Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home

The rain started before we finished eating.

It tapped lightly against the windows at first, soft enough that I almost missed it beneath Lingyun complaining about the last burger. Then Zhenlan’s hand moved higher on my thigh, and the sound spread across the roof.

I looked toward the dark glass over the sink.

Water slid down it in slow lines. The plants outside lifted toward the rain, leaves opening while the roots shifted beneath the yard.

The workers’ vegetable beds remained dry.

Apparently, Zhenlan could be petty with weather.

I approved.

Lingyun looked toward the message screen. "Do you think they can hear it from the eastern building?"

"Yes," Chenghai said.

"That seems mean."

Zhenlan took another fry from my plate.

"They have water tanks," I reminded Lingyun.

"I know. I just think they’re going to take it personally."

"They sent him a drawing."

"It was a good drawing."

Yuche pushed Lingyun’s plate closer before he could reach for mine. The movement pulled slightly against his ribs, and his face tightened before he settled back against the stool.

He was getting better.

That didn’t mean Yuche planned to let him do anything useful before next year.

The message screen stayed dark while we finished dinner. Chenghai gathered the empty plates. Zhenlan carried mine to the sink after I made it clear I wasn’t moving yet, and Yuche helped Lingyun stand without letting him put much weight on his injured side.

I stayed on the island with my tea.

Rain drummed across the roof now, exactly loud enough to hear from upstairs. Zhenlan had understood the request properly.

He passed behind me on the way to the sink and kissed the side of my head. His hand stayed at the back of my neck for a few seconds before he moved away.

Chenghai brushed his fingers over my knee when he took the last plate.

Apparently, I had trained both of them well.

The message screen buzzed.

Lingyun looked toward it immediately. "They’re complaining."

"No one answer," I said.

It buzzed again.

Chenghai dried his hands and walked over.

The screen lit his face while he read.

Then he stopped moving.

That was enough to ruin the weather joke.

Zhenlan turned off the water. Yuche’s arm tightened around Lingyun before helping him back onto the stool.

I set down my tea.

"What?"

Chenghai touched the screen once and opened the full message.

Han Zhi’s name appeared at the top.

Below it was a photograph of several pages spread across a table. The writing was too small to read from the island, but the first line beneath the picture was clear.

Found the route list. Every marked survivor sent east passed through Gu Han’s territory.

I slid off the counter.

Zhenlan reached me before my feet touched the floor properly. His hand settled around my waist, but I kept moving until I stood in front of the screen.

Chenghai opened the next image.

It showed a list of names, dates, and short notes written beside each one. Most had arrows pointing east. Several had the same two words beside them.

Bite confirmed.

Some had another note.

Still responsive.

My calf started burning.

The pain came without warning, sharp enough that my knee bent.

Zhenlan caught me before I hit the floor. Chenghai’s hand closed around my leg above the old scar while Yuche moved toward us with Lingyun still leaning against him.

The screen buzzed again.

Han Zhi had sent another message.

Head Luo kept copies. Gu Han’s courier delivered instructions every three to five days. Courier never entered market proper. Stayed near west loading gate, delivered sealed paper, left.

Below that was a rough description.

Male.

Medium height.

Dark coat.

Face covered.

That described half the men still alive.

I pressed my palm over the scar.

The burn spread beneath my fingers, moving through old damaged skin like something had pushed a hot wire through my leg.

Zhenlan crouched in front of me. "Is it the tether?"

"Yes."

The word came out tighter than I wanted.

The plants outside shifted.

Roots pushed beneath the patio hard enough to crack wet soil, then moved toward the garage.

All of them.

Lingyun straightened too quickly.

Yuche caught him around the waist before he folded. "Don’t."

"The man in the box," Lingyun said.

A scream cut through the rain.

It came from below us.

Long, raw, and loud enough to reach the kitchen through the garage walls.

The baby vine shot away from the back door and disappeared into the hallway.

Another scream followed.

This one broke in the middle.

Chenghai lifted me before I could start walking. I wrapped one arm around his neck while Zhenlan moved ahead and opened the basement door.

Yuche looked down at Lingyun.

"I’m coming," Lingyun said.

"You’re staying here."

"He’s connected to Rouxi."

"You can barely stand."

"I can stand."

His legs immediately proved otherwise.

Yuche caught him against his chest before he slipped off the stool.

I pointed toward the living room. "Take him to the couch. Then come down."

Lingyun looked betrayed. "Rouxi."

"You’ll slow us down."

That worked better than telling him he was injured.

His mouth closed.

Yuche carried him toward the sectional while Lingyun muttered something against his shoulder that none of us needed to hear.

Chenghai took me downstairs.

The closer we got to the garage, the hotter my scar became. The pain climbed into my calf and pulled along the back of my knee. My fingers tightened around Chenghai’s shirt while Zhenlan opened the reinforced door.

The air inside smelled like metal, disinfectant, and sweat.

The box sat in the center of the garage where Yuche had left it. No windows. No soil. No gap large enough for a hand to slip through.

Something struck the inside.

The whole structure jumped against the concrete.

Then the man screamed again.

Chenghai set me on the workbench near the wall but stayed between me and the box. Zhenlan moved to the other side, lightning flickering beneath the skin of his hands.

Yuche entered a few seconds later and shut the door behind him.

"Lingyun?"

"Angry."

"He’ll survive."

The box shook again.

A hoarse voice came through the narrow opening near the top.

"Get it out."

I pressed my hand against my leg. "Get what out?"

"The road."

That didn’t help.

Chenghai stepped closer to the box. "What road?"

The man hit the wall from inside. Once. Twice. His breathing came fast through the opening.

"He made us walk it."

My scar pulsed.

Every plant around the mansion turned east.

Not north this time.

East.

I slid off the workbench before Chenghai could stop me.

The pain sharpened when my feet touched the floor, but it also became clearer. A thread pulled through the man in the box, thin and ugly, stretching away from the mansion toward the city.

It wasn’t the only one.

I could feel more now.

Several.

Maybe dozens.

Most were faint. Some barely moved. A few dragged against whatever held them as though the people attached to them were still alive and trying to crawl away.

I stopped several feet from the box.

"Who made you walk it?"

The man went quiet.

Zhenlan’s lightning lit the garage walls.

The answer came through the opening in a whisper.

"Gu Han."

The name made the tether pull harder.

I felt the direction change through the scar. Not toward the city centre. Not toward whatever huge thing waited beneath it.

Toward a cluster of streets farther east.

The cul-de-sac.

The man’s hands scraped against the inside of the box.

"He kept asking where the zombies looked," he said. "Every street. Every turn. He moved us and watched."

"Us?"

His breathing stopped for one second.

Then started again.

"There were others."

Yuche moved closer. "How many?"

"I don’t know."

The box shook beneath another hit.

"They kept us under the houses."

The rain pounded against the garage roof.

My plants drove deeper beneath the yard, all of them reaching toward the same direction even though Gu Han’s streets were far beyond the barrier.

I looked at Chenghai.

His face had gone still.

Zhenlan stood beside the box with lightning gathering between his fingers.

Yuche had already pulled a metal chair away from the wall and placed it near the opening.

The man inside dragged in a broken breath.

"Gu Han said she’d know what we were."

My scar burned so hard that the thread became bright inside my head.

I reached for it.

Something on the other end reached back.

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