Influenced by the COVID-19 epidemic, the majority of us had to stay at home for months to prevent the spread of this virus. During this special period, I read a set of books called “I Survived.” Among these books, I am most impressed by a book called “I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863.” In this battle of the American Civil War, Thomas and his younger sister, Birdie, tried to flee from the farm where they were treated as slaves. They followed the North Star and went north to find precious individual freedom. When they were at the EFF station, they seemed to smell the fragrance of the flowers called “freedom.” Just when they were about to celebrate their hard-won freedom, the war broke out in the local place, and Thomas and Birdie then witnessed the cruelest battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg. Before welcoming the advent of freedom, Thomas must learn how to protect his sister and survive the flames of war. I think, at the moment, we are also going through a similar experience as Thomas and Birdie. We are also in the brutal “battle” against COVID-19, though there is no gunfire. The sudden occurrence of this epidemic is so violent that it immediately took thousands of precious lives and destroyed a large number of families. It has severely affected the whole society and everyone’s normal life, not only economically and physically, but also psychologically. Just like Thomas and Birdie, under such circumstances, we have to learn how to protect ourselves, protect others, and even protect our country. As an individual, we Chinese people learn the facts about coronavirus and preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection. As part of this country, we exert every effort to contribute, which can be seen from the written requests for a “battle” assignment made by numerous volunteers; which can be seen from the numerous trucks filled with relief supplies donated by many unknowns; which can be seen from the exhausted faces of medical personnel. Thomas and Birdie are kind, strong-minded and unyielding; so are the Chinese people. I am deeply touched by this spirit and firmly convinced that in virtue of this, we are capable to survive the “battle” and even make progress in these dark days. | 