3. The So-Called Apocalypse

The fourth day.

Unlike the relatively peaceful days before.

A third person appeared in the shelter where the atmosphere between the only two occupants had been fairly harmonious.

She was a woman who looked to be in her twenties. Her face was obscured by dried blood and grime, making it impossible to see clearly. Only her cold, vacant eyes revealed her emotions. After she slipped down into the shelter through the crack above, the atmosphere grew heavy for a moment.

The instant she saw the two of them, she wavered. Her indifferent pupils suddenly contracted, then her expression turned vicious as a mindless roar escaped her throat.

Yet strangely, it was as though her vocal cords were damaged, and no sound came out at all. The only reason they could tell she was roaring was the shape of her open mouth and her excessively ferocious expression.

Very strange. Both of them realized that the newcomer was strange. Unlike Hua's vigilance born of self-preservation, the woman's wariness carried a strong intent to attack.

Just as Su Qing'an had picked up a stone brick in preparation for any attack the woman might launch.

Rumble, rumble. A massive Honkai Beast passed by.

The woman stopped her silent roaring. From that alone, Su Qing'an could tell that she feared the Honkai Beast.

This showed that, Even If she was somewhat abnormal, she still cared about her own life. In this special period, when even the slightest sound could bring disaster, that already counted as a blessing amid misfortune.

But they had to remain vigilant.

Su Qing'an came to that conclusion, and the gaze he turned toward the woman grew colder.

After the Honkai Beast left, a delicate atmosphere persisted between the three of them.

The woman sat in the corner On her own, eating the food from her bag. Her gaze did not rest on the food for even half a second. Her eyes stared blankly ahead, hollow and aimless as though she had lost her soul.

She was practically a madwoman with no reason, no language ability, and only the most basic survival instincts left.

Su Qing'an frowned as he Looked Towards the scene. His will, battered and crushed by fear, had become exceedingly sensitive, and the woman's behavior was undoubtedly testing the limits of his nerves.

The boy Glanced at the Girl curled up beside him, and a faint killing intent arose in his heart.

She was dangerous. If he could...

What was her name?

She had forgotten.

The woman had forgotten such trivial information.

All she remembered was that her mother and father had turned into monsters and raised blades against her. In order to protect herself, she Killed them.

That was all there was to the story. Her muddled consciousness told her so.

As she swallowed her food, the woman merely ate mechanically, as if carrying out a routine task.

Humans needed to eat, so she had to do the same.

The shackles brought by Common knowledge could still restrain her. If she did not do this, it would feel wrong.

But why had she lost her sense of taste? The thought crossed her mind, yet she did not dwell on it. Expressionlessly, she continued swallowing the tasteless food.

The fourth day in the shelter passed Just like this.

At night, Hua unconsciously moved a little closer to Su Qing'an.

The woman's strange behavior and inability to communicate prevented either of them from sleeping peacefully. Without discussion or words, the two tacitly took turns keeping watch for one another.

Even light sleep seemed extremely dangerous with such an uncertain factor present, so they took shifts sleeping.

The woman had not actually fallen asleep. She seemed incapable of becoming sleepy or tired. Even when she habitually wanted to sleep, all she could do was close her eyes.

Her consciousness could not sink into slumber no matter what.

As time passed, memories slowly surfaced in her muddled mind, making her Understands one thing.

Her parents had not actually turned into zombies.

But it was true that she had killed her parents.

That day, the one who had turned into a zombie was the woman herself.

The moment she realized she was no longer human, she felt neither sorrow nor grief. She laughed soundlessly as an ashen white color rapidly spread from the parts concealed beneath her clothes across her entire body.

Preserving even a trace of human consciousness and making it here had already been her limit. This woman, who had struggled on the boundary between human and zombie, was at last completely worn away of her human consciousness, Reduced to an unthinking zombie.

The woman's laughter made the two of them Perceived that something was wrong at the same time.

When sunlight fell, Hua's nerves immediately tensed completely the instant she Looked at the woman. The woman's unnaturally pale complexion was exactly the same as the zombies Outside world.

She gripped the sharp-edged stone tightly.

But the woman was faster. In an instant, she pounced on Hua and knocked her down.

Ignoring his sprained ankle, Su Qing'an rushed over and slammed the stone brick into the back of the woman's head with all his strength.

While the woman was dazed, Su Qing'an locked an arm around her neck and dragged her off the Girl.

There was no time to hesitate or think. The instant Hua was endangered, the boy, who had never fought anyone before, coldly went for the kill.

Even a strong adult man among normal humans could die outright from such a heavy blow, let alone the full-force chokehold that followed, crushing his windpipe.

But now that she was a zombie, the woman had lost most of humanity's weaknesses. Being unable to breathe was not fatal to her. Unless the boy could snap her cervical spine in an instant, trying to kill her in one blow was undoubtedly a joke.

The woman's strength was absurdly great. Though he had seized the initiative, the boy, whose body had gradually weakened over the past few days, was beginning to lose control of her movements.

The youth was not particularly skilled at fighting; his attacks only deliberately targeted the weak points of the human body.

The only weapons he could use were his legs. Su Qing'an coldly used his knees to hammer the woman's spine again and again.

Never in his life had he pushed his body's strength like this. This was almost his only chance to kill the woman.

If she regained her ability to move, there was a high chance that he, with his injured ankle, and the frail Hua would be killed.

This was a fight to the death. Understanding that, the youth had already given it everything he had. He could feel the joints in the arms locking down the woman beginning to groan. The intense pain told him that, after a short while, his arms might be forcibly pulled out of their sockets.

When that happened, death would be inevitable.

Realizing this, the youth opened his mouth and began tearing at the woman's neck like a wild beast.

Savage or ugly, no matter how wretched it was, in order for himself and Hua to survive, as the weaker one, he could only use every weapon at his disposal.

Even if it was his teeth.

It was the sound of a sharp object cutting through flesh. The pointed edge of the stone in Hua's hand stabbed precisely into the woman's temple.

The woman's struggling gradually weakened. Only after gasping for air did the youth slowly loosen his grip.

He did not choose to rest. He picked up a stone brick by his feet and continued smashing it into the woman's head. No amount of caution was excessive when facing such a monster.

Only after thoroughly crushing her head and neck did Su Qing'an finally let out a breath of relief.

Then he saw the girl crying her heart out.

She was weeping, unable to stop herself from crying.

Was she afraid of the woman's earlier attack?

Had it reminded her of the deaths of her parents and friends?

Or was it the endless despair brought about by this collapse?

Su Qing'an could not think that much. Hua's crying left him at a loss; under these circumstances, no words could comfort the girl.

In the end, he hugged her.

Inside this shelter, lit by only a few rays of sunlight and filled with the stench of blood, the youth gently stroked the girl's gray hair and said:

"You've already tried very hard. We've both tried very hard, so we both survived. Now, Hua, get some proper rest."

Enduring the pain in his arms, Su Qing'an carried Hua to the corner.

The girl was even lighter than he had imagined.

Only after Hua had calmed down and fallen asleep did he begin to rest.

After grappling with the woman, he felt the discomfort in his body growing worse.

How long could this body hold on?

The youth looked silently at the woman's corpse. Perhaps his own appearance in death would not be much better than this.

That night.

The girl awkwardly did not dare look at the youth's face. Recalling how she had cried now filled her with such embarrassment that she could not keep her usual composure.

"Can you tell me your name?" he asked, pretending not to notice the girl's awkwardness.

This was the second time Su Qing'an had seriously asked for the girl's name.

"...It's Hua," the girl raised her eyes. Her emerald eyes were like a clear stream as she earnestly repeated, "I am Hua."

"I see." The youth turned his face away, somewhat embarrassed.

The sight of the girl speaking so earnestly became the only colorful image in his brief, gray-filled experience since arriving in this world.

He probably would not be able to forget it, Su Qing'an thought.