[Xu Lin’s perspective]
It’s… raining?
God, you really hate me, don’t you?
I sat down under a tree, propping myself up and trying to stand up but failed. I could only let the increasingly heavy rain wash down, soaking my clothes that were a little warm.
The autumn rain was cold, and soon I was freezing, no longer caring about cleanliness, I just wanted to curl myself up.
TThe wound on my leg was a bit hideous, and the torn pants were stained red. My shirt, covered in messy dirt, was soon washed clean by the rain. Water soaked my hair and dripped down my cheek to the corner of my lips, tasting salty.
The pattering of the rain drowned out everything. Maybe this is the moment when I can cry out loud? After all, no one would hear me, right?
How am I supposed to walk with my leg injured? Without any transportation, how will I find him?
I am left alone, can I really survive?
Chen Ke, you jerk!
I’ve told you countless times, openly and subtly, that I don’t want to be separated from you. Why, when it mattered the most, did you still do it?
You didn’t have to stay in that house, blocking the door for me. You could’ve left, and we could’ve escaped together.
The scent of blood and rot gradually faded, leaving only the heavy moisture and chill in the air. The ground, scoured by the rain, bore streaks of water. Even the two decaying bodies lying nearby were being washed clean.
Maybe because my body was cold, my mind became clearer. I can’t die yet. I need to protect myself. Even though it’s disgusting, if I smear some of their internal organs on myself might cover my scent of blood.
Why won’t the rain stop?
But with the rain this heavy, nothing should hear or smell me, right? I only have a knife left in my hand, and if even one or two show up, I might not make it out unscathed.
So this is what it feels like to die alone?
I closed my eyes, forcing myself not to dwell on it. I’ve survived this far, from the beginning until now. I found him, and he’s slowly recovering. Xiao Miao was right. If he’s still here and something happens to me, and he regresses to his former state, I’ll never forgive myself.
The knife in my hand slipped to the ground without me realizing it. Reluctantly, I reached down to pick it up, only to find my hands too numb to grip the handle.
At that moment, I heard a rustling sound nearby.
Tsk, great timing.
I gripped the knife handle tightly with both hands, not daring to move, just trying to determine where the sound was coming from. But with the rain pattering down, I couldn’t make it out clearly. It might’ve just been the rain hitting the leaves or the ground. Maybe I was just jumpy.
“Xu Lin…”
I trembled and tried to look around. The dim sky and mist obscured everything, and that faint voice was quickly drowned out. I didn’t see anyone.
… An illusion. It had to be. He’s several hours away from here, right? He is so stupid, even if he knows to come to me, how can he come so quickly…
I didn’t respond. What if a zombie was wandering around nearby? I wasn’t about to signal it with a clear “Hey, I’m right here, come bite me!”
My mind started to wander. I remembered the time he snuck into the house in the middle of the night, and I almost hit him with a tennis racket.
That idiot had been so scared, staring at me with wide eyes, looking all pitiful and saying, “Wow, two months without seeing me, and you already want to murder your husband?”
Bullshit. He said his flight was supposed to be tomorrow, but I had been too excited to sleep that night, so when I heard noises in the living room, I wasn’t about to just go cheerfully open the door, was I?
I shivered from the cold, gripping the knife tighter instinctively. I must have lost too much blood… In such a tense moment, how could I still be thinking about random things?
The rustling sound seemed to have stopped. I let out a sigh of relief, but before I could fully exhale, a grotesque face appeared beside the tree.
It happened in an instant. Instinctively, I raised the knife and slashed at it. But I didn’t have enough strength left. The blade grazed the zombie’s scalp, but I couldn’t muster the power to pierce its skull. The knife flew past, merely scratching the surface.
It’s over.
I stared at that grotesque face as it lunged for my throat.
—If you use that hand to shield me again, I’ll chop it off myself. Got it?
I remember the way he nodded. I had asked if he was lying to me, and I remember the way he nodded again.
Seeing that hand now, still covered in red scars from the last time it was torn and not yet fully healed, shielding me from the zombie… I didn’t realize it at first, but the wetness on my face, mixed with something else, told me immediately.
Damn it…
He really used that hand again…
The knife fell from my hand with a clatter.
With a roll of thunder and a bright flash of lightning, I watched as he hooked his arm around the zombie’s neck, pulling it down and wrestling it back with all his strength.
I sighed in relief—this time, he only locked the zombie’s neck, and he didn’t get bitten.
He was covered in mud, utterly filthy, but his voice was loud and clear as he stretched out a hand toward me, struggling to say, “Knife!”
Of course, I knew he needed the knife. I had already grabbed the handle just now, but when I tried to throw it to him, my aim and strength were off, missing him by about twenty centimeters.
The zombie flailed its arms, trying to tear off whatever was choking its neck, but luckily, he was wearing the thicker clothes I had insisted he change into. It couldn’t grab onto anything immediately.
He shifted slightly, reached for the knife, and stabbed it into the zombie. It went still. He pushed the body aside, then knelt down, not saying a word to me yet, instead reaching for my leg, hesitant to touch it, looking at me with concern.
I shook my head. “Injured in a car accident.”
He visibly relaxed. Before I could even voice all the questions and frustrations in my mind, he hugged me.
I frowned unconsciously—he was covered in mud… so dirty.
But I also unconsciously raised my arms to hug him back—this longing was etched into my bones, and now that I saw him, it surged uncontrollably.
My sharp tongue was probably unconsciously: “That’s what you get for not coming with me…”
Serves you right, I’ll make you worry to death.
I smiled. The salty rain water mixed with the water at the corner of my mouth, but it felt comforting.
He probably said something, but I didn’t hear it, because the next moment, the misty scene before my eyes went black.
