Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]

Chapter 116: Chapter 116 - Out of gas

Jai and Yunfeng drove past their village and headed toward the main road leading to A City. But they didn’t take the smooth, paved roads everyone else used. Oh no, they were cutting through a shortcut. A shortcut that was, quite frankly, a series of potholes, gravel, and speed bumps strung together like a cruel joke played by nature.

As they bounced along the uneven path, the car seemed to jolt with every bump. Every time they hit a speed bump, the car would squeal like it was in pain. Yunfeng, gripping the armrest as if it were his last lifeline, glanced at his friend.

”Are you sure this thing can actually get us there safely?” he asked, half-doubtful, half-worried.

”Definitely!” Jai replied, his voice dripping with confidence. ”This is my trusted first-ever car.”

Yunfeng’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything. He just eyed the dashboard with a mixture of suspicion and concern. He kept glancing between the fuel gauge and the speedometer, but... something was off. The speedometer wasn’t even moving.

”Uh, why’s your meter not running?” Yunfeng asked, his tone flat.

”Oh, that’s just faulty,” Jai waved it off. ”Don’t worry, we’re definitely going under the speed limit.”

Yunfeng frowned, staring at the fuel gauge, which was also motionless. He couldn’t suppress the rising worry anymore. ”That’s not the problem. The gas meter’s not working either!”

Jai grinned, as if everything was totally fine, and patted Yunfeng on the back. ”Stop worrying! I’ve already filled up my baby. The meter’s just broken. Trust me.”

Yunfeng took a long, calming breath, trying to suppress the panic threatening to explode. Slowly, they rumbled down the rugged road, the car creaking like it was about to fall apart. Suddenly, the car gave a loud grunt, followed by a cloud of white smoke billowing from the hood.

Jai winced. ”This is also normal.”

”Normal?” Yunfeng deadpanned. ”That’s not normal. Your car’s a walking disaster!”

Just as he finished speaking, the engine sputtered and came to a stop. The car was dead in the middle of nowhere. Yunfeng turned to look at his best friend, his gaze a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

Jai, with a strained smile, gave a little shrug. ”It’s nothing. It’ll start... any second now.”

He turned the key again, and the car let out a louder puff of smoke. Nothing. It just sat there, mocking them.

Yunfeng, now fully convinced they were stranded in the middle of nowhere, let out a long, deep sigh. ”I think we should check it out.”

They both climbed out of the car and popped the hood. The moment they did, a thick cloud of white smoke surged toward their faces, forcing them to cough and wave their hands in the air like they were trying to clear a fog. Yunfeng squinted through the smoke, trying to figure out what was going wrong. Unfortunately, he knew absolutely nothing about cars, especially in this primitive era. Cars weren’t exactly a common sight.

”What’s making that smoke?” he asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question.

Jai, ever the optimist, opened the fuel tank and peered inside. It was bone dry.

”Oh, I think we just ran out of gas,” he said, as if he had just discovered the most obvious thing in the world.

Yunfeng’s glare could have burned a hole through Jai’s skull. ”I just want to kill you right now.”

Jai flashed a sheepish grin, pulling out his phone as if the digital world would somehow save them. ”Sorry about that. Let me check the map. There’s a fuel station nearby... Just a few hundred meters. Let’s walk there.”

They both stared at the car, stranded in the middle of the road. They couldn’t just leave it there, could they?

With a resigned sigh, Yunfeng threw up his hands. ”Fine. Let’s push it.”

And so, the two of them pushed the car, their grunts of effort mixing with the groans of the car.

It was not graceful, not even remotely, and it was getting very clear that this was not going to be the smoothest part of the journey.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity of pushing, they reached the gas station.

As they entered, Yunfeng hesitated, looking around. The place was, well, deserted. The shelves were stocked, the aisles clear, and it felt like someone was maintaining the place...

”Hello?” Yunfeng called out.

The cashier standing behind the counter had his back to them staring at the shelf of cigarettes.

”I’ll fill up the car,” Yunfeng said, going out to the car.

Meanwhile, Jai wandered deeper into the shop, drawn to a selection of snacks. ”Oh, they’ve got dried squid,” he muttered, grabbing a few packs and throwing them in his basket.

You never knew how long you’d be stuck on the road, so it was better to be prepared.

After loading up his basket with as many snacks as he could carry, Jai walked over to the counter. He dropped it with a dramatic clunk. ”This will be all,” he said with a grin, fidgeting for his wallet.

But as he reached for his card, a small wad of cash slipped from his wallet and tumbled to the floor. ”Oops.”

As he bent down to pick it up, something caught his eye. There, at the counter, a bloodstained hand reached out from behind the counter.

Jai froze, his heart skipping a beat.

Slowly, he looked up, and to his horror, the cashier was now standing there, facing him. His face was covered in blood, his eyes wide with an unnerving hunger, and his lips curled into a snarl.

”Oh shit!” Jai yelped, stumbling back. ’The gun’s in the car!’

The zombie, unbothered by his shouts, crawled over the counter and started inching toward him.

”Fuck!” Jai panicked. He grabbed a pack of gum and threw it at the zombie, but it didn’t even blink.

”oh darn...” He then threw a soda can at its head—nothing.

”Yunfeng!” Jai screamed, throwing whatever he could grab. The zombie kept crawling, inching closer.

Outside, Yunfeng heard the chaos. He grabbed the emergency gun from the trunk and ran inside. ”Jai!” But as soon as he reached the door, he slipped on a puddle of spilled soda and face-planted right in front of the zombie.

”agh that hurts?” Yunfeng muttered, dazed but still alive. He scrambled to his feet, cursing under his breath.

Jai, shaking, fired the gun at the zombie, but the recoil threw him backward, and the shot only grazed the creature. It didn’t stop it.

”Move!” Yunfeng shouted, stepping between Jai and the zombie. With one quick motion, he aimed and shot. The zombie’s head exploded with a sickening splat.

Jai let out a breath of relief. ”I thought you said you don’t know how to shoot...”

”I thought you said you do know how to shoot...” he gazed back at Jai. ”Let’s go... the infection has spread till here. There might be a few more zombies around.”

They ran out of the gas station in a hurry and started their car and drove off.