Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 10

The forest ignited in an instant. A thick, blistering fog swallowed their path of escape. From deep within the woods came a chorus of agonized screams and frantic cries for help; sounds of pure, raw desperation.

Sky Fire.

No one expected the first natural disaster to be a rain of celestial flames. Si Qi felt her scalp go numb, but she didn’t have time to process the horror. Below, the squads in the shallower areas were already breaking cover. She grabbed Si Ruxu’s hand and tore through space, following the markers she had previously set to make their escape.

After several blinks, Si Qi materialized on a small hill. The forest fire had already reached the perimeter. Water-elementals were desperately dousing a small patch of ground, which was now swarming with people. Outside the woods, the squads that had initially stayed in the shallows were fleeing further inland.

Si Qi looked up at the sky. On the holographic screen, the population of nine thousand had been slashed in half. Only four thousand remained. Si Qi clenched her fists, her knuckles letting out a sharp crack.

“Si Ruxu,” Si Qi’s voice trembled slightly. “Are the disasters random, or is ‘It’ tailoring them to be exactly what will kill us most efficiently?”

Si Ruxu frowned, looking down. The survivors below were beginning to cluster toward the base of the mountains. Against a firestorm, a barren, rocky slope offered the safest environment. Those trapped by the flames huddled together, relying on Water-types to quench the heat and buy them a few more seconds of life.

Seeing this, Si Ruxu’s fingers twitched. “I don’t know.”

They were too small. Facing the disasters and the entity pulling the strings, even the elite of humanity were nothing more than pawns.

******

The sky-screen refreshed:

[Surviving Awakened: 4,357]

[Time until next disaster: 24:00:00]

[Time remaining to clear: 6 days, 20 hours]

The survivors had split into two main groups. One stayed in the woods or what was left of the ash while the other crowded onto the mountain slopes. Because the death toll in the forest had been so high, the mountain group looked significantly larger.

Si Qi sat at the peak, watching the chaos below while cross-legged, absorbing crystals to replenish her reserves. One hand remained pressed against Si Ruxu’s abdomen, funneling energy into her.

Si Ruxu sat beside her. The rocky ground was uncomfortable, littered with sharp debris. As night fell, Si Ruxu used only a single crystal for light to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

Below, the survivors set up camp at the base of the mountain, with only a few daring to climb higher. They lit fires and hunted local game; they couldn’t afford to face the next disaster on an empty stomach. Two thousand desperate people quickly picked the lower slopes clean of every rabbit, edible weed, and wild fruit.

Si Qi chewed on a piece of dried meat Si Ruxu gave her. “How do you still have fruit?”

“I didn’t finish what that plant gave us. I saved it.” She handed Si Qi a small carton of milk; an ornate, metal-lined box designed to be crush-proof. In the apocalypse, milk was a legendary luxury.

Si Qi took a sip and her eyes instantly crinkled with joy. She used to love it, but hadn’t tasted it since the world ended. She beamed a bright, grateful look at Si Ruxu.

Si Ruxu gave an awkward nod. She had just wanted to keep Si Qi’s strength up; only now did she remember how much the girl loved milk.

In the past, Si Ruxu never asked why, but she knew Si Qi’s love for it was disciplined. She would only allow herself one carton every other day, like a child waiting for a special treat. Si Ruxu had never looked deeper into it. Even when she loved Si Qi the most, she had never been curious about her past.

****

With ten hours left on the clock, Si Ruxu brought out the bed again. The signal was jammed, but basic functions on her bracelet still worked, so she set an alarm for nine hours.

As she lay down, she turned to look at Si Qi, who was leaning against a dead tree. Her voice felt tight. “Come sleep here.”

Si Qi looked back. The woman on the bed had already closed her eyes, but she had moved over to leave space. A green healing energy crawled over Si Qi’s body, cleansing her of the day’s grime.

It tickled. Si Qi carefully climbed onto the bed, feeling as though she were sinking into a soft cloud. She shifted a few centimeters, then quickly went still.

Having resources is truly a different world.

“Si Qi.”

In the darkness, Si Ruxu’s voice was so soft it felt like an illusion. Si Qi was still carefully maintaining a distance, her exhaustion unable to suppress the flutter in her heart. She turned on her side, the familiar scent of Si Ruxu enveloping her.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“If there’s no way to end this after the five Purges… what then?” By the light of the nearby crystal, Si Qi caught a flicker of vulnerability in Si Ruxu’s eyes. It vanished in a heartbeat.

Si Qi’s heart constricted. Her suppressed emotions surged like a wild beast, nearly breaking through her mental defenses before she managed to reel them back in.

After a long silence, she heard her own voice: “We’ll find a way. No matter the cost.”

Si Qi closed her eyes. No matter the cost—except you, Si Ruxu. She accepted the truth easily then: she still loved her. Nothing had changed. The years she’d spent “healing” herself had been a waste of time the moment Si Ruxu reappeared. If the world was destined to end, her only wish was for Si Ruxu to live well in a world untouched by the apocalypse—to live a life of her own.

*****

Si Ruxu’s breathing leveled out as she fell asleep. She hadn’t expected an answer; she was just overwhelmed. The road ahead was too hard, too long, too uncertain. But she would sleep, save her strength, and keep walking tomorrow. She had always been a traveler, never stopping for anyone—not even the Si Qi of their youth.

Si Qi watched her profile for a long time before finally drifting off.

When she opened her eyes again, Si Ruxu and the bed were gone. She was surrounded by a thick, crimson mist. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Si Qi stood up and looked around. For some reason, she felt a strange kinship with the red fog, as if they were old acquaintances.

She walked in one direction, guided by an instinctual pull. Ahead lay a lake, its water a clear, vibrant blue reflecting a sky that shouldn’t exist. She looked up; even though there was only gray mist above, she felt the water was teeming with life she couldn’t see.

She stayed by the lake. It was her mission. Suddenly, one day, the blue water was tainted by dark streaks. The corruption spread until it threatened to swallow the blue entirely. Rage flared within her. The red mist solidified, surging into the lake.

The water boiled as the blue and the corruption fought. The blue gained the upper hand, but the darkness was like a plague of cockroaches; unending and resilient. Day after day, her irritation grew. She commanded the red mist to cut her finger, letting her blood drip into the lake.

The water rippled, turning calm and silent. The blue finally began to drown out the dark streaks.

She fell asleep satisfied. In her dreams, she saw blue skies, white clouds, and fresh leaves on the trees. She saw grass growing under the tiles of a quiet alley. It was her hometown, bathed in sunlight.

She heard a gentle voice calling her name. After a few calls, the voice grew frantic. It started from far away, then moved closer until it was right in her ear.

She snapped her eyes open.

She was staring into a pair of amber eyes—still and beautiful, like the lake from her dream.

Si Ruxu sighed with relief. “A nightmare?”

Si Qi shook her head. She couldn’t remember the dream, but her gut told her it wasn’t a nightmare. “What happened?”

Si Ruxu looked at her. The alarm had gone off, but she couldn’t wake Si Qi. Gradually, she realized Si Qi had stopped breathing entirely, as if she had simply died.

Si Ruxu had frantically tried to use her energy to help, but she couldn’t get close to Si Qi’s body. The girl was like a parched well, blocking out all aid as the blood-red patterns crawled across her skin.

Si Ruxu had used every ounce of her power to break through the barrier around Si Qi. Finally, Si Qi had responded to her voice. Once her breathing stabilized, Si Ruxu used her energy to protect Si Qi’s heart and forced her awake.

*****

Hearing the description, Si Qi broke into a cold sweat. She had been dreaming, and the Purge had tried to kill her in her sleep. Why?

She looked at the sky. Only ten minutes remained until the next disaster. Below, the Awakened were growing restless, lighting fires until the mountainside looked like it was in broad daylight.

Si Ruxu gripped Si Qi’s hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” After a pause, she added, “There’s definitely information about the apocalypse in your dreams. Once we’re back at the base, we’ll have a Mind-type guide you to reconstruct them.”

Si Qi nodded, ignoring the slight pang of hesitation in her chest. She looked down at the camps below, mentally reviewing her escape routes.

Si Ruxu had used too much energy. Si Qi began frantically absorbing crystals from her pouch and funneling them into Si Ruxu.

The tension below reached a fever pitch. At the very last second, a thunderous roar erupted from the mountainside.

Someone screamed: “It’s a landslide! A mudslide! Run!”

A massive wall of mud and stone began to tumble down from the mid-slope, crushing everything in its path. Screams were cut short as people were buried instantly.

Si Qi stood at the summit, the ground beneath her feet trembling, ready to collapse. She looked toward the forest.

The Awakened who had stayed in the charred woods were completely unharmed.

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