After walking out of that building, Mu Yingying rubbed the back of her neck. She had been standing in front of the mirror too long, and her neck was still stiff.
Su Shuang’er was walking slower than usual.
Bai Ye was in the bike basket.
The street curved south.
After the turn, the whole scene changed.
Before, it had been a commercial street. Shops, signs, neon lights—everything a street should have.
After the turn, the ruins suddenly opened up.
The buildings on both sides receded, leaving a wide open space in the middle.
The ground was paved with hexagonal plastic tiles in pink, yellow, and green, worn down to just the base color. Withered grass grew through the cracks.
Around the tiles was a low railing, inside which stood a swing set. The chains were rusted, the seat tilted to one side, swaying gently in the wind.
Beside it was a slide. The end was broken off, revealing the metal support inside.
Farthest away was a carousel. Of the five horses, two had broken necks; the remaining three stood still. The paint on their eyes had long faded.
It was a small park.
More precisely, a children’s play area in the community. Before the apocalypse, every decent-sized neighborhood had one.
When Mu Yingying looked up, her attention wasn’t drawn to the slide.
It was the person in the middle of the park.
A woman.
Wearing a postpartum gown.
Light pink, thin, with lace trim.
The kind you see in hospitals right after childbirth.
Washed pale, but still clean.
Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Her face was hard to make out.
She was pushing a stroller. Blue.
One side of the canopy was lowered. The inside was hidden.
The woman slowly circled the park.
Her steps were light, almost soundless.
As she pushed, she hunched slightly, leaning her chin toward the canopy.
She was humming.
Her lips moved slowly, swaying gently left and right—the way you soothe a child to sleep.
But there was no sound.
Not a single sound.
Su Shuang’er stopped first.
She moved Bai Ye behind her.
“That person…” she said in a low voice.
Bai An’an said, “She doesn’t actively harm people.”
Mu Yingying stopped too.
She stared at the woman pushing the stroller for a while, slowly slowing her breathing.
From that angle, she could see the woman’s face clearly.
Twenty-five or twenty-six.
Her face was unnaturally white.
Pale and sickly, like something soaked in water and then dried.
But her expression was very gentle.
When she hummed, the corners of her eyes curved.
When she looked down into the stroller, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
There was not a trace of aggression on her.
Bai Ye said softly from the bike basket, “An’an.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s humming to soothe a child?”
“Yeah.”
Bai Ye paused. “Is there a child in the stroller?”
Bai An’an didn’t answer immediately. After two or three seconds—
“See for yourself.”
Mu Yingying took a deep breath.
She walked toward the woman.
She didn’t draw her blade. She deliberately made her footsteps heavier—you couldn’t suddenly startle her in this state.
But the woman didn’t look up. She was in her own world, completely unaware of Mu Yingying approaching.
Mu Yingying stopped about three meters from the stroller.
Now she could see the whole thing.
It was an ordinary baby stroller.
Only half the canopy was down. Through the gap, she could see—
A small blanket.
Light yellow, now mostly blackened and stiff, curled into a heap on the seat.
In the middle of the blanket was a dark brown old stain, spreading from one end to the other, like dried blood.
Under the blanket, nothing.
No child. Just a blackened, stiff little blanket.
Mu Yingying’s breath caught.
The woman stopped.
Still didn’t look at her.
She lowered her head toward the canopy and said something very gently.
No sound.
But Bai Ye read her lips from the basket.
‘Xiao Man, be good. Mom’s pushing you. We’ll go home after a few more rounds.’
Then she started pushing again, continuing her slow circle.
Su Shuang’er walked over and stood beside Mu Yingying. She also saw the blanket. Her brows furrowed.
She didn’t say anything.
Bai An’an approached slowly from behind. She stopped outside the arc of the woman’s path, not entering her space. Her voice was very soft.
“Zhou Mei.”
Su Shuang’er didn’t catch it. “What?”
“Her name is Zhou Mei,” Bai An’an said. “She gave birth… about three months ago. Before the apocalypse.”
She looked at the woman for a few more seconds.
“The child was called Xiao Man. That day, she was pushing the stroller in the park for a walk. When the explosion happened, she threw herself over the stroller.”
She paused.
“She couldn’t protect them.”
“Neither mother nor child survived. But she died in that position—lying on top of the stroller. The lingering thoughts remembered her like that.”
Su Shuang’er opened her mouth. “Then she—”
“Now she thinks the child is asleep,” Bai An’an said. “She thinks the explosion is over, thinks she protected the child. She still believes the child was just scared and fell into a deep sleep.”
“She’s been soothing… for years.”
Mu Yingying’s throat moved. She didn’t speak.
The wind passed through the swing set, and the chains screeched. The three horses on the carousel swayed but wouldn’t turn. The woman stepped across the plastic tiles, leaving a damp print with each step—not water. It was the moisture she carried. The prints evaporated quickly.
She pushed the empty stroller around, passing by Mu Yingying.
She didn’t look at Mu Yingying. She didn’t look at anyone. Only at the canopy.
As she passed, Mu Yingying caught a scent.
Not the smell of a corpse.
It was disinfectant. The kind from a hospital delivery room. Mixed faintly underneath with the smell of milk.
Goosebumps rose on Mu Yingying’s back.
Not from fear. Because the smell was too real.
The woman pushed the stroller past her and continued her circle.
Su Shuang’er whispered, “This kind… what do we do?”
“She doesn’t hurt anyone,” Bai An’an said. “But she’ll keep pushing here forever. She’s already been pushing for years. She doesn’t know how many years have passed.”
“To her, every lap is the same as the last.”
“Then we just leave her?”
“If we leave her, she stays here forever. She won’t walk out on her own. She doesn’t have the concept of walking out.” Bai An’an paused. “Her world is just this stroller and the fact that Xiao Man is asleep.”
Mu Yingying said, “Can we make her leave?”
Bai An’an said, “Yes. But someone has to help her. She can’t walk out on her own.”
Bai An’an walked toward the woman.
She didn’t hurry. Her pace matched the woman’s.
She circled around to the front and crouched down. Her crouching height was about level with the canopy.
The woman stopped.
She looked up.
For the first time, she noticed someone was there.
When a mother sees a stranger approach her child, she instinctively shields the stroller. Her left hand gripped the handle. Her right hand gently rested on the seat. Protecting the child.
She finally saw Bai An’an clearly.
Her mouth opened.
Sound finally came out.
Very soft, afraid of waking the child.
“Shh—girl, keep your voice down. Xiao Man just fell asleep.”
Bai An’an said, “Mm. I know. I didn’t say anything.”
The woman relaxed a little.
She smiled. Very gently.
“My Xiao Man is such a good baby. She falls asleep as soon as I push her. I bring her to the park every day for a walk, and she falls asleep after one lap.”
Bai An’an said, “How long has she been asleep?”
The woman froze.
She thought about it. A little lost.
“I don’t know. She just fell asleep. When I pushed her past the swing set earlier, she was still awake, smiling at me. Then when I got here, she fell asleep.”
As she spoke, her eyes were still fixed on the direction of the canopy.