Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: The Sun Never Sets

Song Ge rejected Tong Xiangyu’s impulsive idea of finding a telescope shop. Song Ge had excellent vision and saw no need for unnecessary detours; if they had time for that, they were better off finding water. If they didn’t drink soon, they would die of thirst.

The two were very lucky.

In this busy commercial street, they actually found a water dispenser in one of the shops that still had unpolluted water. Although it had been sitting there for a while, water that has sat too long won’t kill a person, but a lack of water certainly will. Song Ge drank first to check for any strange taste before letting Tong Xiangyu drink.

They drank in small, frequent amounts and poured the rest into their mineral water bottles. Just like that, the remaining third of the water jug was nearly finished by them. Tong Xiangyu drank until she was “stuffed” and sat in the shop, reluctant to move.

Song Ge prioritized safety. She checked both the front and back doors. While she was certain there was no immediate danger, this place wasn’t suitable for staying overnight. First, there were too many “rotting corpses” and the stench was foul; second, the front and back alleys were narrow and filled with “obstacles,” which would hinder an escape if they encountered danger. Finally, it was impossible to observe the movements of monsters from this position.

It was best to find a taller building.

However, high-rises had their own risks. First, climbing stairs was physically exhausting. Second, the escape space was limited. Third, who could guarantee that once a sealed room was opened, a pack of hideous, biting monsters wouldn’t lunge out?

Therefore, they could only observe from the outer corridors and find a relatively safe spot to spend the night.

As Song Ge was thinking, Tong Xiangyu suddenly called out: “Song Ge!”

Song Ge looked over immediately. “What is it?”

“Look, is this clock accurate? It’s actually 6:30 PM?” Tong Xiangyu pointed to a clock hanging on the wall of the shop. A row of blood splatters stained the face, but the clock wasn’t damaged; the second hand was still ticking accurately, notch by notch.

Song Ge looked at her watch. Tong Xiangyu leaned in to look; the watch also read 6:30. The two exchanged a glance and walked outside together to look at the sky.

The sun had not only failed to set, it was hanging high in the center of the sky, looking exactly as it did at eleven or twelve noon.

Song Ge asked, “Is it possible some external factor is making the clocks run fast?”

Tong Xiangyu thought seriously for a moment and said, “It could be magnetic influence. The hairspring is a component easily magnetized; once that happens, it’s quite normal for a clock to run two or three hours fast…”

Lately, Song Ge had been relying on her watch to calculate sunset. It was true that the days were getting longer, but usually, by 6:30 PM, the sun was already slanting westward. By 7:00, it would be fully set with only a lingering glow; by 7:30, the glow would fade and the sky would dim; and by 8:00, it would be pitch black.

But now, it was 6:30 PM, and the sun was still high. Aside from her watch being broken, Song Ge could find no other explanation.

Tong Xiangyu asked, “Since it’s still so light out, should we keep moving?”

Although Song Ge felt the watch must be wrong, she had a bad premonition. She said, “Let’s find a car. We should be able to find one around here.”

Because of the location and the nature of the business, the commercial street had been bustling. When the monsters broke out, it was wiped out in an instant, giving people no chance to struggle or escape. That was why they were able to find that half-bucket of water. Additionally, because the scene was so horrific and grisly, thugs didn’t dare come here to smash cars and steal things. The likelihood of the vehicles being damaged by humans or external forces was relatively small.

Sure enough, after a quick look around, Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu found several illegally parked cars that were perfectly intact. But how could they drive them without keys?

Song Ge thought for a moment and decided not to look for a car first, but for keys. She searched the pockets of the rotting corpses for car keys. Usually, there were none, but she eventually found one. she pressed the buttons to see which car it belonged to, but none of the nearby vehicles responded.

Watching Song Ge look for a needle in a haystack, Tong Xiangyu stood with her arms crossed, her heart full of resistance. She didn’t want to dig through a dead person’s pockets at all, especially since they were either rotting with maggots or were dried-out mummies. She just stood to the side, watching Song Ge flip through them one by one, indifferent to the filth and the stench.

The sun beat down overhead. Tong Xiangyu pursed her lips, adjusted her sunglasses, and said, “Song Ge, you might as well go to the parking garage to look.”

Song Ge stood up and looked back at her.

Tong Xiangyu said, “The first instinct for everyone facing something this terrifying is to drive away. People in the underground garage usually have their car keys on them.”

Actually, Tong Xiangyu just said it in passing. But Song Ge agreed: “You’re right. I know where the parking garage is.”

Tong Xiangyu couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious? Didn’t you say the monsters might be hiding in underground garages?”

“It’s just a guess,” Song Ge said. “Monsters are attracted by noise. We’ll make some noise first; if no monsters come out, then we’ll go in.”

Tong Xiangyu felt gloomy. Song Ge added, “The success rate for finding a car there is definitely higher.”

Tong Xiangyu said softly, “Alright then…”

Before reaching the commercial street, Song Ge had passed a large mall. Since malls would definitely be the first choice for Zeus’s team to scavenge for supplies, Song Ge hadn’t stopped then and continued toward the commercial street. Now, she cycled back with Tong Xiangyu.

The barrier arm in front of the mall’s underground garage had been snapped off, but the scene there was even more tragic. Even though Song Ge had seen plenty of horrific sights along the way, she couldn’t help but frown here.

Bones were stacked high, blood covered the ground, and rotting chunks of meat and intestines lay on the pavement like wet kitchen waste. Countless maggots writhed slowly in the sunlight, reflecting a glittering sheen.

Even through her sunglasses, Tong Xiangyu couldn’t stop herself from gagging. She turned away and vomited violently. Song Ge found several plastic bags. Tong Xiangyu thought Song Ge was giving them to her to vomit in and reached out to take them.

But Song Ge knelt down and told her to lift her feet. Tong Xiangyu instinctively lifted a foot but quickly realized what Song Ge was doing. She immediately put her foot back down and said, “No! I’m not going down there!!”

Even through plastic bags, she refused to step on those things!

“I don’t know how to drive,” Song Ge looked up at her and said, “Am I supposed to push the whole car up for you later?”

Tong Xiangyu began to whimper. Song Ge gently patted her ankle. “Be good.”

Tong Xiangyu had no choice but to lift her feet. After Song Ge finished tying two plastic bags over each shoe, Tong Xiangyu said angrily, “When we find a car, I am definitely going to teach you how to drive! You’re going to drive from now on!”

Song Ge: “Sure, sure.”

The outside was blindingly bright, but the underground garage was a black hole. The stench inside was even heavier than Song Ge had imagined. Song Ge didn’t go too far in. She swung her iron wrench against the wall, making a continuous clanging sound. At the same time, she stayed alert for any movement ahead or around her, her ears sharply tuned to listen.

The clanging continued for a while. The surroundings remained silent. Song Ge turned back to the young lady standing in the sun and said, “Come here.”

Although she was filled with a million resistances, Tong Xiangyu had to force herself to go. She took a deep breath, only to be stimulated again by the stench, vomiting out all the water she had just drunk. She retched bile for quite a while. Once finished, she used a little bit of mineral water to rinse her mouth, tried to adjust her state of mind, and followed tentatively behind Song Ge.

Song Ge reached out to her: “Careful, the ground is a bit slippery.”

The ground wasn’t just “a bit” slippery. Tong Xiangyu’s pretty face was scrunched up like a bun. She grabbed Song Ge’s hand, and while being held firmly, she carefully stepped bit by bit onto the rotting corpses and intestines that she simply couldn’t avoid.

After turning a corner, the garage was pitch black. Song Ge turned on her flashlight, and the reflective strips on the walls and ground gleamed. Tong Xiangyu took off her sunglasses and hung them on her collar. Seeing the scene before her, her stomach churned wildly, but there was nothing left to throw up. Because the underground garage was cool and isolated from the scorching heat outside, there was no high-temperature drying; the ground was entirely covered in blood and rotting meat.

With every step Tong Xiangyu took, it felt like stepping into a quagmire, making a squelching sound. To make matters worse, this “quagmire” contained hard bones and even skulls covered in hair. Tong Xiangyu’s hair stood on end; she regretted her suggestion ten thousand times over. If given another chance, she would definitely have stayed in the commercial street looking for a needle in a haystack with Song Ge!

Tong Xiangyu’s nose hurt, her throat hurt, and her whole body was in a state of extreme discomfort. It was only because Song Ge was holding her hand—and there was no turning back—that she forced her trembling legs to keep moving forward.

In this state of decay, it was impossible to search pockets. Song Ge took Tong Xiangyu to the upper levels of the parking garage. As expected, the second floor was much better; at least the skeletons and remains hadn’t rotted into a single heap.

Tong Xiangyu said weakly, her face pale, “More people died in Taiyun than in Kecheng…”

“That’s because the people who died in Kecheng all became monsters.” As Song Ge led Tong Xiangyu, she remained alert for any monsters hiding in the shadows.

The situation on the third floor was even better because there was a large wall where the glass hadn’t been installed. Bright sunlight streamed in from outside. It was dry and bright; at least this floor wasn’t as tragic as the ones below, which looked like an asura hell.

Song Ge let go of her hand and immediately began searching for keys. Tong Xiangyu didn’t want to stay in this ghost place for a second longer. Her scalp crawled, but she forced herself to endure the repulsion and nausea, crouching down to grab a bag lying next to a female corpse.

As she reached out, all sorts of horrific images flashed through her mind: the female corpse suddenly turning her head to bite her, the body flying over to choke her, or a black shadow emerging from the corpse to possess her… With these terrifying thoughts racing, she scrunched up her face, grabbed the bag, and quickly backed away a few steps. She hurriedly opened the bag and searched through it—lipstick, makeup mirror, tissues, keychains, wallet—but she searched several times and didn’t find a car key.

“Little Milk Tea.”

Tong Xiangyu jumped, and the bag flew right out of her hands. Song Ge caught it. Tong Xiangyu looked at her in panic. “Why did you call me so suddenly?”

Song Ge, knowing she was at fault, looked down at the bag. At a glance, she saw the car key in an inner pocket. Song Ge took it out, walked over to the young lady, and reached out to pat her chest.

Tong Xiangyu was confused: “?”

Song Ge said, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”

After comforting her, Song Ge intended to search through the rows using the key. But some people have incredible luck; the very first bag they found had a key, and the third car in the same row was the match. The lights of a red BMW flashed.

Song Ge raised an eyebrow, walked over, and shined her flashlight around to make sure there was no danger. She opened the door and looked inside; seeing nothing, she called out, “Let’s go, Little Milk Tea.”

“This one is an automatic.” Tong Xiangyu sat in the car and could still smell a hint of perfume, which instantly improved her mood. “It’s very easy to drive~!”

Even the easiest automatic can slip. With the tires covered in the slippery mucus of rotting corpses, Tong Xiangyu hit the gas a few times before finally succeeding in the climb. After escaping the underground garage without further incident, Tong Xiangyu put on her sunglasses and said excitedly, “Let’s go! We’re leaving the city!!”

Song Ge glanced at her watch: 7:45 PM. Then she looked at the sky.

The sun was still intense, baking the earth.

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