Captivity

Chapter 2: A Burden

【Two】

It was only when they finally left the school that they realized that the entire world had changed. The pedestrians by the roads were no longer like how they had remembered. They towed with them smelly thick liquid, their movements accompanied by the splattering sounds of dropping flesh. Like bees which caught the whiff of the flower fragrance, these zombies slowly but resolutely began to surround Wu Zhi and Ye Qingling. But their speeds were as unbearable to watch as their appearances, so before the zombies could trap them, Wu Zhi and Ye Qingling had long escaped.

Not giving up, the zombies chased after them. Wu Zhi felt a faint worry. If all the zombies around them moved like this once they learned of their existence, they might get surrounded by the gathering zombies.

They’d have to bolt out of the place before they were surrounded!

“Ye Qingling.” Wu Zhi looked back, panting. “We got to speed up— Are you OK?!”

Ye Qingling’s face was not red from physical exertion and instead a pale white. He gasped for breath as if he could not get enough oxygen. But even in this much agony, Ye Qingling still wordlessly kept up with Wu Zhi’s pace in an almost masochistic manner.

“Damn!” Wu Zhi stopped in his tracks, extremely frustrated. “I forgot you have a weak heart!”

Once they stopped, the determination Ye Qingling had to push on seemed to vanish. He bent over, gasping for air with all he could. But at this time, Ye Qingling suddenly let go of Wu Zhi’s hand, forcing out trembling words. “…You… Go!”

—Were they here already?

　 Just in this short break, the zombies had already gradually pressed closer.

—Why— Why did they always make him choose—

Splat. Splat. Splat.

Wu Zhi’s lips quivered, and he suddenly threw Ye Qingling over his back before sprinting with all his might. On Wu Zhi’s back, Ye Qingling gripped onto his glasses that nearly fell off his nose. His black bangs hid his expression, so only the fingers — gripping his spectacles so hard — that it was turning white could be seen.

Weaving through the alleys and running past the intersections, the vision in front of them suddenly opened up. In front of them was a construction site, with giant container vessels tidily arranged. Without a pause in his steps, Wu Zhi ran towards a vessel with a ladder put up, and put down Ye Qingling. Ye Qingling unhesitatingly climbed up the ladder, with Wu Zhi following closely behind him.

By the time they had both gotten on the container vessel, the zombies had already encircled them beneath. A few zombies attempted to climb up the ladder, but Wu Zhi fiercely pushed over the ladder. Seeing that the only way up had been eradicated, he then sprawled on the container, panting heavily.

The zombies could not come up. For now, they were safe.

Wu Zhi’s eyes rolled up and saw Ye Qingling’s figure at the corner of his eyes. “You good?”

Ye Qingling nodded and only continued to catch his breath wordlessly.

After a while of silence, as if to break this stillness, Wu Zhi suddenly laughed at himself, “Hey, doesn’t it feel like we’re in Resident Evil?”

Ye Qingling heaved softly, opening up his spectacle temples and putting the spectacles on. “This isn’t a movie.”

“It’s fucking because this is reality that I feel hella grossed out.” Wu Zhi sucked in a deep breath, and subsequently choked on the stench coming from beneath them. “Dammit! Why did this happen?”

Why?

Ye Qingling could not answer this, and neither could the zombies below them. Strictly speaking, the monsters below them were all victims of this catastrophe.

“Oi, after you find the police, what’s your plan? Go back home?”

Ye Qingling did not answer verbally and only shook his head.

He did not know, or did he not want to say?

Wu Zhi could be entirely sure now that Ye Qingling had some family issues. He had practically never seen Ye Qingling’s parents. Wu Zhi discovered with some grievances that even after so many years of being classmates, he did not even know the specifics of Ye Qingling’s family situation.

Wu Zhi sat up. He scratched his head and suggested with some carefulness, “How about this? Come with me first. Going alone is too dangerous. I have to check the situation at home first, then, we’ll go to the police station together? The more people there are, the easier it is to fend them off…”

“Wu Zhi.” Ye Qingling called his name softly. The eyes behind the glasses seemed to be smiling. “Thank you.”

Was this a yes? Wu Zhi realized glumly that he could not quite understand this guy’s thought process.

After a short rest, Wu Zhi felt that his stamina had recovered enough. He jumped to his feet and stretched his limbs. “Hey, let’s set off!” He pointed at the neatly stacked container vessels. “We’ll jump on these vessels. After that, we’ll reach Yezhi Road. Then it won’t be far from the police station.”

Right now, these container vessels were the best jumping boards. There was approximately five meters between each vessel. It would pose no problem at all for Wu Zhi alone, but right now, they had Ye Qingling. With a running start, Wu Zhi thought he should be able to jump across with Ye Qingling on his back. He felt as tense as he would be if he was walking a tightrope. If he made one mistake, the zombies below them would happily catch the fallen two.

Ye Qingling got up and walked to the side of the container vessel, as if to measure the distance between the containers. Wu Zhi thought he was worried that he could not jump across, and grinned. “No need to fear. It’ll just be a quick hop with you on my back. You don’t know this, right? In the province’s long jump competition, I’ve won…”

　 “Second-in-place.” Ye Qingling continued easily. “I know.”

“Oh, you actually knew that? Then…”

“Wu Zhi.”

“Hm?”

“I’m very happy.” Ye Qingling turned his head slightly. The scattered strands of hair covered the top half of his face. Ye Qingling’s skin was very pale. The contrast made his hair appear even darker. Wu Zhi could only see his thin, pale lips arch up slightly.

“I’m sorry.”

Wu Zhi’s pupils contracted sharply. He suddenly understood what Ye Qingling wanted to do. Quickly, quick, be quick—! Wu Zhi pushed his muscles to the limits. With long strides, arms extending, he wanted to reach Ye Qingling’s side in the very next moment. But, he can’t make it. Can’t make it, can’t make it, can’t make it…! His extended hand did not even touch the last edge of his clothes. Just like this, Wu Zhi witnessed Ye Qingling jump down from the container vessel, and was immediately swallowed up by the zombies.

“No—!!!”

Wu Zhi stood on the container vessel in a trance, trembling uncontrollably.

“…Again, another…”

He never thought of him as a burden, so why did that person so resolutely reject his help?

“Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, aaaah…. Why… Ah…”

—Wu Zhi, you can’t save anyone at all. Because you don’t have the strength to, nor the right to.

The evening sun shone down on the figure who had been frozen there for ages. Wu Zhi’s little finger moved, and he raised his head robotically towards the direction of his house. He numbly gazed at the location where that person was swallowed up. Then, he left without so much as another look behind.