Chapter 66: The interrogation
The heavy, metallic thud of the security door locking from the inside had felt like the first real barrier between the squad and the horrors of the crumbling world.
Inside the residential wing, the air was warm, insulated, and completely disconnected from the freezing winds howling against the hillside outside.
The raiders from the high-rise could camp on the perimeter until the snow buried them; the Regional Research Center was an unbreachable concrete fortress, and for now, the squad was entirely out of their reach.
In the quietest bedroom of the suite, the stark overhead lights had been dimmed, casting soft, amber shadows across the clean floor.
Su Xiao’s chest heaved with a rhythmic, stabilized breath. Slowly, heavily, the small muscles of her face twitched, and her long eyelashes fluttered. As her fever broke, she finally opened her eyes.
The world was a blur. The sterile, white ceiling tiles spun gently in her vision, and her adjusting eyes couldn’t quite focus on the dark silhouette leaning over her bedside. Still trapped in the residual, terrifying fog of her high-grade fever, a deep wave of vulnerability washed over the five-year-old girl. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
She weakly reached out a small, trembling hand, grasping at the edge of Lin Qing’s sleeve.
"Mom..." Su Xiao muttered, her voice a fragile, gravelly whisper that cracked in the quiet room. "Mom, it hurts..."
Lin Qing froze mid-motion. The damp cloth she was about to adjust on the child’s forehead hovered in the air.
The word ’Mom’ hung heavily in the quiet room, striking an incredibly awkward, jarring chord in Lin Qing’s chest. Across two lifetimes, Lin Qing had been a weapon, a calculated survivor, and a lethal soldier.
She had rescued children out of necessity and strategy, but she had absolutely no baseline experience with maternal comfort. She didn’t know how to soothe a crying child, nor did she know what a mother was supposed to say in a moment like this.
She possessed the former host’s memories but it was more like watching a movie from another person’s pov rather than her own experiences.
A heavy, thick silence settled over the bed. Standing at the foot of the mattress, Han Ye was watching his mother’s sudden hesitation with an unreadable expression.
Nearby, Gu An sat quietly on a stool, her posture straight and hyper-vigilant—a stark contrast to a normal child, a lingering habit from her dark past before the apocalypse.
Both of them understood the heavy weight of that single, mistaken word.
Struggling to find the right words, Lin Qing simply pressed her cool palm against the girl’s forehead, checking her temperature. "Your fever is down," she said, her voice softer than usual, though still retaining its grounded, even tone. "You’re safe inside here. Drink this."
By the time the warm, mild, easy-to-digest broth was brought to the bedside, Su Xiao’s vision had fully cleared. Still weak and disoriented from the sheer exhaustion of her genetic awakening, she didn’t even realize the slip of the tongue she had made in her delirium.
She meekly accepted a few spoonfuls of the warm liquid, her small body eagerly absorbing the nutrients. Within ten minutes, her eyelids grew heavy once more, and she drifted back into a deep, peaceful, and natural sleep—no longer plagued by the violent tremors of mutation.
Lin Qing let out a quiet breath, stepping away from the bed. She turned her gaze to Han Ye and Gu An, who were quietly eating some canned rations at a small table nearby. Seeing them sitting there so quietly, Lin Qing felt a sudden, profound wave of exhaustion wash over her own skin.
They had been driving for so long, running from zombified stampedes, and standing off against paranoid scientists. Her skin felt tight with dried sweat, road grime, and the unmistakable, lingering scent of old ash and ozone.
"The soldiers are going to rest a bit before we go back downstairs to sort through the remaining supplies," Lin Qing said, her voice low as she looked at the two kids. She walked over to the heavy duffel bags Han Zheng had quietly left while she was attending to Su Xiao.
Han Zheng’s foresight had been terrifyingly thorough. He had packed vacuum-sealed clothing of various sizes. Lin Qing pulled out a few sets of clean, thick cotton sweatpants, warm fleece sweaters, and fresh undergarments. While they weren’t an exact, tailored fit for the children—looking a bit baggy on Han Ye and Gu An’s small frames—they were clean, dry, and exceptionally warm.
"Take these," Lin Qing said, handing the bundles to them. "Go use the secondary bathroom to wash up and change. I’m going to use the primary one."
Gu An nodded silently, taking the clothes with the quick, obedient efficiency of someone who had long learned never to complain about circumstances. Han Ye simply gave a brief nod, carrying his bundle toward the bathroom door.
Lin Qing walked into the main bathroom, locking the door behind her. She stripped away her heavy, blood-stained tactical vest, her dirt-caked cargo pants, and the combat boots she felt like she had been wearing for a lifetime.
Stepping into the shower, she turned the dials. To her immense relief, the facility’s internal automated plumbing was fully functional, and a torrent of hot, steaming water cascaded over her shoulders.
She closed her eyes, letting the intense heat melt away the knot of tension coiled tightly in her upper back. She scrubbed the grime of the wasteland from her skin and thoroughly washed the smell of decay out of her hair. For a long, uninterrupted thirty minutes, Lin Qing just stood under the spray, allowing herself to forget—just for a brief moment—that the world outside the concrete walls was entirely dead.
When she finally stepped out, she felt human again. She dressed in a set of the clean, oversized gray loungewear Han Zheng had packed—a simple, loose-fitting cotton t-shirt and comfortable fleece pants.
Standing in front of the fogged-up mirror, she ran a towel through her damp hair. Her reflection looked different. The sharp, hyper-vigilant edge in her eyes had softened slightly under the influence of the warmth and security. She looked like a woman resting in her comfort zone, not a soldier waiting for an ambush.
Leaving the bathroom, she walked quietly past the bedroom to check on Su Xiao. The little girl was still sound asleep, her breathing deep and even. Satisfied, Lin Qing walked down the short, dimly lit hallway toward the suite’s small, modern kitchen area to finally get something to eat.
The kitchen was quiet, illuminated only by the soft glow of a under-cabinet light. Lin Qing pulled open a cabinet, retrieving a simple container of pre-packaged rations, and sat down at the small dining table.
Before she could even open the lid, the sound of footsteps echoed from the doorway.
Lin Qing looked up as Han Zheng entered the kitchen. He had also clearly taken the time to thoroughly wash up and change out of his military gear.
The camouflage uniform, the tactical plates, the combat knives, and the sidearms were all gone. Instead, he was wearing a simple, tight-fitting black crewneck t-shirt and a pair of dark gray sweatpants.
Lin Qing’s eyes locked onto him, and she subtly, involuntarily paused.
Without the bulky layers of Kevlar and military canvas, the sheer physical reality of his build was completely on display. The thin, elastic fabric of the tight t-shirt stretched perfectly across his broad, powerful shoulders, highlighting the deep, heavily defined contours of his chest and the sharp, ridged outline of his abs underneath. He moved with a relaxed, effortless grace that radiated disciplined strength.
An unbidden thought flashed through Lin Qing’s mind. She blinked, looking down at her food container as a small, dry internal monologue crossed her brain: The former Lin Qing certainly chose an exceptionally capable... and handsome guy.
Han Zheng walked over to the counter, pouring himself a glass of clean water before walking over to join her at the small table. He pulled out a chair and sat directly across from her.
He didn’t speak immediately. Instead, his dark eyes fixed entirely on her face, studying her with a quiet, intense focus. In the soft, amber light of the kitchen, with her hair still damp and curling slightly at the ends, dressed in the loose, comfortable lounge clothes, the icy, unyielding barrier she had erected around herself after the world ended seemed to have vanished.
She finally looked a bit like the wife he knew, not the cold, detached, and ruthlessly efficient soldier who had been calling the shots on the road.
A rare, beautiful moment of absolute peace settled over the small kitchen table. The raiders were stuck outside, the scientists were locked below, the children were safe, and for the first time since the outbreak, they were sitting together like a normal couple in a normal home.
Han Zheng stared at her, a sense of warmth settling in his chest. He desperately didn’t want to shatter this fragile, beautiful illusion of domestic peace. He wanted to just sit here and pretend the world hadn’t collapsed. But the inconsistencies, the impossible skills, and the radical change in her behavior had been burning a hole in his mind. He couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer.
He took a slow sip of his water, setting the glass down with a soft click against the table. He cleared his throat, leaning forward slightly, his posture relaxed as he adopted a deliberately casual, conversational, and unbothered tone.
"So," Han Zheng began, his eyes locking onto hers with a steady, searching gaze. "How exactly did you learn to shoot and fight like a high-tier spec-ops soldier? And when exactly did you become a medic?"
Lin Qing froze mid-motion, a spoonful of food catching violently in her throat. She instantly began to choke, her face flushing as the peaceful silence of the kitchen shattered into pieces. Her mind raced at a million miles per hour, frantically scrambling to construct a plausible lie.