"Big sister... I'm hungry..." Ding Ling tipped her head back, her voice a frail, pitiful rasp as she stared up at Fu Qingdai.
Fu Qingdai forced a stiff, unnatural smile.
Fu Hu gently squeezed his daughter’s shoulder. "Qingdai," he muttered, keeping his voice low. "The Director will handle this. Come on, let's go."
Fu Qingdai pursed her lips and firmly shook her head, a deep, anxious crease forming between her brows.
No!
This Disguised Infected was far too dangerous. She had deliberately infiltrated their camp from the outside.
Worse, she might possess some unknown superpower. Fu Qingdai had no idea where her cousin, Su Jin, was, but dragging this out would only invite disaster.
Her breathing hitched, her pulse drumming against her ribs as Su Jin's voice echoed in her head.
If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, kill them.
She had killed Zombies before, but she had never taken a human life. And this creature looked exactly like a normal little girl. Can I actually pull the trigger?
Making her father do the dirty work wasn't an option either.
Five guards stood right here, and the activity center behind them was packed with survivors. A sudden, unprovoked execution could spark mass panic.
She chewed her lower lip until it turned white, her mind racing for a solution.
But at that exact moment, Ding Ling whimpered again, her voice a flawless imitation of a dying child. "Big sister... please save me. I just want... some water..."
She's still acting!
Fu Qingdai’s fists clenched at her sides as a sudden, ruthless spark of inspiration hit her.
She slipped her delicate hand into the pocket of her dress, withdrawing a small square of chocolate carefully bundled in a handkerchief.
She made it a point to carry everything Su Jin gave her.
Gripping the softened chocolate through the fabric, she pinched off a piece and offered it to a nearby guard. "Feed her this. Your hands are filthy from perimeter patrol, so use the handkerchief."
This alien chocolate was obscenely toxic. Mere skin contact triggered a violently fatal allergic reaction—something she had already witnessed firsthand.
Unaware of the danger, the guard quickly took the bundle and brought the sweet to Ding Ling's lips.
"Thank you, big sister..." Ding Ling smiled, her eyes curving into innocent little crescents as she bit down.
The rich, melting chocolate slid right down her throat.
"Gah—!? Urgh!! Hrk!!!"
Barely two seconds after swallowing, Ding Ling’s eyeballs bulged terrifyingly from their sockets. It was as if a lump of white-hot magnesium had plunged down her esophagus and detonated in her stomach.
Agony seized her. Her small frame spasmed, thrashing and contorting against her bindings in a grotesque, unnatural frenzy.
The surrounding guards flinched, absolutely stunned by the sudden, violent seizure.
"Hey, what’s happening to you?! Talk to me!" one of the men yelled in panic.
"She's infected!"
Even as the words left her mouth, Fu Qingdai’s right hand whipped up her skirt, seamlessly drawing the pistol strapped to her pale thigh. Without a second of hesitation, she aimed squarely at Ding Ling's face and squeezed the trigger!
A deafening bang shattered the air, the bullet striking the girl dead center between the eyes.
The kinetic force snapped Ding Ling's skull backward, slamming it against the solid oak with a sickening crack, stars flashing before her vision.
The sheer brutality of the execution froze the guards in their tracks, but no one was more horrified than Fu Qingdai herself.
The bullet hadn't penetrated.
Instead, the crumpled brass casing was lodged halfway into Ding Ling’s forehead, the crushed metal gleaming cheerfully in the afternoon sun.
She's still not dead?!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Fu Qingdai squeezed her eyes shut, clamping down on the trigger until the pistol's slide locked back empty.
A tight grouping of bloody craters shredded the creature's chest and stomach, thick gore spraying outward to stain the grass.
Her internal organs liquified by the alien toxin and her torso pumped full of lead, Ding Ling glared at Fu Qingdai. Her eyes were swollen, blood-red orbs of absolute disbelief.
This bitch poisoned me on purpose?!
What the fuck did I do wrong?! Where did my act slip up?!
"Gah... fuck... you... hrk!"
Before she could spit out her final curse, a fountain of black blood erupted from Ding Ling's throat.
Her head slumped heavily to the side. Dead.
The five guards stared at the mangled corpse, the ringing in their ears fading before they all slowly turned their wide-eyed gazes to the young girl.
Fu Qingdai’s delicate face was completely devoid of color. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, forcing her features into an icy, impassive mask.
She swept her gaze over the hardened men. "She was infected. Some of the mutations have incredibly subtle incubation periods, making them nearly impossible to detect. But they cannot hide from my eyes. From now on, if any stranger approaches this camp, bind them instantly and haul them to me. No exceptions. Only after I personally clear them will they be processed. Am I understood?"
The men straightened their postures, their initial shock melting into profound awe and immense gratitude.
She's incredible! Truly worthy of being our Savior, the Child of Prophecy!
She had seen right through the monster's flawless disguise in seconds.
They had been watching the little girl for over an hour and suspected nothing. Yet, the moment the Holy Maiden arrived, the threat was exposed and eliminated!
She had drawn and fired without a shred of hesitation. If she hadn't acted so decisively, they might all be corpses right now.
"Return to your posts," Fu Qingdai commanded smoothly. "Leave the carcass. The survivors inside definitely heard the gunfire. Go reassure them. Keep panic to a minimum and maintain strict order."
"Yes, ma'am!" The five men delivered crisp salutes before jogging back toward the activity center.
The exact second the heavy doors clicked shut behind them, Fu Qingdai’s knees buckled. She collapsed into Fu Hu’s chest, shivering like a leaf in a hurricane.
"Dad... I just killed someone..."
Fu Hu wrapped his massive arms around his trembling daughter, his own heart hammering against his ribs from the sheer terror of the encounter. After murmuring a litany of comforting words into her hair, he finally asked, "Qingdai... how did you know? How could you tell she was infected?"
"I can see it! I can actually see it!" Fu Qingdai gasped, pulling back to look him in the eyes. The residual horror on her face was quickly bleeding into wild, intoxicating excitement. "It’s my Ability!"
"We never have to worry about infiltrators again! The moment they harbor any malicious intent toward us, I can feel it pulsing off them!"
"Everyone currently in our camp is clean. If they weren't, I would have triggered on them immediately. Dad, I finally awakened an Ability!"
"My god..." Fu Hu breathed, pulling her tight against his chest. A profound, overwhelming mix of triumphant joy and suffocating dread settled over his soul.
With a sensory talent like that, his little girl wouldn't just be a figurehead. She would become the absolute, irreplaceable foundation of their entire survival faction.
She was no longer just a fake, fabricated 'Saintess' propped up by Su Jin's PR stunts. She was truly their radar. Their beacon. Their hope.
But she’s just a child... The weight of such a terrifying responsibility was practically a death sentence.
"I need to tell Cousin Su immediately." After a few minutes, Fu Qingdai finally steadied her breathing. She wiped her face, stepping out of her father's embrace. "Where is he right now?"
"I have no idea. Let's go look for him," Fu Hu sighed, a sudden, bitter tang of paternal jealousy rising in his throat.
It's always 'Cousin Su' this, and 'Cousin Su' that. She had literally just murdered a monster and was shaking out of her boots.
Your own flesh-and-blood father is standing right here holding you, and the first thing you want to do is go report to that lunatic!
Fu Qingdai cast one final, nervous glance at Ding Ling’s mangled corpse, instinctively taking two large steps back.
Her hands shaking slightly, she popped the empty clip, slid a fresh magazine from her thigh rig into the pistol, and firmly re-holstered the weapon.
"Dad, let's go."
...
"Move your ass! Those were definitely gunshots; something’s gone totally tits up at the center!"
Deep within the residential complex, Sun Ya was breaking into a desperate jog. Behind him, Wei De was wheezing like a busted accordion, stumbling over the cracked pavement as he fought to keep up.
The moment they rounded the corner onto the complex's main thoroughfare, Sun Ya slammed on the brakes.
A few dozen yards away, a hunched figure was squatting miserably in the dirt.
Jogging over, Sun Ya squinted, then roughly smacked the man's shoulder. "Cheng Du?! What the hell happened?! Why are you bawling your eyes out?!"
"He's cheating... he's cheating on me!" Cheng Du wailed, his voice thick and snotty as he buried his face in his hands.
"What the fuck are you babbling about! Who is cheating?!" Sun Ya roared, his blood pressure spiking. "Spit it out clearly!"
Cheng Du lifted his tear-streaked face, an absolute portrait of pure, unadulterated heartbreak. "The Director! It’s the Director! Some filthy street tramp from the outside totally bewitched him! Right now, they're in that room going at it like rabid dogs! I told you we should have kicked that slut out immediately! Our team is falling apart! The morale is shattered! How are we supposed to lead these people now?! Waaahhhhh!"
"Stop wailing, you pathetic sack of crap! Shut up!" Sun Ya’s eyes bulged with absolute fury. "Are you fucking drunk?! Does Director Su look like that kind of guy to you?! Does it look like he has the free time or the mood to fuck around?! And even if he is banging some chick, what does that have to do with your fat ass?! You’re crying like a bereaved widow, you psycho! I'm asking you about the gunshots! What were those gunshots just now?!"
"What gunshots? I didn't hear any gunshots," Cheng Du sniffled blankly.
"Forget it! You're utterly useless!" Sun Ya spat, ready to pop a blood vessel. "Where is Su Jin?! Where the hell is Su Jin?!"
"Didn't I just tell you? He's in there violently plowing some woman."
"Are you serious?! You weren't just spouting drunken bullshit?!" Sun Ya’s jaw practically hit the floor. He whipped his head around to stare at Wei De.
Wei De stared back, looking equally flabbergasted. The image of their cold, utterly psychotic Director taking time out of a survival crisis for a quick lay was downright unfathomable.
Cheng Du looked at the two shocked elders, slowly hauling his heavy body up from the dirt. He wiped his nose, his voice dripping with tragic sorrow. "I saw it with my own two eyes. I saw it plain as day. They were stripped buck naked, going at it so hard and heavy... liquid was literally squirting everywhere. I just can't believe he'd do this to me. Clearly, I was here first..."
"What in the actual fuck is wrong with your brain?!" Sun Ya shrieked. "Where is he?! Take us to him immediately!"