Monster Girlfriend(Apocalypse) 3

Chapter 3

It was already past five o’clock when she got home. The blazing sun still made one’s skin ache.

Xia Qingxue hadn’t woken up yet, still sleeping in Xia Weishuang’s bed. Her once lovely face was now sallow, and her back was soaked in sweat. Xia Weishuang touched her forehead, took out a thermometer, and checked her temperature: 39.3 degrees Celsius.

Under these circumstances, there was no point in teasing her.

Without disturbing Xia Qingxue, Xia Weishuang quietly rummaged through a drawer, took out a small white medicine bottle, checked the date, and then took two pills.

After that, she took her laptop to the living room to work.

Partly because of her unstable condition and partly because she was not a social person, Xia Weishuang had chosen to work from home as a translator.

Although it made her sound like a recluse, and any of her former university classmates who knew about it said it was a pity, not having to interact with too many people made Xia Weishuang feel much more relaxed.

In fact, this job was very cost-effective for Xia Weishuang. Before she got sick, she had accumulated a considerable amount of linguistic knowledge. She had an extremely strong memory and excellent learning ability, and was known as the top student in her department.

Unfortunately, that was all in the past. Ever since she started having hallucinations, Xia Weishuang no longer dared to trust her own memory. Fortunately, this didn’t affect her professional work much; she could still make a living and even have a small surplus.

Not long after Xia Weishuang started working, the medication took effect. She ate something and then fell asleep. She had set an alarm and woke up once around eight or nine o’clock to find that Xia Qingxue’s high fever had not subsided.

She had cooked congee in the rice cooker before going to sleep, and it was now perfectly soft. Xia Weishuang forcefully woke Xia Qingxue up to drink it. After just a couple of mouthfuls, Xia Qingxue said she had no appetite. So Xia Weishuang mixed a glass of salt and sugar water and had the groggy Little Xue drink it, then gave her another dose of fever medicine.

If the fever didn’t break by tomorrow morning, she would have to take her to the hospital.

But this time, after waking up, Xia Weishuang herself couldn’t get back to sleep.

She seemed to be scrolling through her phone, but her mind had long since wandered. Somehow, she found herself at the front door.

Xia Weishuang opened the door and stood in the hallway, as if waiting for something. After a moment, the cool night breeze cleared her head a little. Xia Weishuang sighed softly and pulled the door open to go back inside.

The piercing sound of shattering glass came from next door, followed by a jumble of curses. Xia Weishuang was startled.

She rubbed her ears and silently returned home. Although their apartments were across from each other, they weren’t actually familiar, having only exchanged a few awkward pleasantries. Besides, the family next door argued almost every day, making one not want to inquire about the reasons for their quarrels at all.

Xia Weishuang returned to Xia Qingxue’s bedside and wiped her forehead and palms with a cool towel. When she had a high fever two days ago, Little Xue had taken care of her in the same way.

At twelve o’clock, Little Xue’s fever still hadn’t broken. Xia Weishuang had intended to keep watch over her, but unexpectedly, despite not taking any sleeping pills tonight, she dozed off.

And so, Xia Weishuang had a dream—an extremely chaotic, anxious, and baffling dream.

Xia Weishuang dreamt that she was running and panting, with a bag on her back and a heavy plastic bag in her hand. She was terrified because someone was chasing her, and she could only run forward with all her might.

At the same time, Xia Weishuang felt the same confusion and anxiety as her dream self.

This dream made for a very restless sleep. She still felt incredibly tired upon waking, which meant she hadn’t rested well at all last night.

Xia Weishuang mulled over the dream, then went to check on Little Xue.

August 9, 2021, 6:12 AM.

Little Xue’s high fever hadn’t subsided. Xia Weishuang once again forcefully woke her up, fed her some congee and salt and sugar water, helped her to the bathroom, and then prepared to take her to the hospital.

Xia Qingxue was a bit reluctant, because Xia Weishuang had also had a persistent high fever for two days and had gotten better by taking medicine herself without going to the hospital. But her illness left her with no strength to argue, so she could only lean against Xia Weishuang and agree to go to the hospital.

But the trip was not smooth.

There were an unusual number of cars in front of the hospital today, and the inside was even more crowded. Xia Weishuang helped Little Xue to a seat in the waiting area while she went to register.

Along the way, Xia Weishuang noticed a very strange phenomenon. The most numerous patients in the hospital were those with high fevers, followed by patients who were convulsing and vomiting uncontrollably.

This kind of collective illness couldn’t help but make Xia Weishuang think of an infectious disease.

What was worse, the doctor confirmed her thoughts.

After Little Xue was put on an IV drip, the doctor suggested that she go home to rest and observe after it was finished, because an unknown infectious disease had broken out since yesterday. Staying in the hospital might lead to getting infected when she wasn’t sick before.

Moreover, the hospital currently had no spare beds for Xia Qingxue to be admitted.

“If it recurs after you go back, you can come back for another shot.”

In the end, Xia Weishuang left the hospital with Xia Qingxue, carrying the medicine and alcohol spray the doctor had prescribed.

Another scream.

Lately, it seemed Xia Weishuang was always hearing people scream. She followed the sound and turned her head, surprised to see a patient attacking someone next to them, their crazed appearance like that of a rabid dog.

Fortunately, he was promptly subdued by security and medical staff, but the person who was bitten was already bleeding from the arm, a gruesome sight.

Xia Weishuang withdrew her gaze and continued to help Xia Qingxue leave. They stood by the roadside and hailed a taxi.

After the IV drip, Xia Qingxue’s condition had improved a lot. She leaned on Xia Weishuang’s shoulder, somewhat anxious. “I can’t help but feel a little scared.”

“Hmm?” Xia Weishuang also felt uneasy, but as the older sister, she had to make herself look more reliable.

Xia Qingxue said, “Sis, have you ever seen movies like Train to Busan?”

“I have.”

“Why do I feel like that person in the hospital was a bit like a zombie?”

Xia Weishuang smiled. “Movies are just movies. Reality can’t be that absurd, right? I feel like it’s more likely some new type of rabies or something.”

Just then, a news notification pushed to her phone, the black screen suddenly lighting up.

“Yesterday at 5 PM, a person-biting-person incident occurred on Wuchang Road in A City—”

Xia Qingxue was quick. She reached out and tapped it open. The news article instantly popped up, and an eye-catching picture appeared before Xia Weishuang.

Xia Weishuang’s expression changed slightly, then she concealed it.

The two protagonists of the “person-biting-person” incident in the picture were none other than the couple she had bumped into at the supermarket yesterday! And the scene in the picture was incredibly familiar; she seemed to have seen it somewhere… that’s right.

Her hallucination.

She had seen this chaotic scene in her hallucination.

Xia Weishuang’s gaze moved to the corner of the picture. Among the scattered items, there was no chicken that had rolled out of the shopping bag.

Why? Was it because I pushed the wife, so they left without buying the chicken?

Xia Weishuang felt a headache coming on again.

Suddenly, her hallucinations seemed to be more than just hallucinations.

Xia Qingxue said, “See, I really think… it’s a bit scary… Sis, how about we watch Resident Evil when we get back?”

“No need,” Xia Weishuang said. “I’ve seen it.”

Xia Qingxue squinted and sighed, “My sticky rice chicken—”

Xia Weishuang coughed lightly. “I’ll buy it. I’ll buy it for you, okay?”

Xia Qingxue’s eyes lit up. “Sis, you’re willing to believe me now? Let me tell you, at a dangerous time like this, we have to be prepared. We need to hurry up and get all the strategic supplies ready now, or it’ll be tough later.”

Xia Weishuang: “I just think that no matter what type of infectious disease it is, it’s better not to go out much at a time like this.”

Xia Qingxue leaned on her shoulder and nodded weakly, then suddenly smiled. In truth, she didn’t really believe in a zombie apocalypse either. Those were products of human imagination. What Xia Weishuang said about a new type of rabies was more plausible.

**

First, she took Xia Qingxue home. After watching her eat, take her medicine, and lie down to rest, Xia Weishuang planned to go downstairs to the supermarket to stock up.

But she remembered her dream.

In the dream, the words printed on the plastic bag she was holding, wasn’t that the name of the very supermarket she was about to go to?

In the shadows, something seemed to click into place.

With the previous example of her hallucination coming true, Xia Weishuang decisively stopped in her tracks.

She sat in the living room and used the supermarket’s delivery service to buy a pile of things. At least enough fresh vegetables to last them for half a month, which could be stored longer in the refrigerator. At least a month’s worth of grains and instant food, to ensure she could compensate her tongue after being poisoned by her own cooking.

There were also some miscellaneous daily necessities, as well as hygiene products like masks and disinfectant.

At this time, people had not yet realized the severity of the situation.

When the items arrived, it took two delivery guys two trips to bring everything up. Xia Weishuang opened the alcohol spray and disinfected the items and the entire apartment.

Then, she opened the door and placed the trash she had gathered outside, planning to throw it away when she went downstairs later.

But she noticed something strange—the door to the apartment next door wasn’t closed. A trail of bright red footprints extended from inside the door to the outside, then disappeared in front of the elevator door.

The door to 701 was open, and there seemed to be bright red marks inside, looking like blood.

Just a short while ago, the neighbor’s door had been closed. Xia Weishuang had been so focused on cleaning the house that she hadn’t even noticed when they opened it.

Why wasn’t the door closed?

And those marks that looked like bloodstains…

Xia Weishuang frowned as she observed through the peephole. She didn’t plan to take the risk herself; after all, she was just a girl who wasn’t very strong.

So, Xia Weishuang called the police.

But the call couldn’t get through.

Xia Weishuang opened her messaging app, planning to ask in the residents’ group chat. As it turned out, everyone in the group was fervently discussing the sudden outbreak of this infectious disease.

Xia Weishuang quickly scrolled through the message history and found that quite a few people knew someone who had contracted this strange illness.

The patient would first have a persistent high fever, followed by convulsions and vomiting, a sallow complexion, and bloodshot eyes. Finally, purple veins would pop out on their body, and they would become extremely aggressive, losing their minds and biting anyone they saw.

The duration of the initial symptoms varied, but the final transformation was extremely rapid and caught people off guard.

And currently, there were no known cases of successful treatment. So it was better for everyone to stay home.

But some people raised objections, because some had contracted the disease despite not having left their homes for a week.

Thinking of Little Xue, Xia Weishuang felt very worried. She was terrified that Little Xue would also contract this strange illness. But for now, Little Xue only had a high fever and hadn’t reached the stage of convulsions and vomiting. Xia Weishuang patted her chest, telling herself not to overthink it.

Then she prepared to ask in the residents’ group chat if anyone had the phone number for the family in 701, to see if they could call and check if they were home. She had wanted to contact property management directly, but they were also sick.

But just as Xia Weishuang typed two words, a loud THUMP came from the door behind her!

The person knocking must have used a great deal of force.

Xia Weishuang’s throat moved slightly. Silently, she pressed her eye to the peephole.

It was dark and blurry.

In an instant, Xia Weishuang realized someone was pressed against her door.