Trapped

Lin Xian jumped off the locomotive, gripped the edge of the truck bed, and struck back at the giant spider.

He fired several Wind Guns in succession, but it was too far away. The shots hit the dark shape in the thick fog with only a few faint thuds.

The giant spider's leg came stabbing at them again. Lin Xian's eyes flashed, and he threw himself in front of the little girl, raising an Ice Shield!

Squelch!

The leg pierced the Ice Shield but stopped there, its sharp tip almost touching the little girl's face.

The little girl's eyes widened. Breathing fast in shock, she looked at Lin Xian. "You're an Esper?!"

"Sha Sha, use this!" The rear window of the cab slid open. A rugged-looking man was driving, and he passed out a grenade launcher. The girl called Sha Sha took it without a word, chambered a round with practiced ease, and fired at the giant spider!

Boom!

The recoil made the little girl stumble. With the truck still moving, she landed on her backside.

She hardly seemed to care. The grenade arced into the monstrous spider and burst into flames, and her eyes lit up as she cried, "I hit it! I hit it!"

"Good! Now let's finish it off while it's hurt!"

Kiki sprang to her feet, gritted her teeth, and prepared to use her ability, but Lin Xian grabbed her.

"No need," he said.

The giant spider let out an ear-piercing shriek after taking the grenade hit, then quickly vanished into the thick fog. They had lost sight of it.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Kiki seemed frustrated. She searched everywhere for the dark shape, and when she realized it was gone, she turned to the little girl.

"Hey, what's your name? That was pretty impressive."

The little girl had an ear-length bob and wore a black down jacket. Her face was a little grimy from so long on the run. She studied the two of them without answering, then tapped on the rear window of the cab as if she had found treasure.

"Bro, this guy's an Esper too."

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror, then kept his eyes on the road without turning around. He did not seem much for conversation.

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened. She had said "too." Did that mean one of the siblings was an Esper?

"Lou Hua. Lou Shasha. My brother's a block of wood. He doesn't talk much." The little girl settled beside the rear window with the grenade launcher in her arms and introduced them both.

Lin Xian managed a smile. "I'm Lin Xian. Thank you. And this is..."

"I'm Kiki. Did you just get here too?"

Lou Shasha shook her head and looked out at the fog filling the sky. "We got here the day before yesterday, but we're stuck in this damned fog, just like everyone else."

"What? You're saying there's no way out of the fog?" Kiki frowned at once. "How come? Because of that spider?"

"Not just that..." The little girl pursed her lips. "There are all kinds of monsters in there. None of the phones or radios work. And when someone dies, they turn into some kind of monster really fast. It's creepy."

"You mentioned other people," Lin Xian said. "Are a lot of them trapped here?"

Lou Shasha gestured in the direction the truck was heading. "At least a dozen convoys and several hundred people. They're all in the square up ahead. My brother and I thought we'd try to break out while it was light, but..."

Lin Xian's face darkened. Things seemed far worse than he had imagined.

"What kind of monsters could stop that many people from getting out?"

"Who knows?" Lou Shasha shrugged helplessly. Her voice was childish, but her expression looked far older. "It's like the monsters in the fog can read minds. If everyone stays put, they don't come. But the moment anyone tries to leave, they all swarm out of the fog..."

"That's weird." Kiki looked baffled. "Don't they attack you after dark either?"

"What difference does it make whether it's dark?" Lou Shasha said dejectedly. "Polar Night reaches this place in two days anyway. Then we're all done for..."

Lin Xian studied the siblings, his expression grave.

If Lou Shasha was right, the thick fog was almost no different from night. Yet the monsters did not attack the survivors gathered together. It sounded as though they were toying with their prey, and the thought sent a chill down his spine.

Click... click...

He took out his radio. Sure enough, there was no signal.

Unable to reach Chen Sixuan, he could only hope Teacher Chen could hold things together on her end.

"So what do we do?" Kiki sat beside Lin Xian and pulled her jacket tighter. She had used her ability earlier, and she looked a little worn out.

"I don't know." Lin Xian turned to Lou Shasha. "Are you heading back to the square, then?"

Lou Shasha nodded. "We can't break out. There's nothing else to do." She looked at Kiki. "Are you cold?"

Kiki's eyes widened, and she nodded.

Without a word, Lou Shasha rummaged through the pile of luggage in the truck bed. At last, she found a slightly loose blue sweater and handed it over. "Here. It's the biggest one I have."

"Wow, thanks!"

Kiki's eyes lit up. She took it without hesitation, pulled off her baseball jacket, put on the sweater, then slipped the jacket back over it.

"I don't have any pants long enough for you, though." Lou Shasha cast a complicated look at Kiki's long legs, as if the sight alone made her feel cold.

"That's okay," Kiki said with a grin.

"I'm much warmer now. Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

It was better than nothing. Compared with the thin cropped camisole she had been wearing under her jacket, the thick sweater made Kiki feel much warmer.

The pickup wound past wrecked cars and slowly entered a broad T-shaped square. The fog was much thinner here. From a distance, Lin Xian could see survivors' vehicles. Dozens of specially modified vehicles were parked in what looked like the town's central square.

They had been parked in a ring to form a simple defensive line. Among them were heavy trucks, all kinds of jeeps and off-road vehicles, and even armored vehicles and fuel tankers.

But as the pickup entered the square, more than a dozen armed people appeared ahead and blocked its path. Guns were chambered in rapid succession, their dark barrels aimed at Lou Hua in the cab and the three people in the truck bed.

"Who are you?!"

A grim-faced, scarred middle-aged man in the group called out in a hoarse voice.

"Living people!" Kiki stood up, planted her hands on her hips, and answered loudly.

Lin Xian rose too and swept his gaze over them. They wore different clothes, but all had the same standard-issue body armor. They appeared to belong to some kind of armed group.

"Old Eagle."

A tall young man emerged from the fog behind them, his face cold. He looked to be in his early thirties, with polished combat boots and sharp tactical gear. Strangely, he wore sunglasses despite the thick fog.

He took off his sunglasses and walked forward, looking toward the cab. "You two again."

His name was Qian Yu, leader of the Black Flood Dragon convoy, the largest of the groups here. His armed team was made up of former employees of his security company. They numbered over a hundred, had plenty of weapons, and were well equipped. Among the survivor convoys trapped here, he had made himself the leader without a second thought.

Click.

The pickup door opened, and a man built like a tower of iron stepped out. He looked well over two meters tall. When he got out, Lin Xian could have sworn the whole truck rose several inches.

Lou Hua appeared to be in his early thirties, with a square face. Quiet by nature, he had an unapproachable air that made even the gunmen around him look uneasy.

"Hey!"

Lou Shasha, short as she was, climbed onto the hood with the grenade launcher in her hands. "We're not part of your convoy. What business is it of yours where we go?"

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