Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home

Chapter 336: They Found The Bottle

Five bottles were still tied beneath the cart.

The sixth loop of rope hung empty.

I stared at the gap for several seconds, waiting for one of the three strangers to explain why a bottle of questionable spring water was wandering around my cul-de-sac without supervision.

Wang Lei looked down at Tang Mei. Liu Fang became deeply interested in the cart wheel, while Tang Mei remained curled beside it with one arm wrapped around her stomach.

That was very reassuring.

Not.

"Where’s the sixth bottle?" I asked.

Wang Lei rubbed the back of his neck. "Pei Shuo drank a lot before he died."

"The bottle beside his body wasn’t tied to the cart."

Tang Mei lifted her head. Sweat had gathered along her hairline, but confusion briefly pushed through the pain on her face. "How would you know that?"

"Because you left it beside him, and it was crushed in the middle. That rope hasn’t been cut or broken." I pointed toward the empty loop. "Someone untied a bottle and took it."

Yuche moved two fingers, lifting the loose rope away from the cart without touching it. The knot had been opened properly, then tied again after the bottle was removed.

Zhenlan kept the air circling around the strangers as he studied the empty loop. "When did you last see all six?"

Wang Lei glanced toward Liu Fang. "Yesterday, maybe."

"That inspires confidence," I muttered.

"We’ve been walking for days," he replied, irritation slipping into his voice. "Everyone drank when they needed to."

"Considering your village’s relationship with thirst, that doesn’t narrow it down."

Tang Mei swallowed painfully and rubbed her throat again. Wang Lei saw the movement and stopped arguing.

Liu Fang’s fingers tightened around the cart handle. "Pei Shuo finished the bottle we left with him after he collapsed."

"So the missing one wasn’t his," I replied.

"No."

"Then where is it?"

Liu Fang looked toward the houses behind us.

My mood, already clinging to life by its fingernails, died completely.

"We traded it," she admitted.

Wang Lei turned sharply. "Liu Fang."

"There’s no point hiding it now." She faced him, fear finally cracking through the careful way she had spoken since arriving. "If the water is infected, they need to know."

"Yes," I agreed. "It’s always nice when people tell me about the danger after carrying it into my territory."

Look at me, screaming territory like I was Gu Han. Honestly, if my plants weren’t reacting to the parasites so badly, I wouldn’t even be caring this much about it.

But I wouldn’t put up with anything that hurt my plants.

Liu Fang flinched but continued. "We traded the bottle shortly after we entered the cul-de-sac. A woman came outside and offered us food."

"What kind of food?"

"Steamed buns and some dried vegetables."

Of course. One bottle of nightmare water in exchange for lunch. Humanity’s talent for bad trades had survived the apocalypse beautifully.

"Did she drink from it in front of you?" I asked.

Liu Fang shook her head. "She took it inside."

"Which house?"

The three runners looked past me, but none of them seemed sure.

Wang Lei pointed toward the entrance. "One of the houses near the end. On the left."

"That describes several houses."

"It had a blue bicycle lying near the steps," Tang Mei whispered. Her voice sounded thinner now, and she kept one hand pressed against her stomach.

Old Chen, who had remained several meters behind us with two of the workers, frowned toward the houses. "I know which one."

I turned to him. "Who’s staying there?"

"The wife of one of the men who worked on the back wall." He reached for the radio attached to his belt. "I can call him."

"Do that. Don’t tell anyone to come outside."

Old Chen paused with his hand on the radio. "I wasn’t planning to bring them here."

"You also didn’t ask why people would leave a safe village, so I’m being thorough."

Lingyun covered a laugh with a cough. Old Chen gave him a tired look before turning away to make the call.

Wang Lei watched him, then looked back at me. "They might not have opened it yet."

Tang Mei nodded too quickly. "The bottle was sealed. Maybe they were saving it."

"Perhaps they placed it on a shelf and are currently admiring its clarity," I replied. "Unfortunately, I’m not willing to bet my plants on that."

Liu Fang looked at Tang Mei’s throat, where another narrow movement passed beneath the skin before disappearing under her collar. "What happens if someone drank it?"

"We find out whether the water carries those things before they reach my mansion."

Her expression tightened. "That’s all you care about?"

"No. I also care about my plants, my supplies, and the four men standing around me." I nodded toward the outer houses. "Everyone else can improve their chances by not drinking water from strangers who look half dead."

Chenghai shifted the shovel against his shoulder and looked toward the only road leading out of the cul-de-sac. "We should block the entrance."

"Yes." I raised my voice enough for the workers behind Old Chen to hear me. "Nobody leaves. Nobody enters. Tell everyone staying in the houses to remain inside until we know who touched that bottle."

One worker glanced toward the mansion. "Should we bring the families closer together?"

"No." The answer came quickly enough to make him stop. "Do not gather everyone into one house. If someone drank from that bottle, the last thing we need is an audience standing close enough to share whatever crawls out."

His face paled. "Right."

"Keep people where they are," Zhenlan added, his calm voice settling the panic beginning to move through them. "Use the radios or call from a distance. No one touches the bottle, cups used with it, or anyone feeling sick."

Yuche sent several metal strips toward the entrance of the cul-de-sac. They stretched across the road and twisted into a barrier tall enough to stop anyone from walking or driving through without his permission.

Lingyun watched the metal settle into place. "Very welcoming."

"I’m no longer accepting visitors."

"You weren’t before."

"Now there’s a gate."

Tang Mei groaned and curled tighter beside the cart. Wang Lei crouched near her but kept his hands hovering several inches from her shoulders.

"She needs medicine," he insisted.

"She needs something medicine probably can’t fix."

"You don’t know that."

"No, but I know pills won’t replace the organs Pei Shuo was missing."

His face tightened, but he had no answer.

Old Chen’s radio crackled. He turned away from us and spoke quietly to the worker staying near the house Liu Fang had described. His questions were careful at first, but his expression changed after the second answer.

I watched him lower his head and ask whether the bottle was still sealed.

The silence that followed told me it wasn’t.

Old Chen looked back at me. "They found it."

"Where?"

"Inside the house. On the kitchen table."

"Still full?"

He shook his head.

Behind me, one of the vines tightened against the roof tiles, pulling itself farther from the road.

"Tell them not to touch anything else," I ordered. "Keep everyone in separate rooms if they can manage it, and don’t let anyone walk toward the mansion."

Old Chen relayed the instructions before listening again. His shoulders slowly sank.

I didn’t like that.

"Who drank from it?"

He asked the question over the radio, then waited while the worker on the other end checked.

The pause stretched long enough for Yuche’s metal barrier to groan beside us.

"How many drank from it?" I asked.

Old Chen went quiet long enough to give me the answer before he spoke.

"Five people."