The Dawn Project

Lin Xian pinned the girl firmly to the floor, giving her no chance to escape.

"If you were awake, why pretend to be asleep? What are you after?!"

The girl struggled fiercely. "I... I..."

Lin Xian's eyes turned cold. He held the blade in front of her face. "Do you think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl?"

At the glint of the steel blade, her eyes widened. "I was wrong! Don't kill me. Let me go—I can barely breathe."

Pinned beneath him, her face had gone red.

Lin Xian frowned. Hadn't this girl blasted his door right off its hinges? Why couldn't she put up a fight now?

As he wondered, the girl burst into tears.

"Please don't kill me. I'll do anything you want, as long as you don't kill me."

The words had barely left her mouth when she twisted around and sank her teeth into Lin Xian's ankle.

Hiss!

Pain shot through him. Lin Xian scowled. Damn it, she was cunning. She'd attacked the moment his guard was down!

He swung the flat of his blade down onto her forehead.

Thwack!

With a sharp smack, the girl cried out, "Ow!" Then she fainted.

"Still pretending?!"

Anger flashed across Lin Xian's face. Any thought of going easy on her was gone. He fetched a bundle of nylon cable ties from the toolbox in Carriage 3 and bound her hands and feet securely. Only then did he relax a little.

He sat back against the side of the carriage and examined his ankle. The bite mark was a grim sight.

"Damn it. I'm not going to turn into a zombie, am I?"

At that, the girl lowered her head and muttered a curse.

"You're the zombie. Your whole family's zombies."

Lin Xian's eyes turned cold. "What, done playing unconscious?"

"Tell me your name and what you're after. Or say nothing, and I'll throw you off the train right now."

Lin Xian drew his short blade. There was nothing in his icy voice to suggest he was bluffing.

Clack, clack.

The train rolled steadily onward. The radio remained quiet; Teacher Chen had sent no warning, so the track ahead was clear.

"My name is Kiki."

Her voice changed. The sweet, childish tone she had been using gave way to something cool.

So she really had been putting it on.

"How did you find me? What do you want? Why did you pretend to be asleep the whole time? Don't make me drag every answer out of you. You know the position you're in."

Kiki kept her head lowered and let out a breath. With her hands and feet bound, she struggled into a sitting position and glared at Lin Xian. Tear tracks covered her face, and her eyes were still red, but she no longer looked the least bit aggrieved. Her ability to turn the tears on and off was astonishing.

"Why else? Weren't you the one waving a flag on the roof that day?"

A flag?

Lin Xian frowned. "Are you telling me you were on that helicopter?"

"Where else?" Kiki gave him a flat look.

"Go on."

"You saw the helicopter crash, didn't you?"

"So?"

"I had nowhere to go."

"And?"

"You peeked at my underwear."

"..."

"What do you mean?" Lin Xian frowned.

Kiki gritted her teeth and spoke quietly.

"Yes, I woke up the next day. But I didn't know who you were or where I was. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw you..."

Lin Xian's expression changed.

"So?"

"So naturally, I took you for a..."

"Pervert?" Lin Xian blurted.

"And that's why you played unconscious? So you could steal food and ambush me?"

"No. I just wanted to get away, but I never had a chance." Kiki looked aggrieved.

Lin Xian's expression shifted. Then he said bluntly,

"Fine. You think I'm some pervert keeping you captive? Then leave."

Lin Xian glanced at the setting sun outside and went on,

"Since you're so clever, I'm sure you can survive out there. Your family seems well-off. Why not have your dad come save you?"

His gaze was sharp, his words probing.

"My dad's dead."

Her voice was flat, with no trace of grief.

Silence settled over the carriage.

"That's none of my business." Lin Xian stood.

"Wait. I did want to run at first, but I realize now that I got you wrong. Please don't make me get off," Kiki said quickly.

Lin Xian gave a cold laugh.

"You haven't realized you got me wrong. You've realized you won't survive if you get off."

The girl was clever, but Lin Xian met her eyes calmly. "Sorry. You have nothing to offer me."

Kiki grew anxious and blurted, "Wait! Take me to Brocade Sea. My dad was the chairman of Linglong Group and a tier-two investor in the Dawn Project. He qualified for a full-scale rescue under the project. When he died, that entitlement passed to me. If you take me to Brocade Sea, someone will come for me. Then I can give you any supplies you want, or get you a third-class citizen status under the Dawn Project so you can live in the Underground City."

In Carriage 3, the orange light of the setting sun slipped backward across them through the armored grating. Lin Xian frowned as he listened.

He had heard of the Dawn Project. When Apocalypse Day first began, all sorts of stories about it had spread online. Some said it was an official Underground City project meant to shelter people from the apocalypse. Others claimed it was part of the Wandering Starship Project, intended to preserve the Seed of Civilization.

Every account was different, and conspiracy theories surrounded them all. There was no telling what was true.

"Sorry." To Kiki's surprise, her offer did not get the response she had expected. Lin Xian's expression remained calm as he refused. "I'm not interested."

"You don't believe me?"

"Even if I did, I wouldn't be interested."

Lin Xian spoke plainly, his gaze hard.

"I'm not interested, and I'm tired of hearing about it. You might as well jump off yourself before I do it for you."

Whether Kiki was telling the truth or not, he genuinely had no interest. Lin Xian trusted his own ability far more than some supposed third-class citizenship in the Underground City. If he used his power well, his chances of survival were good. Surely that beat being buried underground. Besides, in a place like that, he might lose the freedom to make his own choices.

Kiki finally showed a flicker of panic under his indifferent gaze, but she quickly hid it and gave him a disdainful look.

"Why aren't you interested in the Dawn Project? Do you really plan to rely on this train?"

"Frankly, your plan is childish. Have you thought about what's happening outside? The world is falling apart. Without maintenance engineers to look after the Circumstellar Railway, what will you do if the track breaks? A fifth of its 320,000 kilometers runs over the ocean. What if the train breaks down? What if you run out of supplies, or hit a storm, a tsunami, or an earthquake?"

Please keep reading my new book!

P.S. I've made a few small adjustments to this chapter's plot. Thanks for understanding!