Into the New World

Day 1 - [Part Two]

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It was 4pm in the afternoon, Haoxuan and Yibo are crouched down in the back of a car patiently waiting for the person who looked like a corpse, veins potruding out of it's neck to its face, eyes hazy as if it's blind, tongue rolled out it's mouth reaching it's abdomen, clothes torn apart with blood scattered here and there and along with it's barefooted feet to move out far away from the convenience store they are aiming to find food. With characteristics like these, you can barely call it a human for it is more mortifying and horrible than a human. Yibo looked at it for a second and retracted his gaze to look over Haoxuan who is rumbling nonstop and complaining here and there for they are waiting there for almost 20 minutes without moving from their position.

"Argh, how long do we have to wait for that thing to move, my legs are giving out and I'm also starving. Look what time it is now. Just f*cking move you sh*thead", Haoxuan cursed at the zombie hanging around the convenience store. Yibo hearing this wasn't even fazed for he is already used to it, for Haoxuan cursed when he is hungry and annoyed, though Haoxuan didn't curse when the two of them was once an actor and everything was normal, but it got worst when the apocalypse began. Yibo looked over again at the zombie, and as if it heard what Haoxuan said, it moved away from the store and slowly walked far away as if it has a destination in mind. Upon seeing this, the two quickly moved out of their hiding place and agilely moved their way into the store. Once they are inside the store, they immediately rummaged through the place and put everything they deemed important to their backpacks.

"Finally I can eat everything I want to eat. That sh*thead made us wait for eternity", Haoxuan complained. He put every sweets he can find into his backpack and grabbed one that he liked, removed it's wrap and puts it into his mouth. While Haoxuan was happily putting sweets in his bag, Yibo is busy searching medicines and a map that can help them to leave the city and find a safe place. The two worked together to get food immediately for they didn't know if someone would suddenly pop out, out of nowhere and steal the place they're at.

"Hey Yibo are you done over there?" Haoxuan said to Yibo who is at the other side of the aisle. While waiting for Yibo's response, Haoxuan is busy putting all of the food he ransacked to his backpack. Hearing no response fo over a minute, Haoxuan then realized that something was off. Haoxuan then looked over where Yibo must have been, when suddenly a hand shot out behind him and covered his mouth, dragging him to an inconspicuous area. Scared that it was someone who has ill intention, Haoxuan struggled to fight back whoever it was holding him.

"Shush! Be quiet", whispered by the man holding Haoxuan to his ear. Hearing his voice, Haoxuan now realized it was Yibo and he turned to face Yibo. Yibo loosened his hold to Haoxuan when he turned towards him. "Why did you suddenly grabbed me and even dragged me to this area. You almost shocked me to death, you know that?!", whispered yelled by Haoxuan to Yibo which the latter just ignored the other's complain. He just looked over the area where he had been, and he can see that the zombie that was hanging around the store earlier made it's way back to the store they were in. It seems that the store was it's territory and the way it moved seems like it hadn't noticed them entering the store. Yibo noticing this quickly alerted his companion.

"Stop talking. Look over there", Yibo said to Haoxuan who continued to nagged at him not knowing the situation they were in. Haoxuan who saw the look on Yibo's face now realized how grave the situation they were in. He then also looked over the area where Yibo mentioned and he was struck dumb in his place when he saw the scene. It was the zombie he cursed at when they were hiding at the back of the car. Remembering that scene, he can't help but cursed at it again in his heart for coming back to the store. The zombie walked to the to the back of the aisle where the comfort room was loacated far from where Yibo and Haoxuan was at. Seeing this, Haoxuan let out a sigh of relief and moved back his gaze towards Wang Yibo.

"What do we do now?", Haoxuan asked to Yibo. Yibo then gestured to him to be quiet and to slowly moved out of their hiding place which is the second aisle. Yibo began to slowly moved towards the other aisle near the counter where the exit was located. They quickly and quietly manoeuvred themselves to get out of the store. When they were near the exit, a sound broke out nailing them into place. Panic started to arise inside Wang Yibo and Wang Haoxuan. Looking back to where they came from, they were shell shocked and sweat started to form on their backs. What they saw was the zombie is 10 steps right behind them. They were shocked beyond words on how they didn't notice it tailing behind them. Under it's feet was a can that unlikely rolled out of the shelf that caused the sound they heard earlier.

The zombie was moving it's head seemingly searching for where the sound came from. Wang Yibo and Wang Haoxuan were well aware that if they didn't escape soon, they were undoubtedly be found and be eaten alive. The zombie slowly walked step by step towards their direction but it didn't seem to notice their presence. Wang Yibo and Wang Haoxuan who noticed this, quickly opened the door and exited right through it, the zombie heard their footsteps and like it was injected with chicken blood(1), it started running chasing after the two. Just before it reached Wang Yibo and Wang Haoxuan, Wang Yibo slammed the door shut right through the zombie's face. Wang Haoxuan flinched by the sound but was grateful that it didn't reached them. Wang Yibo was also thankful and both Wang Yibo and Wang Haoxuan let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. The two then looked at each other and faintly smiled for they survived yet another catastrophe.

"Wooh! I thought I was gonna die back there hahaha, fortunately we moved fast and thanks for the heads up Yibo!", Wang Haoxuan laughingly said to Yibo who was now back to his stone face. Haoxuan used to Yibo's coldness didn't pay it any mind and they continued on their journey.

......

Walking in the now empty streets of the city made Wang Haoxuan to reminisce to the past where everything was still normal. He remembered how the street was full of cars reaching to the horizon, people walking on the sidewalk leisurely taking their time and also those who are hurriedly running to their destination, and to those people who stood under the big screen attached to a building playing an advertisement of their favourite artist.

While Wang Haoxuan was lost in his thoughts, Wang Yibo then heard a gunshot coming from a house across the street. Wang Yibo then hurriedly tapped Haoxuan's shoulder to get him out of his thoughts and said to him, "There's a gunshot in that house across the street". Wang Haoxuan who flinched when Yibo tapped his shoulder and bringing him out of his thoughts, and heard him say that, already knows what he meant to say.

The two then hurriedly run towards the direction where Yibo pointed at. Upon arriving in front of the house, they noticed that there are zombies layed around the backyard of the house with a bullet hole in their heads. Seeing this, the two immediately opened the front door of the house. Wang Yibo twisted the doorknob and the door easily opened. It seems that the owner of the house forgot to lock the front door, gaining them access to enter the house without any problem. Wang Yibo was in front of Wang Haoxuan and they quietly observed the inside of the house. In front of them is a living room on the right and a stair on the left, while a kitchen was on the furthest back of the room.

"We should split up", Wang Yibo said to Wang Haoxuan. Haoxuan nodded and took the stairs. Wang Yibo then assessed his surroundings and found that the place was still clean. He walked towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. In it was vegetables that already rotted and some packaged foods that can still be eaten. Closing the refrigerator, he also looked through the cabinets to search for canned goods that can be salvaged. There was a plentiful amount of canned goods that he found and he felt satisfied. Noticing that there's nothing left to be salvaged, he came back to the living room. When searched the area, he noticed that there is a photo frame with a family of three placed near the television. He looked at it, and within the photo was a woman and a man with a happy smile along with a teenager boy who is around 16 or 17 in the middle of the two couple. Then he heard a shrill cry coming from upstairs.

......

(1) Injected with chicken blood - Chinese netizens use the term to mean that someone is crazy or obssessed about something or an idol. Or it means someone is very excited. The saying dates back to the practice of actually injecting chicken blood into the human body that arose in 1959 in Shanghai. A doctor named Yu Changshi first performed this "treatment" on himself, which soon became popular during the Cultural Revolution. Yu said he "felt especially energetic" after giving himself a shot of chicken blood.