After a journey outside had led to them almost being assaulted by some bad men who were only looking for a thrill and supplies, Lián Xīng decided it would be best if only she went out and about for a little while.
The kids seemed to be fine with this after having another close-up with an infected person who just stared at them through a window, they felt like they weren’t ready to experience that sort of thing again any time soon.
Before heading out that day, she checked in on the kids. Měi Lán was making a little flower town out of interlocking building bricks. Lián Xīng smiled, glad to see Měi Lán back to her old playing habits.
Mùchén wasn’t in his room. After checking the living room, she went toward the courtyard entrance, and she found him on the steps. He was bending over looking at something, and a soft ‘meow’ as she drew closer answered that question. She watched him for a while, seeing how gentle he was with the dirty little once white kitten.
Carefully, she came down the stairs, sat beside him, and whispered, “I could get some cat food for her while I’m out, if you like?”
Mùchén rested his head on his knees as he petted the kitten. “Could she sleep in my bed?”
“Only after a bath.”
Someone was following her. She noticed it once she entered the city. She parked and put on the anti-theft protocols before heading towards the local pet shop, only to stop and turn around the chill going down her spine. Someone was watching her.
It was when she stopped in front of the shop, she could see a reflection of them in the glass. An infected was watching her; no, she glanced behind her it had been multiple of them. She kept her movements slow and made sure they knew she wasn’t running away. She looked at the pet shop only to see it abandoned. The door was off its hinges; it looked like a storm had wrecked the place, but from within, she could hear some of the animals, desperately vocal as if calling out for help.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Someone had just left the animals to starve locked in their cages.
Lián Xīng felt an anger burning inside at such carelessness for life.
She would just have to rescue them.
It took 4 trips. She released the reptiles, rabbits, and a couple others out into the wild, but several cats followed her, along with the remaining dogs. She headed home with the vehicle full of 3 cats and 4 dogs piled in over each other, oddly well behaved except for the occasional warning growl or hiss.
Mùchén was the first out to greet her. His eyes widened at all the new animals.
“I hope you don’t mind, Mùchén. They didn’t want to be on their own. “
He ran down the steps and grabbed her in a big hug, “It’s perfect, Auntie!”
He, at last, called her Auntie again. Lián Xīng couldn’t help the big grin that spread over her face before she remembered something. She face-palmed.
“I forgot the pet supplies.”
A lone infected showed up behind her when she turned her arms carrying pet feed.. She couldn’t help but drop it when she felt the sharp sting of the nails of the infected digging into her arm.
She stayed still and looked into glowing blue eyes.
“Are you alright? Did I scare you?”
The infected… a woman…opened her mouth as if to say words but shut it, brow furrowed. Hand still grabbing Lián Xīng.
Lián Xīng waited patiently for the infected to do something.
The infected woman’s shoulders slumped as if in defeat.
“My name is Lián Xīng. What is yours?”
Those glowing blue eyes stared before blinking. “I…” a frown and a shrug.
“You don’t remember?”
A slow nod.
A gunshot rang in the air, and the infected woman stumbled. Her hand that had held Lián Xīng’s arm went to hold her own.
“Run away. Be safe. Go.”
The infected glanced at her with those big glowing eyes before leaving.
Lián Xīng quickly turned on her camouflage ability before looking towards where the gunshot came from, only to see a group of men and women being attacked by other infected.
They were reactive, yes, but this looked organized. As if…
She shook her head. She needed to get home, and as for those that fought off the infected, well, they shot first. They started that particular circle of violence. The thought that the gunshot might have been a presumptive attempt to protect her did cross her mind, but she also didn’t like that they shot before knowing the situation. Of course, Lián Xīng humored the thought that they didn’t have the perspective about the infected that she had, and she did realize that made a massive difference in how she might behave.
She waited until the frenzy ended before she finished getting the supplies to her vehicle, constantly aware of the glowing stares at her back.