Chapter 11

Jiang Shan had lost track of how many days she had been on the mountain. She only knew she was desperately hungry, her water was gone, and she was still trapped on this mountain with no end in sight…
On the tour group’s health form she had written “good.” The medical report had been faked.
The travel company only cared about profit and didn’t check carefully. At her age, who would expect a terminal illness?
So Jiang Shan had set off as she’d hoped.
Of her twenty years, sixteen had been spent in an orphanage. Everyone knew she had been sick from birth. Even there, there was a hierarchy—the other children kept their distance. She was the orphan among orphans.
For some reason, though, an elderly carer had taken a liking to her. When Jiang Shan was left out, she would sit with her, and sometimes cook for her in secret. The old woman would look at Jiang Shan and say, “Such a lucky child.”
Jiang Shan had found it absurd—lucky? What did that word have to do with her? But few people had ever been so kind. She never argued.
She remembered the sky outside the orphanage—always grey. Like this mountain. Sometimes it was hard to tell reality from nightmare, especially when the two were close.
—
“Oh my god oh my god there’s someone here!”
A scream sharp enough to pierce her eardrums tore through eighteen layers of sleep and slammed her back into the world.
Jiang Shan’s eyes flew open. Harsh light made her blink. Night had ended; it was broad daylight.
She met a pair of eyes. They went wide with shock. The scream in her ears grew even more frantic.
“Sh-she’s alive?!”
Jiang Shan clapped her hands over her ears and blinked hard. Gradually she made out a stranger’s face.
The face was behind a transparent glass visor, features twisted with fright.
“Who are you?!” She and the stranger shouted at the same time.
The woman across from her dropped to the ground and scrambled backward.
Jiang Shan was too dazed to react. She watched her retreat to the edge of the tent as if from a monster, and instinctively pulled the blanket tighter. Wait—blanket? She remembered bedding in the tent last night, not a blanket.
Just then the tent flap was thrown open. Several figures rushed in. “What’s wrong? Zhao Ying, what are you screaming about?”
The woman in the corner looked at her companions as if they were saviours. She lifted a trembling hand and pointed at Jiang Shan. “There’s—there’s someone here…”
Wasn’t everyone supposed to be missing? Weren’t there no survivors?
Following her finger, the others slowly saw Jiang Shan.
The tent fell dead silent.
Jiang Shan stared at the strangers. They stared back at her.
They were all dressed the same: grey inflatable suits like space gear, glass helmets. Fully covered.
She didn’t recognize any of them. They weren’t from the tour group.
Four pairs of eyes fixed on her—a girl half in the bedding, dishevelled, face still blurred with sleep.
No one spoke. Their expressions slowly began to twist…