Into The Sea

In the dead of night, Lan Wu jolted awake, tilting her head to listen intently. After a moment, she nimbly crept to the window, peering out with one eye.

A shadowy figure was slowly approaching from the end of the street. It moved on all fours, swaying unsteadily. As it turned its head, Lan Wu recognized it as a massive brown bear. However, half of the bear’s face was rotted away, exposing bone, and its almond-shaped pupils were bloodshot and terrifying.

A shiver ran down her spine, and she recoiled in fear.

She had no heartbeat and lacked the scent of a living human. Even a zombie bear infected with the virus shouldn’t have noticed her, but Ji Lingyue was different.

She turned to look at the girl sleeping on the bed. Ji Lingyue’s eyes were closed, her thick eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow over her face. After what had happened earlier, her breathing was heavy, and she was lost in a deep sleep.

After some hesitation, Lan quietly climbed back onto the bed and shook Ji Lingyue awake. Ji Lingyue was groggy and barely able to open her eyes. As she opened her mouth to speak, Lan Wu covered it with her hand and hissed a soft “Shhh.”

Ji Lingyue’s lashes fluttered as she gradually woke up. When Lan Wu removed her hand, Ji Lingyue sat up and mouthed, “What’s wrong?”

Lan Wu shook her head and reached for clothes, helping Ji Lingyue put them on. Ji Lingyue blinked and obediently extended her arms and legs, allowing Lan Wu to dress her. Only then did she whisper, “What is it?”

Before Lan Wu could answer, a faint click came from downstairs. Lan Wu froze and quickly looked out the window, only to find that the zombie bear that had been wandering the street was gone.

Thud…

Something heavy was climbing the stairs.

Thud…thud…

The faint, wheezing breaths carried a stench of decay. Ji Lingyue’s heartbeat quickened, almost syncing with the approaching footsteps. Lan Wu glanced at Ji Lingyue and saw her pale face, her body tense as she stared at the closed door.

This girl possessed an extraordinary sensitivity to impending danger.

Lan Wu hadn’t expected the zombie bear’s sense of smell to be sharper than when it was alive. She abandoned any hope of hiding and yanked Ji Lingyue to her side.

Ji Lingyue flinched, looking at her in alarm as she reached for the dagger by the bed.

“Get on my back,” Lan Wu whispered.

Ji Lingyue blinked. “What?”

Lan Wu bent down, her back to Ji Lingyue. “Hurry!”

The footsteps suddenly quickened, heading straight for their room.

Ji Lingyue didn’t have time to think. She grabbed the dagger and jumped onto Lan Wu’s back. At the same moment, a deep roar echoed through the room, and the door was smashed open.

A massive black shadow stomped into the room, the floor creaking under its weight. The entire building seemed to shake.

Amidst the chaos, Lan Wu shouted, “Hold on tight!” She leaped out the window, grabbed the nearby drainpipe, and nimbly climbed upwards.

The sound of shattering glass followed as the bear’s sharp claws reached out, narrowly missing Lan Wu’s skirt and leaving deep gouges in the wall.

Lan Wu clung to the wall like a nimble spider. Once they were relatively safe, she glanced down and gasped. “So scary.”

As soon as she spoke, a gunshot rang out from an unknown somewhere, the bullet hitting the zombie bear in the eye. But the second shot veered off course, heading straight for the two on the roof. Lan Wu’s eyes widened, and she instinctively turned, shielding Ji Lingyue.

Thud.

The bullet struck Lan Wu’s chest, and she let out a pained cry, collapsing to the ground.

An unexpected burning sensation spread from the wound. Lan Wu’s eyes widened in panic as she struggled to look at the injury. Unlike her usual rapid healing, the wound oozed thick, black blood, staining her white clothes.

“Lan Wu…”

A hoarse voice came from beside her. Ji Lingyue shook her head to clear the dizziness and staggered to her side, pulling her towards safety.

Lan Wu, weak and barely conscious, coughed up dark blood. Her face was pale, her beautiful eyes glazed over as she struggled to breathe.

The cold, inhuman blood dripped onto Ji Lingyue’s fingers. She froze, then slowly looked down at Lan Wu. “Lan Wu?”

Lan Wu’s head drooped, her long lashes casting a shadow over her face.

Ji Lingyue’s eyes widened, and she instinctively held her tighter, her voice trembling. “What’s wrong? Lan Wu, you’re a vampire. You’ll be okay…”

She tried to lift Lan Wu, but the vampire’s body was limp, and they both tumbled back to the ground.

“Lan Wu…”

Ji Lingyue sobbed, ignoring the pain in her knees as she desperately tried to lift Lan Wu again. Perhaps her desperate cries had some effect. Lan Wu’s lashes fluttered, and she managed to lift her heavy eyelids slightly. “Silver…”

“Silver? Silver?” Ji Lingyue finally understood, her eyes widening in realization. “A silver bullet?”

She frantically tried to tear open Lan Wu’s clothes, her hands shaking so badly that it took her several attempts to unbutton them. When she touched the vampire’s cold blood, she sniffled, unable to hold back a sob.

“Ugh…”

She hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. Looking at the gruesome wound, she felt helpless. “What… what do I do? Lan Wu, Lan Wu, what do I do?”

But no one could answer her. Ji Lingyue looked up in despair, seeing only Lan Wu’s closed eyes.

The vampire had no breath, no heartbeat. Lying there so still, Ji Lingyue couldn’t tell if Lan Wu was unconscious or truly dead.

***

The bright moon hung high in the sky, but the long night was far from over. Ji Lingyue carried the vampire on her back, carefully making her way down the alley, her hand gripping the sharp knife as she warily surveyed her surroundings.

Carrying Lan Wu down the stairs had exhausted her. Fortunately, she had managed to escape the small building before the person or people who had shot Lan Wu arrived.

Ji Lingyue tried to keep her footsteps as light as possible. Turning a corner, she found herself on another long street.

This dilapidated town probably didn’t have many residents even before the disaster. Tonight, she hadn’t encountered a single zombie. This was good. She didn’t know if she could protect herself and Lan Wu before she woke up.

Now, she needed to find another place to hide.

Ji Lingyue looked around, her gaze landing on a coffin shop called “Eternal Life.” She stopped.

Hmm…

Hiding here was probably the last thing our pursuers would expect.

Having made up her mind, Ji Lingyue hurried over and slipped under the partially closed shutter door.

After carefully pulling the door closed, she turned around and saw several rectangular shadows lined up quietly. Ji Lingyue bit her lip and walked to the coffin furthest back, climbing inside with Lan Wu and gently closing the lid.

Darkness enveloped them, but she wasn’t afraid. The narrow space brought them closer together, and she held Lan Wu tightly, burying her face in her chest.

She had already dug out the bullet, but she didn’t know if she had saved Lan Wu.

Ji Lingyue closed her eyes and, after a long time, let out a soft sigh. “I wish you had a heartbeat.”