Childish Games

Dark blue daylight seeped through the gaps in the blast-proof mesh, spreading a patchy, cool hue across the metal shelves.

The hum of the air conditioner, holding steady at 22°C, mingled with the regular vibrations of the wheels rolling over the tracks.

Yu Jing curled up in the corner of the storage room, her head resting against a large bottle of cola. The rounded plastic bottle felt faintly cool against her, a subtle contrast to the thin sheen of sweat on the back of her neck.

Su Huan fiddled with a small digital watch. He brushed his thumb over it, saw that it read 05:27, then casually stuck it to a nearby shelf with its magnet.

He had kept watch all night. Apart from the Night Demon Gao Zhe had killed, there had been no other danger.

He closed his eyes again to rest.

Su Huan was used to staying up all night. He could slip into a light sleep, caught between waking and dreaming.

He left the watch entirely to his bodily instincts.

This shallow sleep had once helped him stay awake for four days and two nights, until an Evolutionary Beast had finally left because it was too hungry.

Suddenly, a metallic clatter came from Car 4. Su Huan instinctively tensed his back, and only when he heard Yu Yue's distinctive, light footsteps did his Adam's apple slowly bob.

She was probably getting breakfast ready.

I hope there's a bowl of seafood congee, he thought, his mind wandering.

Footsteps sounded behind him. Yu Yue glanced at her daughter in the corner and asked softly, "What would you like for breakfast, Mr. Su?"

Su Huan lay back in his chair, eyes narrowed. "You don't have to be so formal. Otherwise, I'll keep thinking you're taking a dig at me."

Yu Yue bit her lower lip, looking a little troubled. She was much older than Su Huan, but she couldn't very well call him Little Su, could she?

"B-Brother Su?"

The way Aunt Yu addressed him had a slight diminutive lilt. It wasn't very noticeable, but it still set her apart from the others.

Su Huan suddenly felt there was no point getting hung up on it. He said casually, "I remember there's plenty of frozen seafood in the dining car's fridge. Make some congee. From now on, let's eat the frozen food first."

"All right."

The conversation had put an end to Su Huan's attempt to rest, so he got up and went to Car 5, where he pulled open the curtains.

The sudden brightness split the carriage into stark patches of light and shadow.

Su Huan narrowed his eyes and looked outside. The vegetation in the hills was thriving, and plenty of bright red plants had appeared among the original lush green.

It seemed as though pairs of eyes were watching the train from the depths of the woods.

As the train moved forward, the land and scenery slowly slipped behind it.

Su Huan returned to Car 6 and went over to Yu Jing.

She had arrived relatively early last night and taken over for her mother. After staying up for half the night, she was exhausted by morning, so she had lain down here for a while.

Her small gray shirt was pulled taut over the swell of her breasts, exposing the delicate skin of her abdomen.

A mischievous impulse came over Su Huan. He crouched down and gently rubbed a fingertip around her navel.

He didn't press hard, just scraped her skin with his fingerprint.

After a while, Yu Jing opened her bloodshot eyes and glanced at Su Huan before turning her head and going back to sleep.

Her graceful, fair neck was laid bare before him.

Before long, Yu Jing felt a faint tickling on her neck again. She let out a weary sigh. "Why don't you just get it over with?"

"No."

Su Huan sneered and continued his childish game of teasing her with a strand of hair.

Just because she offered, did he have to take her up on it?

Who was in charge here, anyway?

Besides, he found tormenting Yu Jing mentally more satisfying than simply doing that with her.

Candy was candy, after all. The longer you savored it, the sweeter it tasted when you finally swallowed it.

Yu Jing couldn't sleep anymore. She opened her eyes and looked at the cold smile on Su Huan's face, irritation stirring inside her. If only I'd gone along with him that night.

Maybe we'd be sick of each other by now.

But no, I had to stir up that damn male urge to conquer. Who knows how long he'll keep this up?

Yu Jing's lips curled into a beautiful smile. "Big brother, why don't we go inside?"

"Shut up. Disgusting!"

Yu Jing: "..."

This round ended with Yu Jing fleeing in defeat.

Su Huan was physically exhausted from staying up all night, but his spirits were high.

He went back to his room, set down his sniper crossbow, then took out his notebook and recorded the day's log.

"December 19, early winter, 28°C—"

"I think I created a hero."

—"Conductor's Log"

When he entered the dining car, the first thing he saw was a khaki blanket on the sofa. It had a picture of a chubby orange cat with a mischievous smile, lending the carriage a homely feel.

Yu Yue noticed him looking and said, "The blanket wasn't being used, so I thought it might look nice here..."

"Sure, sure. Do whatever you like with things like this. You don't need to tell me." Su Huan waved dismissively.

He slumped onto the sofa and stared into space.

Around seven o'clock, Wan Xing and Xiao Ba came out too.

The train slowly came to a stop on the outskirts of the city.

With both eyes bloodshot from staying up all night, Liang Kuan entered the dining car. "The nearest Water Plant is about a ten-minute walk away. We'll be there soon."

Su Huan took the seafood congee Yu Yue handed him and breathed in its aroma. "No rush. We'll let the passengers off first, then you can go get some rest."

"Understood."

Liang Kuan took the congee and began gulping it down.

Su Huan turned to Wan Xing. "When we get there, collect the Night Demon's corpse from the storage car first. Apart from the Pan-Energy Crystal, see if you can get any other materials out of it."

The greatest contribution zombies made wasn't the Pan-Energy Crystal, but the many strange ways their bodies evolved.

That was what a researcher at some big company Su Huan had known in his previous life had told him.

But Wan Xing had barely developed her abilities so far, and she couldn't yet make use of zombies at the genetic level.

Su Huan didn't expect much from her. It would be enough if she could take apart a few useful materials.

Those claws, for instance, were made of high-strength material.

Accumulated over time, they would come in handy later.

Wan Xing nodded silently.

Su Huan understood what she could do better than she did herself. There was no need to ask questions; she just had to do as he said.

Watching the steam rise from the seafood congee, Su Huan mused, "We only have one task today: inspect the damage to the train and continue the first phase of the Armed Train plan."

Everyone answered in agreement.

The carriage before them was "transparent."

It took Su Huan a while to think of that vivid and accurate word.

Hundreds of tiny holes, each about the size of a coin, riddled the surface of the green carriage, piercing through the cushioning and insulation layers.

Of the twelve pairs of windows, only two were intact. The rest had shattered into all kinds of fragments.

The Night Demon had even raked a huge dent into the relatively weak roof.

To be honest, Su Huan was tempted to detach the carriage entirely.

They wouldn't need so many berths for the time being, anyway, and they had lost 63 passengers last night.

What surprised him was that Brother Dog had survived, along with the daughter-in-law from that family. Though she looked shaken, there wasn't a drop of blood on her.

The tattooed man had died cleanly, killed in a single blow.

Other than that, the carriages farther back that hadn't been reinforced with steel plates had more or less been scratched up, but none as badly as this one.