It's Hard to Be the Female Lead's Best Friend (Apocalypse) GL - Chapter 19
The first rays of dawn slowly ascended. The earth, having been washed clean by the rain, appeared spotless. The city was no longer polluted by car exhaust; the air was fresh and pleasant.
Many cars were parked outside Su Nan University. Bodies were strewn everywhere within the university, and occasionally, gunshots could still be heard.
These individuals were fully armed and well-trained, methodically digging out zombie crystal cores.
One of them, a blond mixed-race man, carried a gun on his shoulder and puffed on a cigarette in his mouth, the swirling smoke partially obscuring his face: “Young Master Xie, they don’t seem to be here.”
The man looked up at the dawn, bathed in sunlight, appearing somewhat desolate: “Jimi, take some men to gather supplies and fuel. I’ll check other places.”
Jimi took the cigarette from his mouth, his flickering eyes filled with malice. He lowered his gaze and smiled subtly: “Yes, Young Master Xie.”
••••
Cheng Ziyu’s eyelids fluttered. She felt weak all over, but she was sure she wasn’t dead; she was alive and well. She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Qin Qingyan’s gaze, as if she had encountered a formidable enemy.
Her arm was bandaged, the bl00d staining the entire strip of cloth. She lightly moved her fingertips, and a hint of pain made her wince.
Cheng Ziyu slowly sat up, making space for Qin Qingyan: “I’m not dead!”
Gu Qingli observed through the rearview mirror, a hint of an unclear meaning in her deep gaze: “It seems ability users are not affected by the zombie virus!”
Cheng Ziyu was momentarily dazed. She was an ability user, she wouldn’t turn into a zombie, yet she had scared herself unconscious. She said somewhat awkwardly, “Is that so!”
Gu Qingli looked disappointed when she saw no unusual reaction from Cheng Ziyu.
Many zombies roamed the deserted streets, and vehicles were parked haphazardly. Some cars had crashed into utility poles or storefronts. Even the completely devoured zombies, reduced to mere husks, stubbornly continued to squirm.
Gu Qingli drove straight over one, its bones instantly shattering. Zombies by the roadside heard the sound and followed the car closely, but were soon left behind.
High above, survivors could occasionally be seen hanging rescue banners from windows. They waved red cloths frantically as the car passed, hoping to be saved.
Bl00d from Cheng Ziyu’s arm dripped all over the car. Her fingertips were pale, and she even felt a little cold: “These people hiding at home waiting for rescue probably don’t know that zombies are getting stronger, and the government will find it hard to conduct rescues.”
Gu Qingli looked up, seeing her pale face in the rearview mirror, as pale as a ghost: “You still have the mood to care about others. It seems your injury isn’t serious.”
“Of course it is! My hand is almost numb,” Cheng Ziyu puffed out her cheeks, her eyes full of grievance, looking like a kitten being scolded.
“Drink some water, be careful of dehydration,” Qin Qingyan unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and thoughtfully handed it to her.
She had just taken a sip.
The drowsy Shu Jingyun opened her eyes at this moment, rubbed her head, and instantly woke up, sitting upright: “What… what happened to me?”
“You’ve awakened your ability. Feel your body and see if anything’s different,” Qin Qingyan sighed, her voice tinged with envy.
“Ability?” Shu Jingyun recalled the events of that day. She closed her eyes and felt carefully.
She only felt her body surrounded by a warm current. Shu Jingyun extended her fingertips, and a small flame sprang out, warming the entire car interior.
“How amazing! How does it feel to use your ability?” Cheng Ziyu’s head was a bit dizzy, but she still perked up and asked.
Shu Jingyun put away the flame: “It just feels very warm all over, and there’s a flow of energy. But the energy is limited; once it’s exhausted, I have to rest to recover.”
Cheng Ziyu felt no consumption when she heard the zombies speak. She also didn’t know how to properly use her own ability: “I feel so stupid, I still can’t feel anything.”
“You’re an ability user too?”
“Sort of!” Anyway, there was no difference from an ordinary person.
Gu Qingli slowly stopped the car. Many zombies loitered around the entrance of the suburban hospital in the distance, and the intersection was blocked by numerous crashed vehicles.
“So many zombies?” Qin Qingyan suggested, “Sister Qing, we just passed a residential area with not many zombies. Let’s go check there; usually, people will have their own medical supplies.”
Gu Qingli considered it for a moment, then turned the car around.
Shu Jingyun moved her limbs, also curious about her ability: “I’ll take the lead in a bit and try out my ability.”
“Okay!” Gu Qingli handed the dagger to Cheng Ziyu: “You two stay in the car for now.”
“Oh!” Qin Qingyan was slightly disappointed; she had wanted to see Shu Jingyun’s ability!
The community gate was already deformed, but the car just managed to squeeze through. There were a total of eight buildings here, each with only five floors, spaced twenty to fifty meters apart, making it a medium-sized apartment complex.
Gu Qingli blocked the entrance with the car.
Shu Jingyun was the first to get out of the car. Feeling her ability, she spread her hands, and two strands of flame slowly burned in her palms.
Their figures gradually moved further away.
“By the way, besides understanding zombie speech, does your ability have anything else?”
Cheng Ziyu thought of the “You can do it!” she heard under the sycamore tree before transmigrating. If it wasn’t a hallucination, her body had been changing since then: “It seems… I can understand plants talking, but I’m not entirely sure.”
But why did the change happen in the original world? Were the two worlds influencing each other?
“Try it!”
Cheng Ziyu closed her eyes and carefully felt for a while, but still felt nothing. She shook her head, laughing at herself: “Nothing. My ability is useless.”
“Well, don’t be discouraged. Anyway, you’re stronger than me.”
This was Cheng Ziyu’s first time alone with Qin Qingyan. The more she spent time with her, the more she realized that this person was not the black lotus described in the novel. She also knew that Qin Qingyan would activate a water ability in the future: “You and Gu Qingli seem to be very close.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Qingyan’s expression filled with excitement: “You don’t know, Sister Qing was the campus belle in Su Nan. Although she had no parents, she was hardworking and ambitious. Every time my roommates and I went out to play, she would stay in the dorm reading.”
“Then the apocalypse broke out. I happened to be eating barbecue outside the school when my roommate suddenly started vomiting. There were also people biting people on the street. It scared me so much that I dragged my roommate back to school, only to find that everyone in the school had gone crazy. My roommate also went crazy and started biting me.”
“I thought I was dead, but thanks to Sister Qing saving me, I swore I would protect Sister Qing no matter what.” Qin Qingyan recalled the scene from back then, which was more terrifying than the current situation. At that time, Gu Qingli truly seemed like a radiant savior.
Looking at Qin Qingyan, she seemed to be telling the truth.
Cheng Ziyu was a bit conflicted. She felt that the plot was unreliable, but as she was now, besides the plot being her cheat, she had no self-preservation abilities.
“Boom!”
A small ball of fire hit a zombie, and the flames immediately spread, like a brilliant sun. After the two cleared a building, Shu Jingyun turned to investigate the nearby buildings.
Gu Qingli came downstairs with a medical kit and waved to the two in the car from a distance.
They got out of the car and walked over.
“The people nearby have all fled, and there aren’t many zombies here,” Gu Qingli said, walking into the garage, which had been converted into a room. She placed the medical kit on the table.
Cheng Ziyu sat beside her. Qin Qingyan carefully untied the bl00d-stained bandage. Although the wound hadn’t damaged bones, it was severely cracked.
Then Gu Qingli took out some cotton and a needle.
“Wait, are you going to stitch it?” Cheng Ziyu’s face turned even paler in fright.
Gu Qingli curved her lips: “Otherwise?”
“Can you numb me?”
“It’s the apocalypse now, and you’re still asking for anesthesia,” Gu Qingli soaked the cotton with iodine. “No, endure it yourself.”
The moment the damp cotton touched the wound, she instinctively grabbed Qin Qingyan’s arm. She could still endure the tingling pain.
But when the first needle pierced her flesh, Cheng Ziyu squeezed tightly, her fingertips digging into skin, and they both screamed: “Ah—”
“Quiet down, do you want to attract zombies?” Gu Qingli was inexplicably annoyed; but looking at the tear streaks at the corner of Cheng Ziyu’s eyes, her annoyance quietly faded. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to continue: “You do it!”
Gu Qingli handed the needle to Qin Qingyan.
“Ah… I don’t know how!” She looked bewildered.
“Just pretend you’re sewing clothes.”
“Uh… oh, alright then.”
Cheng Ziyu released her hand and bit her lip tightly.
Suddenly, her vision went black. Gu Qingli gently held her. When another needle pierced her flesh, Cheng Ziyu’s tears finally flowed, soaking Gu Qingli’s clothes, and faint sobs escaped her.
Gu Qingli tightened her arms, holding Cheng Ziyu steadily to prevent her from moving: “Bear with it, it’ll be over soon.”
Her flesh was being pierced and pulled by the silver needle. Intense pain traveled from her arm to her brain, a sensation second only to salt being rubbed into a wound.
Qin Qingyan steadied her hand, and only after tying the final knot did she breathe a sigh of relief: “Just one more bandage and it’ll be done.”
Cheng Ziyu looked up, wiping her tears, only then realizing she had been tightly embracing Gu Qingli. She felt ashamed for crying like an old aunt in front of someone younger than herself: “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. If you died, we’d lose some entertainment.” After bandaging her up, Qin Qingyan didn’t forget to tie a cute bow.
Was she mocking her for being silly?
Cheng Ziyu withdrew her hand and gently touched it.
Gu Qingli raised her hand and swept it across the table. A pile of snacks landed on the surface: “Let’s rest here for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll get some gasoline from the gas station, and then figure out a way to get into the suburban hospital.”
“Okay!”
Qin Qingyan bit open a hot dog sausage package, intending to hand it to Cheng Ziyu, but saw that Gu Qingli had already handed her a bottle of water and a piece of bread.
Although Gu Qingli’s eyes still held the same wariness towards Cheng Ziyu as before, her expression was much gentler than usual. Qin Qingyan’s eyes darted back and forth between the two, feeling as if there was something between them that she couldn’t be a part of.
••••
The lingering glow of the setting sun spread across the tightly closed roller shutter door.
Qin Qingyan and Shu Jingyun made their beds on the floor.
Qin Qingyan turned her head to look at Gu Qingli lying beside Cheng Ziyu, feeling a slight pang of jealousy. She had repeatedly suggested that they all share a bed, but had been refused every time.
Qin Qingyan closed her eyes and silently scoffed!
As the setting sun completely sank below the horizon, the night temperature gradually dropped. Half an hour later, a cold wind blew, and in the quiet residential area, the rustling of leaves intertwined like a melody.
Gu Qingli opened her eyes and couldn’t help but turn to look at Cheng Ziyu. Her small nose crinkled slightly, as if it was itchy, and she picked at her nose with her fingertip.
If you were like me, you shouldn’t have come looking for her. You should have gone to Xie Feiyu instead.
Why did it change?
But why did she feel a little happy?
Was it all because of rebirth?
Gu Qingli’s eyes suddenly turned cold again: “No, time rewound. No one else could have memories except me.”
Gu Qingli propped herself up, looking down at her.
Her cinnabar red lips had a thin sheen of luster, already incredibly alluring. Cheng Ziyu unconsciously pursed her lips, making a soft smacking sound.
Gu Qingli’s eyelashes fluttered, her throat moved. For some reason, she felt dry-mouthed and parched, especially her cheeks, which burned as if on fire.
Slowly, she lowered her head.
It was as if someone in the air was pressing on the back of her head, making her draw closer little by little, their warm breaths intermingling.
Only half an inch!
She turned her head, shifting her gaze, and sat by the bed, drinking water. But it felt like drinking poison to quench her thirst; it couldn’t extinguish the fire in her heart.
She touched her cheek: “What’s wrong with me?”
She had never felt this way before.
Gu Qingli was somewhat at a loss. She calmed herself for a long time.
Only then did she coldly look back: “It seems I do need to find an opportunity to test you.”