Chapter Fourteen

"Y-young master," Lingyun entered the room to see Yichen kneeling by the bedside, his hands gripping Bai Chengs towards his forehead.

"Who did it?" Yichen asked, his voice hoarse from crying.

"Did what?" Lingyun took a few steps forward then faltered, "b-boss, what happened to the boss?"

"Somebody murdered him," Yichen finally let go of his friend and forced his numb legs to stand, "gather everybody at the stern who was here with you when I left."

"R-right a-away," Lingyun's voice faltered as he tried to absorb the death of not only his boss but his friend and savior. Without Bai Cheng's help, he would be stuck working off his father's debt with the Jinlong Triad.

When the people gathered at the stern, Yichen was sitting cross-legged on a deck chair, still in his wetsuit smoking a cigar with his Glock resting on his lap.

"Confess, and I'll let you live, if nobody steps forward, you can all get off this boat now,"

Bai Cheng studied their confused expressions one by one, finally resting on the friend of George with the axe, "you, what is your name?" he pointed the Glock towards him.

"H-Harvey," the thin, young man gulped, unconsciously taking a step behind his friend.

"Harvey, why did you do it?" Yichen asked, using all his internal strength to steady his voice and hold back the scream raging in his chest.

"What, what did I do?" He pulled an innocent, pitiful expression, but it wasn't enough to convince Yichen.

"Lingyun, search him for a gun," Yichen tilted his head with a smirk. There was no mistaking that heartbeat for somebody innocent.

Lingyun did not need telling twice, he strode over before the terrified youth could run, grabbing him roughly by the arm and dragging him to Yichen's feet.

As he tore off the youth's jacket, then shirt, he felt a sense of deja vu, like he was back in the Triad. He could only attempt to shake the goosebumps off as he found the gun Yichen was expecting.

Keeping a hold of the youth, he stretched forward, passing the gun to Yichen.

"Hmm... an Automatic Cobal Pistol, if I'm not mistaken..." he opened the chamber to see the .45 bullets. "This was the gun that killed my friend, no?" The hole on Bai Cheng's head was too large for the 9mm his men's Glock used.

"I have, I have a license to carry, it's legal, I'm not the only one on here with a gun," Harvey rambled in a high pitch tone, tears brimming from his doe-like eyes.

"He's right, almost all of us have a gun," the chef's son stepped forward, looking anxiously at his friend. Harvey had been his classmate since he entered university three years ago, the little guy was so pitiful, he often had to step in for him with the bullies.

"You don't," Yichen arched a brow at the youth who branded a fire axe.

"I, I just like my axe better," the chef's son mumbled.

"What's your name?" Yichen asked, despite knowing the answer. This was technically the first time they'd conversed.

"George," he muttered.

"Okay, George, I'll entertain you," Yichen turned to look at the small crowd of staff and survivors, "everybody, take out your gun, and let Sean inspect it."

Sean glanced at Yichen, then at his wife in the crowd anxiously, his wife's gun had also used .45 rounds.

Still, he had to trust in his boss' best friend and their young master. If this could condemn Bai Cheng's murderer, he had to risk it.

One by one, he checked the guns to find none of their rounds matched. He picked his wife to be last on purpose, and then brought the gun to Yichen with a solemn face, "Jessica was with Sophie the entire time on the yacht before we arrived."

Yichen nodded, looking to see Sophie holding Jessica's hand and nodding back.

"She has no motive, after all, she knows those bitten can survive," Yichen handed the gun back with a smile, then turned to see Harvey's eyes widen.

"Y-you can survive?"

Yichen pointed to the nook in his neck and shoulder, where Yiming had bit him before. "Yes, a zombie bit me here not so long ago." As Harvey shook his head in disbelief, there were a few murmurs in the crowd. His guards all stepped in to confirm it, it was no secret their young master was bitten.

"I was very lucky to survive, but I am not the only one, a few others among us survivors have also woken up better than ever, in fact," The Glock on his lap raised in the air, like a puppet on strings under his hand, "it lets us do fun things like this."

Whilst everybody was in awe at his sudden use of power, the gun shifted to aim at Harvey's head and fired. The bullet narrowly missed, nicking his ear.

"I-I'm sorry," Harvey curled into a ball, hands over his head, "I saw them turn, I saw my baby sister turn and bite my mother, I saw it, I saw it."

"Even if you thought he would turn, why was it up to you to decide he had to die beforehand?" Yichen asked, keeping the gun pointing in his direction.

"They all turn, they all have to turn," Harvey ranted over and over.

"Why? Why do they all have to turn Harvey?"

"My, my brother, my brother, and father, they both, they both."

"Did you also murder your brother and father, Harvey?" Yichen leaned forward, the gun moving forward with him.

"No, no, it wasn't, it wasn't," Harvey unfurled himself to plead on his knees, "I just didn't want him to bite another person, please? Please don't kill me."

George stepped forward by a few steps, stopping just beside Jack who was among the guards blocking Yichen from the crowd.

"Want to play hero?" Yichen gave him a haughty look, "how many times has this fool made you play hero, that you'd even want to follow him in death? Is it fun?"

"Even if he made a mistake, you don't have to kill him, we don't even have the death penalty here." George cleared his throat, glancing at his friend whose teary eyes were desperately focused purely on him.

"Did I say I would kill him?" Yichen leaned back, but the gun remained hovered over Harvey. "I'll give him a chance."

The Glock finally returned to Yichen's lap, "Sean, Jack, go bring Bai Cheng down."

The two guards glanced at each other nervously but obeyed. Shortly after they brought Bai Cheng's corpse, wrapped in a bedsheet, to Yichen's feet.

"Sean, you're left in charge, Lingyun, come with me to bring our brother to rest," Yichen leaned forward, tenderly stroking the wrapped-up head, then rose to his feet. He strapped the Glock back in its harness on his waist, then bowed to help Lingyun carry Bai Cheng into the small boat.

Just as Harvey stumbled to his feet and tried to walk away, Yichen shot him a look, "Where do you think you're going? Have you atoned for Bai Cheng's soul yet?"

Harvey trembled, shooting George a pleading look. George stepped towards him.

"Do you also wish to atone, George?"

George stopped, giving both men a pained look. "What are you going to make him do?"

"He will help me send my friend off to rest, then I will set him free, he is no longer a part of my group."

George's face twisted, "What you did was wrong, I need to follow my father, go find your uncle, he was alive before the mobiles went out right?"

Harvey nodded, tears streaming down his face, then climbed awkwardly onto the boat with Yichen and Lingyun.

There was no goodbye between the two. Only awkward silence as they avoided each other's gaze when the boat departed.

***

Knocking on the door impatiently, Faye tapped her feet on the wooden floor.

Finally, Claire opened the door in a bedraggled state, ivory silk dressing gown was all that covered her bronzed skin.

"Did you just wake up?" Faye glanced at the watch on her wrist showing twelve-twenty in the afternoon.

Claire pushed her brown hair from her sweat-stained face, "I drank last night, give me a minute I'll come down."

Faye nodded as the door closed in her face, then leaned against the wall, disbelieving her friend would actually get dressed and not go back to bed.

A short while later, Daichi rushed out of the room, wearing just his slacks and an open shirt.

Awkward eyes met before Daichi's ear tips turned red and he ran down the hallway.

When Claire left, her eyebrows raised at her friend smirking at her.

"Did you use a condom?" Faye recalled her grandmother's repeated warnings.

"I got the depo before we left Britain," Claire shrugged, then sauntered on ahead.

The girls quickly got their lunch and then went to meet Miles and Lixin.

"What's wrong?" Faye asked, noticing the frowns on both their faces.

"It's," Lixin turned to face her, then felt his heart pulled from his chest. Bai Cheng was dead. Dead. Shot by a survivor.

Lixin collapsed against the desk, Miles reached to steady him.

"What happened? Is Yichen okay?" Faye panicked, stepping forward to clutch Lixin's hand in both desperation and comfort.

"Bai Cheng was murdered yesterday," Miles solemnly explained.

Faye squeezed Lixin's hands tighter. Though she didn't really know the man, she knew what he meant to the two cousins.

"Murder?" Claire asked, crossing her arms, "Who was the bastard that did it?"

"It was a survivor who accompanied a staff's son."

"I said it was risky bringing outsiders in," Claire scoffed with an ugly scowl, "the government or local military haven't stepped up in the slightest since the network went down, nobody is gonna follow the law anymore."

"So should we abandon our morals and just let others die because of a risk?" Lixin angrily spat back.

"If they're fit and able to hold a weapon, why is it up to us to keep them safe? They can do it themselves," Claire's face and tone softened, seeing the pitiful look on Lixin's face.

"For now I think it's best we organize those we don't know on the opposite end of the camp?" Miles suggested.

"Do it," Lixin muttered, then squeezed the silent Faye's hands back, "have them allocated around our villa and keep a few loyal men inside our villa to keep an eye on them. We'll center those we know around this villa here, near the docks."

Miles nodded and left the room to Chris' office which he had temporarily taken possession of to run things from.

"I can see why Yichen left you in charge," Faye smiled gently, "Claire, go make us all a cup of grandma's honey milk tea?"

Claire shot Faye an aggrieved look, then dutifully obeyed her bestie.

"He let the bastard go," Lixin muttered, letting go of Faye's hand to slump on the small sofa. Lixin had adapted the small lounge into a makeshift doctor's office. He was training to be a pediatric surgeon, now he was forced to be the camp's makeshift doctor despite never finishing university. With Bai Cheng gone, that would also make him second in command.

His shoulders felt heavy.

"Why?" Faye was confused, from what little she knew of Yichen and his father, they were not the type to let someone who crossed them go.

"I wish I knew," Lixin buried his head in his hands and clenched his jaw, "if it was me I would have shot that fucker down, Hippocratic oath be damned."

***

Sweat laced Harvey's back as he exhaustedly stepped back from the wooden pyre that took them all night to build.

He'd been scratched by a mother fucking zombie because these bastards wouldn't let him have his gun back. Repeatedly he said he was sorry, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears as the pair ignored him.

If he knew, if he knew that people could survive, he wouldn't have shot his brother and father, he wouldn't have shot anyone. It was too late now. He could only pray that his efforts wouldn't go in vain. Just so he could survive another day.

The pair spoke a few words in low tones to their brother, before lighting the fire and stepping back to watch it burn to ashes on the damp sand.

A zombie approached the smoldering flames, making Harvey shiver in fear, he had no weapons on him at all.

Yichen simply motioned his hand and a metal bullet hit right between the zombie's eyes making Harvey let out a tiny yelp.

"Can, Can I have my gun back now? Can I go?" Harvey asked in a meek tone, but his heart was burning with anger.

"Sure," Yichen smirked, tossing a gun inland.

Harvey scrambled to get it, hesitating at the last minute, this wasn't his gun.

A shot called out in the eerie silence as pain burst through Harvey's chest. He only had a mere moment to turn and glance at his murderer with a shocked expression before crumpling onto the sand.

"Young Master?" Lingyun froze in a panic. Yichen flung the cobalt at Harvey's body, then used his ability to return his Glock to his waist.

"If I let him go, do you think that would be the end of things?" Yichen asked, striding into the water to return to the boat.

Lingyun swiftly followed, "I guess."

"If he was lucky enough to make it to his uncle or somebody stronger, a man like that would use anything to get back at us."

Lingyun silently nodded, then climbed aboard to drive the boat back to the yacht.