Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Blackout

“Because it looks so big,” Tong Xiangyu explained why she had asked. “It doesn’t look like something girls would use.”

Song Ge stiffened for a split second, but her rhythm didn’t break. She continued sharpening the blade, responding calmly, “Mhm.”

She clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

Tong Xiangyu could see that, of course. But they were sharing a room with zero entertainment; at least Song Ge had a knife to sharpen—was she supposed to just sit there hugging her knees? She’d go crazy.

So, Tong Xiangyu feigned ignorance and pressed on. “Then whose is it?”

“Does it concern you?” Song Ge asked.

“No, it doesn’t.” Tong Xiangyu knew Song Ge just spoke like that blunt and sharp, but not necessarily malicious—so she didn’t take it to heart. She just said, “Let’s talk. Otherwise, it’s so boring.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Tired.”

Tong Xiangyu: “…”

“If you won’t talk to me, I’ll just have to recite my literature texts—A true warrior dares to face a bleak life and confront dripping blood!” She peeked at Song Ge. Seeing no change in her expression, she continued with emotional flair, “What kind of sorrow and happiness is this? Yet fate often designs for the mediocre, using the passage of time to wash away old traces, leaving only pale red blood and faint sorrow.“

Tong Xiangyu recited: “In this pale red blood and faint sorrow, people are given a temporary chance to steal a living, maintaining this human-yet-inhuman world. I do not know when such a world…“

She stopped abruptly.

Tong Xiangyu looked at Song Ge. “Song Ge, aren’t you going to ask me why I didn’t finish?”

“You didn’t finish?” Song Ge asked.

Tong Xiangyu: “…”

“There’s one more sentence,” Tong Xiangyu said.

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

Tong Xiangyu didn’t look down on the academic underachiever. Instead, she said patiently, “The last sentence is: ‘I do not know when such a world will come to an end.‘ Song Ge, do you think our world is coming to an end because of these monsters?”

Song Ge said, “I don’t know if the world is ending, but I know that if the rescue team doesn’t come within half a month, our world is coming to an end.”

“It won’t,” Tong Xiangyu said matter-of-factly. “The internet must be going crazy right now. Kecheng is such a huge city!” Suddenly, she gasped. “Song Ge, do you think it’s just our district that fell? If all of Kecheng is overrun, wouldn’t the passengers on trains and planes be finished? That would be a total catastrophe.”

Song Ge replied, “When we left the school, didn’t you see the situation with the buses?” Other transport would be the same, unless there were no infected passengers on board. But if the destination was Kecheng and the whole city had fallen, those passengers would soon become monsters anyway.

“Stop scaring yourself. Finish your recitation and go to sleep.”

“I’m not finished yet, there’s a lot more.”

“Then keep going.”

And so, three days passed without incident.

Every day, while the Young Mistress was asleep, Song Ge would peel back the newspaper to observe the outside. The situation fluctuated, but the monsters always lingered nearby with no sign of leaving. Because of the summer heat, the severed limbs near the window were swarming with fat, oily, shiny blowflies.

It was sickening.

Song Ge taped the newspaper back and added the third stroke to the tally mark in her notebook.

On the fourth day, Tong Xiangyu began physical training with Song Ge. Because she sweat, she took a bath afterward. Perhaps emboldened by her first cold shower not making her sick, she stayed in a bit longer this time. That night, she developed a fever.

In the middle of the night, Song Ge heard a muddled, pained moaning from the bed. She opened her eyes, pressed her phone to see the time, and walked over, reaching for the light switch.

But after a loud click, the basement light didn’t turn on.

Song Ge tried again nothing. She tried the bathroom light—still nothing.

Her heart sank. She strode to the desk and peeled back a corner of the newspaper. Unlike before, there wasn’t a single light outside. The streetlights were dark, the automatic neon signs of the shops were out, and the city was enveloped in a strange, pitch-black void.

The power was out.

When Tong Xiangyu woke up, she felt both cold and hot, her body drenched in sweat. She moved, her back aching from sleep.

“Song Ge…” As soon as she spoke, she realized her throat was raspy and dry. She propped herself up and instinctively reached for the light switch.

“You’re awake?” Song Ge’s voice came from the corner.

Tong Xiangyu breathed a sigh of relief and cleared her throat. “Mhm. Why aren’t the lights on?” she asked, clicking the switch.

The room stayed dark.

Confused, she clicked it several more times. Click-clack, click-clack.

At that moment, a soft tack sounded from Song Ge’s corner, and a small flame flickered to life. The flame soon moved to another spot.

Tong Xiangyu watched her light a candle. “Is the power out?” she asked, bewildered.

“Mhm.” Song Ge’s voice was calm. “I don’t know when it’ll be back, so we’re using candles for now. How do you feel?”

“Heavy, sore, and I sweat a lot.”

“You had a fever last night,” Song Ge said. “I didn’t have medicine, so I just gave you an extra quilt.”

Tong Xiangyu felt the covers. Indeed, two heavy quilts. “No wonder. I felt like I couldn’t even roll over in my sleep. It was so heavy.”

“Your body feels heavy because you’re sick.” Song Ge placed two candles on either side of the desk, illuminating the basement. Then she folded the extra quilt, tied it, and put it back in the cabinet.

“Shouldn’t you sun that quilt before putting it back?” Tong Xiangyu asked.

“You want to take it out to sun it right now?”

Tong Xiangyu felt a wave of guilt. “Song Ge, thank you. I’m sorry for causing you trouble again. You must have looked after me all night, right?”

“No,” Song Ge said. “I just gave you an extra quilt.”

Tong Xiangyu: “…”

She realized she didn’t want to talk about that anymore and changed the subject. “So now that the power is out, what do we do? Weren’t you going to boil water and cook noodles?”

“Not for now,” Song Ge replied. “We’ll eat biscuits and dried meat.”

“Wow, were those prepared for a blackout? Does your basement lose power often?”

“No.” Song Ge finished stowing the quilt and turned to look at the naive Young Mistress. “In the five years I’ve lived here, this is the first time the power has gone out.”

Tong Xiangyu froze, her reaction slow. “Does this have to do with the monsters?” she asked, startled.

Song Ge said, “Likely something happened at the power bureau or the supply company. It’s fine. When the rescue team comes, they’ll fix this first.”

Support