The first ray of morning sunlight shone into the warehouse, falling on He Xu’s face.
He Xu woke up on the makeshift wooden plank bed. Meiqiu was curled by her pillow, making soft purring sounds.
She sat up and looked toward the other side of the warehouse. Xie Zhiwei was sleeping in a pile of old cotton wadding, his brows slightly furrowed, as if dreaming.
Everything from last night was still vivid before her eyes.
The control Xie Zhiwei displayed far exceeded her expectations. In the original work, twelve-year-old Xie Zhiwei was still on the verge of ability rampage and would need three years to reach this level of precise control.
Was it because of the effect of her contracting him early, or the butterfly effect of her intervention in Xie Zhiwei’s life?
He Xu rose quietly and walked to the warehouse window.
The park revealed its full appearance in the morning light. Surrounding the park was a four-meter-high barbed wire wall, seven factory buildings arranged neatly, and in the center were a spacious plaza and cafeteria. If not for the bloodstains and abandoned vehicles everywhere, this place would almost look like an industrial park from before the apocalypse.
“Jiejie, you’re awake?”
Xie Zhiwei’s voice came from behind. He Xu turned and saw the boy already sitting up, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
Xie Zhiwei nodded, then remembered something. “Those people…”
“Locked in the cold storage. Uncle Li and Aunt Liu are taking turns guarding them.” He Xu walked to his side. “Today we need to deal with this matter, and there is something even more important—the future of this park.”
Xie Zhiwei was silent for a moment. “Will you let them go?”
“No.” He Xu shook her head. “But they can’t just stay locked up like this either. We need a trial process, with everyone participating.”
“A trial?”
“Yes.” He Xu looked out the window at the gradually gathering crowd. “Let the people they hurt stand up and speak, let them state their crimes themselves, and then everyone decides the punishment together. That way, everyone is a participant in the order, not a passive receiver.”
Xie Zhiwei nodded, half understanding.
He Xu understood that explaining democracy and the rule of law to a twelve-year-old was too complicated, especially in an apocalypse where order had collapsed. But she had to try to establish a set of rules, otherwise this place would only become another jungle where the strong preyed on the weak.
At nine in the morning, all the survivors gathered in the cafeteria.
He Xu counted. Including the thirteen hostages rescued last night, there were now thirty-seven people in the park. Most were former park employees and their families, with a few outsiders like her and Xie Zhiwei.
Li Jun stood on the simply constructed podium, his voice loud. “Everyone, you all know what happened last night. The ‘Management Committee’ has been brought under control. Now we need to decide two things: first, how to deal with those people; second, how this park should be managed from now on.”
Whispers rose from the crowd.
A gaunt old man tremblingly raised his hand. “Captain Li, handle it however you say. We’ll all listen to you.”
“No.” Li Jun shook his head. “Today it’s not just me deciding. Miss He Xu and young brother Xie Zhiwei helped us take back the park, but they also said that from now on, matters here should be discussed by everyone together.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to He Xu and Xie Zhiwei.
He Xu walked onto the stage with firm steps. “My name is He Xu. This is my younger brother, Xie Zhiwei. We only arrived here yesterday. Originally, we just wanted to find a safe place to settle. But after seeing what happened here, we decided to stay and help.”
She looked around at everyone, her gaze sincere. “The apocalypse is already hard enough. Humans should not oppress each other anymore. I want to build a place where everyone can eat their fill and stay warm, where everyone can live with dignity, and where everyone’s labor receives its due return.”
Someone questioned: “That’s easy to say. How will food be distributed? Who will do the security work? Can ability users and ordinary people receive the same treatment?”
“If an ability user oppresses ordinary people, who will protect the rights of ordinary people?”
“Yeah…”
“Good question.” He Xu was prepared. “I suggest establishing three groups: the Defense Group responsible for security patrols and wall defense; the Logistics Group responsible for food collection, distribution, and infrastructure maintenance; and the Production Group responsible for finding cultivable land and repairing usable equipment. Everyone joins a group according to their abilities, and supplies are distributed according to work.”
“What about ability users?”
“Ability users are also people and must follow the rules as well.” He Xu looked at Xie Zhiwei. “My younger brother is an ice-type ability user. He is willing to join the Defense Group and protect this park together with everyone. But his food ration will not be more than anyone else’s unless he takes on extra work.”
Xie Zhiwei nodded at the right moment. “I am willing.”
His stance made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The strong obeying the rules was the best sign.
He Xu: “In view of the rights issue just now, we will establish an Ability Control Association to register and manage every ability user. This association will be jointly overseen by me, Xie Zhiwei, and Uncle Li.”
After saying this, He Xu looked at Uncle Li.
Li Jun nodded. “That’s right.”
At that moment, Liu Li raised her hand. “I propose that we first elect temporary management members to be responsible for drafting detailed rules and organizing group assignments. One week later, we will hold another assembly and vote to pass the formal charter.”
“Agreed!”
“I choose Captain Li!”
“Miss He Xu should join too!”
After a brief discussion, five temporary management members were selected: Li Jun, He Xu, Liu Li, and two former park employees—Old Wang the electrician and Dr. Zhang from the medical office.
“Then now,” He Xu’s expression turned serious, “the first matter: judging the members of the ‘Management Committee.'”
When the cold storage door opened, Shi Feng and the others were already frozen to the point that their lips were purple. They were escorted to the center of the cafeteria, facing more than thirty pairs of angry eyes.
He Xu let those willing to recount their experiences come forward one by one.
The first was a little girl about ten years old. She pointed at Shi Feng, her voice trembling. “He… he snatched the biscuits my mom hid, and he hit my mom…”
Next was a middle-aged woman. She rolled up her sleeve, revealing shocking burn scars. “I refused… refused to sleep with them, so they burned me with cigarette butts…”
Then came a young man with somewhat delicate features. He exposed his back, covered in whip marks. “They… also wanted me to accompany them… when I didn’t agree, they kept beating me.”
As each person spoke, He Xu carefully observed Xie Zhiwei’s expression.
The boy stood beside her, his face calm as water, but when he heard that an old man had been beaten to disability for secretly hiding half a bottle of medicine, his fingers tightened slightly, and a chill rose in the air.
He Xu gently touched the back of his hand.
Xie Zhiwei took a deep breath, and the chill dissipated.
The statements continued for an hour. When the last person finished speaking, the cafeteria was filled with suppressed anger and sorrow.
“Do you have anything to defend yourselves?” Li Jun asked Shi Feng.
The bald man raised his head, a flash of disdain in his eyes. “The apocalypse is like this. The weak are prey to the strong. If I had won today, you would be the prisoners.”
These words stirred public anger.
“Beat them to death!”
“An eye for an eye!”
The crowd began to stir. He Xu saw the ice blue appear in Xie Zhiwei’s eyes again and quickly pressed his shoulder.
“Quiet!” Li Jun roared, quelling the scene. “We cannot become the same kind of people as them!”
“Then are we supposed to let them go?! Then what was all our suffering for?!”
“Isn’t this a trial? Why can’t we repay them in their own coin?!”
He Xu stepped forward. “I suggest we expel them from the park, but give them basic survival supplies: one day’s food and water per person, and one weapon for self-defense. Whether they can survive in the apocalypse will depend on their own fate.”
This proposal sparked controversy.
Some thought it was too light. Some thought it was too risky, believing it was letting the tiger back to the mountain, leaving endless trouble.
“I agree with He Xu’s opinion.” Xie Zhiwei suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked at the boy who had been silent all along.
“Killing them is simple.” Xie Zhiwei’s voice was very calm. “But if we do that, what is the difference between us and them? Both are just using violence to solve problems.”
He looked at He Xu. “Jiejie said we need to build a different place. Then let it start today, starting with this matter.”
In the end, after a vote, He Xu’s proposal passed by a narrow margin.
At noon, Shi Feng and the other fifteen people were escorted to the park gate. Each received a backpack containing one day’s food and water, and a machete.
“If you come back again,” Li Jun warned, “you will be killed without mercy.”
Shi Feng gave He Xu and Xie Zhiwei a deep look, that gaze surging with resentment, then turned and walked into the ruins.
After dealing with this matter, the afternoon work began.
Li Jun stood in the center of the cafeteria and began organizing groups. The crowd hesitated somewhat, their gazes shifting among the several managers.
“If you ask me, Miss He Xu is most suitable to coordinate.” Old Wang the electrician suddenly spoke. He pushed up his glasses. “The charter this morning was clearly proposed, and the grouping is reasonable. The most crucial thing is…”
He paused, looking toward the direction where Shi Feng and the others had been escorted away. “In handling those beasts, she gave justice and also kept our hands clean.”
“That sense of proportion is not easy.”
Dr. Zhang from the medical office, named Zhang Yuying, nodded in agreement. “She let the victims speak and let everyone vote. This is not arbitrariness; it is teaching us how to rebuild rules.”
She turned to He Xu, her gaze gentle. “When you mentioned ‘dignity,’ many people’s eyes lit up. In the apocalypse, this thing is rarer than bread.”
Zhang Yuying: “The apocalypse doesn’t treat people as people, but you do. The ordinary people in our park have received all kinds of malice from ability users, but you, Miss He Xu, have not done that.”
Liu Li was organizing the list for distributing supplies and looked up with a smile upon hearing this. “The girl is careful. When counting the warehouse last night, she was the first to notice the canned goods inventory did not match. Following that lead, we found the batch Shi Feng had hidden privately. Clear-headed, and she sees the work that needs doing.”
Low discussions rose from the crowd.
A mother holding a child said softly: “When serving porridge, she deliberately gave half a spoon more to those with children, saying children are growing… but her own bowl was very thin.”
“When expelling Shi Feng, I thought she would soften.” A young man with an injured arm scratched his head. “But she did not retreat at all. Later, thinking about it, giving one day’s rations and a weapon was actually harder than just killing them.”
Li Jun listened to the crowd’s discussion, his loud voice overriding the whispers. “You all heard that, right? Miss He Xu has insight, methods, and more importantly, a heart that considers us ordinary people.”
He looked at He Xu, his gaze solemn. “This burden is not light, but I think you can carry it.”
Xie Zhiwei stood quietly beside He Xu, listening to every evaluation, the corners of his mouth slightly tightened in a serious expression of shared honor.
He Xu felt everyone’s gaze. Within it there was testing, expectation, and also a small, rare trust in the apocalypse.
She stood up and nodded to everyone. “Since everyone is willing to give me this opportunity, I will do my utmost.”
She walked to the front of the cafeteria, her voice clear and steady. “Then, we begin grouping now. The Defense Group will be led by Uncle Li and my younger brother Xie Zhiwei. The Logistics Group, please trouble Aunt Liu. For the Production Group, please trouble Uncle Wang and Dr. Zhang to take more responsibility. I will be responsible for coordination and communication. If there are any problems, we can communicate at any time.”
The arrangements were crisp and efficient, each person’s responsibilities clear.
The hesitation on people’s faces gradually dissipated, and they began walking on their own toward the leaders of the groups they belonged to.
“Wait,” He Xu added, taking a small notebook from her backpack. “Each group, please briefly record daily work and needs. After dinner, we will meet to summarize. The supply distribution list will be publicly posted on the cafeteria wall. Everyone can inspect and supervise it.”
This arrangement settled the last few hesitant looks.