Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home

Chapter 335: Tired Of Asking Questions

Something moved beneath the skin of Tang Mei’s throat.

It travelled upward in one thin line, paused beneath her jaw, then disappeared before I could decide whether I had actually seen it or not.

Unfortunately, the plants had seen it too.

The grass surrounding Tang Mei flattened farther away from her shoes, while the flowers clinging to the nearest house pulled so hard against their roots that dirt scattered across the wall. Even the vine wrapped around a drainpipe climbed higher, apparently willing to live on the roof forever if the alternative was staying close to her.

I was pretty sure that if the plants didn’t need soil for their roots, they would have picked up their skirts like a Victorian lady and ran away as fast as they could.

On a side note... or not a side note... the main note? Was that a thing?

Anyway, Tang Mei was still breathing.

And that was the problem.

Pei Shuo had already been dead when we found him, which had made it easy to pretend the things inside his body only used corpses. Then one of them had infected my vine, but plants were different enough that I still hadn’t known what the bugs needed before choosing their next meal.

Now Tang Mei stood in front of us alive, conscious, and carrying something beneath her skin.

Wonderful.

The corpse full of bugs had apparently upgraded to live delivery.

"Tang Mei, don’t move," Wang Lei warned. He kept his hands lifted away from his sides, although every part of him looked ready to ignore me and rush toward her.

"I’m fine," she insisted, but her voice came out weak and uneven. One hand remained pressed against her stomach while the other rubbed the place beneath her jaw where the movement had disappeared. "I just need water."

"You’re not fine," Liu Fang replied. Fear sharpened her voice as she stared at Tang Mei’s throat. "Something moved inside of you."

Wow... look at that. The peanut gallery was now starting to understand just what was going on.

Tang Mei’s hand froze against her skin as she frantically shook her head. "No, it didn’t."

All three of them looked at me like I was going to be the one to contradict what everyone had seen. Instead, I folded my arms. "It did."

Tang Mei swallowed hard, and the motion looked painful. "It was probably a muscle."

"Of course. Your throat muscle decided to crawl sideways."

Lingyun leaned slightly toward me, his fire still burning across his fingers. "Maybe it was stretching."

I glanced at him. "Don’t encourage the throat muscle."

"I wasn’t. I support burning it."

Tang Mei’s face twisted as she looked between us. "I’m standing right here."

"I noticed," I replied. "That’s what makes this worse."

Wang Lei took half a step toward her.

The metal barrier in front of him rose immediately.

Yuche didn’t touch the cart with his hands. He only moved two fingers, and more strips tore free from the frame with a sharp groan. They twisted together in midair before dropping around the three runners in a wide circle, forming a low metal fence that cut them off from the rest of the road.

Wang Lei stopped with one foot still raised. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping you there," Yuche answered.

His tone remained calm, but the metal tightened enough to make the cart creak behind them.

"We’re not prisoners," Wang Lei argued as he lowered his foot.

"No," I agreed. "Prisoners are usually easier to manage."

His mouth opened, but nothing useful came out.

Zhenlan stepped forward and lifted one hand. The air around the runners shifted, pulling loose dust and dry leaves into a slow circle. It didn’t touch them, but it formed a clear boundary around the metal barrier and kept everything inside moving inward instead of drifting toward us.

Tang Mei stared at the dust. "What is that?"

"Air," I replied. "You’ve probably met before."

Zhenlan gave me a brief look before returning his attention to the barrier. "Nothing small will cross it."

That included bugs, worms, eggs, or whatever else might decide Tang Mei had become crowded and look for somewhere new to live.

Wang Lei glanced from the circling dust to Yuche’s metal. "We only came for medicine. Give us what we need, and we’ll leave."

"No."

His expression tightened. "You don’t have the right to keep us here."

"I own the road you’re standing on, the houses surrounding it, and every plant currently trying to crawl away from you. That gives me enough of a right for today."

"We can leave the cart," he offered quickly. "We won’t touch anyone. We’ll go back the way we came."

"And what is to keep the bugs or whatever is inside of you inside of you?"

His jaw clenched. "We don’t even know if we’re infected."

I looked at Tang Mei. She still had one hand pressed against her throat.

Wang Lei followed my gaze and seemed to lose part of his argument.

Liu Fang released the cart handle and wiped both palms against her trousers. "We have to go back."

Tang Mei looked toward her. "What?"

"To Qingxi Village," Liu Fang replied. Her voice shook, but she kept speaking. "If Pei Shuo had those things inside him, and you do too, then other people might have them. We need to warn everyone."

"You’re not going anywhere," I told her.

Her head snapped toward me. "People could be dying."

"People are definitely dying. That’s become one of the apocalypse’s more dependable hobbies."

"I’m serious."

"So am I." I stepped closer to Yuche’s barrier, stopping when the nearest vine curled around my ankle in warning. "You don’t get to walk back through the outer houses, pass the workers and their families, cross half the city, and spread those things everywhere because you suddenly remembered you care about your village."

Liu Fang stared at me, anger and fear fighting across her face. "Then what are we supposed to do? Stand here until she dies?"

"I haven’t decided yet."

Tang Mei made a broken sound. "I’m not dying."

No one answered her.

That probably wasn’t helpful, but lying would’ve been worse.

She tried to straighten, only for another cramp to twist through her stomach. Her knees buckled before Wang Lei could catch her, and she dropped heavily beside the cart.

"Tang Mei!" He crouched instinctively, stopping just short of touching her shoulder.

She remained conscious, but her breathing had become shallow and fast. Sweat dampened the hair around her face as she curled one arm over her stomach and pressed the other hand to the road.

"I’m hungry," she whispered.

Liu Fang dropped to one knee several feet away. "We have food in the cart."

"No." Tang Mei shook her head, then winced as though even that hurt. "I ate this morning. I ate yesterday. It doesn’t help."

Wang Lei looked toward the bags tied to the cart. "You didn’t tell us that."

"I thought it was because we were walking."

"How hungry?" Zhenlan asked.

Tang Mei closed her eyes. "It feels like I haven’t eaten in weeks."

Lingyun’s fire brightened slightly, and I understood why.

The bugs hadn’t simply eaten Pei Shuo after he died. They had been eating him while he was still walking, talking, and asking for more food.

Tang Mei swallowed again, then dragged her tongue over dry lips. "I need water."

Liu Fang reached toward one of the bags.

"Don’t," I warned.

Her hand stopped.

"She needs something," Liu Fang argued. "She’s thirsty."

"She’s been drinking for months, and apparently that hasn’t solved much."

Tang Mei lifted her head, panic replacing some of the pain in her face. "Please. My mouth is so dry."

"You just vomited water."

"I need more."

The desperation in her voice made Wang Lei turn toward the cart. He looked ready to ignore the barrier and search through the supplies himself.

Yuche moved the metal between them, blocking his path without touching him.

Wang Lei glared at him. "She could die without water."

"She might die with it," Yuche replied.

That quieted him for all of three seconds.

"We brought our own," Wang Lei insisted. "It came from Qingxi Village. We’ve all been drinking it."

There it was.

I looked toward the empty containers hanging beneath the cart, then at the bags stacked on top. "How much spring water did you bring?"

No one answered.

Tang Mei lowered her eyes.

Liu Fang turned slowly toward the cart, while Wang Lei’s face changed in a way I was beginning to recognize.

They knew something I didn’t.

Again.

I sighed. "I’m getting very tired of asking questions and watching all three of you stare at your supplies."

Wang Lei swallowed before looking beneath the cart.

Five bottles were still tied beneath the cart.

The sixth loop of rope hung empty.