It's Hard to Be the Female Lead's Best Friend (Apocalypse) GL - Chapter 11
Gu Qingli floored the accelerator, and the car sped up. Cheng Ziyu looked back, watching the zombies gradually recede. The group was temporarily safe.
“Thud!”
When the car crashed through the gate, Cheng Ziyu didn’t notice and almost flew through the windshield. Her head slammed into the car’s side beam, nearly making her black out.
Cheng Ziyu clutched her head, feeling her forehead ache and spin. Before she could complain, the car suddenly swayed again, causing her to lose her balance and fall towards Gu Qingli.
“Squelch!” A zombie was run over.
Cheng Ziyu pushed herself up with one hand, the other still clutching her head. She felt a small bump swelling on her forehead. Pressing it gently made tears well up in her eyes from the pain.
“Had enough touching?” Gu Qingli’s eyes were filled with suppressed irritation.
“Huh?”
Cheng Ziyu froze. She squeezed her supportive palm. Since when was the cushion so elastic?
Gu Qingli pursed her lips: “Does it feel good?”
She glanced down, only then realizing her hand was on… Gu Qingli’s leg, near her lower abdomen!
This was a girl’s most private area.
Cheng Ziyu quickly withdrew her hand, looking embarrassed: “Sorry… I just got my head knocked dizzy.”
Cheng Ziyu cautiously peeked at the female lead. The blazing sunlight illuminated her face, which should have felt warm, but Cheng Ziyu felt a chill.
The female lead seemed angry.
Wuwu… It was so hard to earn her trust.
Qin Qingyan, in the back, had seen and heard everything. She noticed that the goddess’s attitude towards Cheng Ziyu seemed strange, which sparked a bit of curiosity in her.
They successfully left the school. As the car passed a convenience store, her eyes followed it, and her thoughts unconsciously drifted back to her first encounter with the female lead.
The female lead’s smiling lips held a hint of mischief, hidden beneath a gentle exterior, making her exceptionally captivating and making one unconsciously want to know more.
Perhaps the female lead wasn’t as gentle as written in the book; she seemed more vivid, and she wanted to understand her more.
Gu Qingli drove steadily. She gripped the steering wheel tightly, her moisturized fingertips even turning a faint bluish-white. Her gaze was intense; the momentary touch had stirred something within her.
A very strange feeling, almost an itch.
Gu Qingli pretended to watch the road, subtly glancing at Cheng Ziyu, who was engrossed in her own world. Her big eyes, which should have been adorable, held an unusual emptiness.
“Rumble!” A hungry sound.
Cheng Ziyu awkwardly covered her stomach: “Um… I’m hungry.”
Qin Qingyan chuckled: “Me too.”
Shu Jingyun’s throat unconsciously rolled: “Why don’t we all close our eyes and sleep for a bit? That way, we won’t feel hungry.”
Gu Qingli slowed the car slightly: “You all sleep for a bit and conserve your energy. There might be zombies at the warehouse.”
“Okay…”
Cheng Ziyu adjusted her posture slightly, leaning against the car seat and closing her eyes to rest. But her hand remained on her stomach because hunger made her stomach acidic, making her feel uncomfortable and nauseous.
Occasionally, it also twinged with pain!
Her stomach problems had flared up again.
Gu Qingli glanced faintly; she noticed Cheng Ziyu’s tightly furrowed brows and again subtly slowed the car a bit, trying to maintain smoothness.
The car gently swayed like a baby’s cradle. Coupled with the immense physical exertion of the morning and the warm sunlight streaming through the car windows, Cheng Ziyu gradually drifted into slumber.
“Clickety-clack, clickety-clack…”
A strange sound echoed in her ears. Cheng Ziyu was sleeping too deeply; she didn’t hear clearly what the sound was, thinking it was just part of her dream.
Qin Qingyan saw that Cheng Ziyu seemed to be sleeping restlessly and didn’t dare to speak too loudly. She leaned closer to Gu Qingli: “Sister Qing, what do you think of Cheng Ziyu?”
Gu Qingli blinked, then gently stroked Qin Qingyan’s head with a free hand: “Not as good as you.”
Oh… hey…
Qin Qingyan’s whole body tensed, her excitement palpable. She had been patted on the head again, and her mind turned into a mush.
“Sleep, I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
“Okay!”
Shu Jingyun saw Qin Qingyan’s complete fan-girl demeanor, and a doubt arose within her: “I say, you two, you haven’t been putting on an act in front of us all this time, have you?”
Qin Qingyan tilted her head and covered her mouth: “Exposed.”
“Why?”
Gu Qingli smiled amiably, her gaze unwavering, “Because you two are too weak. If we took you with us to find food, there’s a ninety percent chance we’d all be wiped out.”
Cool!
Qin Qingyan’s eyes lit up.
Shu Jingyun was stumped: “I still don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be safer with more people? Besides, if you wanted to find food alone, you could have just told me.”
Gu Qingli’s smile was gentle, but her eyes were like an abyss, making one’s heart palpitate: “Because you ask too many questions.”
Shu Jingyun paused, then pursed her lips and stopped asking.
“Well… let’s rest for a bit!” Qin Qingyan felt the atmosphere was heavy and tried to lighten it.
Shu Jingyun leaned against the car window, closing her eyes without speaking.
Qin Qingyan then breathed a sigh of relief and also drifted off to sleep.
At this moment, many zombies were gathered in the university, so there weren’t many zombies near the university itself.
Gu Qingli saw Qin Qingyan and Shu Jingyun both peacefully asleep through the rearview mirror. She shook her head helplessly, tapping her fingertips on the steering wheel.
Her hazy eyes seemed lost in memory, making her expression confused, until a “roar” from ahead snapped her back to reality.
She rolled down the window and extended her hand.
With a slight flick of her fingers, a bloody piece of pork appeared out of nowhere and was flung towards a distant road sign. Zombies immediately swarmed it, clearing a path.
Warm wind blew into the car through the window, scattering Gu Qingli’s hair. Her eyes were indifferent, showing no regret for the wasted food. Then she closed the window, leaving behind residual exhaust.
Gu Qingli occasionally glanced at the sleeping Cheng Ziyu, her gaze much kinder than yesterday; but only for a moment, then her eyes turned to worry again.
“What should I do?” she mumbled to herself, smiling bitterly and shaking her head, then focused on driving.
Gu Qingli wanted them to rest well; but the occasional noisy roars still woke them up.
Cheng Ziyu rubbed her eyes. Her empty stomach still made her uncomfortable. She pursed her lips, enduring it. Seeing some zombies occasionally passing by outside the car, and no living people visible: “Will there be many zombies at the supermarket?”
Gu Qingli glanced sideways: “If you’re scared, you don’t have to go.”
“If I don’t go, can I still get food?”
“What do you think?”
“I’ll go.” The intense discomfort in her stomach made Cheng Ziyu’s face grim. She needed food, and she needed stomach medicine.
“Clickety-clack, clickety-clack…”
Cheng Ziyu looked around in confusion, picked at her ear with her pinky finger, and after making sure she didn’t hear any strange sounds, continued to close her eyes to catch up on sleep and conserve energy.
In her haze, she heard a sound of “food.”
Cheng Ziyu woke with a start and looked around again. Many zombies were chasing the car, but they were too slow and were soon left behind.
She definitely heard “food” just now, right?
Cheng Ziyu was still thinking.
Gu Qingli slowly parked the car: “We’re here.”
At the entrance of the warehouse, only a few zombies in work uniforms wandered about. These zombies showed no visible wounds on their bodies; clearly, they weren’t infected by being bitten.
Qin Qingyan perked up, holding her steel pipe: “Sister Qing, shall I go first?”
Gu Qingli’s voice was as gentle as water: “It’s just a few zombies. I’ll go. You conserve your energy and carry more supplies.”
“Okay!” Qin Qingyan nodded obediently.
Cheng Ziyu was speechless. This Qin Qingyan seemed a bit different from how she was described in the novel. Was she faking it all along?
Gu Qingli got out of the car, juggling the watermelon knife in her hand.
The zombies twisted their heads, seemingly hearing the sound.
Gu Qingli whistled, and the zombies quickly ran towards her.
“Roar—”
Gu Qingli bent down for a moment, and with one slice, she severed a zombie’s lower leg. Cheng Ziyu watched her weave among the zombies, her heart rising and falling.
The female lead was so strong. How could zombie bones be so easy to cut? When she herself had used all her strength, it had taken two slashes to kill just one zombie.
Compared to her, she was truly useless!
Shu Jingyun got out of the car with her hammer: “Let’s finish this quickly, in case something changes.”
“Wait for me,” Qin Qingyan followed her out of the car.
Only Cheng Ziyu remained in the car.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help; in the apocalypse, no one could truly stand by themselves. But her stomach hurt too much, and rashly trying to help would only be counterproductive.
Qin Qingyan hit a zombie’s head with a pipe, making a “thud” sound, and the zombie’s head tilted. Shu Jingyun followed with a fatal blow with her hammer, “splat,” and the zombie’s head burst open.
Although the two were not as nimble as Gu Qingli, nor as strong, when they worked together, they were no less effective than Gu Qingli.
Before long, the three of them worked together to kill all the zombies.
Qin Qingyan smoothed her hair, praising Shu Jingyun without hesitation: “You’re pretty good.”
“You too.”
Cheng Ziyu got out of the car, holding her stomach: “I’m sorry, I’m a burden to you all.”
She genuinely felt apologetic.
Qin Qingyan, however, understood. She patted Cheng Ziyu’s shoulder reassuringly: “It’s okay. Your stomach’s upset, so talk less and just wait to eat.”
Qin Qingyan took out the hydraulic pliers from her backpack: “Good thing I had foresight, Sister Qing, quickly praise me.”
Gu Qingli smiled gently: “Very good.”
“Hehe!”
Qin Qingyan aimed the pliers at the keyhole beneath the rolling shutter door and cut it with a “snap,” then aimed at the other side.
Shu Jingyun remained vigilant, watching their surroundings.
[Danger!]
Cheng Ziyu froze. She glanced at Gu Qingli, then at the other two, whose expressions were normal. But she had distinctly heard the words “danger.”
There could be no mistake.
An inexplicable fear arose within Cheng Ziyu.
Her unusual expression was noticed by Gu Qingli. Seeing the girl’s trembling body, her attitude, though seemingly disgusted, was much gentler: “If you’re not feeling well, wait in the car.”
“No… I…” Cheng Ziyu hesitated.
Gu Qingli realized that her trembling wasn’t caused by stomach pain: “Do you know what I hate most about you?”
Cheng Ziyu shook her head blankly.
“Stop hesitating. Just speak your mind.”
“I think there might be danger inside,” Cheng Ziyu said, steeling herself and voicing her unease.
Gu Qingli scrutinized her, judging her sincerity.
“Click.”
Just then, the lock on the rolling shutter door was pried open.
“That’s just how you feel. Without food, we’re in more danger,” Qin Qingyan said, pulling up the rolling shutter door. Inside, the shelves were stacked with all sorts of food and daily necessities.
In the dark warehouse, with only a sliver of light from the entrance, a chill permeated Cheng Ziyu the moment the rolling shutter door opened.
Her heart pounded violently, as if foretelling danger.