“Ma, I promise. Hong Sheng and I are doing fine.”
Lu Hao sighed. On the other end of the satellite phone, Ma kept telling him, “Don’t think that because your father and I are in another country that we can’t keep an eye on you! I know you’ve been working too hard. You know, that young lady—Little Sheng’s friend—she said that Little Sheng is so tired that he can’t even get out of bed!”
She kept going, but whatever she said after, Lu Hao couldn’t hear over the sound of his own choking. “Cough, cough—Ma, when did you—why were you talking with Qiu’er?”
“Well, I called Little Sheng, but he didn’t answer. Then that girl picked up the phone and said she was delivering his meals because he was resting in his room and had fallen asleep.”
Lu Hao pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn it, Yu Qiu. That girl’s crush on Hong Sheng was insidious. “Ma, listen. It’s not what you think. We’re doing alright here. My group is very peaceful right now. You know that we’re not fighting zombies anymore.”
“But I heard those rebels are still active in China!” Ma fretted, “Why don’t you come over to Iceland? Everyone here has already been cured. And everyone gets along, not like in China, where there’s all that fighting.”
“It’s fine, Ma. Hong Sheng and I will visit you soon, okay? Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Lu Hao hung up the phone just as Lisa Xi walked over. She raised an eyebrow. “Your mother’s still going at it, huh?”
“Yep.” Sighing, Lu Hao walked with her to the meeting room.
Around the table, representatives of government leaders from all around the world had gathered together. Lu Hao took his seat at the edge of the room, while Lisa Xi walked to the head of the table. He wasn’t here to join the discussion, but to guard Lisa Xi as she gave her speech in front of the world powers.
It was eight years after the apocalypse, and humankind was now faced with a new dilemma: what to do with the zombie population.
After Lisa Xi discovered the cure for the zombie virus, humans no longer had to fear infection. But with the cure came another discovery. People who had already become zombies would have strange reactions when given the cure: they wouldn’t revert to being human, but instead, would continue to evolve.
These zombies would heal their wounds and regain their human-like appearance, intelligence, and sanity, but would remain zombies. They no longer needed to eat or sleep, and could regenerate wounds at a much faster rate than humans. They were a new, evolved species, one that could easily overpower the weak and mortal humans.
No one had an easy answer for humanity’s path forward. And that wasn’t what Lu Hao, Lisa Xi, or anyone in the SG could decide. But the SG’s goal had always been clear: to aim for peace, and to protect the lives of the people.
Although zombies were frightening, once they regained their sanity, they were still people in the end. So long as they were willing to remain in society and work together to rebuild the world, the SG believed humanity and zombies could work together.
For this reason, after the distribution of the cure, the SG became a safe haven for humans and ‘neo-humans’—meaning ability users and enlightened zombies—alike.
The discussions went on for a few hours. Lisa Xi maintained her calm in the face of questioning and accusations. By the time it was all over, Lisa Xi and Lu Hao left the place together, and got into the jet that would fly them back to F City.
There, Lisa Xi finally cut loose and exploded with cursing, and Lu Hao looked out the window.
He wanted to see Hong Sheng.
They finished the drive back to the SG base in the dark hours of the morning. Lisa Xi grumbled and returned to her room in the lab, while Lu Hao went up the stairs of the villa.
He walked to the room on the third floor, the one that had a balcony view and access to the roof. Quietly opening the door, Lu Hao immersed himself in the sound of soft, deep breathing. He sighed, the tension releasing from his body, and entered the room.
Hong Sheng was sleeping in the bed. He had a very restrained sleeping posture, laid there on his side with his arms down like a log. Lu Hao smiled, his eyes gentle. His fingers reached out to brush aside Hong Sheng’s hair, revealing Hong Sheng’s closed eyelids and fluttering eyelashes. He was dreaming about something.
Lu Hao’s hand moved down. His fingers trailed Hong Sheng’s jaw, then his neck, where they hooked into the neckline of his shirt and tugged. Leaning forward, Lu Hao inspected the marks he had left on Hong Sheng’s body. They were starting to fade. He had been gone for too long.
It was at this moment that Hong Sheng woke up. His eyes snapped open, and right in front of him, what he saw was this: Lu Hao looming over him, inspecting Hong Sheng’s body like an old pervert.
“…” Hong Sheng looked dully at him.
Lu Hao smiled shamelessly and pulled at Hong Sheng’s collar. “I was just thinking that they were healing a little well. Maybe I should add a few more? What do you think?”
A flush grew on Hong Sheng’s cheeks, but he expressionlessly tugged his collar out of Lu Hao’s grasp. He then rolled over, showing his back to Lu Hao.
Anyone else would take it as a sign of rejection, but Lu Hao’s eyes curled with joy. He sat at the side of the bed, took off his shoes, and pulled off his clothes. He left them folded on a table next to the bed, then joined Hong Sheng under the covers.
Lu Hao fit himself over Hong Sheng’s back, his arm easily wrapping around Hong Sheng and falling over his stomach. Hong Sheng’s breathing was light and relaxed, and when Lu Hao bent his head to kiss his neck, he just let a small, pleased hum.
The next morning, Hong Sheng got up and dressed in a high-collar shirt.
It was spring. Outside, the trees were lush with leaves, and the flowering bushes were in full bloom. The first children since the start of the apocalypse had been born, and not far from the villa was a playground that some imaginative person had built. The children jumped around and slid down the animal-themed slides, and they swung back and forth on the swingset.
A little zombie girl with pale eyes held hands with a human girl while sitting at the side. When Lu Hao and Hong Sheng left the villa, the two girls giggled and whispered to each other.
A smile crossed Lu Hao’s face at what he heard, but when Hong Sheng looked at him inquisitively, he just shook his head.
The two of them were twenty-six now, or thirty-six, depending on how you looked at it. They had spent half of their lives fighting for survival. Though the world was still uncertain, for right now, in this tiny part of the world, they had created a place of peace.
“Hong Sheng.” Lu Hao bent over to whisper into Hong Sheng’s ear, “I have something to tell you.”
Before Lu Hao could say any more, Hong Sheng stopped in his tracks.
He turned around, covered Lu Hao’s mouth with a hand, and leaned close to Lu Hao. Their faces were almost touching, with Hong Sheng’s hand the only thing separating them.
Hong Sheng then smiled, and he said, “I love you.”
Seeing the stunned expression on Lu Hao’s face, Hong Sheng let go and retreated with a little laugh. He was very smug.
Usually, Lu Hao would be the one saying that to him in public, always trying to make Hong Sheng shy. But now Hong Sheng got to it first.
Lu Hao just smiled in return. He reached over to grab Hong Sheng’s hand.
They were still young now, and the people in this place still needed them. But humans were always adaptable.
One day, the apocalypse would become just another section in a history book, a story told by children’s elders. And by that time, Lu Hao and Hong Sheng would be just two ordinary old men sharing a home, the wrinkles on the skin of their hands overlapping.
Until then, they would continue to fight, and to protect the survivors of this new world.
This is the end of the main story! Thank you so, so much for reading!!
This is the first time I've ever completed a long-form piece of writing. Although it took a long time to get here, I've learned so much in this process.
For those of you who've reached out to me to see the end of this story, I'm eternally grateful.
Hong Sheng and Lu Hao's journey will continue through a series of extras in the following chapters! These are all meant to be in good fun and not too serious. The premises of the five extras are, briefly:
Extra 1: Slice-of-life fluff about visiting Mother and Father Lu in Iceland.
Extra 2: Hong Sheng works through some things and learns how to x. (Explicit)
Extra 3: Silly smut about Hong Sheng going into heat (?!). (Explicit)
Extra 4: Dark yandere Lu Hao AU where Hong Sheng is a zombie.
Extra 5: Silly fluff about Lu Hao and Hong Sheng being a zombie couple.
My next book is a shorter story to help me transition between larger projects. It's a cultivation-world slice-of-life called "I am a Furnace", and it's about a boy who's rescued from a demonic sect and has to learn normal life after being raised as a furnace. Although it has dark themes because of its premise, the tone of the story is overall light, fluffy, and emotional ( ^-^)/
Click here to view "I am a Furnace".
Please enjoy the extras if you'd like, and thank you again for reading!
