What Should I Do If I Wake Up and It’s the Apocalypse? (GL) - Chapter 3

Just leaving as soon as she said she would—

That was impossible.

With the little girl’s permission, Mu Xiao made a simple round through her home, looking for something that could be used for self-defense.

She picked up a kitchen knife and swung it twice. Then Mu Xiao imagined herself facing a zombie while waving a kitchen knife, and with a green expression, she tossed the knife aside.

She had better find something longer.

At last, Mu Xiao chose a clothes-drying pole. She shortened it to its minimum length. The length was still fairly ideal, and the key point was that the material was sturdy without being too heavy.

Besides that, Mu Xiao also found several disposable masks. This improved her mood quite a bit. At the very least, she would not have to worry about some terrible liquid splashing into her mouth or nose and making her suffer.

After putting on the mask, Mu Xiao felt that she was more or less prepared.

She walked to the door and looked outside through the peephole. She did not see anything. At least, the zombies were not currently at the door.

Placing her hand on the doorknob, Mu Xiao felt somewhat uneasy. But when the corner of her eye caught sight of the little girl looking at her with hopeful eyes, a surge of courage rose inside her.

She could not be the first to get scared and end up frightening the little girl too.

“Stay here. Don’t make any sound. Wait for me to come back,” Mu Xiao whispered to the little girl, trying hard to look very confident.

The little girl nodded obediently. Suddenly, she ran to the side, stood on tiptoe, took a key out of a drawer, ran back, and stuffed it into Mu Xiao’s hand.

“Sister, this is our house key.”

Looking at the key in her hand, which still had a little white rabbit doll hanging from it, Mu Xiao’s nose inexplicably stung.

The apocalypse really was a wretched disaster.

She put the key into her pocket, reached out, and ruffled the little girl’s head. Watching the little girl resentfully cover her now messy hair, Mu Xiao grinned.

“My name is Mu Xiao. What’s yours?”

“My name is An Qi!” the little girl answered crisply.

Mu Xiao nodded to show she understood, then slowly turned the doorknob with gentle force.

With a faint metallic click, the door opened a crack as Mu Xiao pulled it.

“Roar—!”

A roar rushed straight at her. Mu Xiao’s hand was still pressing the doorknob when it was knocked away by a tremendous force. The edge of the door scraped across her arm, immediately burning hot with pain.

But Mu Xiao had no time to care about that. She hurriedly grabbed the clothes-drying pole and swung it forward. Pulling back her left hand, she pressed down on the other end of the pole and barely blocked the claws of the zombie pouncing at her.

An Qi’s terrified cry came from behind her, but the second half was swallowed back into her mouth. Although she was afraid, because she had prepared herself mentally beforehand, and because Mu Xiao had repeatedly warned her not to make any sound, this small little girl actually managed to react.

For many people who had just faced this terrifying world, such a reaction was equivalent to taking the first step, even if that step was very small and unremarkable.

Of course Mu Xiao heard An Qi’s short cry.

She did not want to become a meal on a zombie’s plate, and even more than that, she did not want the obedient little girl behind her to suffer these things.

That desperate momentum made her pour all her strength into her body at once. She raised her leg with force and kicked the zombie, actually sending it flying back several steps until it slammed heavily into the corridor wall.

Mu Xiao did not pause for even half a moment. She raised the clothes-drying pole in her hand and aimed the forked end at the zombie’s head, stabbing fiercely.

The zombie’s movements were not particularly agile to begin with. Before it could move, Mu Xiao had already struck its head.

She did not know whether the zombie’s bones had become fragile, or whether Mu Xiao, fighting for her life, had unleashed strength far beyond her usual ability, but the clothes-drying pole actually pierced straight through the zombie’s forehead. The entire forked end stabbed into the zombie’s brain.

The zombie did not even struggle. It completely stopped moving, hanging just like that on Mu Xiao’s clothes-drying pole.

It had only been one or two movements, yet she had broken out in a cold sweat. Mu Xiao panted and stared wide-eyed at the zombie.

Had she… killed a zombie?

“Mu Xiao Sister!” It was still An Qi who had seen Mu Xiao’s heroic actions. Seeing that the terrifying zombie had stopped moving while Mu Xiao stood motionless in the doorway, she could not help stepping forward and tugging Mu Xiao’s clothes.

She still did not dare look at the zombie, so all her attention was fixed on Mu Xiao.

“Ha, ha—”

Mu Xiao opened her mouth and panted heavily through the mask. A hint of excited light flashed in her eyes as she looked down at An Qi.

“An Qi, I killed a zombie?”

An Qi did not quite understand, but she still nodded.

“Yes. Mu Xiao Sister is amazing!”

The little girl’s admiring gaze made an indescribable sense of satisfaction swell in Mu Xiao’s chest. She looked at the zombie again. Its leg was bent unnaturally. Perhaps it had broken its leg while struggling before it died, which was why it had happened to avoid detection through the peephole just now.

“I just… I just remembered that I should aim for the head…” Mu Xiao muttered.

It seemed that the head really was a zombie’s weak point.

Suddenly, Mu Xiao felt as if she were being watched. She sharply turned her head and looked inside the apartment. Clearly, apart from An Qi, there was no one else in the room, and no zombies either.

That feeling disappeared in an instant. Mu Xiao shook her head. Could it be that she had been too tense just now?

“Mu Xiao Sister?” An Qi was frightened by Mu Xiao’s movement, and her voice also became timid. Instinctively, she moved closer to Mu Xiao’s side.

No matter what, Mu Xiao finally recovered from the shock and excitement of killing a zombie for the first time. She reached out to pull back the clothes-drying pole, but the entire head of the pole had stabbed into the zombie’s skull. When Mu Xiao moved it, she instead dragged the zombie toward herself.

“Wu—”

This time, An Qi truly saw the zombie’s appearance clearly. She instinctively wanted to cry out in alarm, but she forced the scream back into her mouth. Still, she inevitably grew frightened, her heartbeat speeding up and her breathing turning rapid.

Perhaps because it had not been long since it turned into a zombie, this zombie was actually not too ugly—excluding the bloody hole Mu Xiao’s clothes-drying pole had made. The air was only filled with the smell of blood.

Mu Xiao hurriedly kicked the zombie’s head, forcibly rescuing her first weapon. Then she kicked the zombie a little farther away. After confirming left and right that there were temporarily no other movements in the corridor, she turned around and crouched down, pressing one hand on An Qi’s shoulder.

“An Qi, my apartment is not far over there. I’ll go back and get my phone and some things, then come back to find you, okay?”

An Qi opened her eyes wide and looked at Mu Xiao. This time, however, she shook her head repeatedly, her small hand clutching Mu Xiao’s clothes tightly and refusing to let go.

“Lock the door properly. Stay in the apartment and don’t make any sound. You won’t be in danger,” Mu Xiao said with some difficulty. Seeing An Qi’s expression as if she were about to cry, Mu Xiao gritted her teeth and continued, “The commotion just now was loud. There should still be other zombies on this floor. I… can’t guarantee I’ll definitely come back safely. If you hide in the apartment, maybe your mom escaped, and she’ll definitely come back to find you.”

Mu Xiao had finally not been carried away by the victory just now. Perhaps she should thank the zombie’s broken leg before it died for that. From childhood to adulthood, she had never been an optimistic person. Even now, she still doubted whether she herself could survive in front of the next zombie. How could she dare bring along a little girl?

Even if it was only the same floor.

Even if it was only a dozen steps.

That was a life. A little girl’s life. Mu Xiao did not dare carry it. She simply had no confidence.

“Mu Xiao Sister…” An Qi heard the firmness in Mu Xiao’s words. She stared blankly at Mu Xiao, bit her lip, and lowered her head. In the end, she still let go.

“Mu Xiao Sister won’t abandon An Qi, right?”

“Don’t worry. I promised I would bring back my phone and help you find your mom.” Mu Xiao inexplicably let out a breath of relief. “Lock the door properly and wait for me to come back.”

“Okay. An Qi will wait for Sister to come back.” When An Qi lifted her head again, her eyes were red, clearly holding back tears as she looked at Mu Xiao.

Mu Xiao felt as if her heart had been clenched. She forced herself to keep a stiff face as she closed the door, then took out the key and locked it properly. Only then did she turn toward the direction of her apartment, gripping the clothes-drying pole tightly in her hand.

It was because she had no confidence that she could protect An Qi in front of zombies. Before she came out, she had not closed her own door, and she still did not know what her room looked like. It was better for her to go alone!

After silently telling herself this in her heart, Mu Xiao gritted her teeth, clutched the clothes-drying pole, and walked toward her residence.