The World Ends In 27 Days

The soldier nearest Captain Du raised his rifle.

Jingwei saw the movement and reached for Hanchuan, but his friend was already withdrawing his weapon. The firing cover slammed shut an instant before bullets struck the outside wall.

The impacts hammered through the security room.

Jingwei ducked beside the counter, his shoulder hitting its edge hard enough to send pain down his arm.

"Cease fire!" Captain Du shouted from the passage. "I said cease fire!"

The shooting stopped, leaving Jingwei crouched beneath the observation window with his heart beating painfully against his ribs. Above him, a pale mark spread across the reinforced glass.

But it held. Nothing had come through.

Hanchuan stood against the wall beside the closed firing opening, his rifle held close. He looked down at Jingwei’s arm.

"Are you hurt?" Hanchuan asked.

Jingwei shook his head and forced himself upright.

Through the damaged glass, he could see two soldiers pulling their fallen companion away from the shelter door. The man’s heels dragged across the concrete, leaving uneven tracks through the dust.

One boot caught against the abandoned tool. A soldier kicked it aside without looking.

"Answer me," Shichen demanded through the phone on the counter. "Both of you."

"We’re fine," Jingwei replied, picking it up. His voice sounded hoarse. "The barrier held."

He could hear Zeyu speaking behind Shichen, but the words tangled together. Jingwei turned up the volume while watching Captain Du crouch beside the fallen soldier.

Hanchuan reached past him and checked the interior camera.

"Keep watching the western entrance," Hanchuan instructed Shichen. "They may try something while we’re occupied."

Jingwei stared at him. It wasn’t that death bothered him. It was the fact that they were supposedly on the same side.

But being on the same side didn’t change the fact that there was blood outside their door.

A man had been standing there less than a minute ago, tired and sweating, waiting for his captain to give him an order.

And yet...Hanchuan was thinking about the other entrance.

A medical officer hurried into view carrying a bag. He dropped to his knees beside the soldier while Captain Du stood over them, one hand pressed against his radio.

Jingwei found himself watching the medic’s hands.

He wanted them to move faster, then hated himself for hoping those hands could undo what Hanchuan had deliberately done.

"You shot him," Jingwei murmured, lowering the phone.

"He was breaking through the door," Hanchuan replied.

"The door was holding," Jingwei argued, turning toward him. "We had time."

Hanchuan looked at him then. There was no anger in his expression, and Jingwei almost wished there had been.

"How much of it were you planning to give him?" Hanchuan asked after a moment, cocking his head to the side.

Jingwei opened his mouth, but his attention returned to the monitor. Outside, the medical officer had stopped working.

The man remained kneeling for several seconds before looking up at Captain Du and shaking his head.

Jingwei felt the counter pressing against the backs of his legs. He hadn’t realized he had stepped away from Hanchuan until there was nowhere else to go.

The captain lowered his radio.

"He’s dead," the man announced toward the observation window. His voice had lost the controlled patience he had carried through every refusal. "You killed one of my men."

Hanchuan pressed the intercom button.

"I wouldn’t have if you had stopped when I told you to. Go ahead. Take him out," Hanchuan instructed. "Leave the equipment."

Captain Du stared at the window as though he could see Hanchuan through it.

"That’s all you have to say?" Du demanded.

Jingwei watched Hanchuan release the button. His friend offered nothing else.

The medic closed his bag. Another soldier approached with the stretcher they had brought for Zhiyi, and Jingwei’s stomach tightened as they unfolded it beside the dead man.

He looked away before they lifted him.

The security room smelled of fired ammunition.

Beneath the counter, a spent casing lay near Hanchuan’s shoe, small enough that Jingwei might have mistaken it for something dropped during construction.

He had brought the ammunition here. He had checked the deliveries and complained when one shipment arrived late.

He had wanted enough to protect everyone.

Now he couldn’t stop looking at the casing.

"Jingwei," Hanchuan called, drawing his attention back. "Watch the passage."

Jingwei obeyed because he needed something to do. The soldiers carried the stretcher toward the broken outer gate, with Captain Du walking behind them.

The captain stopped once and looked back. "We’re not finished here," he warned Hanchuan.

"I know," Hanchuan replied through the intercom.

The captain left without another word.

Beyond the damaged gate, soldiers moved between the vehicles, and someone shouted for the medical transport to reverse closer.

Jingwei watched until the passage stood empty. The open equipment case remained against the wall. A dark smear marked the route the soldiers had taken.

Hanchuan checked the firing cover before stepping away.

"Stay here," Hanchuan instructed. "I’m going to see Zhiyi."

Jingwei caught his sleeve before he reached the doorway. The movement surprised them both, and for a moment he couldn’t explain why he had done it.

"You knew he might obey the captain anyway," Jingwei finally said.

"Yes," Hanchuan replied, holding his gaze.

Jingwei released him slowly.

That answer frightened him more than the shooting. Hanchuan had watched the soldier hesitate, had seen him look toward the captain, and had understood exactly what might happen next.

He had waited with his rifle ready.

Hanchuan left, his footsteps receding toward the medical room. Jingwei remained beside the counter until Zeyu appeared in the doorway.

"Shichen sent me," Zeyu explained. His gaze passed over the damaged window before settling on Jingwei. "He thought you shouldn’t be here alone."

Jingwei wanted to tell him he was fine. Instead, he shifted aside so Zeyu could see the monitor.

Zeyu stared at the blood outside the door.

Neither of them spoke until Shichen’s voice came through the phone again.

"They’ve stopped moving the vehicles," Shichen reported. "Captain Du is speaking to someone on the radio."

Jingwei picked up the phone and looked at the road camera. The medical transport remained parked. Soldiers gathered beside a truck while their captain listened, his head lowered.

Then Hanchuan’s phone began vibrating in Jingwei’s hand.

The incoming call covered the camera feed with Zhao Mingyuan’s name.

Jingwei looked toward the corridor, where Hanchuan had gone to sit beside his wife. Zeyu saw the name and went still.

"Bring him back," Jingwei instructed, accepting the call.

Zhao spoke before Jingwei could identify himself.

"Put Pei Hanchuan on," the commander ordered. "And tell him to leave his weapon where it is."