"Then tell me what else I can do! What can I do?!" Fu Hu roared, breaking down. "Get out of my home! Whatever you're involved in, leave my daughter out of it. I don't want to hear your bullshit!"
"Dad!" Fu Qingdai tugged anxiously at the hem of Fu Hu's shirt, at a loss.
"As long as we stay alive, we can do anything!" Su Jin clamped both hands around Fu Hu's shoulders, his eyes wide. "If there's no nation, we'll build one! If there's no army, we'll raise one! If we can't hide, then we won't-we'll fight those motherfucking zombies to the death!"
"Everyone in this complex knows each other. You sent your daughter to a psychiatric hospital after she dreamed about the apocalypse, so plenty of people must know about it, right?"
"That alone is enough to recruit people. Qing Dai is everyone's only hope. She can be an empress, a religious leader. I absolutely will not let you ruin her!"
Fu Hu was stunned into silence, staring blankly at Su Jin.
Things had already gone to hell... and he wanted to raise an army and fight back? And use Qing Dai to do it?
"Old Fu, I know you're desperate to protect your daughter, but staying with you will only get her killed!" Su Jin said coldly. "I can't stand by and watch you lead her to her doom."
"I've grown attached to Qing Dai during our time together, too. But if you insist on being stubborn, then rather than let those zombies tear her apart alive while she stays with you, I might as well give her a quick death right now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Jin whipped out the Silver Spear and aimed it at Fu Qingdai.
"There's no time for you to think. Do you want to stay here and wait to die, or work with me? Just give me an answer!"
Fu Qingdai stared into the dark muzzle and swallowed.
Then she closed her eyes, pressed her lips together, and leaned forward to put her forehead against it.
"No!" Fu Hu reached out, his voice trembling as he tried to stop him. "I agree. I agree... I'll do whatever you tell me to."
Su Jin took a step back and put away the Silver Spear.
Seeing this, Fu Hu hurriedly pulled his daughter into his arms, then shielded her behind him, watching Su Jin warily.
Su Jin sighed. "Old Fu... I never intended to hurt either of you. We really have no other choice. This is the only path left. You're seriously underestimating the danger, so I had to give you a shock to make you face reality as quickly as possible."
"Now that you've agreed, I'll protect your daughter with my life. I hope you can protect her, too... I stockpiled supplies for Qing Dai on the fourth floor ahead of time. I gave her the key a while ago."
Fu Hu looked at his daughter.
When Fu Qingdai nodded gently, his tense expression eased a little.
Su Jin continued, "Your wife was frightened out of her wits, wasn't she? It'll be hard for her to recover with your home in this state. I stocked some honeycomb coal briquettes and a coal stove on the fourth floor. Bring over the sheet metal and wooden boards in that apartment, too. We'll have to break a window and fit a chimney. Take whatever else you need."
With that, Su Jin sat down on a sofa that was still intact and waved Fu Hu along.
"Go on... I'll wait here. Once you're back and the stove is set up, we'll talk some more. Don't let your wife freeze."
Fu Hu looked at his unconscious wife, then at his daughter. After a moment's hesitation, he turned and took Fu Qingdai downstairs.
A little over ten minutes later, Fu Hu returned with his daughter.
He froze at the first sight that greeted him inside.
Zhang Wan was still lying on the sofa, but Su Jin now stood by the living room window, painting it with black paint and a brush he had found somewhere.
"Director... what are you doing?"
"Set up the stove first." Without turning around, Su Jin said, "That strange rain didn't just infect people. It infected animals, too. I experimented on a rat. Birds might have been infected as well. Once infected, animals become extremely aggressive toward other living things that aren't infected."
"We aren't actually safe hiding indoors. Painting the windows black... should at least eliminate some of the risks."
Fu Hu had seen the room piled high with supplies, and Fu Qingdai had kept speaking highly of Su Jin to him.
Now, hearing this analysis, he actually felt a surge of admiration.
After acknowledging him, Fu Hu briskly set to work on the stove.
He rolled the sheet metal into tubes and secured them with wire, then sealed the seams with aluminum tape. Joining the sections together, he soon assembled a makeshift chimney.
He broke the window and replaced the glass with wooden boards, completing a heating setup that could be used safely.
The windows had been painted black, but the glow from the stove filled the room with warmth.
Fu Qingdai took a kettle to Su Jin's apartment to chip out some ice for water.
Meanwhile, Su Jin and Fu Hu sat facing each other beside the stove.
The two stared at the flames, falling silent for a while.
Finally, Fu Hu spoke. "Director Li... were you the one who sealed all those doors upstairs and downstairs on the day it rained? And shut off the main water valve?"
"Yes."
"Won't they die of thirst in their apartments? It's been six or seven days."
"They probably won't die. Most people have enough food, and there's water in the toilet tanks."
"Oh..." Fu Hu felt a little reassured, then asked, "How did you find Qing Dai?"
"One of my colleagues has a child at the same school as your daughter. I heard about her and went looking for her."
"Director Li, is there really no other hope? Isn't our National Strategic Risk Bureau taking any action at all? And you said the prophecy had something to do with my daughter. What comes after that?"
Irritated by Fu Hu's questions, Su Jin took out a cigarette, intending to have a few drags.
Just as he was about to light it, he glanced back at the still-unconscious Zhang Wan and put it away again. In a low, resigned voice, he said, "They aren't taking any action. They're all a bunch of idle slackers. The prophecy only said there would be a devastating catastrophe, and that the savior could foresee it. Nothing beyond that."
"But my daughter's still a child! Just because of some legend, some prophecy... what could she possibly get involved in?!" Fu Hu's voice rose slightly.
"It's precisely because she's a child that we have to act now and help shoulder her responsibilities before they fall on her!" Su Jin said gravely. "Old Fu, I'm begging you to stop clinging to wishful thinking. Even if an army comes to rescue us, we still have to save ourselves right now. Those two things don't conflict."
"I'll shoulder all the responsibility. Qing Dai will just be a mascot. She won't have to do anything or put herself in danger."
Fu Hu gave a muffled acknowledgment and said nothing more.
As the atmosphere fell silent again, Su Jin asked, "Old Fu, do you have any other family?"
Fu Hu shuddered, his voice trembling slightly. "My dad... I haven't been able to get through to him for days."
After saying that, the towering man finally broke down, tears streaming from his eyes.
Only when Fu Qingdai returned with the kettle full of ice did Fu Hu hastily wipe his face a couple of times and force himself to look composed.
Sitting between them, Fu Qingdai looked from one to the other.
Fu Hu took a deep breath. "Director, what do we do next?"
"Next?" Su Jin stared into the stove, his gaze dark. "Next, of course, we recruit capable people and build a team. You've lived here for years, so you should know everyone in this building, right? Put together a list for me, with their backgrounds. I'll let them out one by one."
Before you continue