The windows were all still intact, and even in the darkness, the walls and counters showed little signs of damage. Even after years of sitting idle, the apartments and the towers were in surprisingly sound condition. At least for now, until the rest of the homeless eventually discovered them and made the long trek inland. In the meantime, Yuhong, along with the other ghost cities, were left without a soul.
Li Na pushed herself up and continued listening. The silence or lack of any appreciable sound was… eerie.
She strode across the room and approached the bedroom’s large window. Never had her ears been so devoid of any noise whatsoever. With the sealed windows and a nearly empty city far below, it left her almost wondering whether the world outside still existed.
Li Na stood behind the window, trying to think of a plan. She was getting less and less sleep, yet each time waking up just as alert, although struggling more and more on a plan to survive. And how to get out of China. But she was safe for the moment. Hiding in a city that everyone seemed to have forgotten.
She could relax and take her time trying to piece together a strategy that entailed more than just surviving. As long as she could manage to stay hidden and still find food, she could finally relax.
Li Na breathed a silent sigh of relief.
She had no idea that a Chinese military helicopter had just lifted off and was headed straight for her, a mere two hours away.
36
The voice on the other end of M0ngol’s call belonged to a man named Lam. Who, unlike his predecessor Qin, was largely immune from the political and professional greed affecting so many of his compatriots.
All politicians had it — all “infected” with the dream, whether they were willing to admit it or not. Leaders, ambassadors, statesmen, or whatever they chose to call themselves, it was always the same. Attain as much position and prestige as possible, no matter what the cost.
Kings of old and ancient pharaohs did the same — insisting on being buried with all of their earthly possessions, and in many cases the very slaves who served them too — in hopes of living again, and more importantly, ruling again.
It was the ultimate human desire, whether most admitted it or not. To rule. To be worshiped. To live in the hearts and minds of the masses forever.
And yet, one man who did not have it, at least this particular infection, was Lam himself. No, his motivation was far simpler, even if just as self-serving.
He didn’t know who had gotten him released from prison. Or what they ultimately wanted with the girl. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. What he wanted was revenge.
General Zhang Wei was the man responsible for his imprisonment. After a particularly nasty battle several years ago, Wei settled on him as the army officer who had to be made an example of to the rest of the People’s Liberation Army.
But the general should have known. If anyone understood what hell war really was, it was Wei. He should have understood that in the heat of battle soldiers had to do things that civilians on the sidelines would not approve of. Things that might seem barbaric on the surface but served a very important role in flushing out the enemy. An enemy that was trying to kill Lam and his unit.
Wei had seen enough war in his own life to know the difference. There was a huge difference between a war on paper and a war in person — that when it came down to a choice between you and your enemy, you did whatever you had to do. No matter how offensive or how grotesque.
But instead, the general turned his back on Lam, having him and his men brought up on charges. Charges that landed Lam in prison for most of the remainder of his life.
It was there, sitting in his cell these past few years, that Lam finally grasped what Wei had become. He had become one of them. One of the political elite hell-bent on nothing more than his own personal power. No matter whom he had to use or step on to get it. And Lam was one of the casualties.
But the tides had turned. And he would have his revenge. He would strike back at the man who had destroyed his life. With Wei now dead, the next best thing was the man’s offspring: a daughter who Lam had even met briefly when she was a young child.
He had dreamed about it for years, sitting alone behind the bars of his prison cell. An almost feral yearning to strike back at the great general. An opportunity he never thought would come.
But it had.
Almost as if by miracle, his opportunity had finally arrived — out of a failed mission, leaving Wei a traitor to his country. And his daughter a prize of extreme importance to the state.
Wei’s daughter was now the instrument of this revenge.
With dark, unmoving eyes, Lam sat on the Russian-built, Mi-17 transport helicopter without saying a word. Next to him were four soldiers of the PLA Special Operations Forces. Dressed in black fatigues, their assault rifles hung over their shoulders and pointed down at the black metal floor. The men’s hands never traveled far from their triggers. Emblazoned upon their shoulders was the familiar red insignia bearing a sword and lightning bolt.
The helicopter’s cabin was eerily silent except for the whirling blades overhead, beating the air into submission. The glowing city lights of Jinzhou passed slowly beneath them.
Lam kept his eyes low. His mind was fixated on one thing and one thing only.
What he didn’t know was that the four soldiers sitting next to him were not there entirely for the reason he’d been told. They would help find her, but in the end, they were there to keep Wei’s daughter alive. Or put more simply, to protect her… from Sheng Lam.
37
Li Na sat quietly in the nearly empty living room of the abandoned apartment. With knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around them, she waited patiently for sunrise.
Her stomach growled, reminding her the previous night’s food had not lasted long enough. She tried to eat as much as she could, but her stomach wasn’t used to holding so much food. Which left her counting the hours until she could return downstairs for more.
She tried to distract herself by examining the apartment for the hundredth time. Even without lights or a working door, she had to admit it felt nice. The mattress alone had been worth the loneliness, for a while. But eventually the gravity of her situation crept back in. Soon her mind returned to the priorities of food and a way to reach the coast.
She had actually grown optimistic that it might not be too hard. Some people in the city had to have cars. She just needed to find them and bribe one of the owners to take her as far east as possible. It would be worth losing even a large chunk of her money as long as it got her there quickly.
If she couldn’t find a car, there were always the trucks. Even a mostly empty city required some things brought in. Equipment, maintenance supplies, and especially food for what few shops existed. And if a truck didn’t bring it then something had to. She just needed to find out what.
Li Na instinctively looked up at the door, putting a foot on the cold floor at the same time. There was a sound outside. Something barely detectable, but there. She lowered her other foot without a sound and leaned forward, listening.
It sounded like scratching. After several long seconds, it became louder. It wasn’t scratching though. It was the sound of skittering.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Rats were much better than something bigger. Li Na lifted both feet off the floor again and wrapped her arms back around her legs, gently easing her head against the wall.