Including Suo Tian and the middle-aged man, it was clear that none of them had expected Rongrong to suddenly say something like that.
At this moment, everyone turned to look at Rongrong, who had just caught her breath.
I glanced around at the others, gently rubbing Rong Rong's back while observing her expression.
After confirming she seemed relatively normal, I asked her in a low voice, "Rongrong, why did you bite Sister Xiao Xue?"
After speaking, I looked up at Suo Tian and the middle-aged man.
For some reason, I just felt like they should understand more about this than we did.
Noticing my gaze, the middle-aged man waved his hand at me, then pointed at Rongrong and mouthed the words: "Keep asking."
I gave him a slight nod, then patted Rongrong on the head and gently asked again, "Why did you bite Sister Xiao—"
Before I could finish the sentence, I was startled and choked halfway through it when Rongrong suddenly looked up.
I instinctively let go of her and quickly backed away, but since I had been squatting the whole time, my balance gave way and I ended up falling flat onto the ground.
Before she bit Xiao Xue, and before Zhao Qiuting bit me, this was exactly the same movement they made.
Suo Tian and Xu Shu had both seen Rongrong biting someone with their own eyes earlier.
Now they were visibly startled again, their expressions changing.
While Xu Shu hesitated, still trying to process it, Suo Tian had already reached out and grabbed hold of Rongrong.
I originally thought Rongrong would go into a frenzy and start screaming, but after being restrained by Suo Tian, she merely stared blankly upward for quite a while.
Her eyes, which had just lost focus for a moment, gradually returned to normal and finally settled on me.
She stared at me for a long time, and her once calm little face began to show subtle changes in expression.
I glanced around at everyone, thinking I might've overreacted.
Just as I was about to stand up and take Rongrong back into my arms, the moment I pushed myself off the ground, Rongrong's face suddenly twisted into a ferocious expression.
Before I could even react, she abruptly bared her teeth and began thrashing wildly, mouth wide open, screaming and trying to lunge at me.
I was so startled by the sudden change that I froze in place.
Fortunately, Suo Tian already had her restrained, so even though she went into a frenzy, she couldn't break free.
Having learned from the last time, Xu Shu reacted much more quickly this time.
While the others were still stunned, she rushed over and yanked me up from the ground.
Once I was back on my feet, Yangyang and the others finally snapped out of it and hurried over to my side.
"Sis?"
I waved at Yangyang and said, "I'm fine, I'm okay."
"How could she suddenly become like this?" Chen Pu, who had never seen Rongrong go into a frenzy before, now stared at Rongrong in disbelief, looking her over several times.
Rongrong was still struggling, mouth wide open, trying to break free from Suo Tian's grip.
Realizing she couldn't escape, she turned her head and tried to bite Suo Tian's arm instead.
The middle-aged man, who had already gone on alert the moment her expression changed, quickly stepped forward, holding a cloth he had pulled out from who knows where, and suddenly pressed it against Rongrong's face.
Rongrong immediately became even more hysterical, even letting out the same kind of shrill, frantic scream she had made the other day.
But after just a few seconds, her voice began to fade, and not long after, her body went limp and collapsed into Suo Tian's arms.
I stared at the now-quiet Rongrong for a while before turning to the middle-aged man and asking, "Does this... mean that it's very likely Rongrong isn't suffering from a sudden mental breakdown?"
The middle-aged man frowned and said, "Uncertain. For now, it's best to keep her confined."
Suo Tian looked up at the middle-aged man, then gently picked up the limp Rongrong and laid her down on the bed.
After covering her with a blanket, he stared at her in silence for a moment before turning around and walking out of the room.
I glanced at Rongrong, feeling an indescribable heaviness in my heart.
I sighed and followed the others out.
After we had all stepped out, the door was shut behind us with a loud bang.
The two armed black-clad men standing guard looked noticeably more serious than the ones who had been posted there earlier—whether it was because Suo Tian was present or for some other reason, I wasn't sure.
Our group returned to the sixth floor.
The room that Suo Tian and I shared was now packed with people.
Uncle Gazi, who had returned midway, also came in carrying Tingyun in his arms and joined us.
Once everyone was seated, all eyes naturally turned to Suo Tian.
He looked up and scanned the group before asking, "What is it?"
"We're waiting for you to speak," Xu Shu said.
Suo Tian paused for a couple of seconds, then asked, "Speak about what?"
"What do you mean 'speak about what'? We all followed you here. Obviously, we're expecting you to say something."
Suo Tian glanced at Xu Shu and replied, "You all followed on your own. I didn't say anything about holding a meeting or discussing anything."
I froze for a moment—he was right.
From earlier until now, everyone had just followed Suo Tian on their own accord.
He never said anything about gathering for a meeting or discussing any issues.
Maybe it was because everyone had some concerns or unanswered questions buried in their hearts, which is why we all ended up here so instinctively.
Since it was rare for all of us to be gathered together, I glanced at Suo Tian—who didn't seem to intend to speak—then cleared my throat and said, "If anyone has something they want to know, now's the time to bring it up so we can all discuss it together. After all, we can more or less consider ourselves a family now. Like the saying goes, 'Unity is strength.' If we want to survive with this many people, we have to stick together. That's the only way to ensure everyone's relative safety. Alright… whoever has questions, just speak up."
As soon as I finished speaking, Chen Pu—seated next to Xu Shu—couldn't wait to ask, "Sister Chen Yang, what exactly is going on with Rongrong? Has she turned into a walker?"
The middle-aged man answered in my place: "No. All her vital signs are perfectly normal. She's still alive. And so far, we've never heard of any case where a living person was directly infected. So it's most likely a mental issue."
Just as the middle-aged man finished speaking, Jun Di chimed in, "Then what if she stays like this? That biting problem of hers could flare up at any time. That kind of threat is even worse than a walker for us."
I added, "Exactly, that's what I mean too. We need to figure out a way to deal with this. Judging from Captain Niu's attitude today, it seems like he's no longer willing to let us stay here. If it really comes to the point where we have to leave, taking Rongrong with us will be a big problem."
"What do you mean they're not letting us stay? I saw that fat Niu guy walking off with his men earlier today. I thought you guys had worked something out," Uncle Gazi asked in confusion.
The bearded man standing nearby let out a cold snort and said, "Worked something out? You think that fat pig is that easy to talk to? If the boss hadn't been up on the roof with a sniper rifle aimed at his head today, it would've been a miracle if that bastard had agreed to anything."
Hearing that, I looked over at Suo Tian again.
No wonder I didn't see him downstairs yesterday—turns out he had gone up to the roof to be the sniper.
Thinking back to the scene yesterday afternoon, I remembered that when I glanced back at one point, the man in camo who ran out from Building 3 said something to the fat guy, and the fat guy did, indeed, glance up—deliberately or not—toward the rooftop.
I looked at Suo Tian again, unable to help the sigh I felt inside.
So much had happened beneath the calm surface in just that brief moment.
Just as the bearded man finished speaking, Suo Tian raised his hand to cut him off and slowly said, "We'll leave as soon as possible. No need to stir up trouble here."
"Why though? Isn't this place pretty good? Can't we just have a proper talk with that Fat Niu guy? No way he'd really kick us out, right?" Uncle Gazi, who'd lived an honest life as a farmer, still believed that the shelter—being under the government—should be a safe place.
Even though it was clear the place had already been abandoned, he probably still held onto some faith that the government working for the people's prosperity wouldn't truly abandon them.
But one of the biggest taboos in the apocalypse is having too much hope in others.
Suo Tian glanced at Uncle Gazi, paused for a moment, and said, "This place is unstable."
"What do you mean unstable?" Yangyang asked in confusion.
The image of that young couple holding a child popped into my mind—could it be that Suo Tian had noticed them too?
Or was there something else wrong with this place that I hadn't picked up on?
"That's not important. We've stayed here too long—we need to keep moving," Suo Tian replied to Yangyang's question, then turned to Uncle Gazi.
His tone softened as he asked, "Do you want to stay, or come with us?"
Uncle Gazi was caught off guard by the question.
He picked up Tingyun, who had been playing by his legs, held her in his arms, furrowed his brow, and thought for a long moment before saying, "Of course I'd prefer to stay somewhere stable. But here, the only people I know are you and my girl. If you all leave, I won't be able to stay either. If we head out together, at least we've got each other."
After speaking, Uncle Gazi looked down at Tingyun and sighed, "It's just tough on my granddaughter."
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