was shocked by the sea of fire in his eyes.
At the same moment, Barbara and the others in the cable car screamed in panic, "Help, help!"
The power supply equipment kept roaring, and the sea of fire continued to spread. Fortunately, the snowy storm was heavy, and the frost made the fire gradually weaken, but the power was cut.
At the same time, the cable car stopped. The cable car Barbara took was parked in midair. They were so scared that they shouted, "Find someone to save us!"
There were two workers in the room in charge of the cable car, but when the explosion happened on the riverbank, they were also astonished. After they came back to their senses, they rushed to the hotel in a hurry.
Because of the sudden power outage in the hotel, the family members of the workers were also panicked. Everyone was at a loss at this moment. The sky was dark, all the lights in the hotel died out, and the heating also stopped. Now the hotel truly became an isolated island.