Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Forgot

Tong Xiangyu said earnestly, “If you’re being serious, next time we talk about these things, you need to use more than just a couple of words.”

Song Ge replied, “No need to wait for next time. Take what you just said—what was I supposed to say?”

Having become quite familiar with Song Ge’s way of speaking, Tong Xiangyu knew she wasn’t being snarky. She thought for a moment and said, “Even saying ‘Okay’ sounds a bit more serious than just ‘Mhm’.”

“Fine,” Song Ge agreed casually. “Next time I’ll say ‘Okay’.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at Song Ge, surprised that her attitude was actually so cooperative.

Song Ge couldn’t find any songs she liked in the playlist, so she sat back in the passenger seat. While flipping through the map to check the route, she said, “Little Milk Tea, sing a song for me.”

Tong Xiangyu: “I’m not very good at singing.”

“Just sing whatever. Even ‘Be Good, Little Rabbit’ is fine.”

“What kind of song is ‘Be Good, Little Rabbit’?”

Song Ge sang: “Be good, little rabbit, open the door, open it quickly, I want to come in.”

Tong Xiangyu found this very novel. “What is this, a nursery rhyme?”

“Yeah. You’ve never heard it?” Song Ge realized something as soon as she said it. “Oh right, you rich young ladies must have practiced piano since you were kids, listening to all those major and minor keys, Chopin and Bach.”

Tong Xiangyu gave a little “Ah.”

“Song Ge, you actually know about Chopin and Bach?”

Song Ge: “I only know those names. I don’t know a single thing more than that.”

Tong Xiangyu couldn’t help but purse her lips and smile.

Song Ge glanced at her and said, “Not nervous anymore?”

Tong Xiangyu knew what Song Ge was referring to and felt a bit embarrassed as she held the steering wheel. “At the time, I really couldn’t remember how to start the car.”

The corner of Song Ge’s mouth twitched slightly, but she didn’t pursue the topic. She looked at the map, comparing it with the road conditions ahead and the dim, unfamiliar streetscape. Song Ge told Tong Xiangyu when to turn left, then added: “It’ll be dark in an hour. Should we find a place in the city to rest, or just drive straight out of town?”

“Let’s drive out of the city. It’s too dangerous inside. Once we’re out, there are fewer people and fewer monsters, so it’s relatively safer.” Even though she said this, Tong Xiangyu still asked for Song Ge’s opinion: “What do you think?”

“I planned on leaving the city today anyway,” Song Ge said. “Are you afraid of camping out in the wild?”

Tong Xiangyu shook her head.

Song Ge gave a light, mocking chuckle.

Seeing her disbelief, Tong Xiangyu argued with a red face, “I’m really not afraid.” Then she added in a voice as soft as a mosquito, “As long as you’re here, I’m not afraid…”

Song Ge heard her but didn’t tease her again.

Tong Xiangyu’s volume suddenly rose a bit. “Is the road blocked ahead?”

Song Ge looked over and sat up straight. “Looks like it. Stop the car, I’ll go take a look.”

Tong Xiangyu parked the car.

Ahead was a large bridge. Below the bridge was the moat river of Kecheng, over six hundred meters wide; the water eventually flowed into the sea. Song Ge told Tong Xiangyu to stay in the car while she went to the non-motorized lane, picked up a bicycle, and rode over to check the situation.

Driverless vehicles were jammed on the bridge, stretching out of sight. Below the bridge, the wide river shimmered under the setting sun. Song Ge looked closely and realized the shimmering wasn’t just light on the water—it was a massive amount of dead fish floating with their white bellies up. Besides the fish, there were, of course, corpses.

It was hard to tell if the fish had died from eating infected flesh or if they had died early on and couldn’t scavenge the bodies. Regardless, the two were piled together. The corpses were bloated and floating among the dead fish. At a glance, the river surface was covered in a green layer of “giant-scale” decomposition; the scene was extremely revolting.

Song Ge couldn’t help but frown. she pressed the metal clip at the bridge of her mask more firmly.

Traffic was jammed on the bridge, and the river was impassable. Song Ge went back to tell Tong Xiangyu the news.

“What do we do then?” Tong Xiangyu asked. “Should we pick a different road out of town?”

“I expect every road out of the city is this jammed,” Song Ge said. “We’re already in the suburbs. Let’s bike across the bridge. Once we’re across, we’ll find another car to drive.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at the bicycle Song Ge was pushing, her expression hesitant.

Seeing this, Song Ge asked, “What, you don’t know how to ride a bike?”

Tong Xiangyu nodded hesitantly.

“No wonder.”

“No wonder what?”

“The day the monsters broke out, I told you to bike to the city center yourself and you refused. It turns out you just didn’t know how.”

“I was worried back then,” Tong Xiangyu defended herself. “Splitting up is very dangerous.”

“Right, right.” Song Ge agreed perfunctorily. However, since she had to carry someone, Song Ge went back to pick out a better bicycle.

Tong Xiangyu watched from a distance as Song Ge searched around, seemingly oblivious to how terrifying the scattered bones and rotting flesh on the ground were. Strangely, seeing Song Ge so calm made Tong Xiangyu feel much calmer herself.

Tong Xiangyu opened the door and got out of the car, not forgetting to take her backpack.

“Let’s take this one,” Song Ge told her. “It has a light, and the tires are well-inflated.”

Tong Xiangyu: “Mhm, mhm.”

Song Ge rode the bicycle, and Tong Xiangyu sat on the back rack, hugging her waist. Tong Xiangyu’s vision wasn’t as good as Song Ge’s; she rested her cheek lightly against Song Ge’s back, looking at the shimmering river, feeling like things were bobbing up and down on the surface—she figured they were probably just fish.

They rode across the long bridge in silence.

The scenery before Tong Xiangyu’s eyes changed. The river disappeared, replaced by roadside snack stalls and restaurants, but the shops were mostly burnt out. Some appeared to have suffered significant explosions; the ground was covered in glass shards, overturned billboards, and cars flipped by blast waves.

Further ahead, an out-of-control semi-trailer had crashed into a four-story residential building. Half the building had collapsed, and a foot wearing a sandal was still buried under the overturned soil and sand.

Tong Xiangyu watched silently, her vision blurring unconsciously. She looked away and tightened her grip on Song Ge’s waist.

Song Ge thought things would improve once they crossed the bridge, but she didn’t expect the traffic to be jammed all the way onto the provincial highway outside the city.

However, there was some good news. Most of these cars were empty. People likely got out and walked once they realized the traffic wasn’t moving. In short, the horrific scenes of monsters inside cars responding to a call wouldn’t happen here.

The downside was that the provincial road was narrow. All four lanes were occupied, and larger vehicles took up extra space, making it difficult even for a convenient tool like a bicycle to pass.

Song Ge got off to push the bike, and Tong Xiangyu followed closely behind with her backpack.

Walking further, Song Ge saw why the traffic was blocked. The accident scene was nothing short of tragic. At a blind corner, two cement trucks had collided head-on, crushing seven or eight private cars between them. Some small cars were squeezed like cardboard boxes until they were unrecognizable; anyone inside certainly wouldn’t have survived. On the other side of the road, the railing was completely destroyed, indicating a car had spun out of control and plunged off.

Besides the pile-up, Song Ge felt something terrible must have happened here, because the blood on the ground was dried, rotting meat was everywhere, and the air was thick with mosquitoes and flies, yet not a single whole corpse was in sight. It was almost exactly like the situation inside the city.

But what was scarier than the city was that they had essentially left Kecheng. Judging by the current situation, someone must have successfully left the city and sought help. Once they found rescue, they would have explained the situation in Kecheng. If that were the case, this scene shouldn’t still be like this after a month.

It looked like nothing had been done.

They couldn’t get far on foot, especially since it was about to get dark. Kecheng was on the coast; to find help, they had to head toward inland provinces. Thus, this provincial road, nestled between mountains and water, was over ten degrees cooler than the city center.

Song Ge saw Tong Xiangyu hugging her arms and shivering, so she casually opened an empty car. All the food and drink inside were gone, but there was a woman’s jacket and a small blanket probably used for a baby. It was likely too hot at the time, so they weren’t taken.

Song Ge took them out and handed them to Tong Xiangyu. “Put them on.”

Tong Xiangyu took one look and immediately shook her head. “I don’t want them.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to wear someone else’s clothes…”

“You don’t want to wear a human’s clothes, you’d rather wear a monster’s?”

“…”

Song Ge stuffed the clothes into her hands and led her away from the road.

Tong Xiangyu asked, “Aren’t we going to find a car to sleep in for the night?”

“Do you want to experience being surrounded by monsters in a car again like today?” As Song Ge spoke, she spotted a way down from the highway. She parked the bicycle by the railing and vaulted over with one hand.

Tong Xiangyu looked at the waist-high railing, then at Song Ge who didn’t look back. She looked left and right, went to great effort to haul over a rock to stand on, and tentatively stepped one leg over.

“There are cars in front and cars behind, and the cars can’t move. The monsters are all surrounding the outside.” Song Ge stood still, looking at the entire road ahead, then turned back. “No matter the time, always leave yourself a way out when facing danger.”

As Song Ge spoke, she saw Tong Xiangyu straddling the railing, unable to go up or down. Song Ge walked back quickly and helped the young lady down. “What are you following me for? I came down to check the path first.”

Tong Xiangyu, being lifted down, felt a bit aggrieved. “I didn’t know…”

“Forget it. Anyway, we can get down here.” Song Ge took the tactical knife from her waist and cut down a large tree branch. She walked in front, making plenty of noise as she swept through the knee-high weeds to drive away any potential animals or insects while testing the ground beneath.

Tong Xiangyu followed carefully, her heart in her throat the whole way. Fortunately, nothing happened.

Before it got completely dark, Song Ge found a riverbank with a wide, clear view. The stones on the bank were small and fine, making it easy to run if danger appeared.

Song Ge gathered dry wood and started a fire.

Tong Xiangyu sat on the stony beach by the fire, wearing the woman’s jacket. Song Ge took the bag the young lady was still obediently carrying and pulled out a few snacks. “I told you, once we’re out, who knows when we’ll get a hot meal.”

“It’s okay.”

“And no big bed to sleep on.”

“That’s okay too.”

Song Ge smiled, handed the braised chicken drumsticks to Tong Xiangyu, and sat aside to eat a piece of compressed biscuit with some mineral water.

A gentle breeze blew. The air in the mountain forest was much better than in Kecheng; occasionally, the faint sounds of birds and insects could be heard.

Tong Xiangyu asked, “What do we do about sleeping later?”

Song Ge said, “You sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

Tong Xiangyu shook her head. “Let’s split the night. You watch the first half, I’ll watch the second.”

Song Ge agreed without objection: “Okay.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at her suspiciously. “You must wake me up.”

“Mhm.”

With the watch settled, Tong Xiangyu added, “I finally understand why rescue can’t get in. All the roads are blocked like this. How would they get through?”

Song Ge said, “But the path through the sky isn’t blocked.”

“That’s because the power is out, and Kecheng has no internet. If planes were to fly in, air traffic control would be hard to manage…”

Song Ge tended the fire and didn’t respond.

While nibbling on the sweet and spicy chicken, Tong Xiangyu rested her chin on her hand and looked at the trickling stream nearby, her heart conflicted for a while. Finally, she said, pretending to be nonchalant, “Tomorrow, I’ll wash my hair before we go!”

“Suit yourself.”

Late at night.

Tong Xiangyu lay with her legs curled on the small blanket. Beneath the blanket were branches and grass Song Ge had cut, most of the moisture dried by the fire, making it quite warm—though certainly not comparable to a soft bed.

Song Ge kept watch for a long time before hearing the young lady’s soft, even breathing. She tidied the fire while staying alert, constantly monitoring the surroundings.

During the night, Tong Xiangyu woke up twice in a daze. The second time, she asked Song Ge what time it was. Song Ge said it was only eight o’clock and asked if she couldn’t sleep. Tong Xiangyu said no and quickly fell back into a deep sleep.

When Tong Xiangyu woke up, it was broad daylight. She sat up with a start and called out Song Ge’s name.

Song Ge was not far away by the stream, her pant legs rolled up, processing a palm-sized fish. She wasn’t very skilled at it; she just scraped off the scales, slit the belly, and removed the innards. These small provincial streams weren’t connected to the river or sea, and the fish were still lively.

Hearing the young lady wake up, Song Ge asked without turning around, “Little Milk Tea, do you like eating fish?”

“Not at all!” Tong Xiangyu replied, sounding a bit angry. She stomped over to Song Ge’s side. “Song Ge, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I forgot.”

“You can forget that too?!”

“Well, then I’ll take a nap later, and I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye out then.”

Tong Xiangyu pouted. “Hmph!”

Song Ge looked at her again and asked, “Do you like eating fish?”

This time Tong Xiangyu said, “I only like it if it’s cooked well.”

“I forgot you’re a picky eater.” Song Ge placed the cleaned fish on a large rock heated by the sun and picked up another to process. “Eat something and drink some water first. Then, didn’t you say you wanted to wash your hair? The water quality here is good; you can wash it safely.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at the crystal-clear stream water, her eyes lighting up and her mood improving significantly. Still, she said, “Alright then…”

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