The Missing Memory

"Sister, this isn't mine," the little girl said in a clear voice.

"Oh, sorry about that." Tu Ran smiled and took the button back from her.

"But why are you all alone? Where's your mother?" Tu Ran's voice was gentle.

The little girl lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes. "My mommy... my mommy was eaten."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Tu Ran looked apologetic. "What about your father?"

"A kind uncle called my daddy already. He's coming to pick me up in his car soon," the little girl said obediently.

"That's good. Why don't you sit on a chair and rest for a while?" Tu Ran suggested.

The girl shook her head. "No thanks, sister. My daddy will be here soon, so I want to wait for him outside."

"Alright, then stay safe."

"Got it, sister. Bye-bye." The little girl was very polite.

Watching her walk out of the makeshift room, Tu Ran returned to her seat.

She closed her eyes slowly, and the memory she had just read surfaced in her mind.

The little girl's mother was the woman who had helped the first mutant that had stumbled and fallen, only to have her neck bitten through.

Earlier, inside the train car, Tu Ran had read the memory of a passerby.

She saw the infected mother slowly walk toward her daughter.

The passerby behind her had been too busy fleeing to see what happened next, so when Tu Ran read his memory, she didn't know what followed either.

But a terrified little girl—what were the odds she could escape from her infected mother's hands?

When she'd read that part before, Tu Ran had simply assumed the girl hadn't survived.

So seeing her just now, Tu Ran had immediately grown suspicious.

When she touched the girl's palm, Tu Ran read her memory.

There was a gap in the little girl's memory.

The last thing she remembered before the gap was her mother walking toward her, blood still dripping from her hands, sharp nails as if about to gouge out her eyes.

Then came a blank void—nothing at all.

The memory resumed later, when she was hiding in the restroom, and the train announcement was telling all survivors to line up and leave.

She'd simply followed along.

What was in that missing stretch of memory?

Tu Ran couldn't figure it out.

She turned her head and looked at Xie Xu, two seats away.

His eyes were slightly closed, leaning back in his chair, his profile sharply defined with clean lines.

Tu Ran hesitated for a moment, then stood up and moved two seats over to sit beside him.

"Let's make a deal."

Xie Xu opened his eyes and looked at her. "What kind of deal?"

Because he'd turned his face toward her, Tu Ran could see the other side of his cheek—a patch of bruising from the corner of his lips down to his jaw, still a bit swollen.

From the punch she'd given him earlier.

Tu Ran pressed her lips together, barely suppressing a smile.

"Is your Research Institute looking for the mutant host?"

"Yes." Xie Xu stared at her.

Her acting was too poor, and he could already tell she was laughing.

"I have a suspect," Tu Ran said.

"The little girl?"

Tu Ran blinked. "How did you know?"

"Because your excuse to talk to her earlier was too fake, and your smile was fake too."

Tu Ran touched her own face. Did she really smile that fake? She'd thought she was acting pretty well.

She snorted and shot him a glare. "That's because you've never seen Tu Ran really smile, so of course you think mine look fake."

"What's your reasoning? Why do you suspect her?" Xie Xu looked at her, his gaze probing.