Chapter 62

Shen Yuan went to his room and changed into the gears Bai Feng gave him. The clothes covered most of his skin except a bit of his neck and face which lessened the risk of direct contact with the damned. According to Bai Feng, their touch wouldn't affect them as long as it wasn't directly to their skin.

"You're ready, Yan-Yan?"

"Meow~"

"Stay close."

Once they were ready, he and Huo Yan went back downstairs when he caught Liu Zhen talking to Ming Xia under the stairway. Seeing him in full gear, Liu Zhen's face scrunched and he covered Ming Xia behind his back.

"A pervert truly doesn't know shame. Just you see. I'll expose you to Brother Bai, and he'll know what a disgusting pig you are." Liu Zhen glared at Shen Yuan. "You're the last person who should be allowed to hold a gun."

Shen Yuan eyed Ming Xia, bearing a triumphant smirk out of Liu Zhen's sight. Her face shifted into a pitiful expression in a heartbeat as she grabbed Liu Zhen's arm. "Enough. It's fine already, Xiao Zhen. You shouldn't provoke him."

"Don't worry, Sister Ming. I'll protect you."

"You do know a big crevice just popped up, don't you?" Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "It's because you goof around like this nobody takes you seriously, Liu Zhen. Let alone trust their back to you."

Liu Zhen's face twisted as if he had just swallowed a fly. "Who's goofing around!? You can't fool me, Shen Yuan! I don't know what Brother Bai and Boss Zhou see in you, but after they hear what you did to Sister Ming, you're—!"

"What is going on here?"

The voice cut Liu Zhen in his words, and he looked back to find Bai Feng approaching them from down the hallway, his expression more stern and severe than usual. Next to him was the highest authority of the shelter himself, his presence pressuring the air.

"What are you doing here, Liu Zhen? Not only have you abandoned your post, you're also making a commotion," Bai Feng rebuked.

"Brother Bai, you shouldn't trust this fiend!" Liu Zhen pointed at Shen Yuan in accusation. "He stalks Sister Ming every time she goes to the toilet at night and assaulted her just last night. He's a twisted pervert who forces himself to women."

Bai Feng frowned and shifted his attention to Ming Xia. She squeezed out a tear from the corner of her eyes and lowered her head as if in fear and grievance. Bai Feng pinched between his tautened eyebrows.

He should've taken Shen Yuan's advice further and warned the entire team about this girl.

"Since you think this is an appropriate time to abandon your post and cause trouble, then forget about becoming an active member," Zhou Yi lowly spoke. "Liu Zhen, you're dismissed. Return your gears to your squad leader and focus on looking after your grandma."

Liu Zhen's face fell. "B-Boss, Brother Bai, I wasn't—"

"Save your excuses." Zhou Yi grabbed Shen Yuan's shoulder. "You're with us. Let's go."

A corner of Shen Yuan's eyebrow twitched, but he kept it in and didn't deny the order. He glanced at Liu Zhen's indignant face and left with Zhou Yi and Bai Feng.

"You're so sure that accusation is false?" Shen Yuan leisurely asked.

"There's no reason for you to do that. Besides…" Bai Feng flicked his eyes to Zhou Yi.

Rather than Ming Xia, the one who was being constantly stalked was Shen Yuan himself. Whether the accusation was true or false, nobody would know better.

"There's patrol all around. We would know if anyone's outside their room, especially at night." Zhou Yi filled in Bai Feng's words. "We'll deal with him after this. For now, we focus on the matter at hand."

Once they stepped out of the building, Bai Feng excused himself to check on the supply team. Including medics, there would be 32 active members joining the mission. A large amount of supplies, especially food, was needed to sustain that number of people for two weeks.

"Do you still have regular bullets lying around?" Shen Yuan asked.

"Yes. Why?" Zhou Yi nodded.

Shen Yuan pulled out his gun and ejected its magazine. He handed it to Zhou Yi along with two extra ones Bai Feng gave him. "I'll use them."

Zhou Yi took the magazines and stared at Shen Yuan. "You do understand what you're saying?"

"Because it's the most reasonable thing to do. I'm not going to uselessly drain your supplies when we don't know what's waiting for us out there."

"…"

"Besides, nobody will know. It's not like they can inspect every single bullet I shoot." Shen Yuan shrugged. He made sure to add, "But don't think this means I agree to cooperate with you for research or all that bullshit. You better bring this to your grave or I'll seriously leave."

"I promise I won't tell a soul about it, and I won't do anything you don't like or agree to." Zhou Yi turned to face Shen Yuan properly. "Also, about that day, I want to apologize for causing you harm. I shouldn't have locked you in the lab like that."

"Isn't there something else you need to apologize for?"

Zhou Yi fell silent for a short moment. "…I dream of this school."

"Huh?"

"I never studied here, but I dream of it even until now. I recognized it the moment I saw it." Zhou Yi gazed inside. "There's a person that keeps appearing in that same dream but his face is always an unclear haze. All I know is his name." He returned his eyes to Shen Yuan, his face reflected in his shimmering golden orbs. "The night after we met, everything became clear."

"You're only projecting."

"Then, I would've projected someone else a long time ago."

"This will never end, won't it?" Shen Yuan rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh. "Fine. If you promise you'll respect my boundaries and won't bring this up—or any weird shit for that matter—until this mission finishes, I'll listen to everything you have to say once we return. Can you do that?"

"I promise." Zhou Yi nodded in agreement. "I'll go get you your ammo. Wait here."

"Okay."

Shen Yuan watched Zhou Yi leave and leaned on the pillar. Huo Yan sat by his foot, and he reached down to give him a quick scratch.

***

At 3 PM sharp, they set out per schedule.

The abandoned vehicles across the main road within the red zone had all been cleared out, giving easy access for the convoy to pass through. In exchange, most of the asphalt was cracked and jagged yet, given the urgency, the drivers kept driving at full speed, not giving two shits about comfort.

Shen Yuan had to hold Huo Yan on his lap to prevent him from getting thrown about while grabbing the edge of the seat to keep himself planted as well. Suppressing his annoyance, he couldn't help but ask Bai Feng, "Why's the road so bad?"

"The crevice." Bai Feng answered with a deadpan face, his hand busy anchoring his body in place using the grab handle. "On one hand, it's good that it swallowed the abandoned cars and cleared the road for us. On the other hand, well…this."

"Has a crevice never opened where buildings are?" Shen Yuan looked at all the big and small buildings outside, not a single of them missing. Although their walls cracked and their windows shattered, they were perfectly intact.

"That was one of our worries at first, but so far, no. And a crevice won't open in the same area twice. We haven't fully figured out how it works yet. Our hands are full just to contain it."

"I have to say, riding a horse might be better than this."

"It'll be better once we enter the orange zone. Not many have opened in this direction."

"But that means more roadblocks."

"Birdie's leading the way for us with boss. He already planned the fastest route."

Entering the orange zone, the road indeed became smoother and despite the roadblocks on their left and right, the convoy steadily navigated its way without bumping into one. They arrived at the checkpoint an hour into the trip.

But just as they stepped out of the car, the ground shook once again.