I woke up to the sound of voices talking around .
They were low and controlled, but I was too out of it to really care what they were saying. I didn’t move. Didn’t bother to open my eyes. Instead, I just laid there with the blanket pulled up to my chin, listening to the rhythm of their words before I tried to process what they were actually saying.
The bed was still warm beneath and I was wondering who I had to kill to stay in it for the rest of my life. I had a fantastic night’s sleep, and I wasn’t willing to let go of it.
But the voices continued. Zhenlan’s first, asured and deliberate. "We can’t go out there during the day. Too many of them awake. Too many eyes."
"And at night?" That was Lingyun. His words just as direct as he was with no hesitation in his tone.
"At night, we have a better chance," Zhenlan replied, the tone of his voice never changing. "But we still don’t know how many might be guarding the supplies at night. Still... it would be worth it to get food."
Chenghai’s voice ca next, quieter but just as steady. "We can’t wait indefinitely. We need food. Water. We’re burning energy just sitting here, and we don’t have reserves to pull from."
Then, Yuche spoke, his voice lower than the others, and rougher around the edges. Probably from the pain. "Kitchen’s on the first floor. Straight shot from the stairs if we move fast."
"Fast doesn’t an quiet," Zhenlan countered. "And quiet is what we need if we’re going to avoid another confrontation."
"Another confrontation is inevitable," Lingyun replied flatly. "The question is whether we control the timing or they do."
The conversation paused and I could hear soone shifting positions. Footsteps moved past the door outside, slow and deliberate as if they were trying to ambush the guys the mont they stepped out of the door.
But the sound faded after a mont, disappearing down the stairs or into another room.
No one inside the room reacted, they just waited until the footsteps were gone before continuing.
"We wait until tonight," Zhenlan said finally. "We go down together. We take what we can carry and co back. No lingering. No unnecessary risks."
"And if they’re in the kitchen?" Chenghai asked.
"Then we adapt. At least we have a gun now."
I rolled over slightly, the blanket shifting with . The movent was small, deliberate, just enough to let them know I was awake without making a production of it.
Then I leaned over the edge of the bed, all the blood rushing to my head as I looked under my bed.
The box was exactly where I’d left it and I reached down, grabbing the edge, and dragged it out from under the bed. The weight of it made the floor creak slightly as I pulled it closer, the plastic rough under my fingers.
I sat up then, pulling the box onto the bed and looked around.
The n were exactly where I thought they would be. Zhenlan was near the window, his back against the wall while Chenghai sat cross-legged on the floor near the foot of the bed. Lingyun was still by the door, the gun resting across his lap now instead of in his hands and Yuche was leaning against the wall opposite . His injured shoulder was wrapped in clean white gauze that stood out stark against his bronze skin.
They all looked at , their eyes narrowing as they tried to figure out what I was doing.
I opened the box.
Snacks popped out of the confines like a Jack in the Box, landing across the bed in total chaos. I had everything: chips, pretzels, crackers, candy bars, packages of cookies. It was a variety that would’ve made a convenience store jealous.
And they were mine.
I grabbed a bag of Cheezies from where it had landed beside and held it up slightly, looking at each of them in turn. "Do not touch my Cheezies."
They should know by now that I was willing to defend my snacks at the cost of their lives.
Zhenlan’s mouth twitched slightly. Not quite a smile, but close enough that I smiled back at him.
I tore open the bag, pulled a stick out and popped it into my mouth, chewing slowly while I looked at Yuche.
"Grab a can of iced coffee from the mini fridge," I sighed, licking my neon orange fingers as I carefully picked up my phone. It was not a request.
Surprisingly, he didn’t argue. He just pushed himself off the wall with his good arm and crossed the room to the small fridge near my table. His movents were controlled despite the injury, his shoulder stiff but functional. He opened the fridge, grabbed a can from the top shelf, and walked back over to hand it to .
I took it without a word, cracked it open, and took a long drink. Perfectly cold and teeth ltingly sweet. Exactly what I needed.
Then I settled back onto the bed, pulled up the show I’d been watching yesterday, and hit play.
The sound was low—just loud enough for to hear, not loud enough to carry beyond the room. I took another drink of coffee, ate another Cheez, and let the familiar dialogue wash over .
"That’s not a proper breakfast," Zhenlan sighed.
I glanced up as he stood up and started walking toward . He grabbed a bag of pretzels and headed back to his seat, opening it without comnt.
"It’s the breakfast of champions as far as I’m concerned," I replied with a shrug. When I didn’t say anything else, or stab Zhenlan, the others took it as permission and approached the bed. Chenghai grabbed the Snickers bar... because apparently he wasn’t himself when he was hungry.
Lingyun eyed another bag of cheezies but thought better of it and took a bag of chocolate covered peanuts instead, and Yuche just looked at , his hand hovering at the bag that Lingyun almost took. His eyebrow raised for a mont in silent challenge.
"Your abs aren’t worth the price," I said at him, my gaze drifting up and down again to show him that I wasn’t impressed.
He snickered, pick up a bag of chips and went back to the wall he was keeping up.
"So," he started, opening the bag and taking out a single chip... The monster... "Are you going to tell the class how you got so good at handling a weapon?"
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