It's Hard to Be the Female Lead's Best Friend (Apocalypse) GL - Chapter 25
Cheng Ziyu’s dark eyes seemed lost in the darkness. She couldn’t tell if the snowy white world in her mind was real or fake, and she couldn’t even recall if her childhood life was truly what she remembered.
Her mind hazy, she touched the photo in her pocket. The moment her fingertips made contact, Cheng Ziyu finally felt a trace of reality: “Why do you always ask about my past? Do you know something?”
“No, I just find it a bit strange. Is that your only childhood photo?” Gu Qingli frowned. “And… do you have any impression of your mother?”
Cheng Ziyu gave a bitter smile: “No, the only impression is a cold back. I’ve already forgotten what she looks like.”
As for photos, it seemed she really only ever had one incomplete one since childhood. Her father never took pictures of her, unlike other fathers who would record their daughters’ growth.
Thinking this way, her childhood life was strange in every aspect. Just like her relatives, they only came to find her after the police notified them of her father’s death; otherwise, she wouldn’t even have known she had an uncle and aunt.
“Have you ever thought about finding your mother?”
Cheng Ziyu lowered her eyelids, gently shaking her head: “I haven’t thought about it.” In truth, it had become a luxury she no longer dared to consider.
“Then don’t think about it.” Through their conversation, Gu Qingli’s doubts increased rather than decreased, but hearing Cheng Ziyu’s melancholic words, she couldn’t bear to press further. “Eat something first. What you need to think about now is surviving.”
Cheng Ziyu took the bread, chewing it mechanically, like chewing wax. The regret in her heart was stirred up, and even if she didn’t want to think about it, it was hard not to care.
The figures in the other corner were mostly huddled together. Generally speaking, strangers in the same space would often maintain a distance from each other because they didn’t know each other, and their subconscious would be wary of others.
Just as Cheng Ziyu would stay with Gu Qingli and not with that group of people, it was clear that those people must have known each other.
Having eaten, Cheng Ziyu calmed down considerably: “Do you think it’s safe to be with these people outside?”
Gu Qingli shook her head, but realizing the environment was dark, the other person probably couldn’t see: “It’s not safe. The purpose of these people might not be as simple as we imagine.”
“I also think it’s strange. They don’t look like a regular army. Why would they waste time taking us in?” Cheng Ziyu looked out through a crack. These people had already set up all their tents, and the outer perimeter was also made of simple defenses using thorny trees.
As she was contemplating, suddenly, a woman’s painful moan came from another corner. Both their gazes followed the sound, and they saw the figures there stirring.
“Ah… my stomach hurts so much!”
“Could it be time to give birth?”
Cheng Ziyu heard this and worried for the pregnant woman. Giving birth at this time, even if it went smoothly, it would be difficult to survive in a world filled with zombies.
“Not yet… The baby just kicked me, and it hurt.”
“Be a good baby, your mom is working hard. Just endure for half a day more, and we can go out.”
The man was closest to the woman and had been in the dark for a long time, so he naturally saw the woman’s twisted, ugly face. Her lips were also bloodless, clearly in extreme discomfort.
He felt heartbroken but couldn’t alleviate her pain.
“Sister Ah Man, just hold on a little longer. We’ll all be fine,” a timid female voice comforted.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” The pregnant woman touched her bulging belly with one hand, but her other hand kept trembling, clearly the pain was almost unbearable.
If there were light, everyone would likely see a scratched wound on the pregnant woman’s ankle. The bl00d had dried, and faint black bl00d was slowly oozing out.
The pregnant woman gasped heavily. Their nerves were taut.
In the quiet environment, Cheng Ziyu could hear clearly. The repeated breaths made her feel a little strange. She instinctively leaned against Gu Qingli, lowering her voice and saying, “She’ll be okay, right?”
“I don’t know.” Gu Qingli didn’t want to say any naive comforting words, because the pregnant woman’s breathing was indeed a bit off, sometimes rapid, sometimes weak.
The figures huddled together, worried and scared. One woman even started crying, while another hugged her tightly.
“Don’t be afraid, little sister.”
“Brother, I want to go home.”
The man’s voice choked: “We’ll go home.”
Time passed minute by minute. During this time, a soldier came once. The moment the door opened, faint light gently stung their eyes. He placed some food and water by the door and closed it again.
The man rushed to the door, took all the food, not thinking of leaving any for the other two girls: “Everyone eat something first.”
Everyone took their food and water.
The man handed a bottle of water and bread to the pregnant woman: “Ah Man, eat something first.”
“I… I can’t eat…” The pregnant woman’s voice grew weaker and weaker. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her expression became increasingly painful.
“Eat even if you can’t. Your body won’t be able to handle it, and our baby also needs nutrition… right?”
The pregnant woman nodded, took the water, and just as she took a sip, she immediately spat it out before she could swallow: “Cough cough… I really can’t eat.”
“Sister Ah Man, eat a little,” the woman said with concern.
The pregnant woman could only take another sip. Suddenly, her stomach protruded high, and a lump squirmed under her clothes. The pain contorted her face into a ghastly expression, and the water in her hand fell to the ground, spilling everywhere.
“Ah Man?” The man held her.
“I… I’m fine… The baby kicked again…” The pregnant woman gasped for air.
The woman handed her water to the man. He took it, tore off a small piece of bread, fed it to the pregnant woman, and gave her a sip of water: “Endure it. You must eat something.”
The pregnant woman’s eyes welled with tears of pain, forcing herself to swallow it: “I… ate… I want to rest for a bit.”
“Okay.”
The silent environment should have made it easy to fall asleep; however, everyone was wide awake, no one daring to doze off. The night gradually darkened, and the faint glimmer of light through the cracks slowly disappeared.
Their vision completely plunged into darkness, unable to see five fingers in front of their face. In such an environment, fear was amplified. Even a single breath made everyone’s nerves taut.
After a while, the man began to grow anxious. He got up and fumbled to the door, knocking loudly and shouting: “Hey, our time confined should be about up, right?”
“Hey!” The man knocked again.
“Two more hours. Stay put,” after a long while, the soldier finally replied slowly.
“Then can you give us a lamp?”
“No, we don’t have enough for ourselves. Just stay put. We’ll let you out when the time comes.”
The man leaned against the door, hearing footsteps recede. His desperate expression fractured, and he began to break down: “Damn it.”
He returned to the pregnant woman’s side: “Just wait a little longer!”
The pregnant woman was already too weak to answer.
[Danger!]
Cheng Ziyu paused, looking around: “I heard a sound again just now, but I don’t know where it came from.”
“Try communicating with it.”
Communicate, how?
Thinking for a moment, the helpless Cheng Ziyu tried asking softly: “Where are you?”
[On your shoulder.]
Cheng Ziyu fumbled blindly in the dark and felt a small blade of grass on her shoulder. She was astonished, completely unaware of when this thing had appeared on her shoulder.
[Gently, you’ll break me.]
“Sorry. Why can I understand you? And why are you following me?” Cheng Ziyu was full of questions.
[I don’t know, I just like the way you smell. It’s so good, fragrant.]
Cheng Ziyu was slightly disappointed. Apparently, the zombies had also said she smelled fragrant, but she was still clueless: “Then why did you say there’s danger?”
[There’s something dangerous in that person’s belly.]
Cheng Ziyu heard this, turned her head, intending to quietly tell Gu Qingli; but she accidentally got too close, her lips brushing against a soft earlobe. She pulled back slightly and said, “That pregnant woman might be infected. The little thing in her belly might have turned into a zombie.”
Whispers like strands of hair lightly tickled her ear, a tingling sensation stimulating Gu Qingli’s nerves from outside in, like a spring breeze gently caressing a calm lake, stirring faint ripples in her heart.
Darkness was the best cover for embarrassment.
Gu Qingli’s earlobe flushed a rosy hue that even she herself didn’t notice. She only felt her touched ear was a little hot, causing her to unconsciously tense her body and nod stiffly: “Mm, got it.”
So cold, that was Cheng Ziyu’s first feeling.
“Ah—” The pregnant woman cried out in pain.
“Ah Man, what’s wrong?”
The pregnant woman was too weak to answer, her breathing getting weaker and weaker. The man fumbled for a moment, then realized the pregnant woman had stopped breathing. His cries began: “Ah Man… don’t scare me.”
“What’s wrong with Sister Ah Man?”
“She… she…” The man couldn’t finish speaking when the pregnant woman suddenly moved. He hugged her in surprise, “Ah Man, are you okay?”
The pregnant woman didn’t answer him. Instead, she began to convulse like an addict. The man knelt on the ground, crying and calling out to her: “Ah Man… quick, quickly hold her down.”
The few of them dared not touch her belly, so they could only press down on the pregnant woman’s arms and legs. But the pregnant woman was extremely strong. They pressed with all their might until their hands went numb.
The intensity of the convulsions gradually increased. Everyone’s figures trembled. Even two big men clearly couldn’t hold her down.
At this moment, Gu Qingli pulled Cheng Ziyu, fumbled along the wooden wall to the door, frantically knocking and shouting: “Someone’s infected, they’re turning into a zombie!”
Hearing this, the man released the pregnant woman’s hand, pointing at the two with anger: “You shut up… You want to kill…”
Because he let go, the female zombie’s right hand became free. It reached directly for the man on its left, gripped his throat, pulled down hard, and bit him.
“Ah—” The tearing of flesh caused him excruciating pain. He felt his body growing colder and colder, his breathing becoming increasingly difficult, and soon he breathed his last.
The woman unconsciously let go and kicked the man: “Who told you to let go, huh! Your wife’s life is a life, and my brother’s life isn’t a life, right?”
The man slapped her back: “Shut up.”
With a slap, the woman fell to the ground: “You hit me… I…” The woman realized her support was dead, and what could she do?
“Roar!”
The small wooden house was filled with deafening zombie cries. The woman stood up, scared; but the man pushed her away. She fell into the zombie’s embrace, and before she could even utter a cry for help, her throat was bitten.
Only a “crunch” sound was heard!
The man, terrified, ran wildly to the door, frantically knocking and shouting: “Someone, quick! There’s a zombie! Help!”
Gu Qingli again slowly retreated with Cheng Ziyu, moving away from the noisy man. She squinted, trying to discern the environment and the location of the zombies.