The rabbit played it cool

Gu Cheng had no idea why Ye Ruan had reacted so strongly. He asked no questions and gently covered those red eyes.

"Want to turn in early?"

Ye Ruan nodded, and Gu Cheng all but hoisted him up with one arm and took him back.

"I have to keep watch outside tonight. Will you get cold sleeping alone?"

When he touched Ye Ruan's hand, it was as cold as ice. There were bruises on the back of it, too. His heart aching, Gu Cheng cupped it in his hands and blew warm breaths over it.

"How about turning back into Little Bunny? I can tuck you into my jacket tonight."

"No, it's warm with the vehicle door shut."

In truth, Ye Ruan was worried that Gu Cheng would see his scorched bunny fur.

The patch on his back was definitely going to shed. It might even go bald.

"All right, then. Get some sleep. Call me if you need anything."

Once Little Bunny had closed his eyes and settled down, Gu Cheng carefully shut the vehicle door.

In the courtyard, the women Yu Jingjing had brought out huddled together, wolfing down food.

He walked over just in time to see Yu Jingjing secretly wiping away tears.

"Don't cry." Gu Cheng patted the top of her head.

Yu Jingjing scrubbed hard at her face and choked out, "Boss, this little girl isn't going to make it."

"Where's Lu Jiayi?" Gu Cheng asked. "Wasn't there a doctor among the survivors who used to run a clinic? Hurry and get him!"

Xia Yue had been helping nearby. Holding back her grief, she said, "He already examined her. Doctor Liu just said... she's been starving for too long. It's too late."

"Eating now will only make her die faster and in more pain. But she's hungry. She was pulling weeds from the ground and stuffing them into her mouth."

Yu Jingjing's tears kept falling. She buried her face in the crook of her arm, her shoulders shaking violently.

Afraid her sobs would frighten the dying little girl, she clenched her teeth tight.

Gu Cheng said nothing. Firelight played over his rugged, defiant features. His expression turned icy, and a vicious, violent fury swept over him.

Without another word, Gu Cheng walked over to Ren Bing and yanked a pair of socks off the clothesline.

Bound hand and foot, Ren Bing sensed trouble and scrambled toward a corner.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going!"

Gu Cheng cursed, seized the back of his collar, and dragged him out like a baby chick.

"What are you trying to do?" Ren Bing asked in terror.

Furious, Gu Cheng spat out each word. "Fuck! You! Up!"

"Are you fucking crazy? Those women had all lost their families! If I hadn't taken them in, the zombies would've eaten them until there wasn't a scrap of bone left!"

Ren Bing hunched his shoulders and tried to bargain in a placating tone:

"How about this, Captain Gu? This place is yours from now on. I'll follow your orders, all right? Take whichever woman you fancy!"

"Those women are all..."

"Shut up!" Gu Cheng roared.

Gu Cheng balled up the socks and roughly stuffed them into Ren Bing's mouth.

He made sure Ren Bing's screams wouldn't wake Ye Ruan.

Only then did Gu Cheng let loose and hit him!

He slapped his face, alternating hands!

Once he was done slapping, he switched to his fists.

Lu Jiayi came running at the noise, drew his gun, and chambered a round. "Boss, let me shoot him!"

"What do you mean, shoot him? Both of you, calm down!"

Fang Ci snapped out of his daze, hurried over, and grabbed Gu Cheng to drag him back.

In those few seconds, Gu Cheng had already beaten Ren Bing's face into a swollen mess. He spat out teeth along with blood.

"Captain! All these people are watching, and Ren Bing's daughter is here! You can't beat her father to death in front of her!"

Fang Ci could barely hold Gu Cheng back in his rage.

Usually so easygoing, quick to smile, and carefree, Gu Cheng now looked like a beast burning with fury.

The surviving onlookers were stunned into silence. Not one dared make a sound.

The commotion woke Ye Ruan after all. He came out and took Gu Cheng's hand.

"Captain."

Ye Ruan was so delicate. Gu Cheng's coat was draped over his shoulders, and the shirt he wore belonged to Gu Cheng, too.

Gu Cheng thought he had frightened Little Bunny.

His Adam's apple bobbed for a long time before he managed to rasp, "I'll go with you..."

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Everyone stared in shock as Ren Bing, who had just struggled to his feet, went rigid.

A huge bloody hole appeared in the center of Ren Bing's forehead.

As his body crashed to the ground, the crowd erupted. Everyone backed away several steps, pointing at Ye Ruan.

Even Gu Cheng, who stood closest, hadn't had time to react. Ye Ruan had drawn the gun, chambered a round, and pulled the trigger in less than two seconds.

Expressionless, Ye Ruan put the gun away and forced himself to stand straight, even as the pain of his burns kept breaking him out in cold sweat.

"I killed him. I'm not officially on the team. Captain Gu has no authority over me, so..."

Ye Ruan licked his pale, dry lower lip.

"So if anyone has a problem with it, come straight to me. Once we get out of City H, go ahead and report me if you want."

None of the members of the First Team had ever seen Ye Ruan like this.

Resolute, icy, radiating a chill.

Ye Ruan glanced at the little girl standing beneath a fruit tree-Ren Bing's daughter.

He wasn't sure whether he had imagined it, but he saw her smile.

Ren Bing, who had abused the women, was dead.

Ye Ruan's swift, decisive shot had thoroughly intimidated the survivors.

Tang Yi, Tang Cheng, and Zhao Quan felt a chill run through them.

"Good thing... we haven't plotted against him yet," Tang Yi said, touching her cold forehead.

The crowd dispersed. This bonfire gathering had left everyone shaken.

Fang Ci glanced at the two figures leaving hand in hand, his eyes full of desolation.

The moment they returned to the Biohazard Vehicle, Ye Ruan could no longer keep up appearances. He flopped face down on the sleeping bag like a completely useless rabbit.

Gu Cheng had been wondering how to coax him, but laughed when he saw him like this. "Why did you have to act so tough? You're in so much pain even your breathing is shaky."

Ye Ruan stopped hiding his ears and used them to smack the back of Gu Cheng's hand indignantly.

"It's your fault. You were so scary, you frightened me, too."

Gu Cheng turned his hand over and gently caught the rabbit ears, kneading them with a practiced touch.

"I'm sorry. Next time I beat someone up, I'll do it where you can't see. I won't scare you again."

His claim of being frightened was a lie. Ye Ruan opened one eye. "Okay. But if you lie, you're a dog."

Gu Cheng gave a little huff. "I've spoiled you rotten."

Just then, they heard Yu Jingjing's sobs outside as she finally lost the struggle to hold them back.

Ye Ruan knew the little girl who had starved for so long was gone.

Only girls truly understood how to ache for other girls.

"Sigh..."

Ye Ruan lost all desire to joke, too. His eyes stung, and he held back the tears about to spill.

"She's loyal and softhearted. She's cried plenty over the people who died along the way."

"This time is different," Gu Cheng said quietly. "Some of them could have lived. They escaped the zombies ravaging South City, only to fall into these people's hands."

Ye Ruan gave a muffled murmur of agreement, his voice thick and nasal. "Captain, go help."

"Then get some sleep. It'll be dawn soon. We're leaving the day after tomorrow."

Gu Cheng pulled a thick blanket over Ye Ruan and shut the vehicle door behind him as he left, blocking out the sounds outside.

Ye Ruan hadn't slept long before daylight filled the sky.

They dug graves not far from the Farmhouse courtyard and buried the dead.

A Special Person's body healed quickly, and his wounds no longer hurt as much as they had the night before.

Ye Ruan opened the vehicle door just as a ray of sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows.

Ye Ruan held his slender fingers before his eyes and gently breathed in the scent of plants and earth.

"Little Ye Ruan..."

Yu Jingjing came over, looking miserable, her lips pursed.

Her eyes were swollen from crying. "I'm sad."

At a loss, Ye Ruan tugged at his hair. He didn't know how to comfort people, either, so all he could do was spread his arms.

"Then... how about I hold you for a while?"

Yu Jingjing didn't stand on ceremony. Temporarily forgetting that Ye Ruan was her future sister-in-law, she hugged him back.

After crying for a while, Yu Jingjing remarked at a thoroughly inappropriate moment, "Little Ye Ruan, you're so much taller standing on the vehicle steps. How nice. You're not a little shorty anymore."

Ye Ruan: "..."