"What? I'm just asking, is there anyone else who wants chicken? You? And you?" The man's voice was a belligerent roar in the cavernous space. "What, if I don't give it to you, you're going to snatch it by force? Come on then, try it!"
"Someone's killing people over a chicken, help!" a woman's shriek pierced the din.
"You bastards just stand there and watch instead of helping. Get in here!" The man snarled at the ring of onlookers, who all retreated a full step, creating a wider circle. They were only assigned here to sleep, not to fight or get involved in someone else's bloody dispute.
Jing Shu, hearing Grandma Jing's distinctive, furious cursing from within the throng, rushed over with Wu You'ai after jumping off the shark submarine, leaving it idling near the entrance. A crowd from their own community swarmed after them, eager for the drama, pushing to see. One look at the assailants' clothes and bearing, and Jing Shu realized these were the villa people from the more affluent section, the ones with a swagger even in disaster.
Pushing through the reluctant wall of bodies, Jing Shu saw Grandma Jing planted solidly with hands on hips, her small frame somehow towering with fury over five men sprawled on the damp stone floor and howling in pain. They had dared to lay hands on Grandma Jing's darling chicken, to threaten Xiao Dou, no wonder she exploded, a force of nature unleashed.
Right then, Xiao Dou stood on one fellow's chest, pinning him, and pecked his mouth without mercy, a rapid tock-tock-tock like a woodpecker on hard bark. Even when blood spattered, dark droplets on the grey stone, Xiao Dou did not stop. She aimed for the lips every time, a horrifically precise punishment.
Gasps rippled around them. Whispers buzzed, and the crowd's eyes turned wary, calculating, when they looked past the chicken to Jing Shu's family gathering behind the old woman.
Jing An stood to one side like a stoic bodyguard, his heavy-duty flashlight beam steady and blinding, shielding his mother. Grandpa Jing and Su Lanzhi had already raised their compact crossbows, the strings pulled taut, bolts ready. After half a year of riots and tension, nobody in the family was a sheep anymore. They weren't afraid of numbers, of a mob.
If anyone else in the crowd wanted trouble, as soon as a finger twitched toward a weapon, they would take that person down first. Jing Shu had drilled that into them over and over during their basement practice sessions.
She exhaled a quiet breath. Looked like she was a little late. The situation was already handled, and decisively.
Just then, more flashlight beams swung over from a connecting tunnel and more people shoved in, voices loud and officious.
"Make way, make way! What's going on? Who dares cause trouble in a public shelter?" A man in a soaked police-style jacket, though lacking insignia, pushed forward. "Zhou Dasheng, where's Zhou Dasheng? Weren't you supposed to talk to the visiting officer here and ask them to give up some space? Diplomatically?"
The leader was a very young man with a square, pugnacious face and a mouth that took up half his face when he opened it, revealing yellowed teeth.
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes, the beam of her own headlamp catching his features. She knew that face, the shiftiness in the eyes.
Back in high school he borrowed ten yuan of class fees and never paid it back, spinning stories each time she asked. At graduation, she hunted him down behind the school and beat him with a textbook, warning him never to cross paths again. If he did, every time she saw him, she would beat him until he repaid the debt, with interest.
His name was Zhou Dafu. He never dared show up at any class gatherings after that. Five years later, in the midst of the apocalypse, he had somehow climbed his way up, wearing a fake air of authority?
"Brother Dafu, over here, save us! Murder! This chicken is killing people!" one of the downed men wailed, pointing a trembling finger at Xiao Dou.
"@#￥% mmph… mmph!" The man under Xiao Dou's beak could barely make sounds through his shredded, swelling lips.
"What happened? What kind of chicken can beat five of you?" Zhou Dafu asked, his gaze sliding from his men to the bird. His eyes narrowed, then widened. He bared those yellowed teeth, eyeing Xiao Dou, who was now strutting victoriously on the man's chest. His eyes lit up with a naked, hungry avarice and his saliva nearly dripped. He visibly swallowed.
Those sturdy drumsticks. Those perfect, meaty wings. That full, quivering breast. Those thick, powerful claws. Stewed with some wild herbs, it would taste incredible.
The men on the ground groaned, trying to sit up. A short, wiry one sprang up and hid behind Zhou Dafu, pointing an accusatory finger. "Brother Dafu, we just wanted to get some wild meat for Brother Daheng, seeing as he's not feeling well. This family is unreasonable. They sicced the chicken on us on purpose, wouldn't even talk!"
Zhou Dafu swallowed again and nodded as if convinced, playing the reasonable mediator. "A beast that injures people is the same as a person who injures people. Can't have it running loose." He gestured to the men behind him. "Arrest it first. I will take the owners to the security station and ask how to handle it. You guys, move."
Before the man named Zhou Dasheng, who looked more hesitant, could stop him, seven men from behind Zhou Dafu, their faces thin and eyes burning with a year's worth of hunger, crazed at the sight of real meat, charged as one toward Xiao Dou.
Zhou Dasheng covered his eyes with a hand. "Brother Dafu, wait, this chicken isn't like other chickens."
"Aren't all chickens the same? Cluck and get eaten?" Zhou Dafu sneered.
He had just finished speaking when Xiao Dou went off like a bouncing cannonball. Xiao Dou was a nimble heavyweight, a blur of iridescent feathers and fury. Jing Shu had no idea what Xiao Dou's beak was made of, but it struck with the sound of knuckles on hardwood. In less than ten seconds all seven new assailants were on the floor, rolling and wailing, clutching noses, knees, and groins.
Another collective hiss from the surrounding spectators, a wave of shocked inhalation. This chicken's combat power was terrifying, unnatural.
Grandma Jing stood akimbo, her chin high. "I hate sanctimonious hypocrites the most. I'm standing right here. Let's see who dares steal this chicken." She swept a glare over the crowd. "The law still exists." Though her words invoked order, her confidence clearly stemmed from the fact that Xiao Dou was simply too fierce, a feathered enforcer.
Zhou Dafu clenched his jaw, the muscles jumping. A few crossbows from Jing Shu's family were already aimed steadily at his center mass, and there was an electric vehicle, no, some strange aquatic vehicle, behind the family. That alone said this wasn't an ordinary household you could bully.
Only then did he realize he had kicked an iron plate today. But thinking of his cousin Zhou Daheng, the real power here in Zone Z, he gritted his teeth. Zhou Daheng wasn't someone these country bumpkins could afford to offend. He had to save face, and he needed that chicken.
No matter what, Zhou Dafu had to get Xiao Dou to present to Cousin Zhou Daheng. Lately Zhou Daheng had said he was sick of the dry, stringy chickens from the Livestock Breeding Center. He wanted real wild flavor, something with spirit.
Zhou Dafu's hand slipped into his jacket and pulled out a worn pistol, waving it loosely. "Assaulting law enforcement carries consequences you can't afford. This chicken broke the rules of the Hongshan Ecological Park. I have the authority to confiscate it and detain,"
He abruptly fell silent.
The cold, circular pressure of a gun muzzle was pressed to his temple, hard enough to dent the skin. He turned his head slowly, like a wind-up toy, his eyes wide. All he could see was a figure wrapped tight in a high-quality raincoat, the face in shadow under a hood, but the posture was familiar in a way that chilled his blood.
"Zhou Dafu," a calm, female voice said, quiet but cutting through the cave's murmur. "You still owe me ten yuan. I told you not to run into me again. If you did, I would beat you every time I saw you until you paid up. Do you remember?"
That voice. The cold, matter-of-fact tone that promised pain.
Zhou Dafu's face crumpled like he might cry, all bluster gone. "You, you're Jing Shu?" The high-school tyrant, the girl who fought dirtier than any boy.
Back in school, Zhou Dafu had borrowed money from many classmates, forgetting easily, but Jing Shu had been the jinx who chased him without rest. She especially liked kicking below the belt when teachers were not looking. He had hidden from her for years, avoiding any event she might attend. How had they met again, here, in this flooded hell?
"That's right. Ten yuan. Today, you can pay with your life," Jing Shu said, her voice going cold and flat, the safety of her own gun clicking off with an audible snick.
"K-kidding, right? It's just ten yuan. I will pay you one hundred in virtual credits, right now. Put the gun down." When Zhou Dafu shifted slightly, the icy, unyielding touch at his temple told him this was no toy. He wasn't stupid enough to gamble with his life over pride or a chicken.
"This chicken is mine. What do you say?" Jing Shu asked, the muzzle not wavering.
Right on cue, Xiao Dou let out a proud, defiant cluck from across the cave, as if emphasizing the point.
Zhou Dafu opened and closed his mouth, the reality of the situation dawning. The fierce chicken, the armed family, the girl from his past who was now a woman holding a gun to his head, it was all connected.
"Where's the visiting officer for your community?" Zhou Dafu tried, his voice strained, attempting to shift the focus, to find a less armed authority. "I only came to ask for a little space so I could settle a few more people. This cave is big and wide, and only a handful of you are using it. Isn't that a waste? We have hundreds crammed in Cave 6, packed like sardines. A little charity…" He tried to change the subject. At least if a person in charge came, someone official, the situation might be easier to manipulate, to apply pressure.
"I am," Wu You'ai said, stepping forward, her voice cool and official. "The answer is no. Now leave."
"…"
So it was all one family. The visiting officer was with them.
Zhou Dafu felt his face burn with humiliation. Usually he played the big man in front of these shelter refugees. Today he was slapped in the face, plain as day, in front of a growing audience. Fine. He would go get Brother Daheng. Let his cousin deal with these people.
"Okay. Okay, I will go." He muttered, starting to lower his own gun.
"Wait." Jing Shu's voice stopped him cold. "Does this gun in my hand look like the ten yuan you owe me?"
Zhou Dafu froze, then forced a nod, his Adam's apple bobbing. "It does. It absolutely does. Consider it paid. A fair trade."
Zhou Dafu slunk off with Zhou Dasheng and their groaning, bleeding crew, helping the wounded to their feet. He had never imagined he would fail to get chicken, lose a gun to boot, and be humiliated by a ghost from his past. That gun had been a precious reward from Cousin Zhou Daheng. Now it was gone.
One straggler, a young man with a bleeding nose, was too slow. Xiao Dou, not done enforcing the lesson, chased him down and pecked him a few more times on the backside as he fled. His screams echoed through the connecting tunnels.
Only when everyone from Zhou Dafu's group had cleared out, their flashlight beams disappearing around a corner, did Jing Shu finally lower her weapon, tucking it away. She turned to the huddled mass of their own community members and the other strangers sharing the cave. "How are sleeping spots assigned here? Is there a layout?"
The people from their own community immediately, almost nervously, gave up more than half the space near the entrance, pointing toward the drier, deeper section. They stubbornly insisted on keeping at least a hundred meters of empty stone floor between themselves and the villa family, their eyes still wide with what they had just witnessed.