Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home

Yuche recognized the black market before they left the healer’s section.

It was smaller than he remembered, rougher around the edges and crowded with people who hadn’t yet learned how much power could be built beneath a collection of rusted warehouse roofs.

The hanging lights were uneven, the guards were poorly placed, and several stalls had been allowed to block corridors that would eventually become important escape routes.

None of that changed the foundation of the place.

The central warehouse would become the public market. The upper walkways would be restricted once the head understood how useful it was to watch every transaction from above. A false wall near the old loading office concealed a service passage that connected three buildings, while the freight tunnel beneath the eastern warehouse offered a way out beyond the fenced compound.

Yuche remembered all of it.

He also remembered who would eventually control it.

Lingyun stood beside Rouxi’s cot, smiling brightly while the healer wrapped her ankle and repeated the instructions Rouxi had already decided to ignore.

"No unnecessary walking," the woman said, tightening the final layer. "No running, fighting, or putting strain on the joint for the rest of the day."

Rouxi looked down at the neat bandage before testing the ankle against the floor. "What counts as unnecessary?"

The healer stared at her. "Anything that isn’t required to keep you alive."

"That leaves a lot of room for interpretation."

"It really doesn’t."

Lingyun nodded seriously beside her. "Don’t worry. I’ll carry her everywhere."

Rouxi’s head turned slowly in his direction. "Try it."

His smile became even brighter. "You make everything sound so exciting."

Yuche stepped closer before Lingyun could turn the healer’s table into another argument. He offered Rouxi his hand, and she accepted it after a brief pause. He assumed that it was more because she wanted to stand than because she intended to admit she needed help.

Her weight shifted carefully onto the repaired ankle. The pain that tightened her mouth was slight, but Yuche still placed one hand against the small of her back as she took her first step.

Rouxi glanced at him. "I can walk."

"I know," he hummed, but he didn’t move. There was nothing on this planet that was going to make him move. Not when she was hurt and needed him.

"You’re hovering," she sighed, like he wasn’t fully aware of what he was doing.

"I’m just standing beside you," he replied, a slight smile on his lips. Lingyun wasn’t wrong... poking at Rouxi was fun... as long as they didn’t take it too far.

"That’s what Zhenlan said."

Yuche didn’t respond, which earned him a suspicious look before she turned toward the market.

Lingyun paid the healer with the white core and immediately fell into step on Rouxi’s other side. Anyone watching would have seen exactly what Lingyun wanted them to see: Jian Yuche’s shameless right-hand man fussing over the woman he adored, talking too much, smiling too easily, and treating every threat like an invitation.

They wouldn’t have noticed how accurately he moved through the market.

Lingyun had chosen the correct entrance without hesitation, even though the loading yard offered three visible ways inside.

Not to mention, he had guided them to the healer through two connected warehouses without stopping to ask for directions. When they reached a split corridor, he steered Rouxi away from the left-hand passage before a guard warned another group that it was restricted.

Now he slowed beside a support pillar marked with three black lines and glanced toward the upper walkway.

The markings hadn’t been explained by anyone, and yet...Lingyun understood them anyway.

Nothing showed on Yuche’s face. He kept his hand near Rouxi’s back and watched a man move aside when Yuche met his eyes for half a second too long.

Lingyun knew too much.

There were several explanations he could offer if anyone asked. The Triad had used freight yards before the apocalypse. He had spent years dealing with smugglers, unofficial markets, and men who believed rules were only useful when backed by violence. He could claim instinct, experience, or information bought from someone else.

Every explanation would sound reasonable, after all, Yuche had lived behind reasonable explanations for most of his life.

He knew what a perfect mask looked like because he was wearing one too.

The black market in his memories had been larger, better guarded, and controlled by a man who smiled while burning anyone foolish enough to threaten its neutrality. Lingyun had owned the upper offices, the hidden inventory, and every guard who wanted to remain employed.

Yuche hadn’t known exactly when Lingyun took control.

Now he suspected he was about to find out.

He filed the thought away without allowing his attention to linger. Whatever Lingyun remembered—or didn’t remember—was not something Yuche intended to expose. Some secrets were dangerous because they could be used against a person.

Others were dangerous because speaking them aloud could change everything.

Rouxi stopped so suddenly that Yuche nearly walked into her.

A row of core merchants occupied the center of the next warehouse, their tables covered with shallow trays, locked boxes, and handwritten signs listing prices in food, medicine, ammunition, or other cores.

Several green stones sat beneath a hanging lamp at the first stall.

Rouxi’s face lit up.

Then she got close enough to see them.

"These are terrible," she hiss in disappointment.

The merchant’s smile disappeared into a glare as he looked down his nose at Rouxi like she was some little girl who didn’t know the way of the world. "Those are quality plant cores."

Rouxi picked up the smallest one and held it toward the light. The cloudy stone was barely larger than her fingernail.

"This looks like someone colored a pebble," she pointed out, not willing to back down. Then again, given the cores that she normally consumed, these really were on the smaller end.

"It came from an evolved zombie," the seller sputtered.

"Did the zombie evolve before or after it died of malnutrition?" Rouxi snapped back, her hands on her hips.

Lingyun leaned over Rouxi’s shoulder and examined the tray with exaggerated concern. "Maybe they shrank in storage."

The merchant glared at him. "They’re priced according to rarity."

Lingyun looked at the amount written beside them and whistled. "At that price, they should sing, dance, and cook me dinner," he said, smirking at the man.

Rouxi set the core down and moved to the next stall before the merchant could answer. Yuche stayed beside her, carrying the container of trade cores while Lingyun followed close enough to brush against her shoulder every few steps.

Nothing about him looked calculating.

He complained about prices, tried to convince Rouxi to buy a silver necklace she didn’t need, and asked one seller whether the dried meat on display had been identified before or after it was cooked.

At the same time, he guided them away from the most aggressive brokers and toward merchants whose guards wore the current head’s symbol. He never paused long enough for anyone to notice the pattern.

The next three stalls were no better.

The available green cores were small, weak, and priced like they were fist sized diamonds. One merchant admitted that larger stones rarely reached the public tables because private buyers claimed them first. Another said the strongest cores were held upstairs for established factions and people with direct arrangements with the market’s head.

Rouxi’s irritation grew with every tray.

"This was supposed to be shopping," she muttered after examining another cloudy core. "Shopping is supposed to be fun."

Lingyun placed one hand over his heart. "I’m having fun."

"You’re annoying strangers," Rouxi snapped back.

"And that’s one of my favorite activities. Lot’s of fun to go all around."

Rouxi snorted and leaned closer to the next display. Yuche shifted with her, positioning himself between her and two men who had started paying more attention to her than to the goods on the table.

They quickly looked away.

Lingyun noticed the movement, but his smile never faltered. He draped an arm around Rouxi’s shoulders and kissed her cheek before she could protest.

"I’m going to look around," he announced.

Rouxi leaned into the kiss for half a second, accepting as her dues, before turning her attention back to the cores. "You’ve been looking around."

"I’m going to look around more efficiently," Lingyun announced, nodding his head.

"That sounds dangerous."

"Only for other people."

He squeezed her once, then released her and pointed at the trays in front of them. "Don’t buy anything pretty without me."

Rouxi looked at a green core so cloudy it was almost grey. "There’s nothing pretty here."

Lingyun’s grin widened as something beyond the stalls appeared to catch his attention. He gave Yuche one careless glance—the same look a right-hand man might give his leader before wandering into a crowd—then slipped between two groups of traders.

Within seconds, he was gone.

Rouxi barely looked up. "He probably saw food."

"Probably," Yuche agreed.

His hand remained at the small of her back while she began insulting the next merchant’s stock.

Above them, the guards outside the restricted staircase shifted positions.

Yuche did not look toward them.

He didn’t need to.

He knew exactly where Lingyun was going.