Chapter 92—Circumstances

By Bocchan13

New Era Calender—April 19^th 22 years after the Fall

“So where is it?” Song Yu looked at Xiao Zi with interest, looking for something like a vial of green liquid or even those mysterious red medicines talked about in those xianxia novels.

“Woah, wait. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.” Xiao Zi shook his head, still clutching the metal balls. Lan Zhou was no different as he absentmindedly shucked the corn.

Song Yu watched these two with confusion, when a large force of sleepiness washed over him. His eyes flickered, the small lit room going darker and darker.

Song Yu swayed to the bed, barely making it in time before collapsing into a giant heap. Lan Zhou saw this and exclaimed,

“Are you okay???! Hey, Song Yu!?”

Song Yu’s brows furrowed, as the backlash of his powers caused his body to numb,

“Mmm…just need to sleep. Let me sleep, okay?”

Xiao Zi took it upon himself, and felt Song Yu’s body. A small light escaped his palms onto Song Yu, but unlike before, it was dull and sluggishly surrounded Song Yu.

“His body seems to be rejecting abilities. He’s over-exhausted himself. Like I said before, this probably has been happening for a long time if it’s gotten this bad.”

Lan Zhou brushed back Song Yu’s bangs, showing the sunken eyes and pale pallor. When he was awake, he was vibrant, eyes shining and an easy smile…but when you saw him sleeping you could see the exhaustion, the fragility, and the trauma.

“Okay. Let’s wait for him to recover. Get some rest, I’ll go up the bunker and see if they are still searching for us.”

“Mmm.” Xiao Zi didn’t hesitate twice. He wasn’t young anymore and running for his life made his creaky old bones even more stiff. Lan Zhan made sure there was no sounds up above before opening the doors, leaving Xiao Zi with the sleeping Song Yu.

Xiao Zi rested his head on the wall, his long coat spilling on the cold floors. Now that it was dark and silent, with only an coma patient, Xiao Zi could only do one thing.

His shoulders shuddered as muffled sobs wracked his body. His unsteady breath reached into his coat pockets where a crumpled picture was. Inside, was the five of them: Lan Zhou, Wang Cheng, Yu Ci, himself and…Lu Jingxiu. This was the only surviving photo of them before the apocalypse.

At the prime of their lives, they had so much to look forward to. Xiao Zi cried harder as his gaze drifted to Lu Jingxiu. The salty tears cascaded down his face as he whispered sorry over and over again.

Wang Cheng and Lu Jingxiu died protecting them on the way here, whilst Lu Jingxiu left in the middle of the night to who knows where. Xiao Zi thought that he abandoned them, if it wasn’t for the crumpled up note next to the fire that said he was going for reinforcements. But nonetheless, Lu Jingxiu wasn’t with them anymore.

“You asshole.” Xiao Zi cried harder as more and more regrets filled his heart. If they knew that this was their end, would they have gone? Probably.

They always stayed together. Throughout this entire apocalypse, the five of them have survived through hardships, conspiracies, love and war. So when Xiao Zi developed the anti-virus, they unanimously decided to help him.

Find the pure ability user. Make the anti-virus. Save the world.

But the world was never that easy. Not only did the Military Base screw them over with weapons and supplies, but they only had a handful of elite soldiers excused with the task of helping them. For the first 3 months, things were okay. Lan Zhou and Yu Ci had a lot of military merit and were able to control the soldiers, but as more and more time passed with nary a result, there was complete unrest.

After a zombie hoard took them by surprise, the remaining soldiers fled leaving the five of them once again alone. But it was fine… their journey would almost be over.

Until it wasn’t. Until he saw with his own eyes, Wang Cheng sacrificed himself, being devoured by zombies. And Yu Ci lost his leg to the virus, causing him to commit suicide when he slowed everyone down.

And Lu Jingxiu who was still mourning his friends decided to leave in search of reinforcements, leaving Xiao Zi and Lan Zhou to make it to the Paradise Base, all for them to cast them out like trash. It was heartbreaking.

Xiao Zi cried bitterly for what seemed like hours, going back and forth in his head about what he should have done.

But ultimately, time could not go back. His friends were gone forever. Under his reverie, he heard the bunker doors open. But…it wasn’t Lan Zhou.

Xiao Zi panicked and slipped himself under Song Yu’s bed. He heard the sharp steps of combat boots as it made its way to the sleeping Song Yu.

“Song Yu?”

Xiao Zi calmed his breathing, letting his heartbeat slow down. This voice…was familiar.

“Song Yu, you awake?”

“Mmmm…”

Xiao Zi felt the bed sink in as the man sat next to Song Yu. With a gentle voice, he crooned.

“Song Yu, we need your help again.”

Song Yu could only groggily open his eyes to see Ye Zhou with his gentle smile.

“I can’t. I’m so tired. I can’t do it. Please…please let me sleep.”

“Song Yu, it’s been three days already. Please, I’ll let you sleep after this. But this is urgent. There was a break-in by two infected individuals. They hurt many people. Please, our people need you.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Can you purify their wounds? They’re afraid that they will turn into zombies.”

Underneath the bed, Xiao Zi could clearly tell that this new individual was taking advantage of Song Yu. And the story of the two infected…was probably Lan Zhou and Xiao Zi. He felt the bed lighten and through the sides, he saw the tall man carry Song Yu.

Somewhat in a loving embrace, he carried Song Yu princess style up to the surface of the bunker. Xiao Zi could not get a good glimpse at the man, but he could definitely feel that he was extremely…extremely dangerous.

Xiao Zi stayed under the bed until the familiar sounds of Lan Zhou hurriedly slid inside the bunker.

“Where’s Song Yu?”

Lan Zhou looked panicked, clutching a fistful of what looked to be flowers. Xiao Zi shimmied out of the bed and locked gazes with Lan Zhou.

“Lan Zhou…I think we need to take Song Yu away. He’s not safe here.”

Xiao Zi described what happened, much to Lan Zhou’s distaste.

“They’ve been working him like a dog, giving him the title of the Base leader. Like a puppet king, ready for slaughter.”

Xiao Zi nodded. “At the rate he’s overusing his abilities; he will sleep for longer, until he will be just a living corpse.”

“So pitiful. He doesn’t deserve this type of existence.”

“How can we persuade him to leave with us?”

“Simple. Just say you’ll marry him.”

Lan Zhou blushed bright red, but his eyes held a small glint of…anticipation. But it dimmed somewhat when he remembered something,

“But I like him. Won’t he be sad if I dangle something this important like it’s some sort of prize? He’ll think I actually don’t like him and just want him for his ability.”

Xiao Zi slapped his forehead.

“Dumb head that was just a joke.”

“Oh.”

“Song Yu must already be aware somewhat that he is sick. He has never seen the outside world. Even though its corpse ridden and ugly…it’s still better than dying here. We have time until Lu Jingxiu comes…we can persuade him till then.”

Hearing Lu Jingxiu, Lan Zhou only shook his head.

“Xiao Zi…Lu Jingxiu might not come ba—“

“I believe in him. He will come back for me.”

Lan Zhou could only nod his head.

Xiao Zi looked up towards the bunker door, his determination clearer than ever. He will survive.

He, with Song Yu’s help, will save the world.

Bocchan13

Although Lu Jingxiu left, he did it for the best of intentions. He knew that the safest place for Xiao Zi was with Lan Zhou and had every confidence that he would take care of him until he came back. But life is otherwise unpredictable. He received the worst of it, in my opinion. He was the last of their group to die, and it was because of heartbreak. Poor guy.