Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Whole Story

Yue Yao hadn’t drowned yet; she looked up frantically through the pouring rain.

With a forceful tug, Song Ge pulled her to the edge of the pond. Yue Yao had strength of her own and quickly scrambled up from the water using both hands and feet.

The torrential rain continued.

Song Ge looked out over the vast expanse of the pond. Most of the original algae had been washed away, leaving several unrecognizable, bloated corpses exposed. No longer hidden, they bobbed up and down under the assault of the heavy rain. Looking at the clothes on the corpses, they didn’t look like the farmers from before; they looked more like city dwellers.

Song Ge withdrew her gaze and, steadying every step, returned the way she came.

Between the high winds and heavy rain, the dirt path was almost entirely submerged. It was a miracle it hadn’t been washed away completely. Yue Yao’s red skirt was covered in mud, but by the time they reached the mountain, the rain had washed it clean. She followed Song Ge up the slope. Inside the forest, the intensity of the rain weakened slightly. Now out of immediate danger and seeing other people, Yue Yao’s emotions collapsed again. She covered her face and began to wail in despair.

Seeing her so heartbroken, Tong Xiangyu’s eyes also reddened.

Song Ge said nothing. She turned to look at the highway, searching for the Mercedes SUV, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. She realized the landslide had expanded; their SUV must have already fallen. It had taken her at most three to five minutes to go and save the girl and come back.

In other words, if her reaction had been a second slower, she and Tong Xiangyu would have already lost their lives without even knowing what hit them.

Song Ge thought: Or if luck had been worse and the collapse happened at night, I couldn’t guarantee I would have stayed alert enough to notice the danger in time. Even if I had, visibility at night is a hundred times worse.

So, it was fine. Song Ge withdrew her gaze.

The heavy rain showed no signs of stopping. Staying on the mountain like this wasn’t a long-term solution. She could endure it, but if the pampered young lady stayed drenched for too long and fell ill, it would be trouble. She needed to build a temporary tree shelter.

Song Ge wiped the rain from her face and scanned for a target. She needed a tree with dense foliage but a trunk that wasn’t too thick. There were vines on the mountain; she could use them to secure trunks as a frame, sharpen branches to use as “beams” between the trunks, and finally layer twigs and leaves to create a windproof and waterproof cover.

“Song Ge, what are you looking for?” Tong Xiangyu asked.

Song Ge was just about to explain her plan when nature seemed to play a trick on them. The rain vanished in an instant. Gradually, even the last trace of wind and water disappeared.

As the sun set, half the blue sky was dyed red, and a few wisps of clouds floated like light smoke. If not for the collapsed highway, the buried residential buildings, and the girl in the red skirt who was still sobbing… this record-breaking storm that had lasted nearly half a month almost felt like an illusion.

Song Ge looked down at the girl who was still crying and said to Tong Xiangyu, “Let’s find a place to start a fire first.”

Tong Xiangyu nodded quickly.

At that moment, Yue Yao suddenly grabbed the hem of Song Ge’s pants tightly, as if grasping for a lifeline. “My father and uncles… they’re still inside.”

Song Ge’s eyes were cold. “Still alive?”

Hearing this, Yue Yao’s tears poured out even more. For a moment, she was so choked with grief she couldn’t make a sound.

Seeing this, Song Ge spoke to Tong Xiangyu again: “Let’s go.”

Tong Xiangyu hesitated, looking at Yue Yao. “But…”

Song Ge didn’t wait for her “but” and turned to head down the mountain first.

The highway had collapsed into the lower farmlands. One could vaguely see dozens of cars covered by the freshly turned mud. The nearby stream had swollen into a rushing torrent, overflowing into the fields, though it seemed to be receding quickly.

The half-month of rain had finally stopped, which was naturally a relief. But the destruction caused by the storm made it impossible to feel truly relaxed. Finding dry wood for a fire at a time like this wasn’t going to be easy.

Tong Xiangyu had followed her down the mountain. She gently tugged on Song Ge’s sleeve and whispered with red eyes, “Song Ge…”

Song Ge didn’t even look at her, saying directly: “We aren’t taking her.”

Tong Xiangyu pouted slightly. “I haven’t even asked yet…”

“Weren’t you going to ask if we should bring her along?” Song Ge had already thought of something she could burn. She walked across the small mountain path. Since the highway was collapsed and impassable, they had to head back toward Kecheng. Song Ge said, “Not taking her. Too much trouble.”

Tong Xiangyu said, “But, she’s all alone now.”

“Who isn’t alone?” Song Ge replied. “Taking care of one ‘young lady’ is enough.”

Tong Xiangyu pouted again, unhappy. She thought of the girl risking her life in the storm to walk toward them while Song Ge looked on with total indifference. That was a human life! Furthermore, the girl had brought them food that night. If not for those sweet potatoes, their food would have run out long ago.

Even though the rain stopped today, what if it hadn’t?

Tong Xiangyu knew she couldn’t just stand by and watch someone die. If Song Ge wouldn’t go, she would go herself. Back then, Song Ge had clicked her tongue and, with a lack of patience, reached out to pull her back, heading down the mountain path.

Amidst the gale and rain, Tong Xiangyu knew Song Ge wasn’t familiar with the terrain either, so they had moved slowly. Fortunately, they were in time; the girl was just moments away from slipping into the deep pond and drowning. Tong Xiangyu still felt nervous just thinking about the scene.

Although saving the girl’s life counted as repaying the debt for the food, Tong Xiangyu felt they should finish what they started. Since the two of them were traveling together, one more person wouldn’t hurt. Why not go together? It would be more company.

Tong Xiangyu wanted to try persuading her again, but Song Ge suddenly stopped and turned to the girl. “Don’t follow us.”

Tong Xiangyu looked back. The girl’s eyes were swollen from crying, and her shirt and skirt were soaked and clinging to her body. She looked truly wretched. Although Tong Xiangyu knew she herself couldn’t look much better, seeing the girl wringing her hands in fear and helplessness, she went over and took her hand. Seeing the wounds on her hands softened by the rain, Tong Xiangyu felt very sad. She turned and looked at Song Ge with a pitiful, pleading gaze.

Song Ge said, “Don’t look at me. Not taking her.”

Song Ge walked ahead. After walking for a while and hearing no movement behind her, she looked back to see Tong Xiangyu still whispering something to the girl, even reaching out to wipe her tears.

Song Ge rolled her eyes wordlessly. A little Bodhisattva, truly.

Past the collapsed section, Song Ge walked a long way to ensure the highway was solid and wouldn’t collapse further. She picked a car with no corpses inside, opened it, and tore out the dry, flammable seat cushions.

Song Ge asked Tong Xiangyu for a lighter. Tong Xiangyu took one from her backpack and handed it over, then called out expectantly: “Song Ge~~”

Song Ge ignored the girl in the red skirt following behind Tong Xiangyu. She took the lighter and the cushions onto the highway. The storm had overturned several micro-cars, which had actually cleared some of the previously jammed road.

Song Ge set the cushions on fire. She turned and pulled off her wet clothes, placing them by the fire to dry. Tong Xiangyu was also afraid of getting sick from wearing wet clothes for too long; it wasn’t her first time stripping anyway. She unbuttoned her shirt and took it off, wearing only her bra, squatting by the fire to dry her things.

Tong Xiangyu said to Yue Yao, who was standing stiffly, not knowing what to do: “You should take your clothes off to dry them too, or you’ll catch a cold.”

Yue Yao immediately looked nervously at Song Ge, whose profile was illuminated by the fire. Seeing that Song Ge was looking straight ahead and not at her at all, she gripped the hem of her shirt, lifted it slightly, and whispered, “I’ll just dry it like this.”

Song Ge quickly dried her clothes and put them back on, then took off her pants and shoes. Once those were dry, she tore out a few more cushions to keep the fire going.

Yue Yao gradually squatted down. Looking at the fire, she thought of what happened and couldn’t help but cry again. She wiped away her tears and suppressed the sobbing in her throat, eventually having to bite her own arm to stay quiet.

Tong Xiangyu looked at Yue Yao, then turned to Song Ge, who was leaning against a car with a cushion in her hand, looking completely unmoved.

Tong Xiangyu whispered: “Song Ge…”

How could Song Ge not know what this “Little Bodhisattva” wanted to say? She suddenly asked, “What’s the deal with those corpses in the pond?”

“?” Tong Xiangyu looked blank.

Yue Yao, however, froze completely. Even her crying stopped instantly. Tong Xiangyu realized something was wrong and turned to look at Yue Yao.

Song Ge’s tone didn’t change; she remained calm. “They were people who came out of Kecheng, right?”

Yue Yao shivered again.

Only Tong Xiangyu was completely confused, looking between Yue Yao and Song Ge. “What? What? Song Ge, what are you talking about?”

Seeing the girl still didn’t plan to explain, Song Ge said to Tong Xiangyu, “When I saved her, I saw several corpses floating in the pond. If not for this storm, the bodies would have stayed in that algae-filled pond, never to be found.”

Tong Xiangyu, who was squatting and drying her hair, remembered the bloody shoes. She felt a shiver of horror and moved away from Yue Yao, looking up at Song Ge. “Those bloody shoes?”

Song Ge said coldly: “Yes.” She looked at Yue Yao. “You people killed them.”

“No!” Yue Yao’s tears fell rapidly. She shook her head violently, her expression looking like she was remembering something terrifying. “No, it wasn’t like that…”

Seeing her emotional collapse and her pitiful state, Tong Xiangyu quietly moved back and whispered, “What happened then? Tell us slowly.”

Yue Yao wiped her tears and choked out: “Two… two months ago, seven or eight people from Kecheng came. They said… said they didn’t feel well and couldn’t drive at night, and wanted to stay over. We didn’t have… any spare rooms. My dad didn’t agree, but… but they wouldn’t stay for free. They gave money, a lot of it, so my dad… he agreed…”

Through Yue Yao’s sobbing words, Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu quickly understood the situation.

Because the group paid a lot, Yue Yao’s father, Yue Qiuxiong, discussed it with Jiang Ming from the same village. They decided to vacate their own rooms for the Kecheng people to stay the night. But in the middle of the night, a scream startled the two men who had woken up early for farm work. They ran to check, only to find a man from Kecheng biting a woman who was staying with him.

At first, they thought it was domestic violence and didn’t want to get involved and cause trouble. It wasn’t until they saw the woman stop struggling and die from the blood loss that they realized something was wrong. The man dropped the woman and lunged at them. Jiang Ming didn’t react in time and was tackled; just as he was about to be bitten, Yue Qiuxiong, in desperation, swung a hoe. The man fell, bleeding heavily, but seemed to still be alive, grabbing Jiang Ming’s leg to bite him as he tried to get up. In self-defense, the two men hammered him with their hoe and shovel, literally crushing the man’s head.

The commotion woke the other people from Kecheng next door. When they came out and saw the scene, they screamed in panic. Yue Qiuxiong and Jiang Ming tried to explain, but the others kept shouting that they were murderers. Terrified the whole village would hear, the two men acted on impulse and beat them to death as well.

Yue Yao cried, “My dad said he and Uncle Jiang buried the bodies in the pond. He asked if I wanted to turn myself in, and I said of course. But that day the massive traffic jam started; the roads into and out of the city were all blocked. At the time, some people wanted to come to our place, but maybe because the road was bad, they turned back halfway. My dad guessed something happened in the city. He and Uncle Jiang used scrap metal to block the road completely. As a result, the cars outside have been jammed for an entire month…”

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