Edge of the Apocalypse
Chapter 39 - 37: Liu Ye’ye’s Ice Cream

Chapter 39: Chapter 37: Liu Ye’ye’s Ice Cream

Yu Dong stood on the first floor, silent for a long time.

Just a moment ago, he had gotten a direct, brutal look at everything Zhao Yun had once suffered.

Lin Xiaojun, Jiang Xupeng, and Liang Mian—three strong men—had hounded a young girl in the prime of her life to her death. A nurse who reported for her shifts on time every day. A survivor who just wanted to live.

’I was so close... Just one step away from saving her.’

Yu Dong had used sound to lure away the zombies infesting the stairwell of Building Three, but he never expected the three from property management to seize the opportunity and enter the building ahead of him.

They had Sister Zhang’s key ring, which gave them access to any of the apartments rented out by property management.

Yu Dong never even had a chance to mount a rescue before he was faced with Shen Xinyi’s body...

The atmosphere in Building One was oppressive.

"Xinyi... promised... to bake... cookies with me... WAAAH..."

As she spoke, Liu Ye’ye’s tears started to flow uncontrollably.

Zhou’s face was also filled with grief. "We have to fight back! They drove our teammate to her death!"

"Dongzi, just say the word. I’ll risk it all!"

Even Zhou Jian Country, who had always been rather timid, had been provoked into a state of ferocity.

Yu Dong looked at his team and forced himself to calm down.

"Third floor. We’re having a meeting."

As the three of them went upstairs, Yu Dong glanced back at Zhao Yun.

"Go back inside and stay there. Don’t come out. If I catch you... I’ll throw you to the zombies myself."

"I... I understand."

Zhao Yun never expected the man Liangzi had described as kind could sound so cold.

Terrified, she quickly shrank back inside.

Yu Dong, Zhou Jian Country, and Liu Ye’ye held a meeting.

"Our conflict with those three is irreconcilable! This is a clash between two fundamentally different ways of thinking!"

"Either they take us out, or we take them out! There is no other choice. The war has already begun!"

"Alright, now we can start discussing how to eliminate the three of them!"

Yu Dong wasn’t planning on playing nice.

In his eyes, trying to smooth things over at a time like this was a sign of weakness.

He now saw clearly who was an enemy and who was a friend.

After what they did to Shen Xinyi, even if they managed to find some resources in Building Three to survive, they would eventually come for Building One. Yu Dong had to strike first and take them out.

For the first time in a long while, Zhou lit a cigarette. Through the smoke, his hands stopped trembling, and his voice became firm.

"Give me a chance to get close to them. I’ll take care of all three."

After a long discussion, they finally settled on a battle plan centered around Zhou.

This time, the two of them would support Zhou’s operation.

Afterward, Yu Dong went to clean his equipment.

He needed to be in peak condition for this.

Zhou went to the fifth floor for a while before returning to the first floor to watch over Zhao Yun.

That evening, Liu Ye’ye used their precious electricity to bake a tray of little lion-shaped butter cookies—the same cookies she was supposed to have baked with Shen Xinyi.

The three of them shared the cookies until they were all gone. In that moment, their hearts were united.

They had only one goal: to eradicate evil.

...

「Day 15 of the Apocalypse.」

The first thing Yu Dong saw when he opened his eyes was a pink room.

He had slept in the living room of Liu Ye’ye’s apartment last night.

After yesterday’s events, Yu Dong felt a persistent sense of unease.

’In some ways, compared to zombies, humans... are far more terrifying.’

’You can study the habits of zombies, but human nature... is impossible to grasp.’

To this day, Yu Dong still couldn’t understand how Liangzi had become like this.

He also never imagined that the bright, alluring Shen Xinyi would be so fiercely resolute, choosing to jump without a moment’s hesitation.

After sitting up, Yu Dong knocked on Liu Ye’ye’s bedroom door.

"Time to get up. We’re eating early today."

He glanced at his watch. It was already 7 a.m., but Zhou hadn’t shown up yet.

Yu Dong was about to go downstairs to get Zhou, who had slept in the living room of Apartment 103 last night, watching over the terrified Zhao Yun.

Just as he reached the door, he heard a heavy knock from outside.

Slightly startled, Yu Dong instinctively reached for the spear by the door.

"Dongzi, it’s me... Open up. I’m not feeling well."

Hearing Zhou’s voice, Yu Dong put the spear down, removed the door jammer, and opened the door.

Zhou’s face was flushed, and he swayed slightly as he walked.

"What’s wrong, Zhou?"

"I... I don’t know. I think I have a fever, too. I’ve felt awful ever since I woke up this morning."

’Zhou is sick too?’

Yu Dong’s mind went to the pile of rotting, stinking, festering corpses by the first-floor entrance...

"The sanitary conditions on the first floor are terrible; it’s easy to get an infection. I shouldn’t have let you stay there... Where’s Zhao Yun?"

"I saw she was still asleep, so I came over by myself."

"Okay... you lie down for now. I’ll get you some medicine."

Yu Dong felt Zhou’s head; it was already burning up. There was no need to check his temperature. He immediately found some ibuprofen and gave it to Zhou.

Then, Yu Dong hurried to find the medicine he had used to treat Liu Ye’ye before.

Just then, Liu Ye’ye also got up, scratching her head.

"Zhou’s sick too?"

"Yeah. Go find the oxygen tank you used last time. I’ll give him the antibiotics and everything else, but I don’t know if it’ll work this time..."

’It’s so hard to deal with situations like this without a doctor.’

The thought of a doctor made Yu Dong think of Shen Xinyi, and his mood soured even further.

Meanwhile, Zhou lay on the sofa, writhing continuously. His face grew redder and redder, and blood began to seep from his nostrils.

"Zhou, just rest for a few days. We’ll take care of them after you get better. Don’t rush it. Building One is safe for now anyway."

Zhou didn’t say anything, and his body stopped writhing.

When Yu Dong didn’t hear a response, he assumed Zhou had fallen asleep and went to make breakfast himself.

"I found the oxygen tank."

Liu Ye’ye came out holding the oxygen tank, then... she stared at Yu Dong with a look of absolute horror.

"Senior!!!"

Yu Dong saw Liu Ye’ye pointing behind him and immediately knew something was wrong. He spun around.

ROAR!!!

His face covered in blood, Zhou lunged at Yu Dong’s neck!

Yu Dong had just woken up and wasn’t wearing any of his gear. If that bite landed, a huge chunk of flesh would be torn right off.

In the critical moment, Yu Dong reacted instantly!

He shot one hand out and clamped it around Zhou’s neck!

With his other hand, he restrained Zhou’s flailing arm.

"Zhou!!!"

He roared.

But the already-turned Zhou was beyond reason, lunging and snapping at Yu Dong relentlessly. He was much stronger now, almost a match for Yu Dong.

Yu Dong was thrown into a desperate struggle. He kicked at Zhou several times, trying to get to his spear, but the zombie-Zhou was latched onto him in close combat, making it impossible to create any distance.

Adrenaline surged through him. Yu Dong used every ounce of his strength and agility to dodge each attack!

He could hit the zombified Zhou a hundred times, but if the zombie bit or scratched him just once... it was all over.

In a grapple like this, if Yu Dong didn’t create some distance immediately, he was bound to get hurt!

And getting hurt meant dying!

After a moment of panic, Liu Ye’ye saw Yu Dong was in danger and immediately went for his spear.

"Senior, I’ll help you!"

Then, she viciously thrust it at the zombie-Zhou’s head!

SQUELCH!

Her unskilled spearmanship caused her to stab Zhou directly in the ear.

Zhou roared in pain, instantly switched targets, and lunged at Liu Ye’ye.

He tackled her straight to the ground!

"No!!!"

Yu Dong broke free, snatched the other spear from the doorway, and plunged it toward Zhou’s head!

SQUELCH!

The zombie-Zhou... was dead.

Yu Dong pulled Liu Ye’ye out from under Zhou’s body.

"Ye Ye, are you okay?"

He lifted her onto the sofa... saw fresh blood seeping from her leg, and pushed up her pajama pants.

Beneath was a neat row of teeth marks, so deep the bone was visible.

Yu Dong froze.

Liu Ye’ye glanced down, and a fog seemed to cloud her eyes.

"Senior, am I... am I going to die?"

Yu Dong shot to his feet!

"No! I won’t let you turn! I have a way... I have a way! A hacksaw! If we amputate, we can stop the infection."

COUGH!

Liu Ye’ye coughed up a mouthful of blood and grabbed Yu Dong’s hand.

"Don’t... I’m scared of the pain. My body feels so hot... I think I’m already infected. Don’t make me suffer. Let’s just... talk for a bit."

Yu Dong’s lips tightened. He tilted his head back, took two deep breaths, then knelt down and gently stroked Liu Ye’ye’s face.

"Do you have any last wishes?"

"I... I don’t have any. My biggest wish... my dad already granted it for me."

"I’ll get revenge for you. I swear!"

"Zhou is already dead. You already did..."

"No! How could Zhou suddenly... Damn it! Let’s not talk about that. Do you have any other wishes right now?"

The image of that woman flashed through Yu Dong’s mind.

’It could only be her!’

’Zhao Yun!’

’But how did she do it?’

"Senior, I... I remember we still have two tubs of Häagen-Dazs. We said we’d eat them together when we were rescued. I’m so hot... I really want to have one more bite of ice cream..."

"I’ll go get it for you! Wait for me!"

Yu Dong wiped his face, bolted up to the fourth floor, and grabbed the two tubs of ice cream from the mini-fridge before racing back down.

By the time he got back, Liu Ye’ye’s face was covered in blood, and she was no longer moving.

CLATTER... CLATTER...

The two tubs of Häagen-Dazs fell to the floor... and rolled away.

The creamy white ice cream spilled out of the containers, landing in a pool of blood on the floor of Apartment 301 and soaking up the crimson liquid.