Monster Girlfriend(Apocalypse) 5

Chapter 5

For modern people, the importance of electricity was self-evident.

Without electricity, life was restricted in every way. The air conditioner was one thing; Xia Qingxue’s fever had subsided, and although she was still a bit weak, she could tolerate the summer heat.

In terms of the four basic necessities—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—clothing was not an issue. Xia Qingxue often came to visit during holidays, so Xia Weishuang’s home had plenty of her clothes.

There was nothing to say about shelter; it was chaotic outside, and for now, home was the safest place.

The government was also emphasizing this, telling everyone not to run around, that they were working hard… It was just a pity that countless people were unable to continue receiving official news due to various accidents, and even if they could, they might not be able to hold out until then.

As for transportation… being trapped at home, there was no transportation to speak of. If they could, the two of them just wanted to hole up at home and wait for this disaster to pass.

While her phone still had some battery, Xia Qingxue called her parents. She was relieved to confirm that her parents and both sets of grandparents were fortunate enough not to be infected.

Currently, her parents were with the elders in the countryside. The news was a bit delayed, and they didn’t yet know how serious the situation had become.

Xia Qingxue had to emphasize it many times before they felt a sense of crisis.

At a dangerous time like this, of course, the family hoped their child could be with them, but going out now was too risky. Both sides could only offer a few words of comfort and concern for each other.

As for Xia Weishuang, she didn’t have many friends. The one she was closest to, named Bai Qian, was also unreachable. She could only temporarily stop thinking about it.

For the other three basic necessities, there were no major problems for now. Only food was the most critical concern.

Although Xia Weishuang had bought a lot of food in time, without electricity, the refrigerator was no longer running. She had to find a way to deal with the perishable food.

Usually, Xia Weishuang relied on various electrical appliances, but now they were all useless. She had to resort to using the gas stove, which she was not very skilled with, hoping the gas would last for a while.

Xia Weishuang had Xia Qingxue help gather containers for water, and then she started boiling water.

Xia Qingxue understood immediately. It was still unclear how this zombie virus spread. To be safe, it was best to drink boiled water. Moreover, with the power out, there was no telling when the water and gas would be cut off. It was wise to prepare early.

Unfortunately, neither Xia Weishuang nor Xia Qingxue were the diligent, virtuous, and frugal housewife type. They usually bought whatever they ate or drank on the spot or ordered takeout. Cans, beverage bottles, and the like were thrown away after use, so they didn’t even have a large, clean bucket for water at home.

After a thorough search for water containers, even using the fish tank that had been gathering dust for years, Xia Weishuang boiled water nonstop. Finally, she managed to store enough boiled water for the two of them to drink for half a month.

August 10, 2021, 6:51 AM.

After a short rest in the middle of the night, Xia Weishuang got up again to deal with the meat in the freezer.

In the sweltering summer, these things were the hardest to preserve. She didn’t know how to make anything delicious, so she just sliced the meat, cured it with salt, and then roasted it dry. She didn’t know how long it would last this way, but at least it could stretch for another two days.

As for the meatballs and other things that were really difficult to process and store, she just cooked and ate them directly to avoid waste.

August 11, 2021, 9:17 AM.

The battery in Xia Weishuang’s phone was completely drained. Before it died, Xia Weishuang got a few pieces of relatively reliable information.

People had discovered that after being bitten by a zombie infected with the “Son of Satan,” one would mutate at a much faster rate than through natural infection.

And currently, there was still no conclusive information confirming how this disaster initially infected all of humanity.

“Perhaps it’s in the air. They are in the air, everywhere. No one can escape. This is the Earth’s punishment for humanity, punishing humanity’s greed, selfishness, and sins.” A considerable number of netizens held this view.

Xia Weishuang also thought it made sense.

Then, one minute before the battery died, Xia Weishuang noticed that the news program she followed had a new host.

It was said that the previous host had been bitten.

August 12, 2021, 3:18 PM.

Xia Weishuang actually found an old power bank at home. She opened it with great hope and was pleasantly surprised to find that it still had some charge.

Unfortunately, because she usually stayed at home and had no need to be out for long periods, the power bank only had a sliver of power left.

Relying on this sliver of power, Xia Weishuang browsed the news and online discussions.

She obtained new information again: it could be confirmed that, in addition to humans, animals and plants were also infected by the “Son of Satan,” but the probability of infection leading to zombification was relatively low.

In addition, people discovered that the “Son of Satan” brought not only pain and disaster to humanity, but also power.

Supernatural powers beyond scientific understanding appeared in people. They were initially infected patients as well, but the direction of their “mutation” after the high fever was different.

One side slid into a terrifying abyss, while the other gained powers that made ordinary people fearful.

These people were called espers, and some called them new humans.

Because of the existence of these low-probability special espers, some people changed their minds, believing that the “Son of Satan” was not a disaster to slaughter humanity, but an opportunity for humanity to break through and evolve. Zombies were just failures in evolution. Humanity should not be afraid; they should embrace this evolutionary tide.

Naturally, if there were espers, there were also animals and plants that had evolved special abilities.

Just after reading this piece of news, the power bank also completely died. The phone automatically shut down. Xia Weishuang and Xia Qingxue looked at each other.

Xia Qingxue suddenly clenched her fists, her eyes shining. “Could I have an ability too? Aha, so that’s why I had a high fever!”

Xia Weishuang didn’t discourage her. “The internet says everyone’s abilities are different. You can try to discover your own.”

Xia Qingxue looked at her expectantly. “How do I discover it? By the way, Sis, you had a fever before too. Do you have an ability?”

Xia Weishuang was a little embarrassed. “I don’t know either.”

Because of the talk about abilities, Xia Weishuang now had a theory about her “hallucinations coming true.” Perhaps she also had an ability, and this ability was to foresee the future.

It was just that the triggering of the hallucinations was not up to her, and it had happened too few times. Xia Weishuang couldn’t be sure if it was real or just a coincidence.

She could only suppress it for now and not tell Xia Qingxue, lest she get her hopes up for nothing.

Xia Qingxue looked at the useless phone and sighed. “Now even communication is cut off. What do we do? We won’t know even if there’s new information.”

“Fewer and fewer people are speaking online now, and many websites are already inaccessible,” Xia Weishuang put down her phone and said. “There are many people like us. We are already very lucky.”

“I really hope it ends soon,” Xia Qingxue murmured. “I don’t want this world to become as hopeless as it is in novels.”

Xia Weishuang forced a smile and comforted her, “It won’t. It will definitely get better.”

“Yeah! Then I’ll continue to discover my ability!” Without a phone or internet, and since Xia Qingxue didn’t like to read, she was bored to tears. Now that she had something to do, all her energy was mobilized.

“Good luck. I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to rest first.”

“Eh, it’s only three in the afternoon…” After saying that, Xia Qingxue suddenly remembered something and quickly shut her mouth. She followed behind Xia Weishuang on tiptoe and said, “How about I keep you company?”

“No need. I want to be alone for a while.”

Xia Weishuang patted her cousin’s head, reassuring her, then closed the master bedroom door, shutting herself inside.

Xia Qingxue stood outside the door and sighed softly, then said with forced cheerfulness, “Then I’ll tell you as soon as I discover my ability!”

“Okay,” Xia Weishuang replied softly from behind the door.

In less than ten hours, it would be August thirteenth. Her birthday, and the anniversary of her death.

Xia Weishuang went to the window, opened it, and let the high-altitude wind blow on her.

Seventh floor. There was no need to install security bars on the windows, but all the windows in her home had them.

It had been like this ever since she got sick, to prevent her from suddenly deciding to jump off the building and commit suicide one day.

Especially on these two days every year, it was when she was in the most pain.

But this year was an exception. This year, Sang Lu had returned. Suddenly, she seemed to see a glimmer of hope. Even if the world had turned into a living hell, she no longer wanted to leave.

She wanted to see her.

But this time, would Sang Lu still come for her?

**

Xia Weishuang didn’t know how she got through the rest of the day. At night, the world without electricity was not completely dark.

The stars in the sky seemed brighter, making the night look cool and beautiful.

Xia Weishuang sat by the door in the entryway, silent and motionless.

In her hand, she held a small, white, translucent stone. It was a gift from Sang Lu. At first, the stone was transparent, but after half a day, a milky white shell slowly formed on its surface.

This change seemed to indicate that this was not an ordinary stone, but Xia Weishuang had never seen anything similar to it, so she couldn’t tell what it was.

But no matter what it was, she liked it very much.

Time passed drop by drop. Without electricity, without a phone, without a clock, she lost her sense of time.

She only knew that this night was too long, so long that she was about to break.

Why hasn’t Sang Lu come back yet?

Is she really angry and refuses to see me?

Xia Weishuang clasped her hands together, her palms enveloping the small stone. She lowered her head to touch her hands in a prayer-like posture, then slowly buried her face in her knees.

Outside the door, the scent Sang Lu had left behind was already very faint.

Xia Weishuang had never believed in ghosts or gods in her life, but at this moment, she wanted to pray to the gods to let Sang Lu come back soon.

**

At some point, Xia Weishuang fell asleep, only to be choked awake by a burning smell.

She opened her eyes and saw the room filled with smoke.

Flames were slowly creeping upward. Xia Weishuang felt a suffocating tightness in her chest. Suddenly, she rolled off the bed and onto the floor, quickly soaked a pillowcase with water, covered her mouth and nose, and hunched low as she rushed out.

But before she woke up, she didn’t know how much smoke she had inhaled. Now she felt dizzy and her head was throbbing. Her windpipe was dry and stinging, and she staggered as she walked, feeling extremely faint.

She rushed out of the master bedroom and saw that the fire in the living room was even worse.

Xia Weishuang turned to bang on the door of the second bedroom. The doorknob was shockingly hot. After she twisted it open, she found Xia Qingxue sleeping soundly in bed.

Xia Weishuang hurriedly tried to shake Xia Qingxue awake, but no matter what, she couldn’t wake her. Xia Weishuang realized with despair that Little Xue seemed to have already passed out from the smoke.

The fire was getting bigger. Through the window, Xia Weishuang saw that the fire was coming up from below, but it was too late when she discovered it. She couldn’t tell where the fire had started.

Xia Weishuang tied the wet pillowcase over Xia Qingxue’s face, then used the little water left in her room to douse both of their heads and bodies. Then, with all her strength, she dragged Xia Qingxue and fled outside.

Even if there were zombies outside, it didn’t matter anymore. If they stayed inside, they would definitely die!

But death was not going to let them go so easily. The intense heat had deformed the lock on the front door. Xia Weishuang spent a great deal of effort, her hands blistering from the heat, before she finally got the door open.

However, they had inhaled too much smoke. Just as she opened the door, Xia Weishuang couldn’t help but fall to the ground. She grabbed Xia Qingxue’s hand and crawled outside, bit by bit.

The hallway was also filled with smoke.

In the end, the flames caught up to them. Xia Weishuang and Xia Qingxue died at the door of apartment 702.