Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 567: Story of A Refugee (3)

We moved into our grandparents’ house, an actual house that had four entire bedrooms as opposed to the two-bedroom apartment back in the city.

Everyone’s life in the village had been flipped upside down, for better or for worse.

For my sister? She was easily the least adapted to it.

The first challenge she faced was the sounds of the early rooster, then the walk to the well for water was met with the smell of animal feces on the road.

It was clear she really disliked the place. But it was still better than waking up in the middle of the night due to zombies.

Meanwhile, my parent.

They were saddened to hear that Grandma and Grandpa had passed away during the initial outbreak.

My sister and I didn’t have too big of a reaction. Or maybe we just didn’t know how to process the news at the time.

Perhaps, both of us had already assumed it to be unavoidable after seeing all the elderly we faced on the apartment’s 2nd floor locked inside their houses.

The funeral was held a week ago. But Dad still demanded that we go up the small hill where they had buried them and pay tribute.

After the tribute, everyone in the village comforted Dad one by one, telling him to stay strong, not just for grandpa’s sake, but for our sake.

The next day, Dad had fully recovered, spending most of his time with the village leader and other villagers to discuss how to reinforce the walls.

Where did I go during all this time, you may ask?

Right at the front entrance. Sitting in a tree and making sure no zombies or any person sneaks in.

The job was boring. I know it sounds weird to say, but I was happy. I’m happier than when I was back in the city.

Maybe it was just hindsight or nostalgia. But there were no exams to stress about. No zombies or needing to worry about rationing food and water.

Everything was plentiful, straight from the wells and the ground below.

Seeing that dad and mom had spent more time together here in the village than their entire marriage in the city was just icing on the cake.

All this wasn’t the main reason I enjoyed my time at the village so much, however. The real, biggest factor was the fact that I now had a girlfriend!

---

I could still vividly remember it. It was late at night, with the moon high up in the sky, and I was sitting in a tree.

Everyone was at a meeting to talk about resource allocation, except me, since I was too young to talk, and just old enough to fight off zombies.

Just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly felt something grabbing onto my shoulder.

I instantly flinched and reached for my spear, only to realize it was Jieqiong as she appeared from the right.

"What was that for?" I questioned.

"To scare you." She responded.

I was annoyed initially, but then she started conveying to me what she had heard in the meeting.

From how water in the well had been starting to dry out to settling a dispute between a cheating wife and the husband, I was instantly intrigued.

She suddenly stopped just as she was about to reveal the judgment, staring at my upper body, which was now just inches away from leaning over to her.

I quickly realized what was wrong and tried to move back a little, only to almost fall from the tree face-first if it wasn’t for her quick reaction.

We both quickly climbed down the tree afterward, and I tried to bow down to apologize again. But this time, she leaned forward for a hug.

Before I knew it, she whispered something into my ear.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?" She asked.

I was completely stunned. I stood there for a whole minute in silence. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

It just felt out of nowhere. Too good to be true. It’s like money falling from the sky. It just couldn’t be right.

Picking me out of all people, a person who barely gets B’s in high school. A young woman in front of me who’s already in a university.

A young woman whom I had always viewed as just an older sister who could understand me, and nothing else.

"Did I really surprise you that much?" Jieqiong asked, waving her hands right before my face.

I finally snapped back to reality and nodded my head. My brain was filled with excitement as I said yes over and over again.

She chuckled over my reaction, but I couldn’t care less. I had finally made a girlfriend out of all the time I had been alone in high school.

When we went back home and announced it to my parent, they surprisingly didn’t look surprised at all.

It was almost as if they had seen it coming. Only when my younger sister said something along the lines of ’about time’ did I realize how oblivious I had been.

I was now having the best time of my life. Everything was going great. Nothing could ruin the happy mood...

Until that day finally arrived.

---

It was a cloudy day, and sunlight was fully choked out from shining onto the ground. Jieqiong and I were sitting in the tree together.

Five months had passed since the outbreak. The two of us had been boyfriend and girlfriend for just over a month.

We were on outpost duty that day, having a chat about penguins, debating whether they were related to chickens or not.

Just as she was about to win the argument, a sudden sound of a motorcycle engine instantly caught our attention.

I quickly took out the binoculars that the village leader had given me, and right before my eyes, a man in black was driving straight towards us.

Jieqiong immediately jumped down, running back to the village to alert everyone while I remained in the tree, watching the motorcycle come closer and closer.

It stopped. Just a few inches away from the reinforced metal door. The man stood still as he got off the motorcycle.

"Who are you?" I yelled.

The man didn’t respond, but what he took out of his pocket next shocked me.

A gun.

Aimed straight at my head. His finger was on the trigger as he pointed towards the door with his other hand.

"Can I come down to open the door?"

With a nod from him, I slowly climbed back down from the tree before hiding myself behind the concrete wall.

Now out of sight, the key and the lock were right in my hand. I hesitated. My mind told me just to keep the door closed.

But I knew the wall could be easily navigated around. All they had to do was jump down to the nearby muddy grass field and climb back up to the main entrance.

"Sorry, sir, I haven’t used this lock for a while. It’s a little jammed." I responded, trying to stall as long as I could.

Before I knew it, a loud bang could be heard outside. The man outside had opened fire at something.

"Open the god damn door!"

My hand kept shaking. My mind couldn’t come up with a decision. But with more and more gunshots outside, I accidentally dropped the key onto the floor.

With no time to think, I turned around and ran for the hills.

I just bolted out like lightning. I ran as far away from the door as possible. I didn’t dare to turn around as I just kept on running.

When I saw crowds of people gathered near the village’s entrance alongside Jieqiong, I was panting for breath as Dad helped me up from the floor.

"He has a gun!" I told them as I struggled to speak a complete sentence.

All of their faces were instantly alert as Dad patted me on the back, telling me to calm down first before speaking.

After thirty seconds, I finally explained what I saw, from the middle-aged man arriving to the four different gunshots back to back.

The village leader immediately sent everyone back to their home, leaving only five men, including my dad, at the entrance.

Dad asked me again what the person looked like, and the only thing I could remember was a person wearing a jacket and pants in full black.

The helmet blocked their face, but his elbow frame was so big that it was impossible to mistake him for anything other than a man.

"Let’s stay put until they come over. We can ambush him if he really walks past the concrete wall." The village leader ordered.

Everyone accepted his decision, dispersing into the nearby grass field. Dad quickly dragged me along as we all waited patiently.

However, the motorcycle never came. Nor did anyone show up at all. Instead, something much worse happened.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m