Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home-Chapter 61: Drawing A Line

I sat on the bed. Blood covered my hands, my arms, my shirt. It was annoying and sticky, but I wasn’t upset.

I almost missed being covered in blood.

The room was silent now except for the fucker’s whimpering near the foot of the bed.

He really needed to shut up. It was just a little stab wound, he was being a baby about it.

Seriously, over reacting to the Nth degree.

His friend, the one who shot Jian Yuche, stood at the front of the crowd, his gun raised, the barrel pointed at the four men kneeling in a line. I... didn’t like seeing them on their knees.

My lip twitched as I tried to figure out exactly why I hated the sight of it.

Cocking my head to the side, I waited for someone to move.

The survivors filled the doorway, this bodies pressed together as if they were watching a drama.

Scar Face stood beside Fuck Face. Calm and controlled. His eyes moved across the scene—the kneeling men, the blood on the floor, and where the baby was curled on his side clutching his shoulder, me on the bed.

No one spoke.

The silence stretched. Heavy. Waiting.

I shifted my weight slightly. The mattress creaked beneath me.

My left hand moved to the pillow beside me as I pulled out a gun from my space. My thumb found the safety, flicked it off with a quiet click as I raised the gun and pointed it at Fuck Face.

His eyes flicked to me but his expression didn’t change. The gun in his hand stayed trained on the men.

I didn’t move. Didn’t adjust my aim. Just held the weapon steady, my finger resting beside the trigger.

The survivors shifted in the doorway. Murmurs started, low and uncertain.

"If we’re measuring dicks," I purred, a slight smirk on my face, "I can keep going. I promise you, I have the biggest one in the room."

Fuck Face’s jaw tightened slightly, but his gun didn’t waver.

Scar Face’s eyes moved to the weapon in my hand. He studied it for a moment and I could see the moment he realized that it wasn’t one of the guns he had found in Chenghai’s room.

His voice was controlled when he spoke. "That gun only holds nine bullets. There are a lot more of us than that. You’d run out too fast to guarantee your own safety, and the ones still alive? We will tear you apart limb by limb."

I didn’t respond immediately.

My left hand moved again. This time toward the small table beside the bed. I pulled open the drawer—the motion visible to everyone in the room. My fingers reached inside.

The boxes materialized from my space as my hand moved. I pulled them out one at a time, setting them on the bed beside me. The first box landed with a solid thunk. Then the second. The third. The fourth.

Ammunition. Full boxes with the labels completely visible so there was no question as to what was in it.

The survivors’ eyes tracked each one as it appeared and the murmuring grew louder.

I reached into the drawer again. My hand came out holding a second gun. It was bigger and heavier than the first and I made sure that everyone could see it clearly.

Then I casually tossed it to one of the kneeling men without making eye contact.

The gun arced through the air. It spun once, twice, the metal catching the dim light. It landed on the floor in front of Lingyun with a dull clatter, sliding slightly before stopping just within reach of his hand.

His eyes dropped to it and he quickly snatched it off the floor. He rose to his feet, Zhenlan, Chenghai, and Yuche following his motions.

"I am willing to see your bet," I continued after a moment, the smile never leaving from my face, "and raise you a little over a hundred bullets and a second gun. What do you say? Want to keep playing?"

Fuck Face’s gun was still raised. Still pointed at the men. But his eyes had moved to the boxes on the bed. To the second gun in Lingyun’s hand.

Scar Face’s expression shifted slightly. It wasn’t outright fear, but it was getting dangerously close.

His hand came up and Fuck Face’s eyes flicked to him... waiting for his signal.

When he flicked his fingers, Fuck Face lowered his gun with a pissed off look on his face.

Scar face, on the other hand, continued to study me. When he finally spoke again, it was with absolute cold control. "If you step one foot out of this room, you five are fair game. Do I make myself clear? I don’t care if you starve to death or need to take a piss. None of you leave."

Rolling my eyes, I didn’t bother to reply. Instead, my finger moved to the trigger, my arm adjusted slightly, and the barrel shifting to point directly at Lu Chen’s shoulder.

I fired.

The gunshot was sharp. Immediate. The sound exploded in the confined space, louder than Fuck Face’s had been. The recoil pushed against my palm like it was giving me a high five for a job well done.

Fuck Face’s body jerked backward, his shoulder snapped to the side, as his right arm dropped. The gun in his hand clattered to the floor.

Blood appeared instantly. A dark stain spreading across his shirt, just below his collarbone. The same spot where Yuche had been hit.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter at the sight of Fuck Face staggering back. His good hand came up to clutch the wound. His face twisted—pain, shock, anger all at once.

I lowered the gun slightly before turning my attention back to Scar Face.

"We’ll see," I replied with a shrug. I refused to let him have the last word. I was petty like that.

The room stayed silent.

Then someone in the back of the crowd shifted. A hand reached down, grabbing the Baby under the arms. He screamed as they dragged him upright, his injured shoulder pulling. The sound was sharp, desperate.

They pulled him toward the door. His feet dragged across the floor, leaving a smear of blood. His whimpering grew louder as they hauled him through the doorway, into the hallway beyond.

The other survivors began backing out, their eyes stayed on me the whole time.

But Scar Face didn’t move yet. He stood at the doorway as the others filed out behind him. His eyes stayed on me as if he was trying to find an answer for an unsolved mystery.

But whatever he saw on my face, he had his answer. He took one step backward, then another, his hand reaching for the door as he refused to turn his back to me.

His eyes didn’t leave mine as he pulled it closed.

The door clicked shut.

The room went quiet.

I could hear Yuche’s breathing as blood dripped from his fingers onto the floor but I didn’t look at them.

I had made my point. If anyone came into my territory again, they would leave bleeding... or not at all.

It was just the five of us now.

Zhenlan moved first taking a step closer to me, his eyes going back and forth between me and the gun.

"So," he said at last, "I guess we are sleeping in here from now on."

No one responded immediately.

Zhenlan’s eyes moved to the bed and the mess on it. I was going to have to change those, the inconsiderate baby... ruining my bed and my sleep.

I let out a long sigh and got out of bed.

"You go shower," Zhenlan continued the moment I came to my feet. "I’ll clean your bed."

I looked at him, three men now moving around the room and I realized that I had a choice. Keep them here where they would be protected or send them out where they would die...

It wasn’t an easy decision....

"The extra sheets are in the linen closet," I said at last.