Chapter 449: Eternity 10.

Yan followed with a smile. "Try not to fall in love with a light

fixture."

Bai’s step faltered for half a heartbeat.

Yan pretended not to notice.

The Building Is Not Finished Yet

Bai did fix the flickering emergency light before moving on, although

Yan made her eat a packed bun while she worked. Bai argued that she

could eat afterward, but Yan reminded her that she had said the same

thing yesterday and had ended up eating cold rice at nearly three in the

afternoon. Bai looked toward the light fixture, decided that arguing

would take longer than eating, and took a bite. Yan leaned against the

wall and watched with the quiet satisfaction of someone who had

successfully persuaded a stubborn person to do something sensible

without needing to raise her voice.

When the light worked again, Bai tested it twice, checked the

connection, and recorded the maintenance date on a small label near the

fixture. Then she began inspecting the lower floors. The residents had

reported no other movement, but Bai wanted to check the access doors

herself. If the zombies had entered through a service passage, another

gap might still be open somewhere else in the building. She did not plan

to wait for somebody to hear scratching after midnight before looking

for it.

They worked their way down one floor at a time. Yan stayed with her,

carrying the equipment and helping inspect corners that were difficult

to see. The first few floors were clear. A door near the seventh floor

had been forced open during the earlier outbreak, but the residents had

barricaded it with a cabinet and a metal rack. Bai removed the temporary

barrier, reinforced the frame, and showed Yan where the lock had begun

to split. At the ninth floor, they found a broken window latch that

would have allowed the wind to push the window open. Bai repaired that

too, muttering that half the building’s problems came from people

assuming something would hold simply because it had held yesterday.

Yan kept a written list of every repair. She also recorded the places

that needed to be checked again after heavy rain or a strong gust of

wind. At first Bai said the notes were unnecessary because she could

remember the details. Yan pointed out that Bai could remember all of

them until she got called to deal with a zombie, a damaged water line,

or Lili’s missing toy, at which point a small repair might slip her

mind. Bai considered the argument, then agreed that the list was useful.

She did not admit that Yan was right, but she stopped complaining about

the notebook.

On the sixth floor, they found an older man sitting outside his

apartment with a small radio in his lap. He had been listening to static

for most of the morning and hoped that a signal from somewhere would

tell him what was happening beyond the complex. When he saw Bai

approaching with a toolbox and a weapon, he quickly put the radio aside.

"I haven’t heard anything," he said before either woman had asked. "I

was only listening."

"You can listen," Yan said. "Just keep the volume low. Sound travels

through the stairwell."

The man nodded. He looked at Bai, then at the toolbox. "Are you checking

all the floors?"

"Yes."

"Will you find any more of them?"

Bai could have told him that no one could promise the building was

completely clear. Instead, she answered the question he had asked. "If

there are any more inside, I’ll find them."

The man swallowed, then nodded once. It was not a promise that the

building would never be threatened again, but it was more useful than a

comforting lie. Bai continued down the stairs, and Yan stayed beside her

until they reached the next landing.

"You know people find you frightening," Yan said after they had moved

far enough away that the man could no longer hear them.

"I know."

"You could try sounding less like you’re about to sentence them."

"I said I’d find the zombies. What else was I supposed to say?"

"Perhaps that you’d do your best and that they should report anything

unusual."

"That’s what I said yesterday."

"Then perhaps you could say it with a smile."

Bai gave her a look. "Would you prefer I smile at the zombies too?"

Yan’s laugh echoed softly in the stairwell. "That would be a sight worth

seeing."

Bai’s own expression softened, and she turned back toward the stairs

before Yan could see how pleased she was to have made her laugh. They

continued the inspection. On the fourth floor, they found two small

zombies trapped behind a door to an unused storage room. Someone had

heard them earlier but had been too afraid to check. Bai opened the door

carefully, drew them out one by one, and dispatched them without

allowing either corpse to reach the main corridor. She checked the room

afterward, found no signs of another entrance, and secured the door.

At the second floor, a group of residents had stacked furniture near the

stairwell. The arrangement blocked more than half the passage. Bai

stopped so abruptly that Yan nearly walked into her back.

"Who put this here?" Bai asked.

A woman emerged from a nearby apartment. "We were trying to make a

barricade. We thought it would stop anything coming up the stairs."

"It will also stop you from getting down the stairs if you need to run.

Move it."

The woman looked uncertain. "But what if more zombies come in?"

"Then you need room to fight or move. A pile of furniture in the middle

of the stairwell gives them cover and traps you behind it. Put the

heavier pieces against the wall and leave a clear path. If you want a

barrier, build it where it won’t block the exit."

The woman began to object, but Yan stepped in before the conversation

could become a fight. She explained that they could keep a barrier near

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.