Doomsday Awakening GL - Chapter 13

The nights were growing colder, and the few people, with their ragged clothes, could not keep warm.

Although An Yimu’s wounds had healed during her breakthrough, her clothes could not be restored. Her trench coat and pants were covered in scratches, making her look like she was wearing rags.

It was truly too cold, so everyone eventually decided to camp and lit a fire with dead leaves for warmth.

The five people sat in a circle.

Ling Qiuyu curled up in An Yimu’s arms like a kitten and soon fell asleep peacefully.

Through conversation, they learned that the other woman’s name was Gu Linlin. She was very tall; An Yimu was 168 cm, but Gu Linlin was a head taller than An Yimu. She said she was a print model before the incident and was shooting outdoors that day.

Nuan Qianyu saw that An Yimu seemed very interested and leaned over to her ear, asking, “Little An An, you didn’t fall for this Gu Linlin, did you? You’re so attentive.”

An Yimu’s ears flushed, and she gave a side-eye, chastising, “What are you talking about? We are both women.”

Nuan Qianyu shrugged indifferently, her expression turning ambiguous, and continued to whisper softly in An Yimu’s ear, “Actually, I’ve been keeping something from you and Little Yu.”

An Yimu raised an eyebrow. For some reason, her heart began to race. She turned back to look at Nuan Qianyu questioningly, only to see Nuan Qianyu’s face less than two centimeters from hers. Nuan Qianyu’s delicate brows, diamond-shaped nose, and phoenix eyes were instantly magnified many times. There were never any secrets between the three of them, right? But now, Nuan Qianyu was telling her she had been keeping something from her. A woman’s intuition told her it couldn’t be a good thing.

Nuan Qianyu held an ambiguous smile on her lips, her slender fingers twirling An Yimu’s long hair, her eyes captivating.

Although relationships between best friends are usually close, a bit of ambiguity is normal. True best friends are so close that people mistake them for lesbians.

But… An Yimu twitched the corner of her mouth. Was it her imagination, or did she feel Qianyu was seducing her?

“Cough cough…” Nuan Qianyu cleared her throat, placing her right index finger on her lips, then sat back. Her expression became forlorn, and she said in a low voice, “I didn’t dare to tell you before because I was afraid you wouldn’t accept it, and I didn’t want to lose my two good friends. And I thought I would live my whole life like this, but now, I want to live for myself.”

An Yimu was silent. She had always thought Nuan Qianyu was a bold, unrestrained person who did what she wanted. As Nuan Qianyu’s best friend, she hadn’t noticed Qianyu’s secret, which made her feel guilty.

“Actually, I like women, but I never dared to say it because you know my family would never allow it.” Nuan Qianyu’s voice had a distinctly mature, authoritative female quality, but she was usually so unrestrained that every time An Yimu heard it, it sounded energetic. She had never sounded this depressed before.

Nuan Qianyu’s parents were both soldiers, seemingly high-ranking officers. She was their only child in this generation. Nuan Qianyu had gone against her parents’ wishes to enroll in her current school, but her marriage had been arranged since childhood. Her parents were very traditional and had paved all paths for Nuan Qianyu. Apart from the matter of her university, she had never disobeyed her parents’ wishes. The Nuan family bloodline made her bear more responsibility, so how could such a family allow the existence of homosexuality?

An Yimu had always thought Nuan Qianyu had broken free from her shackles, but she didn’t know Nuan Qianyu had been putting on a brave face all along.

The current apocalypse might have given her an opportunity.

“When did you realize it? I never saw you express it before,” An Yimu said with a smile. It didn’t matter who her good friend liked, nor did the gender of the person she liked matter. What was important was her happiness. An Yimu had no particular feelings about homosexuality or heterosexuality; if she met the right person, she should simply like them. Why care about what others thought?

Nuan Qianyu looked at An Yimu meaningfully, sighed after a long pause.

An Yimu felt uneasy from the look. A thought suddenly popped into her head: Qianyu couldn’t possibly like me, could she? Her smile instantly froze.

“Tsk tsk… Little An An, what is that expression?” Nuan Qianyu looked at An Yimu with disdain. “Silly girl, your thoughts are all over your face. How could your sister possibly like you? No chest, no butt. Really, where do you get your confidence?” She finished, flipped her long hair, and snorted.

“…” Was her thought process that obvious? An Yimu touched her thin cheeks with a troubled expression, then looked at her still-erect little hills, comforting herself that she was still very feminine.

Nuan Qianyu seemed unwilling to talk anymore and leaned against An Yimu’s shoulder to rest.

“…” An Yimu wanted to rest too, but she felt like crying without tears. One person in her arms, another on her shoulder. The scene was simply too much to face.

She had been speaking in a lowered voice with Nuan Qianyu just now. She now saw Gu Linlin and Qin Yongsheng still chatting.

She carefully looked at Gu Linlin. She was a different style of beauty from Nuan Qianyu and Ling Qiuyu. Nuan Qianyu was bold, passionate, and unrestrained, hot like a rose. Ling Qiuyu had a charming and reassuring aura. Gu Linlin wore a ponytail, revealing a clean forehead. Her face still had some dirt, but it couldn’t hide her temperament. She was undoubtedly a beauty.

A print model… An Yimu stared in fascination.

Gu Linlin seemed to sense An Yimu’s gaze. She suddenly turned her head to meet An Yimu’s eyes. Then, Gu Linlin blushed and turned her face away shyly.

“…”

An Yimu’s expression froze, and her face was already beet red.

It’s over! Since I knew Qianyu’s sexual orientation, I can’t look at women properly! Why is Gu Linlin blushing? Blushing for what?! I didn’t do anything! Besides, I don’t like women!

After ranting internally, An Yimu’s mood finally improved a little. Hearing Qin Yongsheng and Gu Linlin discussing the village, she joined the conversation.

“I think that monster might be a mutated animal. I heard a young man in the village say that this monster was originally a guard dog for a family in the village. It suddenly turned into that after National Day. How are people supposed to live in this world when even animals become so terrifying?” Qin Yongsheng muttered.

Gu Linlin said softly, “I just hope we can get back to the city safely. I don’t know what the government is doing. It’s been days, and there’s still no rescue.”

An Yimu didn’t want to say that Chongming City was probably also in trouble, as going there was their current motivation. This disaster had come too suddenly and too bizarrely.

“Are the people in that village really that superstitious? It still feels unbelievable,” An Yimu said, recalling the scene of those people wearing black robes, dancing, and performing sacrifices, feeling as if it were a dream.

Qin Yongsheng said, “Exactly. I heard that village used to frequently sacrifice babies for rituals. The villagers weren’t allowed to leave, and the government couldn’t manage them. To this day, it’s just a name on the map. Think about the remains behind that altar, how many people must have died! I still feel scared when I think about it now!”

“I was fed something, and my mind was completely hazy, then I was tied up and taken,” Gu Linlin curled up and whispered.

Gu Linlin’s voice was too soft for Qin Yongsheng to hear, but An Yimu’s hearing was now three times that of a normal person, and she heard it clearly. Her heart instantly seized up. Fed something? No wonder those young people didn’t resist.

She carefully observed Gu Linlin again, feeling very anxious.

The continuous high tension over this period had already exhausted An Yimu, but she couldn’t let down her guard, because one slip-up and they would all lose their lives.

Seeing that Gu Linlin didn’t seem abnormal, An Yimu rested after chatting for a while. An Yimu thought to herself that she must be overthinking things.

The fire crackled. An Yimu quietly watched the sparks leap from the flames, like fireworks. Her mind couldn’t help but wander. For the first time, she felt so lost. She had never been in love with anyone. Love seemed like a luxury to her.

In the darkness, some faint sounds came from afar, and two points of green, eerie light flickered on and off.

An Yimu closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. That monster had been following them, but she hadn’t said anything because she was afraid the others would panic and break formation.

The monster was only following them from a distance and hadn’t actively attacked. She didn’t know if it was waiting for an opportunity or if it had some other purpose.

She never truly fell asleep all night and only woke the others up to continue their journey when dawn broke.

Ling Qiuyu had rested well last night. Her energy was much better, and her face looked more colorful. Nuan Qianyu had become quiet since confessing her sexual orientation.

This road was truly remote. It took them all morning to get onto a main road. Along the way, everyone eliminated quite a few zombies. Nuan Qianyu could now skillfully deal with the initial zombies. Judging by the count, she should be able to break through in about 50 more kills.

These initial zombies were merely a drop in the bucket for An Yimu, and her next breakthrough was still a long way off. So, she focused on helping Ling Qiuyu kill zombies. Ling Qiuyu had progressed from her initial fear to acceptance. Becoming stronger was not a bad thing. She could understand An Yimu’s intentions, so she was also working hard to change.

Qin Yongsheng was already a Level 1 Awakener. With the help of the group, Gu Linlin also successfully broke through to Level 1. Furthermore, everyone found suitable weapons in a shop. An Yimu chose a military knife and tucked it into her sleeve.

The monster continued to follow them. An Yimu noticed that the monster seemed to have evolved again. Its body was slightly bigger than before, and its fur was denser.

So, she named the monster ‘Mutant’.

It wasn’t until 3 p.m. that they found a car, and they reached the next county town at 6 p.m. Everyone was very excited. This was the last county town; after this, they would reach Chongming City.

The county closest to Chongming City, Changping County.

The car drove steadily into the county town. At the entrance, they encountered a team of 19 people. They were traveling in a large bus and were also looking for food and supplies in the county town. They were also heading to Chongming City, and many of them were already awakened. The leader of the group was even a Level 2 Awakener.

This meant the man had killed at least over 300 zombies.

The man’s name was Yu Le, 24 years old, and very handsome. At first glance, one wouldn’t guess he had such strength. His eyes were full of confidence, and his conversation inevitably had a sense of superiority. He was the only Level 2 Awakener in the group.

Qin Yongsheng and Gu Linlin both joined Yu Le’s team. An Yimu’s trio also joined.

Yu Le seemed very interested in Ling Qiuyu and kept talking to her while they were looking for food.