Chapter Two: The Impact That Never Happened

Four days earlier the Weaver had pulled him from a burning car; three days later he had carbonized while eating breakfast. A Zenith medical band still glowed on the corpse. It displayed a pulse of seventy-two and oxygen saturation of ninety-eight, as if monitoring someone else. Lin began filming. Zhou cut the band with insulated pliers. Every freezer in the building slammed at once. Bang. Bang. Bang. The hall locked down. A filtered voice came over the speakers. “Reporter Lin, those who survive should not ask how many times they died.” Zhou looked up. Golden paths of force ran from every drawer, through concrete and streets, toward the tallest tower in the city. The newest and brightest line began inside Lin’s heart.