Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

A concoction of odors filled the air, like rotting leaves floating in a cesspool, exuding a uniquely nauseating stench.

Compared to the putrid stench of zombies, it was probably the minuscule difference between a level-eighteen and a level-seventeen reek.

Song Kexin didn’t even dare to take a deep breath. Seeing the sallow-faced crowd slumped on the floor mats on either side, she felt too awkward to reach into her pocket and put on a mask.

Her family had told her not to stand out or do things that made her seem aloof and arrogant.

After all, in a situation like this, everyone else was enduring it. Why couldn’t she, Song Kexin, do the same? It would make her seem pretentious and leave a bad impression.

Su Xiyue hurried a few steps behind Lin Yiyi and saw her classmate, Yu Xiaofei, lying on a floor mat in the distance.

Yu Xiaofei’s mother sat beside her daughter, her face devoid of life, her eyes vacant as she stared into space.

It wasn’t until Su Xiyue and Lin Yiyi ran up to Yu Xiaofei that her mother finally snapped out of her daze.

”Xiaofei,” Su Xiyue said, running over and crouching beside her friend. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

The tall, slender girl from her memory was now so emaciated her cheeks were completely sunken.

Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Yu Xiaofei managed to flutter her eyes open, looking at Su Xiyue with weary exhaustion.

Her lips moved, but her dry throat couldn’t produce a single sound.

”Xiaofei,” Su Xiyue said, tears welling in her eyes as she saw her friend’s condition.

It was hard to imagine that in just over a year, a lively, energetic girl had been wasted away into this withered state.

Song Kexin reacted a step faster, her hand shooting out to stop Su Xiyue from rummaging through her bag.

Su Xiyue froze. Following Song Kexin’s gaze, she glanced around and saw that many people were indeed eyeing them like predators.

To be precise, they were staring at the shoulder bags the two sisters were wearing!

If they pulled out a full bottle of water and a handful of rice balls and zongzi at a time like this, it would be tantamount to indirectly harming Yu Xiaofei and her mother.

Unless they could stay here and guard them indefinitely, the consequences would be unthinkable once they left.

When young Su Xiyue realized this, a cold sweat trickled down her temple.

She looked at Song Kexin.

Song Kexin gave her a slight shake of the head before turning to Yu Xiaofei’s mother. ”Your child is very sick. Why haven’t you applied for medical treatment?”

”We did, but it’s not our turn yet.” A flicker of hope, like a final burst of light, appeared in Yu Xiaofei’s mother’s eyes. She stared at Lin Yiyi, who was standing beside Su Xiyue. ”You’re... you’re Xiaofei’s good friend, Lin Yiyi, right?”

”Yes, ma’am. I’m Lin Yiyi, the one who greeted you yesterday. This is Su Xiyue, another of Xiaofei’s good friends, and this is Su Xiyue’s older sister.”

A glimmer of hope shone in Yu Xiaofei’s mother’s eyes. She suddenly grabbed Song Kexin’s hand. ”Su’s older sister, you’re all Superpower Users, aren’t you? Can you please help our Xiaofei? I have nothing left... she’s the only one I have. I’m begging you, please help me. Please.”

Tears streamed from her long-dry eyes.

”Then let’s go check on the medical room first,” Song Kexin said, winking at Su Xiyue.

The latter understood. Just as she reached out to help Yu Xiaofei up from the ground, an auntie who had been eyeing them menacingly darted out and shouted at the top of her lungs, ”Hey, you can’t do that! Your kid’s number is behind my son’s! If you can just go line up at the medical room now, then my son should be ahead of you!”

”That’s right,” someone else chimed in resentfully. ”What’s the deal? Do Superpower Users get special privileges?”

Yu Xiaofei’s mother grew frantic, clasping her hands and bowing to everyone in a pleading gesture. ”Please, everyone, please help us! My daughter is truly, gravely ill. She’s only fourteen...”

”So what if she’s fourteen? My precious grandson is only seven! My baby’s number is also ahead of yours. If you can just cut in line at the medical room now, then so can we.”

”That’s right! So can we!”

The crowd shouted, angry and unrelenting.

Young Su Xiyue said angrily, ”Fine, we won’t go to the medical room, and we won’t cut your line! We’ll go find Tianfeng for help.”

Of course, the crowd had no idea who this Tianfeng was that Su Xiyue mentioned.

But from the girl’s tone, he had to be someone important. In any case, even if they weren’t cutting the line, it seemed they had connections.

”Xiaofei’s mother, you can’t be so selfish. If your friends have connections, shouldn’t you look out for us too? After all, we’ve been helping take care of your daughter these past couple of days.”

Young Su Xiyue easily lifted Yu Xiaofei, who was a head taller than her, but was immediately blocked by a swarm of people who wouldn’t let them pass.

She felt that these adults were truly awful and despicable!

’I just want to help my classmate. Why is that so wrong? Why am I being surrounded and berated by a mob? What did I even do?’

Yu Xiaofei’s mother was at a loss. ”I... we... no, everyone, please listen to me.”

”Listen to what! The bottom line is, if your daughter can get medical treatment now, so should my son!”

”Exactly! On what grounds do you families of Superpower Users get special privileges?!”

”We ordinary people don’t have any connections! Does that mean we’re just supposed to wait here to die?”

Song Kexin grabbed a burly, middle-aged man who was charging forward and shoved him back forcefully.

Before the man could charge forward again in anger, a torrent of raging flames erupted from her hand with a WHOOSH, instantly scaring the surrounding mob back several steps.

”You. Come here,” Song Kexin said, pointing at the auntie who had been shouting the loudest. ”I’ll tell you why the families of Superpower Users get a tiny little bit of special privilege.”

”It’s because while all of you were cowering here, begging Buddha for protection, the Superpower Users! They were the ones charging to the front lines, helping everyone by keeping the zombie horde contained outside the base, stopping the zombie horde and the flocks of Mutated Birds from breaking in to slaughter you!”

”Three days! The zombie horde has been here for three full days! Have any of you suffered any losses?”

”While you were all crying to the heavens, complaining about the lack of food and water, needing medical care, needing help, needing everything, the Superpower Users were taking turns, fighting relentlessly on the front lines, sleeping no more than four hours a day! We’re not trying to say self-aggrandizing things like we’re ’protecting everyone’ or ’saving all of humanity’!”

”What we wanted to do, really, was just protect our own families—our old and our young. And incidentally... we protected you, too.”

Song Kexin shot the crowd a cold glare. ”Now, do you still think the families of Superpower Users don’t deserve to enjoy that tiny little sliver of special privilege?”

The noise from the crowd died down considerably, but many still muttered stubbornly, ”Well, who told you to have superpowers? The movies all say it: with great power comes great responsibility. Isn’t it only right for people with superpowers to protect us ordinary folk?”

”You. The young man. Come on out. I heard you,” Song Kexin said, pointing at a young man hiding behind the auntie.

There was a smile in her eyes, but her expression was utterly frigid. ”Do you even believe that yourself?”