In the apocalypse, some people eye the supplies on the shelves, while others eye the supplies in the hands of their neighbors.
While Chen Ye scavenged inside the grocery, someone outside was watching his every move.
The watchers were Jiajia, the woman in yoga pants, and Qiangzi, the fitness trainer.
Between the two of them, they only had a single bicycle and one backpack. Even if they risked their lives scavenging, their haul would never compare to what Chen Ye could carry on his modified tricycle.
They had decided to take his tricycle.
Just as Chen Ye entered the shop, the pair crept up to the storefront. They quietly pulled the glass door shut and jammed a wooden stake through the exterior handles, sealing him inside.
Chen Ye was busy grabbing supplies and saw none of it. Otherwise, he would have shot the pair with his crossbow.
“Jiajia, I’m afraid we have made a mortal enemy of Chen Ye,” Qiangzi said worriedly.
“You useless fool! Are you really that scared of Chen Ye? What good is being so big?” Jiajia sneered. “This tricycle is much better than your bike!”
“Besides, he went in to scavenge by himself. If his bike goes missing, how can he blame us? Even if he comes looking for it, we can deny everything. What can he do to us?”
Her voice took on a malicious, cheerful lilt. “And that’s assuming he even makes it out alive!”
“Before the apocalypse, I wouldn’t have taken this thing even as a gift!” she said, both scornful and delighted.
Qiangzi went over to examine the tricycle. The delight of getting it had begun to outweigh his fear of Chen Ye.
“Chen Ye’s luck really is insane,” Qiangzi muttered, admiring the modifications. “This tricycle is no worse than a small car. No gas, no charging needed!”
CRASH!
The sound of a heavy display case falling over inside the shop shattered their celebration.
The pair whipped their heads around. Through the grimy glass door, a face stared back at them.
It was Chen Ye.
His expression was perfectly calm, devoid of anger or panic. But beneath that tranquility lay a cold, palpable killing intent that made both thieves shudder involuntarily.
Chen Ye stood in the fading light near the entrance. Behind him, deep in the shadows of the shop, a small, indistinct figure lurked.
“Qiangzi, let’s go! Now!” Jiajia shrieked, panic cracking her voice.
Chen Ye’s stare unnerved Qiangzi too. He climbed onto the tricycle and stood to pedal. It was surprisingly easy, and he quickly rode away.
Qiangzi had reason to fear. Like Chen Ye, he had escaped from Jiang City. During their flight, he had witnessed Chen Ye cripple a small-time thug—breaking his limbs—and throw him to a pursuing Anomaly as bait to secure his own escape.
The thug had called him “Brother Chen” so warmly that a stranger might have taken them for actual brothers. Yet Chen Ye had thrown him to the Anomaly without hesitation.
The thug had been a nasty piece of work and had done plenty of harm during their escape. Still, Qiangzi felt Chen Ye should not have done it.
Chen Ye seemed easygoing, sometimes even joking around. But Qiangzi knew he was no match for him in a fight. He could never forget that scene. Beneath those rather scholarly looks was anything but a harmless, obliging man.
Without Jiajia’s urging, Qiangzi would never have provoked Chen Ye. She had promised to consider becoming his girlfriend if he kept her alive. That promise had made him think with his crotch.
Now, remembering the coldness in Chen Ye’s eyes, regret began to gnaw at him.
I shouldn’t have listened to this stupid woman.
…
Inside the shop, Chen Ye watched his tricycle disappear down the street without saying a word.
For now, the greatest danger was the Anomaly hiding in the darkness.
Blocking his escape was the glass door, barred from the outside.
Glass doors could be deceptive: sometimes a hard kick would not break one, while a gentle touch might shatter it.
“I want candy, I want candy…”
“Give me candy!”
The childish babbling came from behind him.
He could feel the cold behind him. If the sunlight falling through the doorway had not made the Anomaly hesitate, he would probably already be dead. Anomalies could kill ordinary people almost instantly.
But the sun was setting. The safety zone of light was shrinking by the second.
The distance between man and monster was less than a meter.
Soon, the shadows would swallow the entire shop.
He looked around but found nothing handy to use.
He gritted his teeth and kicked the glass door hard.
BANG!
Earlier, when he had entered, the hinges had squeaked and groaned, rusted nearly through. He hadn’t paid it much mind then.
And now…
The door shuddered violently under the impact, the frame groaning in protest. It was teetering.
Without hesitation, he kicked it hard again.
CRASH!
The door fell and shattered on the ground.
Chen Ye rushed out of the grocery.
The sunlight, sometime after four, drove the chill from his body. For a moment he felt he had returned to the world of the living.
He turned and looked back into the gloom of the shop.
The pale child stood in the dark, its rouged cheeks eerie as it stared at him with venomous hatred.
“Lady Moon, shine on the coffin bed; little brother waits for candy, crying his heart out…”
Now that he stood fully in the sunlight, he felt little fear of the Anomaly.
He settled his backpack and set off after the tricycle without another look at the shop.
Qiangzi and Jiajia were heading toward the large supermarket deep in the town.
Chen Ye had originally planned to avoid that area, wary of the dangers lurking in the town’s center. But now, he had no choice. He had to retrieve his vehicle.
The afternoon sun kept sinking. He had to recover the tricycle before sunset—and, if possible, gather more supplies.
Shadows spread across the street. Chen Ye could sense eyes watching from within them. The convoy’s arrival seemed to be waking something in Apricot Blossom Town.
…
“Jiajia, I think I just saw Chen Ye get out,” Qiangzi said worriedly as he pedaled fast.
Jiajia glanced back and slapped the back of his head. “Seriously, Qiangzi? You are so much bigger than Chen Ye. Why are you such a coward?”
“So what if he got out? Do you really think he can take the tricycle back?”
“If he catches up, just fight him! We’ll see who beats whom. And even if we go back to the convoy, what’s he going to do? Kill you in front of everyone?”
“Even in the apocalypse, you can’t just murder people casually!”
Qiangzi looked miserable. “He… he… hasn’t killed anyone.”
“Then what the hell are you afraid of?” Jiajia interrupted. “Qiangzi, I’m not trying to be mean, but if you’re this spineless, how can I ever be your girlfriend?”
Watching Qiangzi, Jiajia had doubts of her own. After she escaped and joined the convoy, many men had courted her, including him: muscular, good-looking, and not especially bright.
Without Chen Ye, Qiangzi would have been her best choice. But once she met Chen Ye, Qiangzi no longer quite measured up.
The problem was, Chen Ye never gave her the time of day. She had offered him a chance to be close to her, asking for a ride, and he had rejected her without blinking.
Before the apocalypse, she would not even have glanced at this lousy tricycle.
Now, seeing Qiangzi trembling at the mere thought of Chen Ye, her disdain for the musclehead grew. Conversely, her intrigue regarding Chen Ye deepened.
If that dog of a man would just grovel a little, maybe I’d ditch Qiangzi… maybe I’d even give him his tricycle back.
Why did he have to keep ignoring her? She was furious.
“Jiajia, where are we going now?”
“Where else? To the supermarket to gather supplies. Without food, do you want to starve me to death?”