She can hear murderous intent from five hundred meters away, but she cannot hear the truth about her own past.
On the wasteland, a boy protects her as they fight their way out of a deadly siege.
Seven years ago, the world died in a rain of acid.
Eighteen-year-old Lu Chen and thirteen-year-old Su Xiaoman struggle to survive in underground ruins, like two forgotten rats.
He believes in neither gods nor people. He believes only in the iron pipe in his hand, and the girl behind him.
Then their pursuers catch up, forcing them into District Three, a place everyone fears. There, they discover a sealed Zero Shelter that has been shut away for twenty years.
Behind its doors, the voices of a hundred and five children ring out in unison:
"Ninety-four, you're late."
She is the one hundred and sixth test subject.
And the only one who made it out alive.
Some have put a bounty on her head. Others have spent their whole lives trying to capture her and take her back.
And deep beneath the ground, the thing that sees through heat and feeds on sound has awakened.
Lu Chen wipes the blood from his face and shields Su Xiaoman behind him.
"If you want to touch her, you'll have to step over my dead body first."
