A Night of Danger: Whispers from the Signal Tower

Description

Script Vidéo

The truck travels east through the darkness. You sit between Wei and Liang while unfamiliar soldiers crowd around you. Nobody knows when the road will reconnect with your original unit. The commander promises to send word once communication is restored. For now, you must remain with them. The convoy moves slowly along a narrow mountain road. Damaged vehicles, fallen trees, and deep mud force the drivers to stop repeatedly. Near midnight, the truck comes to a sudden halt. A long line of civilians is blocking the road. Families are leaving nearby villages with carts, blankets, and whatever food they can carry. Some are walking beside elderly relatives. Others are guiding frightened children through the darkness. The soldiers are ordered to clear a path. When you climb from the truck, a young boy approaches Wei and asks whether the road ahead is safe. Wei looks toward the distant hills. He does not know how to answer. Instead, he gives the boy a small piece of food from his pocket and tells him to stay close to his family. Liang notices an injured farmer struggling to pull a heavy cart. Without being asked, he steps forward and helps move it from the road. You join him. Soon, several soldiers are helping the families pass safely between the trucks. The convoy begins moving again just before sunrise. By morning, you reach the eastern defensive line. It is built around an abandoned railway station surrounded by low hills. Soldiers have placed sandbags around the platforms, and the old waiting room has become a temporary command center. The commander reports the message you delivered. An officer studies you, Wei, and Liang. Your original unit is now many miles away, and the route back remains closed. Until the road reopens, you are assigned to the railway station. Your first task is to help repair a damaged communication line. A field telephone connects the station to an observation post on the northern hill, but the wire has been cut somewhere along the track. Without that connection, the soldiers cannot receive warnings from the hill. You follow a communications specialist named Chen along the railway. Chen carries tools and a large coil of wire. He explains that the damage may be caused by fallen debris, animals, or enemy movement. Every few steps, he checks the line. For nearly an hour, you find nothing. Then Liang notices the wire disappearing beneath a pile of broken timber near an abandoned signal tower. The line has been completely severed. Chen begins connecting a replacement section while you, Wei, and Liang watch the surrounding fields. The countryside appears quiet. Too quiet. Wei looks toward the signal tower. One of its upper windows is open. A moment later, something moves behind it. You warn the others. Chen stops working. Liang studies the tower carefully and notices fresh footprints beside the railway. Someone has been there recently. The communication line must still be repaired, but remaining beside the tracks may no longer be safe. Chen tells you to return to the station and bring help. You begin moving back along the railway. Then the old signal bell inside the tower suddenly rings. Once. Twice. Three times. The sound echoes across the empty fields. At the railway station, soldiers hear it and turn toward the northern hill. The bell was supposed to be abandoned. But someone inside the tower is using it to send a warning. And whatever the warning means, it has arrived too late for you to turn back.