Perched on the edge of a platform, Bing Shi's feet dangled freely in the open air as she observed the flurry of activity below, where soldiers and prisoners displayed their unique abilities against the encroaching zombies.
The play of her legs, suspended in space, seemed to mirror the ebb and flow of her thoughts, capturing a moment of tranquil solitude amidst the chaos of the world around her.
An unspoken presence settled, and she instinctively turned her gaze to the source. Another figure had joined her on the platform, her eyes tracing the contours of his form before she turned to the spectacle below.
"Bing S—"
"You shouldn't call your grandma by her name."
"..." Ziek, who disappeared from the base for half a year, had returned.
° A few months ago...
° The air was heavy with the smell of burnt flesh and smoke hung in a haze that partially obscured the barren wastelands.
° Six men and one woman in their late twenties were pushed out of the pitch-black space. As they looked in terror upon the sea of mutilated bodies, the rotten smell of flesh hit their nostrils. Their bodies were lifted by an invisible power and carried directly above a hole packed up with dead bodies. Sounds of gagging and shrieks of help resonated not far away from the base.
° Surrounded by intimidating men with heavy weapons, a wind soldier with a frightening aura outshouted the traumatized people, "I will give you three seconds, exactly three fūcking seconds to shut up or I'm going to drill a fūcking hole in your stomach!"
° As soon as someone tried to use an ability, a bullet was shot straight into their legs. "Aaaaah, stop it, aaaah, please!!" The more they struggled, the more rounds they received. Giving up, they stopped fighting and started to throw up above the hole.
° These people who were currently being punished were mainly from the newly rescued cities. After clearing a town, a group of volunteers would arrive and help the remaining survivors. Among them were few, who were too confident with their abilities, terrorizing the relatively calm city C. As soon as something happened like stealing, harassing, or refusing to contribute, a whole city would gang up and report them to the person in charge. Nobody wanted to feed a useless person.
° Covered in their piss, puke, and blood, they were pushed before a bandaged soldier and a mysterious person in black.
° "Heal them," ordered Bing Shi silently.
° Ban healed their wounds and returned to his post. As soon as they noticed Bing Shi, they begged for forgiveness.
° One woman, feeling wronged, cried out pitifully, "Why am I here?! What about that cheater and that slūt?!"
° Bing Shi responded, "False claims of rȧpe can be as destructive as the act itself. Even worse when the victim was the abuser."
° The woman continued to cry, miserably, "Everything is their fault! They deserve to die!"
° With abilities, women had enough skills to protect themselves from harm. As women under Bing Shi's protection, they thought they would get out unscratched if they started to bully men behind the scenes. The man who broke up with this woman was afraid of being charged with rȧpe and ended with severe injuries; his new partner wasn't spared either.
° Some people found Bing Shi's practice unfair. The cheater and the home wrecker should be punished instead of this poor woman. Bing Shi wasn't a babysitter; she didn't have time to differentiate between the crimes. As long as someone broke the rules, they were sent to the base to receive the punishment.
° As first-timers, they would be disciplined and then sent back to city C. As second-timers, they'd stay in the base and put into labor until they faint from exhaustion. After noticing progress, they'd be sent back to city C to plow the fields. So far, nobody appeared for the third time.
° This wasn't a long-term solution; Bing Shi and Yi Zen could only hope that the fear would force the citizens to behave. As long as it wasn't too absurd, Bing Shi was open to any new ideas.
° This solution came with a backlash. The ones dissatisfied with Bing Shi's rule, ran away to an empty city and established their gangs. The men in this batch were from those particular gangs. After attacking the volunteers and ransacking the new town, they ran away to avoid the punishment. When some volunteers never returned, citizens went into turmoil and demanded Bing Shi to resolve it, which gave Bing Shi a big headache!
° While Kuro levitated above the base in its monumental state to protect the base, Bing Shi and others drove to a newly acquired city to loot it out before anyone else.
° After giving tasks to thousands of volunteers, everyone created small groups and scattered. It was a precious time for soldiers to meet their girlfriends and wives. Nobody was a saint; everyone picked a few things for themselves.
° But did anyone mind? No, they deserved it for putting their lives at risk. They helped with fighting the remaining zombies, rescued survivors, and donated things to city C.
· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·
° The buildings in this city stood tall like skeletons; the skies were barren; no birds flew or sang. The smallest group, consisting of two people, used their identities to lure out the gang members.
° Driving on her bike, the eye-catchy Bing Shi was known as someone who had an ability over the network and a white snake as her third eye. Having no fighting skills, she became a perfect bait.
° "Grandson, try to guess the tune I'm playing," Bing Shi chimed with the bike's bell, her playful melody cutting through the grim ambiance.
° Ding-ding-dong
° Ding-ding-dong
° Ding-ding-ding-ding-dong
° Ding-ding-ding...
° "If you don't want me to rip it off, then stop," Ziek, the newly appointed bodyguard cursed at her choice of songs. Great! Now thanks to her, he couldn't get the annoying Christmas jingle out of his head!
° How did Ziek end up as the sole bodyguard? Except for the famous Yi Zen, nobody was confident enough to protect Bing Shi, who was like a sore throat in those gang's eyes.
° His words prompted her to halt. "Oh, okay." Casting her gaze around, she spotted a quaint candy store. A gleam lit up her eyes, and an impromptu decision was made, "Grandson, let's get some candies for you." Parking her bike neatly next to the wall, she went inside to check the goods.
° Should he follow her or not? Ziek decided to wait outside and play on his phone, curious what candies she would get him.
° A few moments later...
° "Grandson, see what I found," Bing Shi called out. As Ziek stepped into the store, she extended her palm, "A durian lollipop, do you want it?"
° Ziek accepted it with a raised eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "How does it taste?"
° "No idea, but I want to try it so badly," Bing Shi admitted, producing another lollipop from her pocket. She looked at Ziek with an expectant expression, "Be my guinea pig, please."
° "💢." Her unexpected please struck a chord with him, a mixture of irritation and intrigue swirling within him. He found himself grappling with an inexplicable urge to play along, to tease her in return. It was a dangerous game, one that had him yearning for something more than he could admit.
° "Will you take responsibility for poisoning me?" Ziek unwrapped the wrapper and put the lollipop inside his mouth. A look of unmistakable disgust crossed his features, "Your turn."
° "Boy ♪♫, you should ask first before eating!" Bing Shi chided with a lighthearted laugh. She adjusted the lower portion of her gas mask and took a tentative lick of the lollipop. She wrinkled her nose, "Ewwww, haha," she exclaimed, fanning her face dramatically as she licked the lollipop once more, her laughter bubbling forth, "Yuck."
