The military-green jeep finally shuddered to a halt before the sentry post, its path illuminated by harsh, artificial lights. Inside, three figures wore expressions of exhausted relief.
"Finally," breathed the younger soldier in the passenger seat, his grip tightening on the rifle cradled in his arms. A genuine, weary smile touched his lips. "How long has it been? Days? Feels like I haven't slept in a decade."
"Not that long. Nowhere near," came the voice from the back seat. "With the sun gone and every timepiece shattered, our sense of duration is... compromised. Four hours, give or take."
"How would you know?" the young soldier—Pan—shot back. "You don't have a watch either."
"Liu's driving. I'm in the back with nothing to do, no signal for distractions," the man replied, his tone flat. "I've been counting. Finger on pulse. It's a rough estimate, but it holds."
Pan let out a short, humorless laugh. "Morbid."
"Enough, Pan," Liu, the driver, cut in. His voice was gravelly with fatigue, dark circles etched deeply under his eyes—a stark contrast to his otherwise steady demeanor. "I've been keeping a mental tally too. Reporter Li's count aligns with mine."
"Why bother?" Pan muttered, almost to himself.
"Confirmation of continued existence," answered the man in the back—Reporter Li. He looked academic, out of place in his stained shirt, yet he carried a tension slightly different from the soldiers'. A ghost of a smile—if it could be called that—flickered at the corner of his mouth. "After the last few cycles, the line between the waking world and a descent into hell has become regrettably blurred."
A heavy silence descended upon the jeep. No rebuttal came from the soldiers; their grim expressions were agreement enough. The vehicle rolled forward the final few meters before being flagged down by two armed sentries at the barrier.
"Password."
"We don't have it. We're from Jiangcheng(city). Radios are completely dead out there." Liu produced his identification. "Please inform your superiors. We're escorting Reporter Li to see Professor Chen."
The guard saluted, took the credentials, and walked to the nearby checkpoint booth. Another guard addressed them. "Jiangcheng? That's a long way. What's the situation there?"
It probably breached protocol, but these days, simply being at your post required conscience more than discipline.
Reporter Li recognized the accent. "You're from Jiangcheng too?"
"Yeah." The guard nodded, his round face breaking into a smile. "If I weren't posted so far out, I'd have headed home myself. You've got nerve, making a journey like that with just three of you."
"We had a full squad and three vehicles when we set out," Liu replied.
"Oh." The round-faced guard's smile vanished. "You were attacked?"
"No. Most succumbed to sudden-onset cancer," Liu said. "And we... encountered things. Unnatural things."
The guard's face fell. "We've seen it here too. People collapse mid-stride. Autopsies show bodies, perfectly healthy yesterday, now riddled with tumors by morning."
Pan Shuai looked stunned. "But this is Helios Station. The preservation site..."
"Does the location matter?" The second guard emerged from the booth, returning Liu's ID. "Even the specimens brought here from afar for the Project have died. Professor Chen... he's holding up better. Sometimes he even takes walks outside the perimeter."
This guard studied the face of the man in the back seat. "Reporter Li Xingyuan? You're three days behind schedule. If Professor Chen hadn't refused cryosleep until he saw you, you'd have missed him. He's waiting. I've called for an escort."
He then looked at Liu and Pan Shuai. "You two, report to command. They'll decide if you stay or return to your units."
"Guess this is goodbye," Li Xingyuan said, opening the door. He exchanged a brief, weary nod with Liu and a wave from the ever-grinning Pan Shuai. "Safe travels, friends."
Liu simply nodded back. Pan Shuai offered a final, silly grin. The military vehicle soon vanished down the access road.
Alone at the checkpoint, Li Xingyuan fished a crumpled soft pack of Chunghwa cigarettes from his pocket. He pinched the last two cigarettes from the depleted box.
"Smoke?"
He didn't smoke himself. These days, it wasn't about health—he just never acquired the taste. But offering one was a classic opener, a trick every journalist knew.
"Not while I'm serving."
Li Xingyuan nodded. He respected people with principles, especially now. Those who held onto them were a rare breed. He carefully slid the two cigarettes back into the pack, folded it neatly, and tucked it into his inner pocket.
"Hey, from around here?" It was the same round-faced sentry initiating again. "How's things back in Jiangcheng? You ever hear of a place called Yihao Jiayuan(residential community)?"
Li Xingyuan knew it. A strange, subtle shimmer seemed to dance at the edge of his vision. His mouth went dry, a bitter taste spreading as if his own memory had struck him. He gave a slight shudder. "No. Can't say I have."
"Oh." The sentry nodded, not seeming too put out. "My family's there. My mom... and my wife. She's a social worker in the complex."
The expression that flickered across the man's face in that moment made Li Xingyuan profoundly grateful for the instinctive lie.
"Mmm-hmm. Is that so?" Li Xingyuan murmured, his response deliberately vague.
A welcome distraction arrived—his escort finally showed up.
Walking toward the Helios Station, Li Xingyuan could feel the weight of the round-faced sentry's gaze on his back. He hoped the silence hadn't given him away.
Six Helios Stations were scattered across the country, each a former nuclear bunker hastily repurposed after the Cataclysm. Their cores were buried deep within mountains of reinforced concrete. These were places only the state-selected "Seeds" could enter. In this shattered world, they were nothing less than sanctuaries of hope.
"That the main structure?" Li Xingyuan asked his guide, nodding toward the mountain. "The part built into the rock?"
"Yeah. The scientists say the mountain and concrete can shield against... well, against what's coming from up there." The soldier seemed surprised by the question but answered readily. "Most of the Seeds are already inside, in hibernation."
Li Xingyuan felt a pang of melancholy. "They'll wake up centuries from now."
"Or millennia. Maybe tens of thousands of years." The soldier glanced at him. "You're press, right? Not part of the Helios Project?"
"No." Li Xingyuan offered a wry smile. "The list is mostly workers, soldiers, teachers, scientists. What would the future need with someone like me? Doubt they'll be doomscrolling for a good long while."
The soldier chuckled, and Li Xingyuan joined him.
In the old world, he'd been a small-time reporter with an odd name. What possible use was that to anyone centuries hence?
He knew his place. Had never dreamed otherwise.
Still, curiosity gnawed at him. His eyes darted around, taking in the scenery. This was the future cradle of civilization, yet from the outside, it looked like any other fortified base.
"Heads up, Li." The guide suddenly yanked him back and lashed out with a boot, sending a dark, sinuous shape flying into the undergrowth. "Snakes. Place is crawling with 'em. Most aren't venomous, but best not to take chances."
"Right. Of course." Li Xingyuan snapped to attention, sticking close to the soldier's heels.
He expected to be led to an interior room. Instead, the path ended at a watchtower-like structure grafted onto the mountainside. A man in a suit stood there, smoking. The cherry of his cigarette pulsed in the gloom, illuminating his shadowy form in brief, stark flashes.
The guiding soldier saluted and stepped aside.
"Regulations allow ten minutes with a Seed," he said quietly. "Go on. Professor Chen is waiting."