Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 787: Romance or War

As Houqin caught up to Xiaoyun, her eyes widened in shock when their hands suddenly intertwined.

"Xiaoyun, you—?"

"There are a lot of people ahead. Hold tight, okay? I don’t want to lose you."

The strange flutter in her chest shifted into something warmer as his hand tightened around hers, guiding her through the packed streets.

Each accidental brush from the packed street only pushed them closer together, making Houqin’s pulse climb even higher.

"Hey, the movie theater’s inside this mall, right?"

Xiaoyun asked, tapping someone on the shoulder as he suddenly noticed the other line to some sort of large building.

"The line to the movie is over at that big building. You’re lining up in the wrong place." The man replied.

Turning around, Xiaoyun froze. A massive queue snaked out from the far side, easily twice as long as the one they had just endured.

"You’ve got to be kidding me..."

With a sigh, he started nudging through the crowd, his hand still holding even tighter onto Houqin’s hand.

"Sorry, excuse us—trying to get to the other side."

As Xiaoyun cleared a path with brute force and his intimidating gun holster strapped to his waist, Houqin felt the crowd’s eyes following them.

"Xiaoyun, w-we don’t have to watch the movie."

"What? I can’t hear you—Sorry, coming through!"

Houqin fell silent, letting him pull her along until they finally spilled out of the entrance and reached the correct line.

"Whew. Made it."

"Yeah..."

"Why is this mall so packed anyway? Are there seriously no other theaters in the city?"

His rambling faded into the background. Houqin barely heard a word as her thoughts still tangled around the warmth of his hand.

"Houqin, what kind of movies do you want to watch?"

Turning over to the side, Xiaoyun sees her looking a little zoned out as she robotically walks forward with his hand.

"Houqin? You there? Hello?"

"S-Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, what movie do you want to watch? We can pick the ones from the wall over there."

As Xiaoyun pointed towards the wall, she could see five different movie posters, ranging from a war movie to a comedy to a horror movie.

"Um... How about the romance movie?"

"Okay."

---

After waiting for half an hour, the line finally began to move once again as people started coming out of the buildings.

"Finally, it’s our turn." A man in front of them murmured as the security guard started letting people inside.

"Everyone, please take out your tickets! We’ll be scanning it before you’re allowed inside."

"Xiaoyun, you have the tickets, right?" Houqin asked as the security guards started going down the lines with ticket scanners.

"Um... Shit. I thought they would offer the option to buy the tickets inside. Wait, I have an idea."

"What do you mean you forgot to buy a ticket?"

"Ticket, please... You—"

Before the two security guards freaked out over the gun holster, Xiaoyun immediately lunged toward them, pulling them over to the side.

"I forgot to buy a ticket. But I’m currently investigating a man who’s in this theater... Here’s my ID as a Special Intelligence Officer."

"You really are an intelligence officer?"

The security guard on the left questioned as Xiaoyun handed the ID to the other security guard on the right.

"Who else would be allowed to walk in the open with a gun strapped to their waist? This mission is private, please keep this to yourself."

As the left security guard looked over to his fellow coworker, he had already handed it back with two new tickets.

"We’ll keep our mouths shut. Please enjoy the movie, sir." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Thank you."

Xiaoyun quickly grabbed onto Houqin’s hand, walking into the movie theater together as the security guards moved aside.

"What did you tell them?" Houqin curiously asked, as all she saw was him pulling them over to the side and taking out his wallet.

"Top secret. Anyway, let’s go see the movie we lined up for."

The moment they stepped into the theater lobby, the suffocating mass dissolved into smaller lines beneath glowing digital posters.

Air-conditioning hummed overhead, with cool currents slipping under their clothes and stealing away the sticky heat from outside.

"You want to get popcorn and drinks?" Xiaoyun asked as he noticed the concession stand in the middle of the lobby.

"I’m good... I’m still a little full."

"Okay then. I’ll be right back."

Before Houqin could respond, he had already stepped away, weaving into the concession line.

When Xiaoyun finally returned, he was carrying a bucket nearly the size of his head and a drink to match.

"We’re still not inside yet?" Xiaoyun questioned, looking a little surprised by her still standing at the romance line.

"The workers need to clean up first—"

"Sorry, there are way too many people watching the romance movie. We’ll offer refunds if you don’t want to watch the other movies."

As the theater staff cut the line in half, Xiaoyun and Houqin were out of luck as they were just four people behind it.

"You can’t be serious. We waited all this just to be turned away?" One of the people behind them yelled in anger.

"When you bought the ticket, the contract specifically stated that the movie screenings are first-come, first-served.

We can only guarantee you’ll be reserved a space for a movie. There’s nothing about what particular movie you’ll get to watch."

The staff’s counterargument made the angry man swallow his anger as he headed over to the other lines in the end.

"Houqin, do you still want to watch a movie? We can go do something else if you want."

"We’re already here, we might as well watch something... Can’t waste all that time standing outside for nothing."

The two of them eventually ended up at the war movie. Inside the auditorium, they were a little surprised to see it almost completely empty.

"Maybe we should watch something else. We can still go to the other—"

Xiaoyun’s suggestion was interrupted as the projector began to play the movie intro, with the exit closing.

"Let’s just take a seat."

This time, Xiaoyun didn’t try to persuade her again. They sat down in the middle aisle as the movie title appeared.

"The Eight Hundred, huh?"

---

As the end credits rolled, Houqin was already in tears. Xiaoyun silently handed her a third wad of tissues.

"Why did it have to end like that, Xiaoyun? Why did they charge in like that? Why?"

"There were no prisoners of war. It was either them or us."

Xiaoyun couldn’t say anything else. The battle scene replayed in his mind, each explosion echoing in his chest.

From the back rows came muttered curses as more and more people in their seats agreed with their statement.

"Fuck those Japanese!"

"Yeah!"

Seats creaked. Footsteps shuffled. One by one, people filed out of the auditorium, their anger trailing behind them.

But Xiaoyun and Houqin stayed, watching the credits scroll in silence as Houqin’s sobbing slowly died down.

"You feeling better?"

"Yeah... a little."

After a pause, Houqin spoke up again.

"Hey Xiaoyun, am I too old to cry over something like this?"

"Of course not. It just means you cared... Anyone would react to something that real would have cried."

"Thanks..."

Houqin quietly whispered, her face looking a little embarrassed as she thought back to how much she was crying earlier.

"No problem... Ahem, we should probably go before the staff kicks us out."

Xiaoyun stood and offered his hand. She took it, letting him pull her up just as theater employees began entering with trash bags and cleaning carts.

---

In the lobby, they turned a corner to head towards the exit, only to have two children slam straight into them.

"Oof"

Before either of them could react, the kids had already bolted away, laughter echoing as they disappeared in the hallways.

"Hey, have you seen two kids nearby?"

A man asked out loud as he ran out from the romance movie section, along with an older woman running behind, face full of panic.

"They just bumped into me and ran in that direction," Xiaoyun answered as he pointed toward one of the hallways.

"Thanks!"

As the two parents ran off into the distance, Xiaoyun and Houqin had no choice but to swallow their frustration.

"What a bunch of asshole. Do those parent not teach their kids manners? They didn’t even apologize for them either." Houqin complained.

"Who knows—"

"I’m never coming to a movie theater again. So many damn kids talking. Should had just watched it at home."

"Why isn’t a romance movie restricted to adults only? Who thought kids should be allowed to see a movie with a kissing scene?"

Hearing the complaints from the other moviegoer, both Xiaoyun and Houqin let out a chuckle.

"Looks like we dodged a bullet," Xiaoyun murmured.

"Yeah..."

As they stepped out of the theater together, the sun was already setting on the horizon, with the streets illuminated in an orange light.