The Art Of War.

3.Ruins

"Qin!" Lu Er's panicked voice made Qin perk up, reluctantly leaving her gaze from the computer screen, to her best friend.

"Soldiers," he said, "time to go."

"We can take him!" Qin said simply, ignoring him.

"I said soldierS not soldier. Pack up. We move out, now." Lu Er replied.

Qin closed her screen. She peeked out of the ruined building's window. And there was a troop. A troop of about a dozen men. Lu Er too, realized it was too late and that they were too near.

"Hide the bag under some rubble." Qin said as she passed the bag to Lu Er.

"Alright. I go that way and you stay. We can't play dead together. It's too obvious."

"I know!" Qin snapped, about to lose her temper. But it wasn't the right time and she said. "You play dead. I'll hide."

"That's stupid. You're a girl. They won't kill a dying girl. But they would kill a hiding girl." Lu Er said with a frown.

"No time! Go!" Qin said as she shoved him away.

"You armed?" He asked one final question.

"Semi-automatic in my waistband." She dismissed him with a nod and he ran.

Qin checked her gun. Fully loaded. And brand new from Hugh Williams.

Voices. Commanding. The troop was searching the building. How many of them were there? Qin tried to guess. About three. I can take them. Yes, i can. They won't suspect a thing. Just act innocent. Qin knew it was risky. But she had to. She needed gear. And she needed information.

Qin walked towards them. This used to be housing apartment and she rubbed her eyes. Pretending that she just woke up.

"Mom? Who are they?" She asked.

The soldiers snickered.

"Hello girl." One said, slowly walking towards Qin.

"Who are you people?" She asked innocently, rubbing her eyes. Qin was 15. And it looked stupid. But she also knew the Americans looked down on the Chinese nationals. So she played dumb.

The soldier nearest to her patted her head. And that shocked her. She moved away and pulled out her gun. Sooner than planned. Dammit. So she decided to go right into action.

The soldiers were shocked. They pulled out their rifles and fired. But Qin dodged all of them, shockingly nimble. But one of them hit her and she flinched and stumbled onto the ground. Fuck. But she wasn't the kind that would die so easily.

She stayed down, knowing they would approach her to finish the job. And when they did, she pounced on one of them, pushed him down, took his rifle and used it to fire at the other two. That was what they least expected. So they went down. And the last one lay there trying to get up. Qin smiled. And shot him in the head. Not once, not twice, but five times. "And stay down!" She said.

The pain from the bullet was back and she clutched her chest miserably. I've got to find Lu Er.

She looked around and then she saw a sign that Lu Er was near. Two fallen soldiers and the Qin's bag sprouting from the rubble.

Still clutching her chest, she dug out her bag. But no meds. Nothing. Qin grew worried. She didn't know what vital organs got hit. And she didn't want to die. Not yet. Not when she hasn't told anyone the American's plan.

"Qin? You got shot?" Lu Er asked, concerned.

"Its nothing." Qin said, trying to look strong.

"I'll get the bullet out." He said.

Pulling out gloves from the bag. "Where is it?" He asked.

"No, Lu Er, i said it's nothing." Qin said, desperate to try to get him to change his mind.

"Tell me where it is." He said. His expression was dark.

"In my chest." She finally said, giving in.

"I'll take the bullet out." He said. Moving closer to her.

"No, you don't get it! Its in my chest."

She said, exasperated.

Lu Er realized what she was saying. And he shifted his gaze uncomfortably. Face flushed, he said, "Oh."

Qin smiled a little and she snatched the gloves from him. "I'll take it out myself. But, only after we check Hugh William's emails.

Qin fired up the computer again, hacking into Hugh's account, she realized she had 12 replies. 9 of them didn't know either. But one of them was exceptionally useful.

Williams,

You didn't know? Arse. You have to start paying attention to our commander. Luckily, i've got notes. So here you go.

China would be nuked by one of the world's largest nuclear bombs ever made. Its enough to kill the whole of China. I'm not so sure about its size. But its pretty huge. Gonna be dropped on 3rd May. A week from today. But might be delayed, by how slow things are going.

Hey where are you anyway? You didn't board the last helicopter.

-Johnsons.

Qin was proud. And horrified at the same time. They really had to tell someone. But who? And how?

*

Tze Xian took the first aid kit from WeiTing, pulled out the morphine injection, and gave himself the shot. In an instant, everything felt better. His breathing became more stable and he smiled. The first time WeiTing saw the boy smile.

She sat beside him. "So."

He looked at her. "So."

"How old are you?" WeiTing asked.

"十六. " he said.

"Sixteen? Same." She said. "What's your last name?"

"Last name?" He cocked his head to the side. "You mean 姓名?"

WeiTing laughed. "Yes." She thought her english was horrible. But looking at how Tze Xian didn't know so many words was like looking at a dog trying to meow. Which didn't make sense.

"Wu." He said.

WeiTing was beginning to realize that Tze Xian didn't like talking. He only answered questions. But never really asked any. She sighed. She was chatty. And now no on was able to really talk to her.

"You're from Shanghai?" Tze Xian suddenly asked, much to WeiTing's surprise.

She simply nodded. Shanghai didn't exist anymore. So did China. It was all just ruins.