Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 11

A chill ran down Si Qi’s spine. Those in the forest were unscathed; those at the mountain’s base were crushed by the landslide. She recalled the earlier split between the groups—the forest faction was smaller, while the crowd at the foot of the slope was far larger.

This proved the disasters weren’t random. It was calculating how to kill the maximum number of Awakened, selecting them like livestock. The interval between disasters wasn’t for rest; it was a waiting game. It waited for them to settle into a new “safe” spot before delivering a fatal blow.

The more Si Qi thought, the more her forehead broke into a cold sweat. She looked at Si Ruxu, whose slender brows were knit in a similar realization.

After a moment, Si Ruxu looked at Si Qi, her amber eyes like frozen glass. “The Purge never intended for anyone to leave alive. But if everyone inside is wiped out, these disasters will spill into the outside world. The consequences would be catastrophic.”

Si Qi nodded grimly. “I’ll try to find a way to help the people below.”

They had survived two disasters by pure luck or positioning, essentially watching the carnage as outsiders. Though she wasn’t certain of her theory, they had to try something.

Si Qi gathered a few large stones and arranged them into words: “SCATTER.”

Using her Space ability, she blinked the message down into the center of the remaining survivors.

The group at the base had already lost more than half its number. A few Earth-types had managed to survive but were battered and bruised. When they saw the message appearing out of thin air, the somber crowd erupted into a chaotic buzz.

Standing at the summit, Si Qi watched them for a long time. “Will they listen?”

Si Ruxu shook her head. “I don’t know. But if I were them, I’d feel safer in a group than alone right now.”

Si Qi hesitated, looking down at the scattered survivors until Si Ruxu squeezed her shoulder. The woman’s gaze was detached, almost indifferent. “Let’s go. We need to find the next location.”

****

The sky-screen refreshed:

[Surviving Awakened: 2,005]

[Time until next disaster: 47:46:00]

[Time remaining to clear: 5 days]

****

Si Qi led Si Ruxu down the mountain. The air was thick with the copper stench of blood from the debris. Si Qi’s nose wrinkled, and she nearly gagged.

Without a word, Si Ruxu pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it into Si Qi’s hand.

Si Qi froze, then carefully folded the cloth and tucked it into her shirt as if it were a holy relic.

“Cover your nose with it,” Si Ruxu said, looking like she wanted to laugh at Si Qi’s silent, awkward hovering. “I scavenged that two years ago. I’ve never used it.”

“Oh.” The romantic tension in Si Qi’s heart evaporated instantly. She held the cloth over her face, and the wave of nausea finally subsided.

“Where are we going?” Si Qi asked. The crowds were regrouping, heading toward a wide, open plain. For some reason, Si Qi’s senses felt unusually sharp here. She could almost “hear” the fluctuations of energy in the air.

Faint, anxious voices drifted through the wind:

“How do we know those stones weren’t a trick by ‘It’ to split us up and pick us off one by one?”

“Who cares? We were together for the first two waves and look what happened—everyone died anyway.”

Si Qi focused her senses. She felt a small group splitting off. Mostly the stronger individuals while the rest stayed together, marching toward the open ground. She relayed this to Si Ruxu, then looked at her expectantly.

Si Ruxu let out a soft, teasing laugh. “Si Qi.”

“Hm?”

“Have you noticed? You’ve become much more cheerful.”

Si Qi’s expression immediately flattened as she withdrew back into her shell, looking like a large dog sulking.

“Well, being cheerful is good,” Si Ruxu said, reaching out to tug at Si Qi’s sleeve. She gave it a small, playful shake. “Be a good girl.”

Si Qi’s ears turned a violent shade of red, as if she were being steamed alive. Years had passed, and Si Ruxu was still exactly like this and she, apparently, hadn’t made any progress at all.

*****

They walked for a long time until the energy signatures of the other Awakened faded. The surroundings were a wasteland of rubble and ruins—nothing like a place where people lived.

Si Ruxu led the way to a water source. The stream was murky, and fresh animal tracks marked the damp mud. Si Ruxu tested the water with a bolt of lightning; the current hissed, and a few pieces of sophisticated machinery floated to the surface.

She pulled them in with a lightning chain. “Improved scanners,” she murmured, examining them. “Used to monitor movement outside.”

There were still humans living in this simulated future.

As Si Ruxu pondered, the scent of ozone that is strong and familiar, suddenly filled the air. In a flash of instinct, Si Qi used her Space ability to blink Si Ruxu to her side.

A figure emerged from a rift in the space where Si Ruxu had just been standing. The stranger wore a mask and black clothes soaked in dark liquid; blood that hadn’t been cleaned off.

Seeing Si Ruxu, the stranger’s pupils contracted. “Who are you?”

Si Qi stepped in front of Si Ruxu like a protective wolf pup. The masked figure stared at them for a long time, her eyes filled with an emotion Si Qi couldn’t decipher. Then, with a wave of her hand, the stranger moved the electricity in the pond elsewhere and replaced the scanners.

A spatial rift opened, and she vanished.

In Si Qi’s ear, a husky, familiar voice whispered: “Protect Si Ruxu well.”

A string of question marks popped into Si Qi’s head. “Of course I’ll protect her, I don’t need you to tell me that!” Besides, Si Ruxu could handle herself.

The space around them flickered. Si Qi got the distinct impression that the stranger was… annoyed.

Si Ruxu hadn’t heard the whisper. She saw a field of energy envelop Si Qi, only seeing her lips moving. She noticed Si Qi’s lips were pale—the result of long-term malnutrition. When we get back to the base, I really need to feed her better, she thought.

Si Ruxu hadn’t recognized the stranger, but the stranger’s ability was identical to Si Qi’s. Moreover, the energy Si Ruxu currently used was energy Si Qi had funneled into her. She had a gut feeling: that person was likely a future version of Si Qi.

The future Si Qi hadn’t seemed to want to talk. She had avoided Si Ruxu’s gaze and left immediately. The number of scars on her body told a grim story.

The field vanished, leaving Si Qi looking puffed up with rage.

“Did she say something to you?” Si Ruxu asked, gently patting Si Qi’s head to soothe her.

“She told me to protect you well and called me weak,” Si Qi hissed, looking like she wanted to bite someone.

Calling her weak was one thing—she was weak—but telling her to protect Si Ruxu? She knew that! Who did that woman think she was? She was practically vibrating with jealousy.

Si Ruxu had no idea why Si Qi was so angry. After a moment, she offered some comfort. “You aren’t weak. Who said that? You only just awakened.”

Si Qi didn’t seem to realize the stranger might be herself. Si Ruxu decided not to mention the scars or the chaotic energy. “In the future,” Si Ruxu said seriously, “you will be just as strong as her. Even stronger.”

As they walked away, a woman in a light trench coat walked to the pond. Her eyes were filled with a weary, hollow silence. She picked up a broken scanner, feeling the lingering, youthful trace of lightning and space energy on it.

A flicker of light sparked in her eyes, undecipherable and dim.

Support