“Is it okay if big sister takes you over to eat something?” Liu Yue squatted down with a sweet smile and spoke to the little girl in front of her.
“Ah, go away, go away, Older Sister Yaoyao come save me.” The little girl screamed, breaking free from Liu Yue’s outstretched hand.
Liu Yue’s smile froze, looking very embarrassed. She stood up and gave an apologetic smile to the people beside her. Every move she made showed proper manners.
Everyone around looked accusingly at the little girl. This child was really troublesome. Her mother was dead, and when others treated her well, she didn’t even know to appreciate it? Bringing a child along in a post-apocalyptic escape team was the easiest way to cause trouble. If it weren’t for this beautiful and kind-hearted Liu Yue, this child would have died along with her mother.
The little girl cried loudly, trembling as she curled herself into a ball.
Hearing the crying, Du Mengyao hurried over from behind. Her eyes filled with hatred as she looked at Liu Yue in front of the little girl. She pushed Liu Yue away and crouched down, pulling the child into her arms.
“Tiantian, don’t cry. Tiantian is the bravest. Tiantian is a good child.” Du Mengyao gently patted the little girl’s back to comfort her.
The little girl and her mother were saved from a village they had passed earlier. The little girl was very sensible, except for silently crying the night before when the team was suddenly attacked by zombies and her mother was bitten to death, she had never cried. What on earth had Liu Yue done to scare the child into crying like this?
Liu Yue staggered from the push, falling right into Liao Feifan’s arms as he happened to walk by. She quickly stood firm, forced back the wetness in her eyes, and smiled. “Tiantian is just afraid of strangers.”
Liao Feifan looked at Liu Yue with some heartache. Since joining the team, this girl had quietly cared about everyone. She never complained even when wronged or suffering. This time Du Mengyao had gone too far. Ever since Xin’er died, she had been acting strangely. How could that matter be blamed on Liu Yue? If Liu Yue hadn’t been there, Xin’er would have been infected, how serious would the consequences have been? How many people could have died?
With some reproach in his tone, Liao Feifan said, “Yaoyao, how can you treat Little Yue like this.”
Du Mengyao was so angry at his words she laughed. “Senior, then tell me, how should I treat her? She killed Senior Sister Xin’er, and I still have to be grateful and treat her kindly?”
Liao Feifan said, “That matter wasn’t Little Yue’s fault. Little Yue might have been doing it for our—”
“Enough, enough, don’t talk to me about it anymore. Tonight when we reach Base M, let’s split up.” Du Mengyao interrupted impatiently, holding Tiantian and walking away. She was completely disappointed in her senior. The perfect knight-in-shining-armor image she once had of him no longer existed.
Watching Du Mengyao’s back, Liao Feifan stood helplessly and comforted Liu Yue, “Don’t mind her. Yaoyao used to be very good. Losing Xin’er hit her too hard. They were very close.”
Liu Yue’s tears fell with a plop. She quickly turned around, wiped them away, then turned back and said, “It’s fine, it’s all my fault. I don’t blame Older Sister Mengyao at all.”
The surrounding people whispered among themselves, “Miss Liu is such a good person. That Du Mengyao is too much. Relying on being Captain Liao’s junior, she bullies others without restraint.”
“Yes, Little Yue is just too kind-hearted, that’s why she always gets bullied.”
Du Mengyao brought Tiantian back to the vehicle. They would reach Base M in the afternoon. When they arrived, she would leave with Tiantian. She had an ability, she could survive by joining a rescue team.
She wiped the tear marks from the little girl’s face and softly asked, “Tell Older Sister Yaoyao, why doesn’t Tiantian like Older Sister Liu Yue?”
The moment the little girl heard Liu Yue’s name, her trembling worsened. Crying, she accused, “She’s a bad person. I saw her that day open Sister Xin’er’s head and eat the crystal core inside.”
Du Mengyao’s eyes widened. “You saw it?”
The little girl nodded while crying. “En, I saw it from inside the car.”
“You can see through walls to see what’s happening on the other side?”
“En, only Mommy knew. She didn’t let me tell anyone. Older Sister Yaoyao, I’m scared. She’s a bad person. I don’t want to see her.”
Du Mengyao’s hand holding Tiantian trembled. That woman was actually that terrifying. She had to tell her senior.
“Your mom was right. And don’t tell anyone about what happened just now either.”
She picked up the child and turned toward the back seat only to see Liu Yue standing behind the vehicle. Liu Yue flashed her a charming smile. After the apocalypse, the weather had grown stranger than ever, the days were as hot and stifling as summer, yet that smile made a chill run through Du Mengyao’s whole body.
Until the team arrived at M Base, Du Mengyao never found a chance to speak to Liao Feifan alone to warn him about Liu Yue.
After strict physical checks, the group entered M Base. It was huge, heavily populated, and military troops were stationed there.
Before dark, Du Mengyao led Tiantian to find a separate place to stay.
At the base’s trading market, a short man approached them, offering a one-bedroom apartment for ten level-one crystal cores per month. Du Mengyao only thought briefly before agreeing.
Following the short man to view the place, she sensed something was wrong as soon as they stepped inside. She took Tiantian and turned to leave but the door they had come through was already blocked.
Seeing Liu Yue walk out from inside the room, Du Mengyao asked coldly, “What exactly do you want?”
Liu Yue ignored her, instead speaking in a coquettish tone to the man next to her, “Cousin, she’s terrible. She kept bullying me on the road. You have to help me.”
The man nodded. He would have been considered handsome, but his expression was sly and sinister. “You’re my cousin. If someone bullies you, I definitely have to bully them back.”
Du Mengyao pulled Tiantian behind her, staring nervously at the people in the room. She shouted angrily, “Are you all outlaws? Doesn’t anyone control you? This is a base!”
The people in the room burst into laughter. The man beside Liu Yue looked at her with wicked amusement. “Little beauty, you’re really naive. Who here would dare control me? Why don’t you follow me? I’ll make sure you live the good life.”
Tiantian hid behind Du Mengyao, clutching her clothes and trembling hard.
Seeing the people surrounding them, Du Mengyao said, “Let Tiantian go. She’s only six, still very young. Do whatever you want to me.” She looked pleadingly at Liu Yue. The child was innocent. Even though she had an ability, against so many people she had no confidence of escaping.
Liu Yue sneered. “Cousin, make sure to treat this little beauty well. I’ll go first.” She avoided Du Mengyao’s reaching hand and walked away proudly.
Du Mengyao knew they wouldn’t spare her or Tiantian. She tried to activate her earth ability, but someone noticed and immediately hit her hand with an ability. The pain was bone-deep; blood poured from the wound, and a small finger dropped to the floor.
Still, Du Mengyao begged, “Spare the child. She’s so little.”
The man’s words plunged her into despair. “Stop talking nonsense. I like them small. What are you all waiting for? The big one is yours.” He grabbed Tiantian from behind Du Mengyao.
Tiantian cried uncontrollably. The man impatiently waved his hand, a slap landed on Tiantian’s face. Her head snapped to the side and hit a cabinet, and she fainted. The man carried Tiantian into the room.
Du Mengyao lay in agony on the floor as the men took turns violating her. Her eyes stared blankly at the open doorway. Tiantian’s body was covered in blood, yet the man continued moving on that small, fragile body, shouting excitedly.
Liu Yue, I will never forgive you. Tiantian, older sister will definitely avenge you.
The scream of a red-clothed zombie was shrill and drawn-out. Its blood-red eyes showed it was high-level. It seemed to be giving orders, its raised hand pointing forward. The zombie horde answered with earth-shaking roars. Looking at its raised arm, that hand was incomplete, with only two fingers remaining.
Territory Village sat between M Base and S Base, a remote, isolated mountain village. Despite its beautiful scenery, the transportation was extremely poor. A road funded by the government before the apocalypse had not even been put to use before the world fell.
The advance ability users had already arrived; Han Fei was among them. They had departed from various bases to survey the terrain, clear zombies, and build walls.
There were few villagers, so few zombies but the trouble was that the zombies wandered everywhere. Without finding humans, they followed the scent of meat to hunt animals. It took a lot of effort to clear all the scattered dangers. The rest was building the wall and burying explosives.
After several sleepless days, the wall had taken shape under the intense labor of earth ability users. The wall did not encircle the entire village, time was short, only the large open space at the village entrance was fenced in. From the road entrance inward, explosives were already placed, waiting for the final moment that would determine life or death.
Since leaving Base B, Han Fei had been busy nonstop, doing everything himself without relying on anyone. From building materials for the wall, to explosives, to preparing a helicopter for last-minute retreat, he arranged every detail.
The once flamboyant and domineering Han Fei now seemed tired. He rubbed his forehead inside the tent, looking at the people outside. He stayed in constant satellite communication with Yan Bin and already knew the zombie horde would arrive early. He looked up at the sky, night was coming.
After a long time, Han Fei exhaled deeply and cleared his thoughts. He would soon see Qi Yue. This time he had to tell him and also give him a good rubdown.
D*mn it, Qi Yue that little brat! Making him act like a fool, like he was sick, driving him mad with longing! This time, he had to tell him just how much he liked him. He had never said such words to anyone before.
The sky gradually darkened. Riding on the wind came faint traces of the stench of decay. No one needed to explain it, after surviving so many years in the apocalypse, everyone in the convoy automatically heightened their vigilance.
Qi Yue sat in the vehicle, finally putting down the gun he had checked countless times, and began pouring ** into a special magazine.
Tang Ke glanced back at Qi Yue and couldn’t help speaking again, “Yueyue, if we run into danger, don’t worry about anything else. Our abilities are stronger than yours. Just go into your space.”
Qi Yue pressed his slightly raised lips together and replied softly, “En.”
“Right, why don’t you eat that invisible beef first.” Tang Ke suddenly thought of it and felt satisfied after saying it.
“No thanks. If no one can see me, I’ll probably get killed by my own people in the chaos.” Qi Yue pouted and refused.
Tang Ke scratched his head; he hadn’t considered that. “True.”
“How about… you just go straight into your space?” Tang Ke turned from the front seat to suggest again.
“Tang Ke.” Qi Yue looked up at him with bright eyes. “I’m a man. I can protect myself.” He grinned widely at Tang Ke. “Don’t worry, I still need to live well with you all.”
Author’s Note: What do I do? What do I do? I’m so conflicted. Who should Liu Yue die by?
