The first gunshot woke him up out of dead sleep.

Not because it was loud.

But because it was close.

Zhou Chenghai opened his eyes slowly before reaching automatically toward the knife sitting on the bedside table beside him. The room stayed dark around him while another burst of gunfire echoed faintly through the distance outside.

Then came the sound of something exploding.

Chenghai stared at the ceiling for a second. "...if that’s another zombie siege, I’m going back to sleep."

A muffled snort came from the other side of the room.

Rouxi didn’t even open her eyes. "Tell them to be quieter," she muttered into the pillow. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

Chenghai barked out a quiet laugh before pushing himself upright. Another series of gunshots rattled through the dawn outside while the windows vibrated faintly from something much heavier moving somewhere nearby.

That definitely wasn’t normal.

By the time he pulled on a pair of black cargo pants and stepped into the hallway, the rest of the house was already moving.

Lingyun appeared halfway down the stairs still barefoot with one hand dragging through messy sleep-tangled hair while Yuche stood near one of the front windows watching the darkness outside with narrowed eyes.

"That’s a lot of gunfire for this time of the day," Lingyun muttered. "Does no one sleep anymore?!?"

"Clearly not," Yuche replied calmly. "And it’s very inconsiderate of them."

"Rouxi said the same thing," chuckled Chenghai. "But in a few different words."

Another explosion rolled faintly through the neighborhood.

The worst part was that it was getting closer this time.

Zhenlan emerged from Rouxi’s room looking far too awake for someone who had been asleep less than five minutes earlier.

Both he and Chenghai had decided to sleep in her room last night.

"Military?" he asked quietly.

"Probably," Yuche answered.

"How many do you think?"

Yuche stayed silent for a second longer while looking through the front window. "...a lot."

That got Chenghai moving.

Not because he was worried.

Because if military was coming into the neighborhood at this hour, then his chances of getting left alone for the rest of the day had just dropped dramatically.

Which meant he needed coffee. Now.

He ignored Lingyun’s offended expression as he walked straight past them toward the kitchen.

"If they’re going to ruin my morning," Chenghai muttered while grabbing a mug from the cupboard, "then I’m at least getting caffeine out of it first."

"The apocalypse is outside," Lingyun called after him.

"And I can’t fight it caffeineless."

That sounded reasonable to him.

The coffee machine hummed steadily in the quiet kitchen while gunfire continued somewhere outside the neighborhood. Chenghai leaned against the counter waiting for the coffee to finish brewing as more distant explosions rolled through the dark.

The others gradually drifted into the kitchen behind him one by one.

Nobody looked particularly panicked.

Tired?

Absolutely.

But after everything they had already survived, random gunfire outside at six in the morning barely ranked high enough to interrupt breakfast plans anymore.

Honestly, that probably said unhealthy things about all of them.

The smell of fresh coffee finally filled the kitchen and Chenghai poured himself a full mug before taking the first sip with visible satisfaction.

"See?" he said calmly. "Already better."

Lingyun stared at him like he was insane.

Yuche didn’t even bother looking away from the window anymore. "Something big is coming this way."

Chenghai sighed. Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it? They just got rid of Commander Li last week, had a good week of everything going well, and now...

More fucking military.

Letting out a long sigh, he stepped out onto the front porch with the steaming mug balanced comfortably between both hands while cold night air brushed against his skin.

Then he stopped walking.

"...the fuck?"

The entire road leading into the cul-de-sac had filled with military vehicles.

Not a patrol.

Not a scavenging team.

Not even a convoy like Commander Li’s.

This looked closer to a moving military base.

Floodlights swept steadily across nearby homes while armored transports rolled into formation along both sides of the street beneath the low growl of diesel engines. Fuel carriers, supply trucks, satellite vehicles, RVs, mobile kitchens, engineering transports, refrigerated trailers, medical trucks—

The line just kept going.

Military dogs barked sharply near the middle of the convoy while handlers pulled them toward temporary perimeter positions. Soldiers moved between vehicles with the kind of organized efficiency that only came from serious training while communications officers shouted coordinates through radios fast enough that Chenghai could barely follow half the terms being thrown around.

Someone was even laying cable lines across the street already.

"What the fuck?" Lingyun repeated from behind him.

"Good morning to you too."

"No seriously," Lingyun said slowly as he stepped onto the porch beside him. "What the fuck is all this?"

Fair question.

This wasn’t normal military movement.

This was government-level priority deployment.

The kind of operation that burned through insane amounts of fuel, manpower, and resources just to keep itself moving.

Another vehicle turned into the cul-de-sac.

Then another.

Then another.

The convoy seemed endless.

Chenghai narrowed his eyes slightly while sipping his coffee.

The soldiers looked sharp.

Too sharp for this time of day.

These weren’t starving survivors wearing stolen uniforms or poorly organized local militia groups trying to imitate military structure. These people were clean, disciplined, heavily armed, and coordinated enough that they barely needed verbal communication while moving through the street.

The government had thrown serious money into this operation.

Or whatever counted as money now.

The RVs especially stood out.

Not cheap civilian campers.

Custom reinforced units with blackout windows, mounted communications dishes, and external power hookups built directly into the sides. Several even had portable generators mounted onto rear platforms beside heavily guarded storage compartments.

Important people.

Annoying... but interesting.

Another RV rolled slowly around the corner before suddenly coughing violently hard enough to shake the entire vehicle.

Smoke burst briefly from beneath the hood and the engine died immediately afterward.

Several nearby soldiers started swearing.

"Well," Chenghai muttered while sipping his coffee again. "That sounds expensive."

One of the lead armored vehicles opened moments later.

A tall man stepped out wearing a military coat marked with enough insignia that most civilians probably would have pissed themselves automatically.

The officer scanned the cul-de-sac quickly before his eyes landed on the mansion.

Then the porch.

Then Chenghai.

The man froze.

Chenghai narrowed his eyes slightly.

No way.

The officer immediately started walking toward the house.

Fast.

Lingyun noticed the shift too. "...friend of yours?"

"I’m really hoping not," sighed Chenghai, closing his eyes.

The mansion gates buzzed softly before beginning to slide open automatically. Yuche had managed to fix it a few days ago, and now Chenghai was wishing they had just wielded it shut.

The officer stopped halfway up the driveway.

For several long seconds, both men simply stared at each other across the distance.

Then the officer let out a sharp disbelieving laugh. "Zhou Chenghai?"

Chenghai closed his eyes briefly.

Of course.

Of fucking course.

He took another slow sip of coffee before finally looking back at the approaching officer.

"Shit," he muttered quietly. "Wei Guang."