The hands on the watch ticked steadily onward, but outside, time seemed frozen over this patch of land. Thick, impenetrable darkness hung all around, as though even the lights couldn't pierce it.
"Fuck, it's half past one." Li Jie rubbed his face. "How long was I asleep?"
"An hour, sir."
"Your turn, Otis. You two get some sleep too. We might have to... huh?"
He looked out the side window. Several headlights had appeared on the road leading to Arkham.
"Forget sleeping. Company's here." He snatched up the radio. "All units, vehicles approaching Arkham. Two of them."
He glanced inside the grounds. All the police vehicles had their engines and lights off, lying low behind the perimeter wall. He picked up his AR-15, slipped quietly out of the cab, and rested his rifle on the front of the van to watch.
The approaching vehicles abruptly pulled over about a hundred meters from the gate and shut off their engines. Figures seemed to move inside, then immediately slipped into the woods beside the road.
"Fuck, what the hell are they doing?"
Li Jie waited a moment, but none of them emerged again. He glanced back into the darkness behind him, then lowered his rifle and crouched, preparing to sneak forward for a closer look.
The instant he ducked his head, a shot went off with a muffled pop, and something skimmed past the scalp at the back of his head.
"Fuck! Goddammit! Fuck!"
He rolled behind the Patrol Van and took cover behind a tire. Cold sweat drenched his forehead and back. His heart pounded like a rapper hammering away at a drum kit, stars danced before his eyes, and his hands and feet spasmed uncontrollably.
It was the closest he had ever come to death. If he hadn't happened to