Couldn't you have just talked to him? Did you have to hurt him like that?
Lei Zhe's words landed like a stone in still water. Song Tiantian lowered her head, something bleak rising in her eyes. She spoke quietly to his back.
"In that situation—what exactly was I supposed to say?"
"'Brother Gu, please don't do this?' And he would've stopped?"
"'Do that again and I won't be polite?' That would've worked?"
Lei Zhe turned around. That broad, honest face of his said something that cut straight to the bone. "If you'd just talked to him, Dongling wouldn't have gone that far. Even if he got a little carried away, you could've pushed him off. Why did you have to go that hard? You know how important Dongling is to this squad. With him injured like this, he won't recover for months—our strength takes a hit, and now how are we supposed to fight zombies? Compete with other squads for resources?"
Song Tiantian didn't bother responding. She had thought Lei Zhe was different from the others. In everyday life, he'd always been easy-going and steady, like an older brother she could actually lean on. Within the squad, aside from the feelings she'd developed for Fang Cheng, Lei Zhe was the one person she'd treated like real family.
She'd been too naive. This was the apocalypse.
To everyone here, a powerful squad member was worth infinitely more than one fragile woman—even a woman with a space ability. She still didn't measure up to Gu Dongling. Not in their eyes.
She followed Lei Zhe into the villa. The moment she stepped through the door, she felt the weight of every gaze in the room swing toward her.
She lifted her head slightly. The whole squad was seated on the couches, and every face that looked back at her was filled with accusation and barely contained anger.
"Tiantian, how could you do something like that?"
"That's so cruel. Dongling liked you. And you just attacked him out of nowhere? You've ruined him, Tiantian."
"Song Tiantian, if you didn't like him, you could've just said so. Why go that far? And then you ran off afterward—if we hadn't come back early, he could have died in there from the pain alone."
"He just liked you too much and lost control for a second. Couldn't you have handled it differently?"
Lei Zhe walked to a corner and sat down, making no move to stand up for her. When they'd come back and found Gu Dongling lying in a pool of blood, that wretched, broken sight—he couldn't bring himself to take Song Tiantian's side this time. Whatever the circumstances, they were all one squad. Song Tiantian had gone too far. The damage she'd done to Gu Dongling—she must have known what that meant for a man. He'd looked at the injury himself. Recovery was essentially impossible. She had truly destroyed him.
"He was the one forcing himself on me."
Song Tiantian raised her head. Her voice was steady and unwavering. "If he hadn't done what he did, none of this would have happened. Why does he get to hurt me, but I don't get to fight back? Because he's strong, I'm supposed to just endure it?" She paused. "Or maybe, in your eyes, being chosen by him was supposed to be some kind of honor?"
She looked directly at the women who were glaring at her with the most outrage. "If any of you actually want him so badly, go be with him yourselves. I turned him down clearly from the very beginning. He was the one who kept pushing, who completely ignored everything I said. When it comes down to it, someone as powerful as him never saw me as a person worth respecting. I was just prey."
"I have no interest in being Gu Dongling's woman—that was never going to happen. He forced himself on me. That makes him a rapist. And I had every right to fight back. That right doesn't disappear in the apocalypse. Whatever happened to him afterward—he brought it on himself. He deserved it."
The room went dead silent.
No one had expected Song Tiantian to say something like that—fierce, unflinching, and brutal in its clarity. This wasn't the Song Tiantian they knew.
"Tiantian. That was too much." Fang Cheng's voice came from upstairs. Song Tiantian's head snapped up. She watched the man she'd once had feelings for descend the stairs one measured step at a time, until he was standing directly in front of her. He said it again. "Dongling is done for. What you did was too far."
"So what you're saying, Captain," Song Tiantian said, her voice cracking around the edges, tears slipping free despite herself, "is that I should have just lain there and let him do whatever he wanted?"
She had genuinely liked two people in her life. The first had nearly sold her out to survive. And this one—before anything had even started—had already gone cold on her.
She had almost been violated. All she'd done was injure the person who attacked her. And Fang Cheng was telling her she'd gone too far?
She wanted to ask: How? She wasn't supposed to fight back? Because she was weak, she was supposed to endure? Because she couldn't contribute directly to the squad's combat strength, she was supposed to accept this?
"Regardless of circumstances, you shouldn't have hurt him that severely."
Song Tiantian let out a tearful, broken laugh. "Captain Fang—I was the one who almost got raped."
"But Dongling is the one who's permanently injured."
"Because he started it. You do something wrong, you pay for it. If he hadn't done what he did—if he hadn't gone after me—he wouldn't be hurt. He made his own choices, Captain. This is on him."
"Tiantian—!"
Song Tiantian went still. This was the first time she'd ever seen Fang Cheng truly angry, as though she were the one who'd committed some unforgivable crime. She stood with her hands clasped together and looked up at the man she had once believed made her feel safe.
"So what are you going to do about it, Captain?"
Fang Cheng looked away from her tear-streaked, strangely smiling face. "As your punishment, you'll be assigned to Dongling from now on. He's injured. He needs someone to look after him. That someone will be you."
"Punishment?" Song Tiantian laughed out loud. "On whose authority? Fang Cheng—even in the apocalypse, I am a free person. Since joining this squad, I never once asked for special treatment. You're right that I never awakened a combat ability. But I have a space ability, and that's been my contribution. You all do the fighting—so I've handled cooking, cleaning, medical supplies, everything within my power. I never once complained or refused. I don't owe you anything. Whatever place I've held in this squad, I earned it. I am not your kept slave to do with as you please."
"Gu Dongling attacked me first. I fought back. If I hadn't, the one who'd be hurt right now would be me. Fang Cheng—if I hadn't fought back, if you'd all come home and found me like that instead—what would you have done?"
The squad members' collective indifference answered the question before anyone could open their mouths. Song Tiantian looked at Fang Cheng, saw the embers of anger still in his eyes, and smiled quietly.
"You would've been angry. But you wouldn't have done anything to Gu Dongling. You would've taken that anger out on me. You would've decided I must have led him on somehow. So no matter what I did, no matter what happened to me—if I was the one who got hurt—all of it would still have been my fault."
"If you want to stay in this squad, you'll do as I say. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise you'll kick me out. Is that it?"
Fang Cheng didn't answer. Which was answer enough. No one else objected either. They all assumed Song Tiantian had no real choice. A place as good as this squad—in an apocalypse this dangerous—didn't come easily.
"Tiantian, it's just looking after Dongling for a while." Pei Wenqing, who'd been watching from the sidelines, spoke up now. "You're the one who injured him. He can't do anything for himself right now. Why be so stubborn about it? Even with a space ability, you're still physically weak. Go to another squad and you'll just be something for them to fight over."
"So I'm supposed to tolerate being controlled and walked over by all of you?"
"The smart ones know when to bend, Tiantian. You don't have a choice. Walk out that door, you're no longer part of this squad, and there are plenty of people at this base with their eyes on you. Don't make a decision you'll regret. You won't find anything better than this squad at this base. Think very carefully before you do something you can't undo."
Song Tiantian looked around. Not one person had spoken a single word in her defense. Even the women she'd helped save before—they were nodding along with the rest. And somehow, this took the last of her anger away. There was nothing left to say to any of these people.
She had seen this coming. She had prepared herself for it. The hurt, the humiliation, the fury—they'd all passed through her already, and what remained now was quiet and still. She had the power to protect herself. She no longer needed to be at their mercy. She was grateful for it—in this chaotic world, there was still a path forward, and she would walk it her own way.
The men from the peaceful world hadn't been worth relying on. The men from the apocalypse were worse.
Nothing would drive her to grow stronger faster than this. Only by holding real power, by standing in a position that demanded respect, could she do what she actually wanted to do.
"Fang Cheng. I'll ask one more time. If I refuse your arrangement, are you going to kick me out of this squad?"
Fang Cheng was silent for a moment. Then, without hesitation: "Yes." He added, "Dongling's injuries are serious. You need to compensate him. If you want to stay in this squad, you accept this arrangement."
"I'm afraid I'll have to decline, Captain." Song Tiantian's face wore a smile—and in that moment, something about her seemed different. The smile was brighter than it used to be. The softness that had always made her seem fragile was still there, but beneath it now was something tempered, something unbreakable. Her eyes shone. "I choose to leave this squad. To leave all of you—every single one of you insufferable, revolting people."
The room stared at her. They thought she'd lost her mind. There was no other explanation. This was not the Song Tiantian they knew.
Even Fang Cheng was momentarily stunned, sensing that something had genuinely shifted in her.
Pei Wenqing said, "Tiantian, you're being naive. The world out there is not what you're imagining."
"Oh, spare me." Song Tiantian didn't hesitate for a second. "Stop pretending to be noble. If you want to keep Gu Dongling company so badly, go nurse a rapist yourselves. The blade didn't cut your skin, so you wouldn't know if it hurts. Don't try to guilt-trip me. Song Tiantian is not someone any of you can push around."
"From today, I have absolutely nothing to do with any of you. I don't owe you. You've done nothing for me. Everything I had here, I earned by giving something in return."
"Yes, the world out there is harsh and dangerous and terrifying. But this place makes me sick. Stay here long enough and I'd be vomiting up yesterday's meals."
One of the women in the squad finally snapped and lunged toward her. Song Tiantian caught the movement and slapped her clean across the face before she could land a hit.
"Song Tiantian, you hit me?!"
"You moved first. I defended myself. That's what this is—self-defense. If you hadn't come at me, I wouldn't have touched you. Same as what happened with Gu Dongling. Do you understand now?"
Song Tiantian has changed. That was the thought every single person in the room arrived at simultaneously. They were convinced she wouldn't last five minutes outside this squad.
Song Tiantian could feel them thinking it. She let out a low, quiet laugh, turned, and walked toward the door.
"If you're leaving, leave the supplies behind," Pei Wenqing called after her.
"Dream on." Song Tiantian glanced back over her shoulder with a smile that had a new edge to it. "What's already been digested doesn't come back up. Consider everything I'm taking emotional damages. You owe me that much."
"Hand over the supplies, then you can go." Fang Cheng stepped into her path, his tall frame blocking the way. Song Tiantian wondered, in the back of her mind, why she had ever felt safe with this man.
She looked up at him, expressionless. "No."
"Don't make me use force." Fang Cheng signaled to the others. "Surround her. She hands over the supplies or she doesn't leave."
The squad members with abilities began to close in.
Song Tiantian drew a slow breath. "Miss Ning—sorry to trouble you."
She was glad Axin had come. Grateful to Xiaojiao for insisting.
She could have broken out of this herself—she was fairly sure of that. Whether it was the spring water or the jade pendant, when her strength ability had awakened, it hadn't come in small. It was already comparable to anyone in this squad, maybe stronger. She had a feeling it would only keep growing. But with Axin here, she had no reason to exhaust herself, and she wasn't ready to show her hand yet. Better to borrow help for now.
Axin had been watching through the entire exchange. She'd witnessed Song Tiantian's transformation with her own eyes. Xiaojiao would be so pleased, she thought, a faint smile in her gaze—and she pushed the door open.
It had been locked. It opened anyway.
The moment she stepped in, every face in the room changed color. None of them had expected her to still be here. And now she was standing beside Song Tiantian, which meant there was nothing they could do.
"Captain Fang," Axin said. "Any objections?"
Fang Cheng glanced at Song Tiantian once. "Tiantian. Think carefully about what you're doing."
"I've thought very carefully," Song Tiantian said. "This place eats people alive. I don't want any part of it." She watched his expression flicker with something she couldn't quite name, and felt a rush of clean, uncomplicated relief. "Don't worry about me," she added, to all of them. "I'll be just fine."
She would be. What she'd been missing before was power. Now she had it.
With Axin beside her, not one person in Fang Cheng's squad dared lay a hand on Song Tiantian. The words to stop her never left their mouths. Alone, they could do anything to her. Faced with Axin, they couldn't say a single thing out of line.
Everyone who had ever seen Ning Xin act knew the pattern: those who apologized slunk away with their pride in pieces; those who resisted became corpses. No exceptions. Not one person in this squad was willing to go up against her, not even all of them together. Demanding the supplies back wasn't even worth thinking about.
Song Tiantian walked out of that villa alongside Axin without a single obstacle in her path.
Afterward, Axin suggested she test her ability level. Xiaojiao cared about Song Tiantian—she would want her to be in a good position.
The testing went smoothly. Song Tiantian had guessed her ability might be on the stronger side, but she hadn't expected the result to come back as Level Four.
Human abilities were ranked from one to nine. The strongest currently documented was Level Four—including the commander of this very base. Fang Cheng was Level Four. Gu Dongling had been close, probably just on the edge of Level Four himself. Most ability users these days sat between Level Two and Three; Level Four was already exceptional.
But Song Tiantian was quietly certain she'd surpass Fang Cheng soon.
"Level Two zombies carry crystal cores," Axin said as they walked out of the base. "You can use them to advance your ability."
Song Tiantian's eyes lit up. "Just like in the novels!"
"Yes—but don't use them carelessly. When you absorb a core, make sure you expel the volatile energy inside it first. If you don't, things can go badly wrong."
Song Tiantian didn't know the specifics of 'badly wrong,' but she trusted that if Miss Ning said it, it was true. She filed it away carefully. Crystal cores, then—she'd start collecting them and focus on getting stronger.
"Thank you for the warning, Miss Ning."
"Don't thank me. Xiaojiao likes you."
Song Tiantian had felt completely disillusioned about love just minutes ago. But then she looked at Axin—and saw how Axin's eyes only went soft like that for one person. Only when Xiaojiao's name came up did that quiet tenderness appear in them.
Something in Song Tiantian's chest warmed despite everything.
"Xiaojiao is so lucky to have someone like you, Miss Ning. I mean that."
And she did. As long as this mismatched, extraordinary pair existed in the world, she would never let herself go completely cold inside. They were proof that real love was still real.
Please stay in love forever, she thought. Your love story is the one thing keeping me human.
Song Tiantian's Level Four ability earned her a small villa at the base. It also earned her the attention of the base leadership—the commander himself came to meet her, and upon learning she was operating alone, invited her to formally join the base organization. She accepted without hesitation. Having official backing would make everything she wanted to do considerably easier.
She had a space ability and a powerful combat ability. No base, no faction, no person with any sense would make an enemy of her without cause. Mutual use, mutual coexistence—she understood that clearly. The politics and scheming didn't frighten her, and she wasn't naive enough to think she could avoid them. If she was going to build something real, she'd have to wade into those currents. Better to borrow the strength of existing power structures to advance her own goals than to go it alone.
Axin watched all of this and concluded, without much surprise, that Song Tiantian was going to be absolutely fine in the apocalypse. This was a girl who was adaptable, clear-eyed, quietly clever, capable, and hardworking all at once.
Song Tiantian walked Axin out to the base gates. She watched Axin tell Xiaojiao everything that had happened—gently, softly, as though Xiaojiao were something precious—and she couldn't look away.
Xiaojiao and Axin would be heading to City B soon. That thought sat in her chest with a small, quiet ache.
"Xiaojiao says you were incredible."
Song Tiantian's cheeks turned faintly pink. "I'd just been pushed too far for too long. Today I finally stopped holding it in."
Xiaojiao gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up and grabbed Axin's arm to translate something. Axin said, "Xiaojiao says: well done. Those people absolutely deserved everything they got."
Then: "She also says to take care of yourself. Don't let anyone walk over you again."
Song Tiantian felt a swell of warmth in her chest. "I will. I'll keep growing stronger. Miss Ning, Xiaojiao—next time we meet, I'll be different. I promise."
She was lucky. Genuinely lucky—to have a friend like Xiaojiao, and to have crossed paths with someone as extraordinary as Miss Ning.
From inside the car, Big Circle stuck one fat paw out the window and waved it in her direction, clearly demanding attention. Song Tiantian looked at him with barely concealed longing. Xiaojiao noticed, caught Big Circle's eye, and gave a meaningful look. Big Circle dropped his can of food, climbed out of the car, and extended both paws to embrace Xiaojiao first—then turned and held them out to Song Tiantian.
This time, Song Tiantian went for it with full commitment. She scooped that big orange fluffball up and squeezed him properly. Big Circle's face took on the expression of a cat who has completely given up on life. Song Tiantian, helpless against how absurdly cute he was, planted a kiss right on top of his head. Big Circle's eyes went perfectly round. Did she have to be so enthusiastic? This is exactly what the original owner used to do—kissing without warning at the drop of a hat.
"I'll save any cat food and canned goods I find for you, Big Circle. Every time."
Big Circle perked up immediately and rubbed his head against her hand. Why didn't she just say so to begin with. A few kisses were a perfectly reasonable trade for a guaranteed supply of canned food.
As Song Tiantian said her goodbyes, Xiaojiao suddenly remembered something and pressed a large bucket of spring water into her hands. Song Tiantian genuinely felt bad accepting it—even though the spring water was, for her, incredibly useful.
"Xiaojiao considers you a friend. Take it."
"Thank you, Xiaojiao."
Xiaojiao waved her off. No need. She gave spring water because Song Tiantian mattered to her—that was how it worked. The water had done wonders for Xiaojiao herself; ever since she'd started bathing in it and drinking it daily, even her skin had softened. With Song Tiantian's ability awakened, the spring water would probably help her grow even stronger. And out here alone, she needed every advantage she could get.
Xiaojiao couldn't live in a human world. She was a zombie, something apart. She couldn't ask Song Tiantian to wander around with her. Song Tiantian needed to build her own life, her own foundation.
...Though Axin, of course, was different. Axin was hers. Axin could only be with her.
Xiaojiao fiddled with her fingers and peeked at Axin sideways, then reached over and grabbed her arm with both hands. Axin had promised to stay with her. Always.
She was still waiting to evolve—to become beautiful again—and then she and Axin could properly be in love.
Axin, you promised you'd stay with me forever, right?
"Yes," Axin said. "What are you daydreaming about now?"
You're a human, though.
"But I only want to be with Xiaojiao."
Xiaojiao beamed. She grabbed Axin's hand and pulled her toward the car.
Song Tiantian stood below, watching the two of them feed her an absolutely enormous helping of secondhand romance—and she was smiling so wide it almost hurt.
"Miss Ning abandoned the entire world for Xiaojiao's sake, didn't she?" she murmured to herself. "Now that's a love story."