Chapter 3 Leaving
In the early stages of the apocalypse, zombies moved slowly but possessed immense strength, and they were driven purely by primal hunger, like wild beasts.
As Li Chen fell, he seemed like a piece of meat thrown into a pack of wolves. The zombies surrounding their car swarmed him, tearing at him ferociously.
Before being overwhelmed by the zombies, Mo Chu clearly saw Li Chen glance in their direction. His gaze was cold and lifeless as if he was looking at no one and nothing in particular. Then, he quickly closed his eyes, protecting his vital areas, and emitted a low groan from his throat, even as he was being torn apart.
Mo Chu’s mind went blank.
The same thing had happened before, and the last time she had feared it, clutching her head as if refusing to hear or see what was happening before her eyes, she wondered what Li Chen’s reaction had been at that time and what emotions he had felt when rescuing someone who had once witnessed his misfortune.
She even doubted whether the words she heard before her death were merely her imagination or Li Chen’s little bit of kindness towards a dying person. Otherwise, how could one explain why the proud Li Chen would fall in love with someone who had initially been a mere spectator of his plight?
This time, she barely gave herself a chance to react. As soon as the zombies submerged Li Chen, Mo Chu instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand.
At that moment, a tremendous force surged through her arm. Countless beast-like zombies were tearing at him, trying to drag him into the abyss. The untrained strength of a young girl couldn’t bear such weight, and Mo Chu was pulled down a significant distance, almost hanging outside the car.
Her body was that of a delicate young girl, but within Mo Chu resided a heart that had endured six years of struggle during the apocalypse.
She quickly used her other hand to hold onto the car’s roof, halting her downward slide.
Then, leveraging the car’s roof for support, she forcefully lifted Li Chen’s body, pulling him up by a significant margin from the clutches of the zombies.
Li Chen’s body was covered in blood, and in the moment, she grabbed him, he suddenly opened his eyes, showing a fleeting emotional fluctuation. He stared intently at her, his black eyes as deep as an abyss.
As Mo Chu looked into those eyes, she suddenly recalled the gaze Li Chen had given her before she died.
Profound, suppressed, seemingly brewing endless storms, gradually becoming as numb as stagnant water.
It felt as though someone had sliced open Mo Chu’s heart, allowing a freezing and piercing wind to blow in, turning her heart into an icy wasteland, filled with unbearable pain.
In her previous life, she knew that even if he fell into a pile of zombies and was torn apart by countless of them, even if everyone believed he was bound to die, he ultimately survived and became the most feared existence in the world.
No one knew how he managed to survive, or what he went through during that time, but he defied all expectations and lived on.
He wouldn’t die, but that didn’t mean Mo Chu could remain indifferent when faced with the bloodied Li Chen.
She suddenly turned around and shouted, “What are you all standing there for? Come and help!”
From the moment Li Chen was pushed down to the moment Mo Chu grabbed him, everything happened in an instant. The others seemed to snap out of a trance, but most of them just watched Chu Ming, who had pushed Li Chen, with suspicion and didn’t move. Only a few people instinctively stepped forward.
Just as someone was about to approach, they heard Chu Ming’s stern voice saying, “Let’s see who dares to help.”
Everyone froze.
Some hurriedly backed away as if encountering a plague, while others hesitated for a moment before turning away and closing their eyes.
But they could only hesitate; Mo Chu couldn’t.
Without even looking at Chu Ming, she held onto the car roof tightly and began using the exertion technique that an ability user had taught her in her previous life.
Behind her, Chu Ming’s expression turned sinister as he watched her, his expression mingling with malice and jealousy.
Mo Chu acted as if she was completely unaware and exerted all her strength to pull Li Chen.
Then, she noticed that the hand she held suddenly tightened.
The next moment, she heard Li Chen’s hoarse voice say, “Hold on tight to me.”
Mo Chu was taken aback, instinctively gripping his hand even tighter. In the next moment, she saw Li Chen forcefully pull his legs out of the zombie horde, using the leverage she provided to lift himself back onto the car roof.
In less than ten seconds, Li Chen was covered in blood. When he was pulled up onto the car roof, he seemed almost out of strength, and it looked like he was about to fall to the side.
The people sitting in the direction he was falling quickly moved away, but Mo Chu acted fast, reaching out to support him and letting him lean on her shoulder.
At this moment, a path was opened up ahead, and their car shot out like an arrow, speeding away from the pursuing zombies. However, there was no cheering; the entire car roof remained eerily quiet.
Mo Chu didn’t even lift her eyes; she extended her hand, which emitted a faint blue glow, gentle and warm. Her hand slowly repaired Li Chen’s minor injuries.
Li Chen closed his eyes, and Mo Chu couldn’t tell if he was unconscious, but his breathing was relatively steady.
Mo Chu let out a sigh of relief.
Then, she heard Chu Ming speak in a malevolent and insidious tone, “What’s the use of saving him? He was caught by the zombies; he’ll either die or turn into one.”
His voice was malicious and sticky, like the hiss of a snake.
Mo Chu calmly looked up at him and asked, “So, why did you push him down?”
When Mo Chu asked this question, Chu Ming’s expression contorted.
He sneered, “What can I achieve by pushing him? He’s already a useless person now, and yet you all still intend to defend him.”
After he finished speaking, his gaze swept over the others.
No one dared to meet his eyes. As he scanned the area, everyone remained silent, bowing their heads, unsure if it was due to fear or guilt.
Finally, he looked at Mo Chu and said, “So, Ah Chu, you won’t disappoint me, will you?”
Mo Chu looked at him coldly without speaking, but her mind was clear. Memories from her past life resurfaced at this moment.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, they were all inside a climbing gym. Most of the people around them were tourists or staff members. She and Qin Xue were college students there to have fun, while Li Chen and Chu Ming were close friends who knew each other well.
When they arrived, Li Chen and Chu Ming were holding a friendly climbing competition, with Li Chen leading by a significant margin.
Then the apocalypse struck, and the people around them suddenly turned into biting monsters without warning. Many people were bitten to death before they could even react.
At that time, Li Chen reacted the fastest. He led the remaining group of people to escape from the climbing gym.
In the beginning, it could be said that Li Chen saved everyone.
So, Li Chen was practically the team leader, and everyone followed his orders smoothly.
However, subtle changes started to occur after two days.
Both Mo Chu and Chu Ming showed symptoms of fever. Eventually, Mo Chu awakened a healing-type ability, while Chu Ming awakened the ability of “entanglement.”
Mo Chu’s healing ability was very weak; up to this point, she could only heal minor cuts and scratches. For slightly deeper wounds, she was powerless, let alone the zombie virus that everyone hoped her ability could cure.
The disappointment among the group was evident. Some even thought Mo Chu had awakened a useless ability.
At that time, the only one who comforted Mo Chu was Li Chen. He said that all powers start off weak.
In fact, Li Chen was right. In her previous life, healing-type abilities were considered worthless since they couldn’t cure the zombie virus and were weak in the early stages. In the early days of the apocalypse, with abundant medical supplies, healing-type abilities seemed rather redundant and were often regarded as useless abilities.
Moreover, they lacked offensive capabilities, making it difficult for them to find a team that would accept them. When faced with danger, they often died the quickest, making it challenging to obtain resources and level up.
It wasn’t until the third year of the apocalypse when the first third-tier healing-type ability user gained the ability to block the zombie virus that healing abilities finally gained recognition. Various special task forces began to train healing-type ability users.
However, many healers died during those initial years when there were already very few healing-type ability users.
It was only after that time that Mo Chu once considered a useless ability user, was respected and referred to as “Doctor Mo.”
Later, she discovered that her healing-type ability was even more special than she had thought.
But now, in the current situation, healing abilities were seen as useless by everyone.
So, when Chu Ming awakened an offensive-type ability along with her but became exceptional due to the nature of his ability, his status became unique.
Chu Ming used his special status to openly and secretly compete with Li Chen for leadership, but Li Chen always casually blocked his attempts.
Everyone was well aware of Chu Ming’s obvious targeting of Li Chen, but no one understood why these formerly harmonious good friends suddenly became at odds with each other after one of them awakened an ability.
Moreover, no one expected him to become so vicious.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, most people still retained their pre-apocalyptic mindset. However, there were some individuals who became reckless and ruthless due to their newfound powers.
These memories surged, and Mo Chu finally realized that the things she had once tried to forget were now incredibly clear.
Meanwhile, Chu Ming stood before her with a smiling face, exuding confidence as if waiting for her response.
After all, in their impression, she used to be a gentle and somewhat timid person, a kind-hearted soul who would not take a stand for someone unrelated to her.
Mo Chu supported Li Chen’s shoulder and looked around.
Those who met her gaze felt ashamed and lowered their heads, while Qin Xue hurriedly stepped back as if afraid of any association with her.
These people were all saved by Li Chen in the past. Mo Chu had been one of them too.
But now, she didn’t want to retrace her past steps or do things she would regret.
Finally, she looked at Chu Ming and said word by word, “You can now kill your friend without any reason, but in the future, you might kill us for other reasons.”
In an instant, Chu Ming’s expression turned extremely ugly, filled with unwillingness and jealousy, making him look like a malevolent ghost.
Others who heard Mo Chu’s words were filled with unease.
They had never thought about it or dared to think about it, but Mo Chu shattered their hesitations.
And Mo Chu was not wrong, as not long after, Chu Ming did push someone else to block an attack, and that person, Qin Xue’s lover, tragically died under the claws of zombies.
Chu Ming was the one Qin Xue attached herself to, and he had always coveted Mo Chu. However, this time, Mo Chu had no intention of getting entangled with these psychologically twisted individuals again.
She looked at Qin Xue, who hastily stepped back, and then shifted her gaze, sweeping across everyone else, before saying, “I’m taking Li Chen and leaving. Anyone who wants to come can follow.”
No one responded, but it was within Mo Chu’s expectations.
Gritting her teeth, she carried Li Chen on her back and was about to jump off the car.
Behind her, Chu Ming coldly chuckled and said, “Mo Chu, you, with a seemingly useless healing ability, taking an individual infected by zombies and leaving? Do you think you can survive for long out there?”Do you think your demise will come from the hands of those zombies or from the mutated Li Chen?”
He laughed maniacally and said, “If you throw Li Chen down now and follow me from now on, I guarantee you’ll live just fine!”
Mo Chu chuckled softly.
Her voice was firm yet calm, “I promise I’ll live longer than you.”
She held Li Chen tightly and whispered, “Li Chen, let’s go!”
