Chapter Three: The Living Dead

Three seconds was not enough to save a life. It was enough to choose which car to hit first. Shen jumped into the white sedan, released the brake, and turned the wheel hard left. When the black SUV burst through the rain, the sedan rolled downhill and blocked it half a body-length early. The collision sent gulls exploding into the night. An airbag opened. A woman screamed in the back seat. The blue line shattered. Another vision invaded: spectators lying across Aurora's ice with blood beneath their noses; the scoreboard counting down 00:03; a silver ring above the arena like an open eye. Rain struck Shen's face when he woke. Lin was breaking the SUV's rear window. Together they dragged out Xu Lan.