Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

Still, even while fighting, small bits of the earlier conversation kept drifting back into her mind. Yan Cijin telling her to come for dinner later. Yan Cijin saying she should be careful. Yan Cijin touching the scratch on her cheek like it mattered. Bai Li did not know why those little things stayed with her so strongly, but they did. They sat in her chest like warm little sparks, not enough to fully name, but enough to make her keep thinking about them. She shook her head once to clear it and focused on the next zombie rushing toward her.

A zombie staggered in close enough to nearly bump into her shoulder. Bai Li kicked it hard in the stomach, sending it stumbling backward, then followed with a sharp overhead cut that took it down before it could recover. Another one reached out for her arm, and she turned fast enough that its hand slid past her robe without catching. "Too slow," Bai Li said without thinking, and then almost laughed at herself for talking to zombies like they could understand her.

They could not, of course. But that did not stop her from muttering at them now and then. It made the whole thing feel a little less dead and a little more like something she could manage. The sword felt solid in her hand, familiar and steady, and the more she moved, the less she thought about anything else. That was probably why she kept going out like this instead of staying in one place and letting her mind wander too much. It was easier to chop down zombies than it was to sit there and overthink her own feelings.

Because honestly, the truth was that she was still a little lost when it came to Yan Cijin. She knew she cared. That much was obvious. She knew it from the way she had wanted to go apologize right away, from the way she did not like seeing her cry, from the way she had gone out of her way to explain herself even though she was bad at it. But beyond that, the rest was still hazy. Bai Li had never been the kind of person who understood delicate things quickly. Her own heart felt like a messy room sometimes. She could tell something important was there, but she did not always know where to put a name on it yet. So she let it sit for now, letting the feeling stay unnamed while she kept killing zombies and doing what she knew how to do.

Another small cluster of zombies appeared near the side of the road. Bai Li tightened her grip, moved her feet, and cut them down one after another without breaking her pace. The fight had already become more familiar than tense. Her breathing stayed calm. Her movements stayed efficient. She dodged one, slipped past another, and brought her sword down in a clean arc that left the next one falling hard to the ground. A little dust kicked up around her boots, and the smell of blood mixed with the stale, rotten stink of the zombies. Bai Li frowned slightly at the smell but did not slow down.

"Seriously," she said to no one in particular, "you guys are really annoying."

The zombies of course did not answer, which was probably for the best. Bai Li snorted softly and kept going. She was already far enough from the building now that the open area felt a little wider, and the few remaining zombies in sight were easy enough to draw out one by one. She had handled worse before. She would handle worse again later. For now, she only had to clear the space and make sure nothing followed her back. That was the practical part. The rest could wait.

In the building behind her, the windows were probably still full of watching eyes. Some people might be scared. Some might be relieved. Some might be making plans to ask her for food again. Bai Li did not know, and she did not care much at the moment. She only knew that when she left Yan Cijin’s room, the smile on Yan Cijin’s face had looked too soft to ignore, and when Lili had laughed in her arms, the child had looked as happy as anything. That alone made the whole day feel less heavy. Maybe dinner really would be worth it later. Maybe Yan Cijin would still be smiling by then. Bai Li liked that thought enough to let it stay in her mind while she kept swinging her sword.

She turned sharply, blocked one zombie’s grab, and sent it crashing down. Another rushed in from the side, but she shifted her weight and struck first. There was no hesitation in her hand, no wasted motion in her body. It was all smooth, controlled, and fast. The sword moved like it had become part of her arm. Bai Li had long since reached the point where this kind of fight was almost routine, but she still never let her guard drop. Routine did not mean safe. It only meant familiar.

After a few more steps, another zombie fell under her blade, and the open space around Bai Li finally became quiet again.

In less than a few minutes, all the zombies around Bai Li were gone.

Like a tireless robot, she relentlessly hacked at zombies throughout the neighborhood. Bai Li’s actions were quickly noticed by the residents of Building 9.

The water had been cut off, fueling widespread panic. Although news reports on television were still trying to calm the public, they were clearly pre recorded and played on a loop. By this point, few people believed what they saw on TV anymore. The screen kept showing the same calm faces, the same neat lines, the same steady voice talking about stability and order, but none of it matched the reality outside their windows. People could see the empty sinks in their own homes.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

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