Picking Up My Ex-Wife in the Apocalypse - Chapter 15

As the time on the sky-screen trickled away, Si Qi inevitably ended up with several fresh wounds. Toward the end, she had simply given up on standing and sat directly on the ground; most of the entities that touched her would instantly disintegrate into ash anyway.

She sat there, taking a few swigs of water. Occasionally, a stray hand would manage to scratch her, and she’d let out a sharp hiss of pain before irritably grabbing the limb and crushing it into nothingness.

On the other side of the barrier, Si Ruxu watched the mounting injuries on Si Qi’s body with a tightening frown. “Is she really going to be alright like that?”

The Future Si Qi let out a short, mocking laugh. “Since when did you start caring if she gets hurt? That’s a new one. But I’m still standing here, aren’t I? So obviously, she’ll be fine.”

Si Ruxu fell silent. Eventually, unable to just watch, she began using pulses of electricity to hinder the creatures’ movements, though she could do little more than slow them down. She had realized earlier that her powers were largely ineffective against these things. They seemed immune to standard elemental damage. This was why she had stayed within the cloak for so long; going out would have only made her a liability.

As the clock neared zero, the masked woman finally looked up at Si Ruxu. Si Ruxu turned to meet her gaze, and though no words were exchanged, she saw a bottomless, unshakeable sorrow in the stranger’s eyes.

She wanted to ask something, but it felt as though the very laws of the world were blocking her. An invisible force robbed her of her voice. Finally, the masked woman let out a soft sigh.

“There is much I cannot tell you yet. You will learn it in time. In my era, a year from now, the survivors can neither see nor feel your presence. But I am different.” She paused, then added, “And you are different, too. At least in this moment, we are both still alive.”

Outside the barrier, Si Qi watched the two of them chatting away with such poise and felt a sudden “toothache” of annoyance. They look quite a pair, don’t they? Why don’t they just stay together? Who makes friends in the middle of a Great Purge anyway?

Si Qi could sense no other living presence in the air, confirming that the Purge was likely a sub-dimension independent of the future apocalypse. She sat down to catch her breath, finding the sight of the two “friends” inside more irritating by the second. Finally, she let out a huff and slapped away another reaching arm.

By the end, the creatures had stopped using abilities. As she’d suspected, the energy stored in an Awakened’s core was finite; after hours of constant assault, they had nothing left to give. The final stretch had been less of a battle and more of a chore.

Interestingly, since triggering her second ability, her spatial blades had turned from white to a deep, visceral crimson—like bleeding scars opening in the air. Si Qi knew she was different from the others, but the realization brought her more relief than anxiety. At least she had the power to protect those close to her.

*****

The clock finally hit zero. The world twisted violently. Sky and earth were ground together in a blur of darkness and distortion. After a few minutes of unconsciousness, Si Qi blinked her eyes open to a familiar light.

She looked around. They were back in the mutated plant house. I’m alive. Relief flooded her, and she immediately sat up, searching for Si Ruxu. When she couldn’t find her, panic flared until a cool voice drifted from beneath her.

“Si Qi, do you enjoy pinning me down this much?”

The voice trailed off with a playful lilt. Si Qi froze, then scrambled back as if she’d been electrocuted, falling right off the bed and hitting the floor with a thud.

Si Ruxu let out a soft laugh. “Did that hurt?”

Si Qi sulked for a moment before shaking her head. “No.”

Si Ruxu beckoned her closer. “Come here, let me see.”

Si Qi shuffled back to the bedside. An Awakened’s body was durable enough that the fall was nothing, but the scratches from the “Human Tribulation” were a different story.

Si Ruxu pulled out medicinal powder from her space, her voice now tinged with unhidden concern. “I tried to help, but my powers couldn’t touch those things. I stayed back because I didn’t want to drag you down.”

Si Qi offered a small smile. “It’s okay.”

Si Ruxu used a pair of scissors to cut away the tattered fabric of Si Qi’s sleeve, revealing the jagged wounds beneath. She carefully applied the powder and used her healing energy to knit the flesh back together. She repeated the process until every scratch on Si Qi’s body had vanished.

Finally, her slender fingers brushed against a small nick on Si Qi’s cheek. The slight sting combined with the intimacy made Si Qi hiss and try to pull away.

“Does it hurt?” Si Ruxu whispered, leaning in so close that the scent of her was overwhelming. “I’ll be gentler.”

Si Qi went rigid, fighting every instinct to flee. Do Healers always have to get this close? she wondered, her heart hammering against her ribs.

*****

After the treatment, Si Ruxu provided another set of clean clothes. The two of them collapsed onto the bed and slept for a long time, the sheer exhaustion of their brush with death finally catching up to them.

When they woke, they shared some canned food. True to form, Si Ruxu handed Si Qi a carton of milk and a piece of candy. Si Qi savored the sweetness, squinting her eyes in a happy, silent “thank you.”

“Alright,” Si Ruxu said, having been replenished by Si Qi’s energy. “We can head for the base now. Losing nearly ten thousand Awakened in one go is a massive blow to humanity.”

As Si Qi gathered their meager belongings, her fingers brushed against a scrap of paper tucked into her sleeve. It was an A4 sheet—the kind common before the apocalypse but nearly impossible to find now. She blinked, turning it over to read the handwritten words:

“The truth is found by tracing the end back to the beginning.”

Si Ruxu noticed her sudden stillness and walked over. She looked over Si Qi’s shoulder and read the note in silence.

“Where did you find this?” Si Ruxu asked, her eyes narrowed in thought.

“It fell out of my clothes. It might be a clue from the Purge.”

Si Ruxu pondered this for a moment. It made sense. The Future Si Qi hadn’t given her any direct answers, suggesting there were rules even for the “hidden” participants of the Purge. If they were the only ones to survive the first round, the clue belonged to them.

Originally, Si Ruxu hadn’t intended to tell the base that they had survived the Purge—not with a traitor in their midst. But this note changed things. A clue like this needed research, and by reporting it, she could set a precedent for others to share their findings. It was the only way to increase humanity’s odds.

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