Chapter 397: Daily life 7.

Bai Li looked back. "That happened once."

"Twice."

"Once and a half."

The man laughed.

For a moment the hallway felt normal.

Then they moved on.

Tenth floor.

Two zombies.

Eleventh floor.

Nothing.

Twelfth floor.

One zombie hiding under a bed in an abandoned apartment.

Thirteenth floor.

Three zombies in a stairwell landing.

Fourteenth floor.

A dead quiet hallway.

Fifteenth floor.

One zombie inside a utility room.

Sixteenth floor.

Two.

Seventeenth floor.

Nothing.

Eighteenth floor.

One.

Nineteenth floor.

Two.

By the time they reached the twentieth, Bai Li had cleared more than

twenty zombies.

She was not tired.

Yan Cijin was a little tired.

She leaned against the wall and exhaled.

"You know what?"

Bai Li looked at her. "What?"

"I think I’m going to ban you from saying we’re doing a quick job."

Bai Li laughed. "It was quick."

"We cleared twenty floors."

"Exactly."

"You’re impossible."

"You said that this morning."

"It was still true."

Bai Li turned toward their apartment. "Come on."

Yan Cijin followed.

When they opened the door, Lili ran into the hallway before either of

them could stop her. Mother Yan was right behind her.

"Stay inside," Bai Li said immediately.

Lili stopped. "Are all the zombies gone?"

"From the building, yes."

Lili looked impressed. "All of them?"

"All the ones we found."

Mother Yan looked at Bai Li. "You cleared twenty floors?"

Bai Li nodded. "Now the stairs are safe."

Mother Yan gave her a look. "You could have asked the guards for help."

"They were busy."

Yan Cijin smiled. "That’s a nice way of saying you didn’t want to wait."

Bai Li ignored her.

Lili grabbed Bai Li’s hand. "Did you fight lots?"

"A few."

"How many?"

Yan Cijin answered, "Enough."

Lili looked at Bai Li. "Was it scary?"

Bai Li looked down at her. "No."

Lili relaxed. "Good."

Then she pulled Bai Li inside. "Come eat."

Bai Li blinked. "Already?"

"Yes."

"I just got back."

"That’s why."

Yan Cijin laughed behind them. "She’s right."

Bai Li looked back. "Whose side are you on?"

Yan Cijin smiled. "Usually hers."

"Usually?"

"Don’t get excited."

Bai Li followed Lili into the apartment.

Mother Yan closed the door behind them and locked it. The reinforced

latch clicked into place.

Bai Li heard the sound.

She smiled.

One less problem.

The apartment was quiet again.

And even though the world outside remained dangerous, the stairwell now

belonged to the people who lived there instead of whatever dead thing

wandered into it.

That afternoon became a little celebration without anybody calling it

one. There was extra food because Mother Yan had expected that Bai Li

and Yan Cijin would be hungry after working downstairs. Lili told the

story of Bai Li clearing the building as if she had personally watched

every floor. She exaggerated the number of zombies, the speed of

Whisperfang, and the number of times Bai Li had supposedly jumped from

one floor to another.

Bai Li corrected her only once.

"I didn’t jump from the eleventh floor."

Lili thought about it. "You should have."

Yan Cijin laughed.

"Don’t give her ideas."

Lili smiled. "Too late."

Mother Yan put another bowl in front of Bai Li.

"Eat."

Bai Li looked at the bowl. "I have enough."

"Eat."

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin.

Yan Cijin nodded. "She’s using the same voice you use on us."

Bai Li sighed and picked up her spoon. "Fine."

Mother Yan smiled. "Good."

The rest of the afternoon was calm.

Lili sat with Bai Li near the window while Yan Cijin sorted clothes. Bai

Li repaired a broken toy wheel, then a loose drawer, then the small

metal clip holding one of Lili’s curtains. Every time she finished

something, Lili announced it as though Bai Li had performed a miracle.

"Fixed!"

"Fixed," Bai Li repeated.

"Again!"

"What now?"

Lili pointed toward the table. "That leg is wrong."

Bai Li looked.

The table leg was fine.

She looked at Yan Cijin.

Yan Cijin was trying not to laugh.

"Don’t," Bai Li said.

Yan Cijin smiled. "I didn’t say anything."

"Your face did."

"Maybe Lili is just trying to keep you busy."

Lili nodded. "Yes."

Bai Li stared at both of them.

"I live with two bullies."

Mother Yan called from the kitchen, "And you like it."

Bai Li went quiet.

Yan Cijin looked at her.

Their eyes met.

Bai Li smiled first.

"Maybe."

The word was soft enough that Lili did not notice it.

Yan Cijin did.

She looked away.

The next morning, Bai Li woke before everyone else.

That was normal.

What was not normal was the fact that she stayed in bed for almost five

minutes after waking, simply because she could. There was no immediate

reason to stand up. No alarm. No urgent mission. No sound of something

breaking downstairs. The apartment was quiet, and the building was

quiet, and for once she did not have to spend the first minute of the

day deciding what could go wrong.

She eventually got up anyway.

When she entered the kitchen, Mother Yan was already there.

"You sleep early," Mother Yan said.

"Usually."

"And wake early."

"Usually."

Mother Yan smiled. "You have a very stable routine."

Bai Li shrugged. "It’s useful."

"You’re still young."

Bai Li stopped. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Mother Yan laughed. "Nothing. I just mean you don’t need to behave like

someone’s grandmother yet."

Bai Li glanced toward the hallway. "Yan Cijin called me an old mother

yesterday."

"She was right."

Bai Li looked offended.

Mother Yan laughed again.

"I mean it in a good way."

"Still suspicious."

Mother Yan handed her a cup of tea. "Drink."

Bai Li accepted it. "You and your daughter are very similar."

Mother Yan raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"

"You both tell me what to do."

"Then you must listen."

"I do not."

"You do."

Bai Li was about to answer when Yan Cijin walked into the kitchen, still

sleepy, her hair loose and her face showing the clear expression of

someone who had not yet decided whether she was awake.

.

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.