Doomsday Awakening GL - Chapter 4
It wasn’t until the sky grew dark that they saw a small town in the distance: Lingxia Town.
For caution, An Yimu did not drive into the town. The situation inside was unknown, and it was night now, which was too dangerous.
After An Yimu’s car stopped, the two cars behind also came to a halt.
Zhang Shan got out of his car and ran over to knock on An Yimu’s car window. An Yimu got out of the car directly.
“We’re not going into the town tonight?” Zhang Shan thought something was wrong when An Yimu suddenly stopped. After getting out, he cautiously scanned the surroundings before running over to ask An Yimu.
“Go ahead if you want to feed the zombies. We’ll just rough it out here for the night.”
An Yimu didn’t want to say more after that. This was a crossroad. The left road led into the town, and six kilometers straight ahead was a county. Fortunately, the visibility here was wide. To the right was a field of crops, so any movement could be heard.
Everyone in the cars got out. They didn’t make a fire, afraid the flames would attract something. An Yimu, Nuan Qianyu, Ling Qiuyu, Zhang Shan, Gao Jingwen, Song Xuezhi, and a family of three who followed later—a man named Wang Fuqiang, a woman named Zhao Juan, and a six-year-old child—a total of nine people, sat in a circle chatting.
Zhang Shan and Nuan Qianyu were both extremely outgoing, and they quickly livened up the atmosphere.
After Nuan Qianyu showed off a short dance, Zhang Shan egged Song Xuezhi on to sing a song. Song Xuezhi was a little shy at first, but after Gao Jingwen also encouraged her, she cleared her throat and began to sing.
who are those little girls, pain just trapped castle, dark side moon twelve them shining bright, vain like flowers that blossom just once, years they’re dancing the shadow like whispers, love just dreaming place where they’re free, dove they’ve never been allowed love, this cursed cage it’s only the fairy tale they believe
they’re dancing the shadow like whispers, love just dreaming place where they’re free, dove they’ve never been allowed love, this cursed cage it’s only the fairy tale they believe
(Lyrics translation: Who are these painful little girls? / They are trapped in a castle on the dark side of the moon / The twelve girls emit a futile brilliance / Like flowers that bloom only once in many years / They dance like the whispers of love / Simply dreaming of a place where they can fly free like a dove / In this cursed cage, they are not even allowed to love / What they deeply believe is nothing but a fairy tale.)
The song was titled “it’s only the fairy tale.”
Song Xuezhi’s voice was very soft and clear as water. The song made everyone feel incredibly at peace.
An Yimu was also captivated. The sound was like music from heaven, leaving her unable to return to her senses for a long time. The exhaustion from the journey and the mental impact of what she had seen that afternoon were soothed and purified. She felt an extraordinary sense of peace and comfort, as if her soul had been redeemed.
Zhang Shan put his arm around Gao Jingwen’s neck and laughed playfully, “Good boy, you’ve married a good wife, hahaha. Her voice is probably even sweeter in bed!”
That single sentence made both Song Xuezhi and Gao Jingwen blush.
“Old Zhang, look, your perverted nature is completely exposed again. There’s a child here!” Nuan Qianyu slapped Zhang Shan on the back, winking at him.
Zhang Shan laughed dryly and apologized, “Look at my stinking mouth. Please don’t mind it, everyone, my apologies, my apologies.” He put his hands together in a very sincere gesture.
Wang Fuqiang and Zhao Juan were not good at talking, smiling shyly. The two of them were just carefully guarding their child, who was well-behaved, neither crying nor causing trouble, just looking at them timidly.
The atmosphere was harmonious for a while, as if the events of the day had truly not happened.
An Yimu checked the time. It was already 10 o’clock, and they needed to leave at 6 AM. She advised everyone to rest. “We need to arrange people to keep watch tonight. Qianyu and Qiuyu, you two take the first shift. Wang Fuqiang and Zhao Juan, the second shift. Zhang Shan and I, the third shift. Song Xuezhi and Gao Jingwen, the last shift. We’ll change shifts every two hours.” She had a selfish motive: she wanted Nuan Qianyu and Ling Qiuyu to get a little more rest.
Everyone agreed without objection.
It was already autumn, but tonight seemed exceptionally cold. Covered in blankets, even with extra clothes piled on, it was still freezing. The chill seemed to be penetrating their skin.
With everything that had happened today, An Yimu slept very restlessly. Around 2 AM, An Yimu was jolted awake by a nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. She checked the time by the moonlight—2:34 AM. An Yimu frowned. The shift change time had already passed. She got up, put her blanket over Nuan Qianyu and Ling Qiuyu, and walked towards Wang Fuqiang’s side.
The three cars were parked not far apart. Wang Fuqiang’s family was parked near the field on the right.
As she got closer, she realized something was wrong. Three black figures were standing by the car, motionless. She tip-toed around the car. The sight that met her eyes almost made her scream.
An Yimu bit her right hand to suppress her fear and quickly ran back to wake the others.
The clothes on the three figures in front of the car belonged to Wang Fuqiang, his wife, and their child. But all three had turned into desiccated corpses, their faces withered, eyes bulging, leaving only skin and bones. They were clearly lifeless.
She vigorously shook the sleeping people awake.
Everyone was groggy from sleep, and when An Yimu suddenly woke them up, their eyes were blurry.
An Yimu didn’t dare speak loudly, afraid of alarming whatever was lurking nearby. The corpses of Wang Fuqiang’s family chilled her to the bone. Zombies might not be so terrifying—at least they had the ability to fight them—but facing this unknown, unnatural threat in the dark, they only had the option to flee.
“Hurry up, let’s get out of here. Wang Fuqiang’s family is dead.” Seeing the confused looks on their faces, An Yimu had to lower her voice.
In this era, the word “dead” was very sensitive. Hearing it, everyone jolted awake and quickly packed their things, ready to leave.
Ling Qiuyu was already physically weak, and the cold weather made her susceptible to colds. She already showed signs of a fever.
An Yimu gritted her teeth and carried Ling Qiuyu on her back directly. Fortunately, they had packed the food earlier. “Qianyu, don’t worry about the blankets or anything. We’ll just take the food and come back for the rest tomorrow morning.” She felt extremely uneasy. The situation of the enemy being in the dark while they were exposed was terrible. She was certain it wasn’t zombies, and she was afraid the sound of the car starting would alert the unknown creature.
Song Xuezhi and the others also left with An Yimu empty-handed. They ran for one kilometer in the middle of the night and only stopped when they reached a main road. There was no village or shop ahead or behind them, only cement road on both sides.
The intense exercise made them all sweat, and the night wind was fierce, chilling them more than a winter wind.
An Yimu put Ling Qiuyu down and sat on the ground, gasping for breath, her fringe soaked with sweat. Ling Qiuyu’s wet eyes stared at An Yimu. “Xiaomu, I saw it…”
“Huh?” An Yimu frowned, pulled a woolen coat from her backpack, and draped it over Ling Qiuyu. Ling Qiuyu’s face was a sickly white, and her lips were slightly purple.
Nuan Qianyu leaned against the two of them, sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking half-dead. “Little An’an, were there zombies? How did that family die?”
“I saw countless fine threads, they were even on our car, but it was too dark to see what they were,” Ling Qiuyu leaned on An Yimu, her delicate brows tightly furrowed. “I wonder how our parents are doing.”
Nuan Qianyu also felt a little guilty. Her family couldn’t contact her, and it had been a day, yet no one had been sent to look for her. However, firmly believing that the boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the pier, she wasn’t too worried. The country would figure something out. So she comforted Ling Qiuyu, “It’s alright, Little Yuyu, don’t worry. The city is definitely safe!”
“The young miss knows how to comfort people now!” Ling Qiuyu immediately guessed Nuan Qianyu’s thoughts upon hearing this and teased her.
An Yimu pondered Ling Qiuyu’s words, feeling as if she had just escaped from the gates of hell. If she had slept through it, they might all have become desiccated corpses by now. Why didn’t she set an alarm? In any case, she decided to go back tomorrow and check from a distance. If possible, they still needed a car for transportation.
After catching her breath, An Yimu stood up and alertly scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, she was startled, “Where is Zhang Shan?”
Song Xuezhi was also taken aback upon hearing this. She turned around in surprise and indeed, Zhang Shan was nowhere to be seen!
Nuan Qianyu felt a chill down her spine. She wondered why it was so quiet. It was because Zhang Shan, the chatterbox, wasn’t there. Didn’t they all run out together? How could he disappear!
Gao Jingwen didn’t speak, his head lowered, his hands pressed tightly against the ground.
The stillness of the night made the five people feel especially terrified.
Ling Qiuyu bit her lower lip, gripping the corner of An Yimu’s jacket even tighter, her slender fingers taut. Her eyes were filled with fear. Others might not have seen it, but she saw clearly from An Yimu’s back: Zhang Shan was running with Gao Jingwen. As Gao Jingwen was running, he was suddenly slowed down as if something had dragged him from behind. In his panic, he yanked Zhang Shan, who was not far in front of him, to the ground. Zhang Shan struggled to get up but never did, and Gao Jingwen immediately ran ahead. This happened almost instantaneously, without even a sound. Ling Qiuyu saw it clearly but did not cry out. It was the first time she had ignored another person’s life, but she couldn’t risk everyone else’s lives, especially her two best friends’. What they were facing was an unknown entity that was absolutely stronger than them.
The night felt exceptionally long. An Yimu comforted Ling Qiuyu and Nuan Qianyu to rest, but she never closed her eyes again. Danger was everywhere around them; she dared not sleep.