Last Days On Earth

Chapter 21: Crisis Escalates (1)

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It was late in the night. The group of survivors, Ye Ke included did not talk much. Su Nan and Ye Ke chatted with each other briefly before falling asleep.

In the middle of the night, Ye Ke suddenly woke up, forehead covered with beads of sweat. He was gasping for breath and quickly opened his eyes as wide as possible, but all he saw was darkness. His hands moved, trembling as reached for anything he could get a hold of—the ground, the wall, anything. Then he looked back and realized where he was. He sighed, somewhat relieved and suddenly relaxed his body. His chest rose up and down, calming himself down.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Ke did not make too much noise but it still awoke his neighbor, Su Nan lying next to him.

When the world turned upside down, many people’s sleeping habit changed. They were more alert. The slightest movement or noise immediately awakened them from slumber. Even An Le and Li Haoran roused from their sleep, hearing the question Su Nan asked to Ye Ke.

“It’s nothing… just a nightmare…”

“Sleep. The night is still growing.” Su Nan whispered.

“Mnn.” Ye Ke blinked his eyes open and bent his legs slightly, curled in a fetus position giving him a false sense of security.

Truth be told of the matter, he did not know why he woke from the deep sleep. The nightmare was merely an excuse. But he could recall the feeling he felt the moment his eyes opened. It was a very strange feeling. He couldn’t get up. It was like there were pairs of eyes everywhere… pairs of eyes looking at him and that quickly alerted him and swiftly woke up gasping for breath.

It was hard to wake up from a nightmare if you weren’t even asleep. It felt as if he needed saving—saving from the ones which haunt him at night. These past few days, he’d created a monster, a hell within his mind. It was a never-ending nightmare.

The night was cold and long as if daylight would never rise. Ye Ke slept intermittently for a while. In the midst of it, he had several dreams.

He dreamt Wang Hao and Han Song had turned into those things. His dead friends were slowly walking towards him and he couldn’t move.

He dreamt of being in a dark room. The lights were dim and all he could see were shadowy figures. His beautiful flower was there. Tears ran down her face as several men humiliated and took advantage of her. She wept pitifully. He wasn’t able to save her.

Then, he awoke. Dawn had yet to break. His eyes were blank as if nothing could faze him. The memories he’s had became his scars. Ye Ke held placed his head in between his hands, unable to sleep through the night.

Soon, the obsidian night faded and gradually brightened. Strange, he used to sleep throughout the day but now, he often watched the changing colors of the azure. Sometimes it was blue blanketing the world, sometimes red dominated the abode, sometimes rainbows gleamed high above, and sometimes it was somber gray just like how it is now.

The first to wake was Su Nan. He stroked the little girl sleeping next to him and planted a soft kiss on her head. He looked at her, not doing anything, just a pure smile written on his face.

The 24/7 hour supermarket bought a small toilet. Ye Ke hadn’t expected this. Nevertheless, he used it well. Soon, the rest woke up one after another, heading to the toilet to relieve themselves. Then, they sat on the floor, stuffed food in their mouth. They didn’t speak a word, only silence filled the air.

The shelves and many wooden blocks were used to block the windows and doors. It would serve as an obstacle for trespassers, be it those things or humans.

The food stored in the supermarket was divided into categories: bread, biscuits, instant noodles, water bottles, daily necessities, and of course, the most perfect thing, cigarettes.

“Hey, you…”

“Brother Su, I ask that you call me Ye Ke. After all, you saved my life. There is no need for us to be unfamiliar with each other.” If Su Nan had refused him last night, God knows what he’d do at night or where he’d be right now.

He’s not sure if it is the emotional ups and downs he’s faced in the past two days, but Ye Ke’s originally cold personality softened mildly, though the indifferent view he had of the world seeped deep in his bones had yet to disappear. After his parents left, he was numb.

“All right. Ye Ke, you come from the outside. I don’t know what’s currently going on now. To tell you the truth, we hid here as soon as possible after everything changed. We don’t know anything about the outside.” Su Nan did not feel embarrassed. It took him great courage to come to a decision of hunkering down once he felt the world had changed. Though it hadn’t spread rapidly yet, he could feel it.

“I escaped from Donghua University (fictional) near the vicinity…”

“Donghua University?! I escaped from there too. I was in the dance department on the fifteenth floor.” When An Le had heard Ye Ke came from the same place as her, her lips curved to a smile and she grew happy. It was just like going to a job interview and you meet an alumni who’d graduated from the same school as you, you end up finding yourself getting excited upon seeing a familiar face.

“Then I will call you Elder Sis. I’m in the mechanical engineering department on the sixteenth floor.” Last night was too dark and he hadn’t had the time to look at the face of this woman, An Le. Now that he’d the chance, he realized she was very beautiful. She belonged to the category of beautiful which you desired to see almost every day.

Ye Ke was happy meeting a person that came from the same place as him. If Zhou Kai was here, he’d surely be giddy with pure bliss.

“An Le, don’t start. You continue speaking.” Li Haoran glanced at her with dissatisfaction.

Ye Ke and An Le looked at each other sheepishly, a tacit smile of understanding written on their face.

“At the time, we were taking the examination. It’d signify whether we’d make it or break it… I didn’t go. I slept in the dormitory. It was daylight and suddenly I heard a loud ear-piercing scream. I got out of bed and went to the balcony. From above, I saw people screaming and running as if running away from something. I didn’t know what it was then till I saw a massacre. I wanted to escape at the time but I didn’t. I don’t think I could have. So I stayed in the dormitory room and see what would happen.”