Gu Ning put on her mask, shouldered her backpack, and stood dazed in the living room for a moment.
Barto and Cook stood on either side of her, as if by prior agreement.
"We’re finally leaving." Barto’s gaze swept over the living room, a hint of reluctance in his eyes.
’It would have been nice if the three of us could have just kept living here.’
Barto thought as he glanced at the bustling Alex and the dark shadows cast by the streetlight outside the window.
’Just the three of us. No one else should be allowed to get in.’
But when his gaze fell on Gu Ning beside him, her eyes filled with anticipation for her new life, he suppressed the thought and sighed inwardly.
’From now on, she is my home. Wherever she is, that’s where I’ll be.’
Hearing Barto, Cook seemed to half-understand and let out a woof before turning his head to look at Gu Ning.
Gu Ning pulled down her mask to take a deep breath, then picked up her camera and smiled at them. "Come on, picture time."
She set the camera’s self-timer, placed it on the table, and pulled Cook and Barto in for one last group photo in the house.
.
At six in the morning, the sky was still dark. Heavy, feathery snow was falling. Several off-road vehicles were parked on the street by the construction site, flanked by Beastman patrol soldiers standing in neat rows. The headlights of the vehicles were all on. The other soldiers, who were preparing to leave the district, seemed much more relaxed. They stood in front of the vehicles chatting. Some had just come from the mess hall, holding food as they walked toward the cars, creating a bustling scene.
Gu Ning walked out of the building and stood on the snow-covered steps. She raised her wrist to check the time and temperature on her terminal:
6:20 AM.
-25°C.
’The temperature is a few degrees lower than yesterday, and winter isn’t even half over. If I’d left any later, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stray far from a heater. I would’ve had to just hole up for the rest of the season.’
Gu Ning rubbed her hands together for warmth, then pulled a pair of goggles she’d prepared earlier from her pocket and put them on.
Barto had made this new pair of goggles for her. They were lighter than the ones she used to wear for work at the site, designed mainly to protect against the biting wind.
Alex walked up behind Gu Ning, carrying her suitcase. Barto shot him a sideways glance and snatched the suitcase from his hand.
He was about to put an arm around Gu Ning, but Alex beat him to it, sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her through the knee-deep snow toward their vehicle.
Cook followed, tail wagging.
"..." Barto lowered his outstretched hand. Grinding his molars, he hoisted the suitcase onto his shoulder and strode past them, his face tight with anger.
Gu Ning watched Barto storm off, kicking up snow with each furious step. ’?’ she thought. ’What’s with the little fox now? Who pissed him off?’
Alex carried Gu Ning to an off-road vehicle, opened the front passenger door, and set her inside. He then fastened her seatbelt, which had only recently been installed.
"I’m going to check on the convoy. I’ll be back in a bit," Alex said.
Gu Ning nodded.
Alex patted her on the head, then couldn’t resist leaning in to give her a hug, secretly slipping a small object into her pocket.
Gu Ning was taken aback for a moment. She raised her arms to hug him back, but he had already released her, shut the door, and walked away.
Staring at Alex’s retreating back, Gu Ning felt a sliver of unease.
"WOOF." Cook pawed at her window, pulling Gu Ning from her thoughts.
She was about to tell Cook to get in the back, but when she turned, she saw three vaguely unfamiliar faces.
This off-road vehicle was smaller than the other military ones; it couldn’t hold many people.
"Get the hell out," Barto said, knocking on the rear window to the passengers inside.
A young wolf-type Beastman rolled down the window and handed him a sheet. "Seats are assigned. You can find your spot on the list."
Barto didn’t even glance at it. He reached through the open window, and before the young wolf could react, he unlatched the door from the inside, yanked the guy out, and Cook immediately squeezed into the vacated spot.
"Cook, you’re not assigned to this vehicle!"
The other two young wolves tried to push Cook back out, but he just shoved the front half of his body between the front seats, trying excitedly to get closer to Gu Ning.
Afraid he’d try to get into the driver’s seat, the young wolves started dragging him back.
"Scoot over," Barto said, shoving Cook aside as he squeezed in himself, cramming the back seat completely full.
Seeing the two Beastmen turning pale from being crushed together, Gu Ning pursed her lips and looked at Barto.
Barto just shrugged at her, one eyebrow raised in a wicked smirk. He rolled up the window, ignoring the frantic pounding of the Beastman he’d just ejected.
’Trying to separate the three of us? Not a chance.’
’Some stupid list. Like I’d follow that.’
Gu Ning cleared her throat, hugged her bag, and sat up straight. She glanced at the still-empty driver’s seat. ’Alex will probably be the one to drive,’ she thought.
Five minutes later—
The driver’s side door opened, and a tall figure slid into the seat, bringing a gust of frigid air into the car.
Gu Ning heard the door open and turned, her eyes meeting a familiar, cold and stern face.
"...?"
’Isn’t Alex supposed to be driving?! Why is it Vine?’
Gu Ning hurriedly pulled off her gloves and tapped on her terminal to message Alex.
"Alex isn’t in this vehicle."
Seeing her actions, Vine said, "You’re a member of the Military Department now. You need to follow orders."
Just then, another vehicle pulled up alongside them. The window rolled down, and Seth, the young wolf, poked his head out and waved to Gu Ning.
Gu Ning quickly rolled down her window.
"Boss," Seth said. "We’ve got an extra spot over here! You can send Cook to our car!"
As he spoke, he pulled his head back and leaned away, revealing Alex in the passenger seat.
Gu Ning felt an inexplicable sense of relief seeing that Alex was already in a car.
She turned to tell Cook to go to Seth’s vehicle. ’Vine will probably kick him and Barto out anyway,’ she thought. ’Cook gets along well with Seth, so he should be fine over there. At least if Cook goes, maybe Vine will let Barto stay with me.’
Just as she was about to speak, Vine ordered his two subordinates to switch vehicles.
Seeing them leave, with only Barto and Cook remaining in the back seat, Gu Ning shot a quick glance at Vine and sat up straight, silently hoping he would just ignore her and not try to make conversation.
Barto stared at Vine in the driver’s seat, feeling a little confused himself. He glanced over at Seth’s vehicle; it was filled with familiar faces, including Alex.
Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
After a moment’s thought, he picked up the list he’d tossed aside. On the roster for their vehicle, Car #2, he found both his name and Cook’s.
"..."
’So... we were supposed to be in this car all along?’
’What is Alex up to? Why wouldn’t he put us all in the same car?’
Barto thought for a moment, then found the passenger list for Seth’s vehicle on the sheet. Neither Alex’s name nor Gu Ning’s was on it.
He frowned. A thought occurred to him, and he crumpled the list into a ball and tossed it onto the floor.
Vine shot him a sideways glance, then reached over to tug on Gu Ning’s seatbelt, checking to make sure it was secure enough to protect her from being thrown about during the journey.
Gu Ning lowered her gaze to his hand.
"We’re leaving," Vine said, closing her window.