For a moment, I didn’t dare let go.
I was afraid he might be faking it to trick me.
My mind blank, I held on for a while longer—until I was sure that even an ox would’ve been strangled to death by now—then I finally loosened my grip, my strength draining away.
Everything happening in the courtyard was right in front of me—I could see it all clearly.
After those men in plain clothes rushed out, they went completely berserk, spraying bullets wildly.
The courtyard had turned into utter chaos.
Women screaming and hiding, men shouting curses, armed people firing back, close-range hand-to-hand fights, walkers slowly rising and blending into the crowd…
Looking at the surging mass of people, it felt as if even the sound of bullets tearing through flesh had been amplified.
I quickly picked up the gun from the ground and retreated behind the pillar, scanning the courtyard for Suo Tian—but I couldn’t find him anywhere.
The only thing I saw was Tingting—she had apparently torn off the entire lower half of her wedding dress, revealing the jeans underneath.
Holding a small handgun, she was escorting the two old men into the main hall along with the others.
Those dozen men in plain clothes were like a suicide squad, charging forward without any regard for their lives.
Although they had already created massive chaos in the courtyard, the situation was gradually being brought under control by Master Gu’s people—their numbers were overwhelmingly greater.
Just as I turned back to observe, the girl beside me finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a low, trembling sob.
I quickly turned—and saw that the two people who had been lying on the ground had slowly gotten back up.
The girl was probably someone who had grown up in this base.
Being a bridesmaid for Tingting, her family likely had some status.
She probably had never faced something like this before—never faced walkers up close.
I gestured to her. “Don’t panic. I’m here. It’s okay.”
Hearing that, she immediately covered her mouth and forced back her terrified crying.
I’d never used a gun before—right now, holding it was more for courage than anything else.
Compared to firing wildly and attracting unwanted attention, I’d rather deal with them myself.
Holding the gun like a blunt weapon, its weight felt just right.
I took a deep breath, then suddenly rushed forward and kicked one of the walkers, who hadn’t fully steadied itself yet, back to the ground.
The two were close together—when one fell, it knocked the other down as well.
Just as I was about to step forward and finish them off in one go— a sharp pain suddenly exploded in my abdomen.
It came too suddenly.
And the moment I felt it, I immediately realized what it could mean…
In an instant, the fear of losing the child—combined with the intense pain—made all the strength drain from my body.
I collapsed to the ground.
Clutching my stomach, cold sweat broke out all over my face.
What do I do? What do I do?
The moment that possibility hit me, everything else seemed to vanish from my mind.
The only thought left was: the baby must be okay, the baby must be okay.
So many people were waiting for you… how could anything happen to you?
Even though the timing couldn’t have been worse, my nose stung with tears.
It’s all my fault! My fault!
Why didn’t I listen to Suo Tian and stay in the room?
Why did I come here? Why did I attend this wedding? Why did I follow him to this base?
My mind spiraled—I felt like I was utterly to blame.
The low growls of the walkers snapped my drifting thoughts back.
I lifted my head blankly and saw the two walkers standing up again in front of me.
My sudden movement must have made the girl behind me think we were done for—despite trying to suppress it, I could still hear her crying.
I bit down hard and slapped myself twice to force myself back to my senses.
Staring at the walkers shambling toward us, I slowly raised the gun in my hand.
There was no way I could stand up again to fight them properly.
As they got closer, I pulled the trigger.
A burst of gunfire erupted—along with a heavy recoil—and the first walker’s head was completely blown apart.
Whether it was from the recoil or not, the pain in my abdomen seemed to intensify.
Gritting my teeth, I aimed at the second walker—but my focus was slipping.
I fired several shots in a row, practically tearing half its jaw off, yet still failing to kill it.
At that moment, the girl behind me suddenly rushed forward.
With red, swollen eyes, she grabbed the gun from my hands before I could react.
She kicked the walker—though she lacked strength, only pushing it back a couple of steps instead of knocking it down.
Seizing that moment, she raised the gun and fired wildly.
Finally, one bullet pierced the walker’s brain, and it collapsed to the ground.
She froze for a second, then quickly came back to herself and turned to help me up.
But after two attempts, she still couldn’t lift me.
Seeing me clutching my stomach, tears streaming down my face, her lips trembled for a long time before she managed to ask in a shaking voice:
“Are… are you okay?”
…
The courtyard had descended into complete frenzy.
Human voices were almost completely drowned out—only the relentless, thunderous gunfire filled the world.
The commotion the two of us caused didn’t affect anyone at all—it was completely drowned out by the overwhelming sound of gunfire.
Walkers kept breaking through the perimeter and staggering toward us, riddled with bullet holes.
Looking at their faces—people who had seemed familiar just moments ago—I felt my mind go completely numb.
The girl had used up all her courage in that brief moment earlier.
The gun ended up back in my hands.
Sitting on the ground, whenever a walker got close, I would immediately fire a burst and tear straight through it.
As things went on, the battle escalated to its most intense stage.
The sniper shots from the rooftop multiplied—it sounded like four or five people firing at once.
Even when someone occasionally took cover behind the pillar near us, they paid no attention to me or the girl.
After struggling for quite a while, the girl finally managed to drag me over and sit me down against the base of a pillar.
She let out a heavy breath of relief.
After that short stretch of time, the pain in my abdomen suddenly eased a little.
I stayed seated, unmoving, silently praying for the battle to end quickly—for Suo Tian to be safe, for the baby to be safe.
Time blurred.
I had no sense of how long had passed.
Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour… or maybe just five minutes.
It all felt like a dream.
Gradually, the gunfire began to fade.
Within less than a minute, it stopped completely.
Then I heard hurried footsteps approaching us.
The girl beside me was instantly terrified, curling up next to me in a tight ball.
I just leaned weakly against the pillar.
Whether friend or enemy was coming, I didn’t have the strength left to resist.
The gun was already out of bullets.
A few seconds later, Suo Tian suddenly appeared from around the pillar, breathing slightly heavily.
My mind didn’t even have time to react—tears just started falling on their own.
Clutching my stomach tightly, I looked up at him, my lips trembling for a long, long time without managing to say a word.
When he noticed my condition, he showed an expression I had never seen before—something indescribable.
It looked like confusion… or perhaps disappointment.
Within two seconds, others followed behind him.
The girl hiding next to me was quickly taken away.
Suo Tian bent down and lifted me up from the ground.
After a moment, he said quietly: “Let’s go home.”
Of course, going home wasn’t really possible.
He probably just didn’t know how else to comfort me, so those words slipped out instinctively.
As he carried me across the courtyard, I buried my face into his shoulder, unwilling to look at the blood-soaked scene on the ground.
Just from the thick, metallic smell in the air, I could imagine how many people had died today.
We were quickly taken into that building—on the third floor this time.
I didn’t know what the place was for, only that Bruno was there.
When he saw us arrive, his expression froze for a moment.
Then, seeing me in Suo Tian’s arms, he pressed his lips together and said nothing.
…
Lying on the hospital bed, whatever examinations Bruno performed, whatever Suo Tian said to him—I couldn’t hear any of it anymore.
I just stared blankly at the ceiling, tears silently streaming down.
I don’t know how much time passed.
When Bruno finally moved the large circular machine away from in front of me, he said, “It can be saved.”
It was like my soul suddenly snapped back into my body.
I jerked my head up and looked at him.
Noticing my reaction, Bruno frowned slightly and explained, “You are indeed pregnant—about six or seven weeks along. There’s bruising on your abdomen, probably from today’s injury. The fact that the child can be saved… you can only call it luck.”
In a hoarse voice, I asked, “He’s okay…?”
“You’ll need to stay and stabilize the pregnancy, but it shouldn’t be a major problem.”
When my mind finally processed his words, joy surged through me so intensely I felt like I was about to lose control.
Thank God… thank God!
My hands trembled as I tried to place them over my stomach, but after hesitating, I lowered them again.
Only now did I truly understand what Suo Tian meant earlier.
I didn’t dare touch him—not even through my own belly—afraid that even the slightest movement might cause him to slip away from me in the next second.
I lifted my eyes, wanting to look at Suo Tian, only to realize that at some point, he had already left the room.
— The end of the Chapter–
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