X WAR: Infestation by John Triptych

Author:John Triptych [Triptych, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J Triptych Publishing
Published: 2019-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

36 Ordos

MING MADE A SIDEWAYS glance towards the tiny living area as she left her room. Her two roommates continued to sit in front of the TV, seemingly mesmerized by the historical soap opera they were watching.

Locking the bedroom door behind her, Ming made her way towards the apartment's main entryway and began to put her shoes on. "I'm going downstairs to buy some drinks at the store. Anyone want anything?"

The other two women didn't seem to notice her as they continued to sit in rapt attention staring at the TV.

Shaking her head slowly, Ming opened the front door and left.

The lonely elevator ride to the ground floor took just under a minute, and she walked out of the deserted lobby of the building and into the night. The brightly lit lampposts cast an oasis of lights around the empty concrete walkways, and the bitter wind nipped at her face.

Buttoning up her jacket, Ming hunched her shoulders and began to walk.

A near endless array of uninhabited apartment blocks stretched out across the darkened horizon all around her, vertical columns of concrete and glass that looked like support pillars of some gigantic unfinished temple reaching up towards the starry heavens.

The eerie quiet made her feel like the last human being on Earth as she continued her walk across a concrete square that was meant to serve as a playground for thousands of children. Slanting concrete dividers were inscribed with Mongol script and Chinese characters, a testament to the supposed harmony of the indigenous locals and the recent influx of immigrants from other parts of the country.

After passing the square, she came upon a series of larger than life bronze statues, showing Mongols and Chinese side by side in their traditional grab, each posing in a forward stride with heads held high, as if bestowing the ideals of pride and cooperation into a city that had yet to be born.

This whole place is supposed to be in the middle of the Mongolian desert, but I haven't seen any Mongols since I got here, she thought.

Turning north, she made it onto the sidewalk and began to move parallel along the wide avenue, nervously hoping that a police car wouldn't show up and notice her. Although there was no word of an official curfew, rumors swirled in the office about people being detained after they were caught wandering out at night, never to be heard from again.

Ming bit her lip. If I get caught, I don't want to end up like poor Biao. Back in her apartment, she had placed some bleach in a small plastic bottle and kept it under her bed, intending to use it as a suicide pill in case they came for her. I should have brought the damn thing with me, she thought.

A sudden movement along the hedgerows by the street caught her eye, and she quickened her pace. Just as she was about to pass alongside of it, a scrawny dog suddenly appeared, its deep brown eyes staring up at her, its furry snout and panting tongue hoping for a morsel.

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