The World Ends In 27 Days

They left Hanchuan’s house shortly before sunset.

The storm had weakened enough for the spaces between lightning strikes to widen, but it hadn’t moved away even a foot. Black clouds covered the city, and every flash revealed their depth before darkness closed over the road again.

Jingwei led the convoy in his black armored SUV with Qinghe beside him. Zeyu followed in the mobile base, with Shichen occupying the passenger seat and monitoring the vehicle systems while Hanchuan drove the second armored SUV at the rear while Zhiyi watched the route on her tablet.

The formation had been planned weeks earlier. Jingwei would identify threats before they reached the larger vehicle, while Hanchuan would prevent anyone from approaching behind them. The mobile base remained protected between the two SUVs.

Their destination was Luming Mountain Hotel.

Nothing on the traffic reports indicated that the route had become unsafe.

Sure, the storm had damaged signals and brought down power lines within the city, but the expressway remained open. No evacuation orders had been issued, and the emergency broadcasts mentioned electrical fires only in scattered urban locations.

Zhiyi refreshed the reports every few minutes.

"The storm is slowly moving northeast," she said after a moment. "We’ll be traveling away from the highest concentration of strikes."

Hanchuan glanced at the map mounted beside the dashboard. "How long until we reach Luming?"

"One hour and 47 minutes if the mountain road remains clear."

It was longer than the trip should have taken, but the traffic around them were moving cautiously with the storm. Drivers slowed whenever lightning crossed the sky, creating waves of brake lights along the expressway.

The mobile base drew attention even in the darkness.

Its matte-black cab rose above the surrounding cars, followed by a long, rectangular living compartment armored with overlapping steel panels.

Small reinforced windows interrupted the otherwise solid sides, while storage boxes, water tanks and folded solar arrays sat behind protective covers along the roof.

The lower body had been sealed into a shallow hull, and six enormous tires lifted it high enough to expose the reinforced suspension beneath.

It looked less like an RV and more like an armored transport someone had stretched into a house.

Zeyu opened the convoy channel as the mobile base rolled through another cluster of brake lights.

"For the record, she’s handling beautifully," he announced. A pleased smile spread across his face as he glanced over the illuminated dashboard. "If we arrive late, blame the people who see lightning and forgot how roads work."

Shichen looked up from the suspension readings and arched one brow. "No one has blamed the truck."

"You’ve been staring at those numbers for the last 20 minutes." Zeyu narrowed his eyes at him before returning his attention to the road. "I know what your disappointed face looks like."

"I’m making sure the vehicle you insisted on driving immediately after construction remains in one piece," Shichen explained. He tapped one of the readings, although nothing on the screen appeared to concern him.

Zeyu’s smile widened. "You could’ve saved us both some time and admitted you were worried about me."

Shichen pinched the bridge of his nose and returned to the display. "That interpretation is exactly why I didn’t."

Hanchuan allowed the familiar argument to continue while Zhiyi watched the route. Her shoulders had lowered since leaving the house, although she hadn’t stopped checking the storm warnings.

The decision to move had given her something solid to do again.

They were following a route toward a prepared shelter. Luming held food, water, cooling systems and enough independent power to survive the Heat without relying on the electrical grid.

The plan had resumed, and she was relaxed even in this situation because of it.

They left the expressway as night settled over the foothills.

Traffic thinned until their three vehicles were nearly alone on the road. Dense forest rose on both sides, the trees appearing and disappearing whenever lightning illuminated the mountains.

The first drops of rain struck the windshield.

Zhiyi looked up from her tablet as several drops struck the windshield. Her brows drew together. "The weather service predicted dry lightning."

"Predictions change," Hanchuan reminded her, watching the wipers sweep the scattered droplets aside.

Zhiyi studied the windshield for several seconds before glancing toward the dark forest. "The precipitation is too light to reduce the fire risk," she murmured.

Hanchuan reached across the console and closed his hand around hers. Her fingers were cold despite the warmth inside the SUV.

Ahead of them, Jingwei reduced his speed.

The road had narrowed, with no shoulder beyond a shallow drainage ditch.

Zeyu left additional space between the mobile base and the lead vehicle, giving himself more room to stop the heavier truck.

Lightning spread through the clouds above them and for several seconds, the entire forest stood visible in white light.

Then a bolt struck the mountainside close enough to blind them.

The explosion arrived at the same instant.

Hanchuan’s SUV shook violently, and the steering wheel jerked beneath his hands. The road appeared to rise up into the air before dropping hard enough to throw Zhiyi against her seat belt.

Jingwei slammed on his brakes.

The mobile base’s brake lights flared behind him. Its rear shifted toward the center line before Zeyu corrected the weight and brought the truck under control.

Hanchuan braked behind them.

A tree cracked somewhere beyond the lead SUV.

The sound carried through the storm, deeper than the thunder and close enough to trigger an immediate warning from Jingwei.

"Stop!"

The massive tree fell across the road.

Its upper branches struck the pavement first, scattering burning debris beneath Jingwei’s SUV. The trunk followed with enough force to shake the ground again. Flames raced through the dry needles and climbed toward the broken canopy.

Jingwei’s vehicle stopped less than ten meters from it.

For one stunned moment, the fallen tree formed the only visible fire.

Then lightning illuminated the forest behind it.

Flames were already moving between the trunks.

They hadn’t seen the fire from the road because it had been burning below the ridge and beneath the trees. The storm winds pushed it upward in scattered lines, feeding each hidden ignition until separate fires joined.

There had been no warning on the radio because no one knew it was there.

Jingwei’s voice broke through the convoy channel with none of his usual restraint. "We have to turn around! The road is completely blocked!"

Hanchuan checked the mirrors. His vehicle was last and had the clearest space behind it.

"Follow me," he ordered.

He reversed toward a narrow access opening, used it to turn the SUV and pointed back toward the main road. Zhiyi twisted in her seat, watching through the rear window as Zeyu attempted to maneuver the mobile base.

The truck couldn’t make the same turn.

Zeyu reversed until the rear wheels nearly entered the ditch, pulled forward, corrected the angle and tried again. Shichen leaned toward the windshield, guiding him through the limited space while Jingwei remained near the fallen tree.

The flames had reached both sides of the road.

Burning needles moved through the air like sparks from an enormous fire. Several landed on the mobile base and died against its armored exterior, but the surrounding forest brightened with every passing second.

"Hurry," Zhiyi whispered.

Hanchuan heard her, but Zeyu needed room more than pressure.

The mobile base completed another correction. Its front bumper cleared the trees by less than half a meter before Zeyu straightened it toward Hanchuan’s SUV.

Jingwei reversed at speed behind them.

"Move," he ordered and Hanchuan accelerated.

The convoy returned down the mountain road in the opposite formation.

Hanchuan was in the lead now, the mobile base followed and Jingwei guarded the rear while fire spread across the route they had intended to take.

Smoke moved between the trees, thickening until the headlights reflected from it. Hanchuan increased his speed wherever the road allowed, refusing to let the fire close around the slower vehicle behind him.

They reached the main road 18 minutes later.

Rain struck the windshield harder, but it still wasn’t enough. Behind them, the mountainside glowed beneath the storm clouds.

Hanchuan pulled onto the shoulder. Zeyu stopped the mobile base behind him, and Jingwei positioned the lead SUV across the rear to protect them from approaching traffic.

Luming remained on Zhiyi’s tablet.

The route leading to it was marked open.

She stared at the blue line as though the map had betrayed her. They had prepared alternates, duplicated supplies and planned for failures, but Luming had remained the place they were supposed to begin.

Her voice was small when she finally looked at Hanchuan.

"Where do we go now?" she asked, looking at him like he had all the answers.

And he did.

Hanchuan removed Luming from the route and selected the shelter west of the fire.

"Xiling."

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