Chapter 251: To The Hardware Store
Lingyun stepped inside, then paused when both the baby vine and I looked at the blood on his shoes.
He looked down, then back at me. "I can take them off if you want."
"You can burn them," I replied with a shrug. "I’m not letting that woman’s blood take up residence in my hard wood floors. That defeats the entire point of kicking her out in the first place."
His expression turned thoughtful. "That may be easier."
"Outside."
He gave me a bright smile and stepped back out.
Commander Li watched him go, then looked at me. "Is he always like that?"
"Yes," I said.
Yuche answered at the same time. "Worse."
I pointed at Yuche. "Do not bond with people over judging my fire lunatic."
"He is not yours."
The room went quiet as I turned my head to look at Yuche.
Yuche looked back at me, his face completely impassive.
I guess he was willing to die on this hill.
Zhenlan suddenly became very interested in the cracked wall. Chenghai turned his attention toward the broken doorway with the dedication of a man avoiding a land mine. Commander Li, the coward, pretended he had not heard anything at all.
I sank back against the couch. "He is mine," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument. "And this conversation is officially over."
"It is not," Zhenlan said, because apparently he had chosen death. "We still need to decide what materials are necessary before we leave."
I closed my eyes.
The house creaked.
Somewhere in the foyer, another faint sprinkle of plaster hit the floor.
I opened my eyes again. "Fine."
Everyone looked at me.
"I am not moving," I said. "I am not abandoning my house. I am not living at a base. I am not sharing a room with strangers, soldiers, refugees, government officials, or anyone who thinks communal living builds character. It does not. It builds murder."
Commander Li wisely said nothing.
"We will fix the house," I continued. "We will make it stronger. We will make the plants outside stronger. We will get whatever supplies are needed, recruit whatever people are absolutely necessary, and then those people can work outside where I do not have to look at them more than required."
Zhenlan’s expression softened in a way that made me suspicious. "That seems reasonable."
"I am not done."
His expression went neutral again.
Good.
I pointed toward the damaged foyer. "No one touches my bedroom. No one touches my pantry without permission. No one touches my plants unless they want to lose the hand. No one decides my couch is a public seating area. No one uses the phrase temporary relocation near me again unless they are trying to die."
Chenghai gave a short nod. "We can all work with that."
Commander Li looked as though he had questions but he did not ask them.
His survival instincts were improving by the minute.
Yuche brushed his thumb once against my shoulder, and the touch was so small that I almost missed it. Almost.
I didn’t look at him because looking at him would make things complicated, and I had already reached my complication limit somewhere around the cracked ceiling developing a personality.
"So," I said, forcing my attention back to the problem because the problem was safer than whatever Yuche’s hand was doing to my ability to form thoughts. "We need materials."
"Yes," Zhenlan said.
"We need workers."
"Yes."
"We need to go somewhere with both."
Commander Li’s mouth tightened, but he nodded. "The base may have people. For supplies, there are hardware stores, construction yards, warehouses, and abandoned sites, but we don’t know what has already been stripped."
I looked at the cracked ceiling one more time, then I looked at the blood on my floor. Then I looked at the baby vine, which had somehow found another finger and was trying to hide it behind a leaf.
I pointed at it. "Spit that out."
The vine froze.
"Now."
It dropped the finger onto the floor with a wet little sound.
Everyone stared.
I rubbed my forehead. "I cannot believe I am saying this, but apparently my house needs adult supervision."
Zhenlan’s mouth twitched. "Several kinds."
"Do not push your luck."
Yuche lowered himself onto the couch beside me, close enough that his thigh pressed against mine. "You are staying here."
I gave him a sideways look. "You keep saying that like I agreed to behave."
"You agreed not to move."
"I agreed not to move houses. That is different."
His eyes narrowed.
I smiled at him because the world was ending, my ceiling was cracked, my murder plant was hiding body parts, and for some reason, annoying Yuche made all of that feel slightly less terrible.
Commander Li cleared his throat again. "Then we should prepare to leave soon."
"No," I said.
He paused. "No?"
I pointed toward the foyer. "First, someone covers the broken doorway. Then someone checks whether the ceiling is planning to commit murder. Then someone gets the blood off my floor before it dries. Then, and only then, do we discuss anyone leaving."
Chenghai nodded. "I will check the immediate damage."
Zhenlan turned toward Commander Li. "I need paper. We will make a list before we go."
Lingyun leaned back into the doorway, now barefoot and still smiling. "Can I help?"
I looked at the blood on his face, the soot on his clothes, and the cheerful gleam in his eyes.
"No."
His smile did not fade. "I meant with the list."
"That is somehow worse."
"I know many useful things."
"You know how to set things on fire."
"That is useful."
"Not for fixing my ceiling."
Lingyun glanced up. "It might be."
"Out."
He laughed and disappeared again.
I leaned back into the couch, suddenly so tired that even my irritation had to sit down and catch its breath.
Around me, the men began moving.
Chenghai returned to the entryway, already testing the wall with careful pressure. Zhenlan spoke quietly with Commander Li, turning disaster into categories.
Yuche ignored everyone else and stayed beside me, solid and warm, his hand still resting near my shoulder as if he expected me to launch myself off the couch the second he blinked.
I would have been offended if he was wrong.
The house creaked again.
I looked up at the cracked ceiling and narrowed my eyes.
"Do not even think about it," I muttered.
A tiny piece of plaster fell.
I stared at it.
Then I looked toward the doorway where Commander Li stood with Zhenlan, both of them watching me with the cautious expressions of men who were beginning to understand that the next stage of the apocalypse was going to involve home renovation.
I lifted my chin.
"To the hardware store?" I asked.
Zhenlan sighed.
Chenghai, from the foyer, answered without looking back. "To several hardware stores."
I considered that for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine," I said. "But if anyone tries to make me move, I am feeding them to the ceiling."
