XG 40 - Do you still want to follow me?

 

“Come on!” Kang Xunsu stood up and stretched, beckoning her to follow him. “Let’s find something better than ice to fix your neck.”

 

Kang Xunsu managed to find a chilling gel from Smoker, a bodyguard that was a heavy smoker. The cigarette ash often falls onto his finger, thus the existence of the chilling gel. 

 

With her throat mostly comforted by the chilling gel, Wong Xue Guo emerged from her washroom after remembering to clean her hands that had poked the eyeballs. There was nothing left to pack, so she went to the living room. She stopped beside Chen Yibo, who was watching her mother facing the bodyguards.

 

At such a late hour, besides Aunty Cheung, who was a live-in helper, only the bodyguards were still in the house. The other helpers had long left after work hours. 

 

“Like I’ve said earlier, following me isn’t the way to survival, but to join me in stopping this virus by dealing with its source. This journey will be tough, where you have to be merciless to others’ plight, kill anyone that blocks our way, and you could die anytime. I had not even discovered who’s our enemy, so it will be a long way to go. Do you still want to follow me?”

 

The current Suzie Yap with black hair looked much younger and law-abiding. She was less imposing than her red hair version, which Monkey and Mocking could not help but gave her a few more glances. Her current hairstyle was the same as Wong Xue Guo's, which allowed others to easily discover their similarities. 

 

The mother and daughter have the same slender body shape, mouth, and high cheekbone, while Wong Xue Guo got her eyes and nose from her father.

 

“I’m in.” Mocking, Kang Xunsu, and L.L do not have living family members or any other attachment, so they did not think much to agree.

 

“Count me in too!” Monkey, also an orphan, immediately agreed after his senior Mocking joined. 

 

No one asked Aurora, who was Suzie Yap’s assistant that had followed her boss everywhere, even when migrating to Malaysia. This woman was Suzie Yap’s talented and loyal assistant. 

 

The female bodyguard who was also Wong Xue Guo’s driver, Nana, gave a positive answer. “Allow me to help in guarding the young miss.” Although Nana was a cold-faced person and hard to approach, that does not mean she would not open her heart.

 

It was proven by Smoker, Nana’s steadfast boyfriend after chasing her for two years. “I will join too.”

 

Wong Xue Guo could not remember if she had ever done anything to melt Nana’s heart and to have achieved the great honour of getting her voluntary protection. They had only exchanged greetings when she got in and out of the car, and sometimes she would give Nana the leftover snacks that she secretly purchased when she could not finish them before arriving home.

 

I don’t understand, ah! If it was so easy, Smoker would not need so much effort to chase her!

 

Surprisingly, when Noose said he wanted to join, he was rejected.

 

It was Suzie Yap that rejected him, with the excuse that his uncle would need him. While it was true that Noose had an uncle, Wong Xue Guo also knows Nana still has her parents, yet she was allowed to join their group. Both Noose and Nana do not have a close relationship with their relatives, which was known to their entire group, yet no one spoke up for Noose. 

 

While some think that Noose would be better staying with his uncle and away from danger, Wong Xue Guo thinks otherwise. Her mother that was from the future would know things that would help her decide who she should bring along. 

 

Either Noose has a problem, or he would die if he followed them. But the latter does not seem like a good reason, because anyone that followed them has a high chance of dying, right?

 

The last person that was accepted into the group was Noodle, the newbie bodyguard. Unlike others, he was the only one to whom everyone kept asking if he was sure of his decision because he still has family members that he was close to. 

 

But Noodle had made the choice himself, and he was an adult. Since he volunteered, Suzie Yap would use him without worry. 

 

Noodle was so happy to be accepted that he missed the sympathetic gazes directed at him.

 

It was reaching five in the morning when those with no intention to join them finally left the house after dealing with the bodies of their comrade. Everything was packed and they were ready to go. 

 

In the end, their group was confirmed to have eleven people. One car was too packed for them all, so they would be travelling in three cars and head straight to the military base closest to them. It would take an hour of car ride just to reach there. After that, they would be flying straight to Penang Island to meet up with Charles Wong. 

 

“Your father has already reached Penang Island and we will immediately leave for Korea once we meet up,” Suzie Yap informed Wong Xue Guo.

 

Wong Xue Guo was busy reading the latest news from social media and could gauge everyone was panicking. Travelling on the road will be difficult. The latest area of infection spread was one of the largest government hospitals in their city and the area around it was quickly sealed off by the military. 

 

It was the same situation with the Diamond shopping mall, but the bombing order was still not issued yet for the hospital. Some urged the bombing, while those with more sympathetic hearts wanted the police force to rescue the survivors. The voice of the sympathizers was much stronger for the hospital than for the shopping mall. 

 

There was a brave reporter that managed to sneak close enough to the hospital entrance and filmed zombies being shot down by the army. It was even aired on the early morning news, where the clearly frightened news announcer was telling everyone to stock up on food and avoid leaving their house unless necessary.

 

It's over. Now everyone will start panicking.

 

There were many pictures of grocery stores' empty shelves spread around social media. The panic buying and food hoarding had started. 

 

Could it be that the military could no longer hold down the infection spread? There were many large population areas reported to have infected people and asking for help. 

 

Her mother had said the infection rate was indeed fast, but they still have one or two more days before it would reach their residence. Yet the housing area ten miles away had already raised an alarm. 

 

Turning off her mobile phone screen, she raised her head to look at Chen Yibo who was seated beside her in the car while others were busy loading boxes and luggage. They were alone and it was a good time to share what her mother told her. 

 

Although she wondered why her mother trusted Chen Yibo to the extent of being unconcerned about revealing her time travelling to him, she also trusted in her mother’s judgment. Maybe Chen Yibo in the future had survived and fought along with her parents. 

 

She was a little curious about how Chen Yibo ended up in the future.

 

Patting his shoulder, she held up her phone so he could read the screen. [Yibo, I have some information needed to share with you.]

 

Of course, she also has her own reason for agreeing to tell him. She wants to borrow his sharp mind to discuss things that she could not bring herself to ask her mother directly.