Chapter Text
Arc 1: Beginning
Chapter 1: Prologue
The air was hot and humid. It felt charged in a way that announced that the skies wanted to find their release soon. The cicadas that had begun their evening concert, already quieted down prematurely.
Xiao Xingchen was glad for the resulting quiet, yet the small hairs on his arm bristled in anticipation of what was about to come. They’d need to find shelter soon if they didn’t want to get caught in the upcoming summer storm.
Earlier in the day, they had arrived at a small deserted town. The undead infestation was manageable. Probably, the town never had all too many inhabitants and there had never been much reason for the undead from the outside to linger too long.
Xiao Xingchen heard some movements further in the distance, but they were isolated. They did not pose an immediate threat if taken out one by one. The town was as good a spot to camp for the night as it could get, provided they cleaned up the area before they went to sleep.
They slowed their walk at the edge of the main street and adjusted their backpacks so their blades were easier to access. Xiao Xingchen slipped his glasses into place.
The wind already picked up, rattling loose shop signs. Fabric snapped somewhere above, probably an old flag that had managed to survive on its mast for the past five years. Footsteps dragged irregularly several houses away.
Xiao Xingchen let the pause stretch for a bit. Song Lan preferred to map their surroundings early, to mark their paths and exits. After a few moments, Xiao Xingchen reached to his left where his partner was walking half a step ahead of him. He gently tapped his lower arm twice to gain his attention. Next to him, Song Lan’s posture changed as he, too, started listening.
They realigned themselves and started to move forward again, seamlessly weaving through the streets with their abandoned cars and rubble of all kinds. Song Lan nudged the inside of Xiao Xingchen’s left elbow, and they shifted closer towards the row of buildings to their left. The temperature dropped immediately as they entered their shadows and their steps echoed loudly off the walls in the absence of other sounds. Xiao Xingchen followed Song Lan, trusting his lead.
Eventually, they reached the spot where they presumed the sounds of the undead had come from. Their steps automatically slowed down and they shifted closer towards each other.
Xiao Xingchen’s head tipped to the side and he squeezed Song Lan’s upper arm. Something had moved in one of the doorways behind them. The hinges of the door creaked. The undead’s breathing was uneven and wet.
Song Lan nudged Xiao Xingchen’s arm and Xiao Xingchen smoothly moved to the right, giving Song Lan enough open space to step forward. He always preferred to maintain just enough distance, even in moments of necessity.
Song Lan’s blade left its sheath quietly. The undead slumped to the ground with a final groan and a dull thud.
Xiao Xingchen took a moment to assess if any other undead were close by. When he found that this was not the case, he turned and continued their walk. Song Lan caught up with him and resumed his usual position to his left.
The next undead they encountered were moving closer to each other. Two of them in close proximity, probably attracted by the earlier undead’s dying noise.
Song Lan placed two fingers on Xiao Xingchen’s elbow and Xiao Xingchen stopped. When Song Lan’s touch remained on his arm, Xiao Xingchen shifted one step back and positioned his hand on the handle of his own blade. Just in case.
Song Lan eliminated the closest threat a few steps ahead of them. Afterwards, Xiao Xingchen started to move again and gently pulled on his partner’s sleeve. The second undead and an additional third one that they hadn’t noticed before were closing in from the side.
They retreated a few steps, using the gap between two old abandoned cars to funnel the undead, so they could take out one after the other.
After the area was cleaned, they did not move immediately. Xiao Xingchen listened deliberately. There was no more human-like movement nearby. He wiped his glasses and put them away. Rain drops slowly began to hit the ground and the two cars in front of them. Song Lan lowered his blade and it rattled slightly as its tip touched the ground. Xiao Xingchen gave Song Lan a reassuring pat on the shoulder and they resumed walking again.
The summer rain was warm, the scent of the wet ground a welcome change to the dust they had been exposed to the past few days. Still, they shouldn’t linger outside too long. Low thunder already rumbled in the distance.
Finding a suitable building for this night’s shelter took a while. After all, they wanted a shelter with intact protection instead of broken doors and windows.
Eventually they chose one specific house that seemed safe enough. Song Lan carefully placed his hand on Xiao Xingchen’s back as they ascended the stairs of the porch. The door wasn’t locked and it swung open smoothly. The floor panels creaked underneath Song Lan’s first step.
Xiao Xingchen followed and closed the door behind them.
He stopped briefly and rubbed his finger tips together.
There had not been any dust on the inner door handle.
Song Lan had only used the outer door handle.
Xiao Xingchen briefly pressed his palm against Song Lan’s wrist. Slow down, something is off.
His partner confirmed with a short squeeze of his upper arm. Stay alert.
Song Lan walked around what presumably used to be the living room. However, the room sounded hollow.
Xiao Xingchen moved along the wall, brushing a hand against a chair that had been angled toward the doorway. The floor creaked differently where a heavy wooden table from the dining area had been shifted. He traced a dresser with his fingers. It was wedged in a position that suggested careful placement. From behind the dresser, a slight breath of air wheezed through a leaky window and the curtains rustled faintly.
The room had been prepared, and not haphazardly. Xiao Xingchen could sense the intention behind each obstruction.
Song Lan moved into another room. His steps echoed down the hallway as he methodically checked each corner. Xiao Xingchen silently followed him.
They noticed the presence of a third person before they even saw her. A light, uneven scuff of small footsteps came from somewhere deeper in the house, followed by the soft exhale of breath.
Xiao Xingchen leaned slightly toward Song Lan and whispered. “How old?”
“No older than twelve.” Came the quiet reply.
a-Qing crawled out from where she had been hiding after the two strangers had spotted her. Her chances were better on her feet than cramped underneath a desk after all.
“I’m sixteen!” She lied, puffing herself up in an attempt to appear taller and more threatening than she actually was.
“Ah, my apologies. You moved so lightly. We shouldn’t have assumed.” The left man spoke. His voice was gentle. a-Qing eyed him suspiciously.
Up close, both men didn’t look half-feral like most people she’d met. Their backpacks were filled with supplies, implying they were actually doing well. Their clothes were worn but cared for and their faces clean-shaven. Their movements were unhurried and not in a frenzy. They weren’t the wild-eyed kind that forgot to sleep either. She wasn’t yet sure whether that made them more or less dangerous.
“Are you staying here?” The Soft One continued. “We didn’t mean to intrude.”
“It’s… my house.” a-Qing’s grip tightened around the metal pipe in her hand as she clutched the defensive tool to her chest. “Until the others come back. I’m waiting for them.” Her voice wavered just enough to sound confident. The two strangers wouldn’t need to know that nobody would come back. Nobody ever came back.
“Then we won’t be staying long.” The Soft One said amiably. a-Qing watched him carefully, noting how his hand hovered near the doorway, as if measuring the distance. “Would you mind sharing your shelter with us for tonight? We’d prefer not to be outside during the storm.”
a-Qing quickly evaluated her chances. They clearly outnumbered and outpowered her. They weren’t unarmed either. Long blades, the old-fashioned kind, hung sheathed on their backs. The fresh bloodstains on them proved they weren’t just for show. That tipped the balance further out of her favor. If they wanted to stay, there was not much she could do to prevent it. “Only if you leave first thing tomorrow morning. Before the others come back. They’ll be angry if they find out.”
“We will be gone by morning.” The quieter one of the two said. He’d been silently watching their exchange with hawk eyes until now. a-Qing decided to label him the Guard Guy.
“Of course.” The Soft One seemed nice, but a-Qing knew that nice did not always mean safe. He smiled at her. But the smile wasn’t directed at her when he spoke. It was just a bit off the mark. As if he had aimed for her and missed. And that unsettled her.
“My name is Xiao Xingchen and this is Song Lan.” The Soft One actually seemed to be excited to meet a new person. “What’s your name?”
He took a step forward. a-Qing immediately braced herself, ready to bolt.
But she didn’t need to. Guard Guy instantly placed a firm two-finger-tap on his companion’s arm. a-Qing noted the precise gesture as odd, yet very efficient. The Soft One froze in his steps. He shifted his weight back, hands lifting slightly, palms open. He stayed where he was, giving her the space back without being asked.
“Sorry.” The Soft One apologized at once, tone earnest rather than embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to crowd you.”
a-Qing let out a quiet, relieved breath. At least they were neither the kind who rushed you nor the kind who closed in all at once. She also noted how they, very pointedly, did not block the door during their entire conversation, not even by accident. They were deliberately careful and careful people were easier to predict than the impulsive ones.
Guard Guy shifted and a-Qing immediately flinched. It had been the first larger movement from him aside from his deliberately small gesture towards the other guy earlier.
He must’ve noticed her reaction for he retreated a few steps back and offered to remove himself from the room. “Is it ok for you if I check out your kitchen?”
a-Qing gave him a hesitant nod. Again, he was probably twice her size. If he wanted to go, he would. Besides, she’d already raided most of the kitchen early. It wasn’t like he could find much food to steal there.
“Xingchen?” Guard Guy softly brushed his hand against the Soft One’s arm.
“We’ll be fine, dear, just go.” The Soft One confirmed as he patted Guard Guy’s shoulder.
A short moment of silence passed before the Soft One shifted again as his hand got hold of the edge of a massive bookshelf on one of the walls. “Do you mind if I take a look around the room while we speak?”
“Whatever.” a-Qing eyed him warily. Why would he even need her permission? It was not like she was his mom or anything.
But still, it was nice that he let her know what he was up to. To him ‘taking a look around the room’ seemed to mean wandering around the room and picking random things up before putting them back where he got them from. He started with the big wooden shelf next to him, ran his hands over the rows of books and quietly noted that this must be a very ‘exquisite’ collection as he put it. a-Qing wouldn’t know, she didn’t recognize any of these books and frankly put, she didn’t care. Exquisite, she thought. Who even talked like that anymore?
He started chatting to her. About literally anything. The weather, the undead situation in town, how his last few days had been, little things he picked up during his investigation of the room. Sometimes he called her ‘young miss’. That was weird and made her cringe. It also still irritated her that when he talked to her, he’d just look into her general direction instead of at her.
As he moved around, a-Qing mirrored him on the other side of the room in order to evade him and keep her distance, all while keeping an eye on the door as well.
Eventually Guard Guy appeared in the doorway again. He briefly tapped his finger against the doorframe to gain their attention. “The kitchen is fully functional.”
“Really? Oh, that’s wonderful!” The Soft One’s face lit up at once. He crossed the room with a few familiar strides before he followed Guard Guy to the kitchen.
a-Qing peeked out from the doorway. From the kitchen came the clatter of utensils and the low murmur of their voices.
“What type of stove is it?” The Soft One asked.
“Gas. I’ll operate it.” Guard Guy replied.
That made a-Qing pause.
She knew gas could be used for cooking. The small camping burners had still been common to find a few years ago. Someone had taught her how to twist the valve and light it and, most importantly, how to shut it off fast if something went wrong. She hadn’t seen one of those burners in a while, at least not functional ones. Most were all empty nowadays.
But a gas stove was bigger than just one small cooker. She’d tried once and stopped when the smell made her nervous. Fire was useful, but explosions weren’t.
If they could get it working, she wanted to see how.
She padded closer and stopped at the kitchen doorway, close enough to watch but not close enough to get cornered. The metal pipe stayed in her hand. Just in case.
To her disappointment, they did not start with the stove. Instead, the Soft One opened a window and put a large pot outside on the window sill to gather rain water. The storm filled it quickly.
They rummaged around in their bags and eventually produced some scavenged vegetables - a few feral greens and an onion. a-Qing grimaced. Other adults had tried to make her eat those before. She’d hated them.
The vegetables were cut into neat pieces. a-Qing appreciated that the knives did not stay in reach on the table and disappeared back into the drawer as soon as they weren’t needed anymore. However, she also noted which drawer it was and how many knives were in it.
The interesting part came when Guard Guy readjusted a big bottle of propane. It was dusty, marked with fresh fingerprints. Damn. She’d missed to see how he installed it. She watched closely as he adjusted the valves. The gas hissed as he fine-tuned it and a-Qing tried to memorize which hiss he considered right before he used a lighter to ignite it.
Cooking took forever. Rice simmered, then went into a pan with the vegetables and sizzled until the smell changed into something warm and unfamiliar. a-Qing’s stomach growled.
While the food cooked, the Soft One now rummaged through the upper cupboards. He ran his fingers along little containers with powders. He opened and sniffed at their contents. The powders gaining his approval were put on the counter, the others went back into the cupboard.
The scent of the powders filled the air. In the end, curiosity won and a-Qing crept forward to examine the containers herself. Afterward, she returned the first one to its exact place.
The Soft One reached for it without hesitation.
Before he could touch it, she silently moved the next container roughly two hand-widths to the side from where it had been.
And then she observed.
How Xiao Xingchen reached for it.
And how he hesitated.
Xiao Xingchen reached for the third and last spice.
Only for his hand to hit empty space.
It was rare for him to misjudge distance like that nowadays. He’d been pretty certain of the spice container’s location. He paused, recalculating, fingers hovering as he oriented himself by sound and memory.
Next to him, the clutter of the spatula against the pan quieted as Song Lan’s movements stilled, attentive but not intervening.
He didn’t need to.
“A bit more to your right.” The girl’s quiet voice came from the direction of the door.
Xiao Xingchen adjusted without comment and found the spice. He nodded once in her direction, a simple acknowledgment, and continued seasoning as if nothing had happened.
The spatula resumed its steady rhythm.
After the food was properly seasoned, Xiao Xingchen turned his head toward the doorway.
“Young miss, you can come closer.” He said mildly. “I know you’re still there. Help me set the table, will you?”
There was a pause. Then careful footsteps approached, closer than before, still cautious but no longer retreating. “... okay.”
Soon they found themselves sitting around the dinner table. The food smelled wonderful. They hadn’t had access to a kitchen in a while now and it’d been fun to do more than just a simple broth or grilled food for once, Xiao Xingchen thought.
On the opposite side of the table, the kid sniffed loudly.
“Are you alright?” Xiao Xingchen asked with a frown.
The answer did not come directly, it came a beat too late.
“It’s too spicy.” She said, trying to suppress another sniffle.
Xiao Xingchen turned his head toward his own plate and inhaled the scent. He hadn’t even used hot spices.
Still, he smiled at her. “I’ll use a less heavy hand on the spices next time.”
She was quiet after that.
And so Xiao Xingchen took it upon himself to uphold the conversation that evening, steering it gently until Song Lan laughed as well. He hoped the laughter might make them seem less like strangers to be endured. The air felt lighter after that.
From across the table came the small, careful sound of someone eating who didn’t want to be noticed. She didn’t add much to the conversation, but she stayed. Xiao Xingchen noticed that Song Lan subtly shifted so he wouldn’t crowd her, maintaining just enough distance to make her feel safe.
Her chair didn’t scrape back. Her footsteps didn’t retreat. Xiao Xingchen took that as a good sign for now.
When it was time for them to retreat for sleep, they let her choose a room first before they chose theirs.
“Good night, young miss.” Xiao Xingchen told her.
“Stop calling me that. That’s so weird!” Her eyeroll was so loud, he could almost hear it. “My name is a-Qing.”
“Alright. Good night, a-Qing.”
Her steps retreated down the hallway, lighter than before, and the door to her chosen room closed with a soft, deliberate click.
In the privacy of their room, Xiao Xingchen tiredly ran his hands over his face, pressing briefly against his temples. “Twelve years, a-Lan, twelve.”
“Do you believe her?” The mattress of the bed creaked as Song Lan sat on it.
“That her group will come back?” Xiao Xingchen hugged himself and rubbed his arms. “No, not really. You?”
“There were no signs of anybody else around.” Song Lan’s voice sounded grim.
Xiao Xingchen sighed. If there had been any other people, they should’ve noticed by now.
“a-Chen…” Song Lan’s hand reached for his.
“We can’t just leave her.” Xiao Xingchen intertwined his fingers with his partner’s.
Silence stretched as Song Lan mulled it over. Eventually he gave Xiao Xingchen’s hand a small squeeze. “We can stay for a few more days and see how it goes from there.”
“Yes, yes, that’s a good idea.” Xiao Xingchen returned the squeeze before he let go and started pacing the room, still in thought.
Song Lan let him do so for a while before he intervened. “You should get some rest.” He didn’t need to say ‘you know what happens when you don’t’. They both knew.
Xiao Xingchen deflated in defeat and returned to Song Lan’s side. His partner offered him a bottle of water. The question ‘Did you drink enough today?’ was left unspoken as well.
Sleep came late, full of half-formed thoughts. But when morning came, neither of them mentioned leaving.
And neither did a-Qing throw them out of the house as she had announced. Her when the others return… lingered for a while, thinning out over shared meals and quiet mornings, until it became if.
At first, she kept her distance. She hovered in doorways, always just out of reach.
Then one morning she stopped pretending she wasn’t listening at all.
A day or two later, she asked Song Lan how the stove worked. She learned quickly, repeated the motions, tested the valves herself. She was also quite perceptive in a different way. She had already adjusted to Song Lan’s personal boundaries, making sure to give him enough space and not to brush against him accidentally. He didn’t have to remind her a single time. That was rare.
Xiao Xingchen showed her how to season food after that. How a little could be enough, how too much could ruin things.
By the time they went out together to scavenge, it no longer felt like an exception. It felt like a routine.
When supplies ran low and Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan spoke of leaving, a-Qing simply asked where they were headed and began packing her things.
She didn’t ask if she could come. She assumed they would let her.
Song Lan shifted his steps to make room for her.
Xiao Xingchen didn’t correct her either. Instead, he found a small smile on his lips when a-Qing’s metal pipe started to quietly tap against obstacles in difficult terrain.
At first he thought of the taps as coincidence.
But they were not carelessly placed. Each tap came just before his path narrowed, just before the ground changed. And so he learned to follow them.
She was marking the way.
She was part of their group now.
Slowly, the hot summer days gave way to cool breezes and then to cold, rainy days.
Xiao Xingchen blew hot air in his cupped hands to warm them up.
“Xiao-ge, there‘s some big buildings in the far distance.” a-Qing informed him.
Song Lan confirmed their direction with a soft hand on Xiao Xingchen’s arm.