Chapter 5: Maggots in the Food

Seeing six people standing beside him, the Awakened One didn’t ask if there were any more. A team of this size was sufficient; any larger, and the target would be too big, hindering their mobility.

He distributed a handgun to each person, cautioning them, “You all must be careful. It’s getting late, so don’t stray too far. If things get too dangerous, just run back here. And don’t worry about attracting Variants; we Awakened Ones will take care of them.”

His tone carried the air of sending newly-adult children off to war.

“Thank you, we’ll be careful!” said the man in the tracksuit.

Then, led by him, the group of six, including Chu Xihen, exited the waiting room through the main entrance.

Perhaps the Green Fur Wolves in the area were all attacking the upper levels of the waiting room, as they didn’t encounter any upon leaving.

The six cautiously ran forward, covering several kilometers in one go, stopping only after confirming the surrounding area was safe.

The fastest runners were the tracksuit man and his girlfriend, followed closely by a tall boy. Chu Xihen, along with a baby-faced boy a head shorter than him, and a petite girl, lagged behind, panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

After hiding inside a small shop, Chu Xihen collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, his ears ringing.

“Bro, how are you even weaker than me?” said the baby-faced boy, sitting next to him and patting his shoulder.

“This is more exercise than I’ve done in the past two years,” Chu Xihen replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.

The exertion brought a slight flush to his pale cheeks, making his flawless features even more striking, causing the baby-faced boy to become somewhat shy and avoid direct eye contact.

“Thank you for being willing to come out with me. Let me introduce myself first. I’m Zhuang Shi, a fitness instructor.” Zhuang Shi, the man in the black tracksuit who had initially suggested venturing out, then introduced the woman in the white tracksuit beside him. “This is my girlfriend, Xiao Xi, also a fitness instructor.”

They were both confident in their physical abilities and therefore wanted to take a gamble.

The apocalypse wouldn’t end overnight; they needed to save themselves.

“I’m Gao Lin,” the tall boy said, raising his hand slightly to acknowledge. Then he nudged the baby-faced boy sitting next to Chu Xihen with his foot. “He’s Zhou Quan. We’re both students at A University and not locals.”

The remaining petite girl also raised her hand. “I’m Su Yan, Gao Lin’s schoolmate and junior, although he probably doesn’t know me.”

She seemed shy when facing Gao Lin, but turned to Zhou Quan with more ease. “I didn’t expect you to be from A University too. Are you and Gao Lin close? I’ve never seen you two together.”

Zhou Quan scratched his head sheepishly. “I’m more of a homebody. I generally don’t leave my dorm unless there’s an earthquake or an apocalypse.”

No wonder his stamina is on par with mine, Chu Xihen thought.

With everyone introduced, they all turned to Chu Xihen.

His appearance was truly outstanding. When he walked out from the crowd in the waiting room earlier, he had been the center of attention. Once someone saw his face, it was hard to ignore him.

“I’m Chu Xihen, a local. My stamina is terrible. If we encounter Variants and I can’t run, you can leave me behind without feeling guilty,” Chu Xihen said sincerely.

Zhou Quan, however, put his arm around his shoulder, saying, “Don’t be so negative, bro. I’m just as weak as you are. We’ll just focus on not abandoning each other.”

“I disagree. We came out here to kill Variants. A moment’s carelessness could cost us our lives. Since you’ve come out here, you need to be prepared for that. Don’t expect anyone to help you,” Zhuang Shi said sternly.

His body was covered in muscles, and he looked quite intimidating when he frowned.

Xiao Xi tugged at his sleeve. “Why so serious? We’re a team since we came out together. We need to stick together to kill Variants. Let’s not make things unpleasant.”

In this situation, being backstabbed by a teammate could lead to everyone’s death.

“Sorry, I didn’t come out here to kill Variants. I want to take Zhou Quan back. There are too many people in the airport; it’s not safe at all. Waiting for rescue is too slow, so we decided to go back ourselves,” Gao Lin said, also sitting on the ground, tilting his head to look at Zhuang Shi.

“Then I’ll go with Gao Lin and them. My home is in Nan City, and I want to go back and see it,” Su Yan added. Coincidentally, Gao Lin and his friend were also heading towards Nan City, so they were on the same route.

“Are you guys sick? We wouldn’t have come out with you if you had said so earlier!” Zhuang Shi couldn’t help but curse.

He had initially thought they had six people to kill Variants, but now it was down to just the two of them – no, there was still one person who hadn’t spoken up.

Zhuang Shi asked Chu Xihen, “What about you? Did you come out here to kill Variants, or do you have other intentions?”

Chu Xihen looked innocent. “I want to find a scenic place to retire.”

Zhuang Shi was speechless.

He shouldn’t have asked. This pretty boy looked like he would only be a burden. There was no point in bringing him along!

“Then we’ll head towards Nan City first. You can’t guarantee we won’t encounter Variants along the way, right? If we do, we’ll fight them together, okay?” Xiao Xi made a decision immediately.

She’s quite adaptable, Chu Xihen thought.

“Okay, let’s go!” Gao Lin agreed, standing up and pulling the limp Zhou Quan to his feet.

Zhou Quan didn’t forget what he had said about not abandoning each other and pulled Chu Xihen up as well.

“Aren’t you hungry? This is a store; there should be something to eat. Let’s find something to eat first?” Su Yan and Gao Lin had been brought to the airport by the Awakened Ones directly from school, empty-handed, without even a bag.

They had arrived at the airport in the morning and only had a bowl of instant noodles. Now it was afternoon, and it was indeed time to eat.

“Then let’s look around,” Zhuang Shi said, tightening his hiking backpack. He and Xiao Xi split up to search the store.

Gao Lin didn’t stand idle, while the remaining three were too tired and sat back down on the ground.

The store had already been looted once, and there was little food left. In the end, they only found three bags of biscuits and two bags of instant noodles.

“There’s no water to soak it in, so we’ll just eat it dry!” Gao Lin tossed a bag of instant noodles to Su Yan, while he and Zhou Quan shared the other bag.

Zhuang Shi had found three bags of biscuits, enough to share one with Chu Xihen.

But Zhuang Shi didn’t think that way. He and his girlfriend sat down, ready to eat the biscuits, and kindly told Chu Xihen, “If you want to eat, go find some yourself.”

Sitting there like a lord, who would really wait on him?

Chu Xihen shook his head. “I’m not hungry yet.”

Zhuang Shi snorted, thinking Chu Xihen was just showing off.

He ostentatiously tore open a bag of biscuits, but the next moment, Xiao Xi screamed and jumped up.

Inside the biscuit bag that Zhuang Shi had torn open was a pile of wriggling maggots. Because he had torn the bag open with too much force, the maggots flew out and landed all over him.

He immediately threw the biscuits far away, retching and shaking the maggots off his body onto the ground.

Chu Xihen and the others quickly got up and moved away.

“How can there be maggots in these biscuits?” Zhuang Shi asked, still in shock.

Xiao Xi reacted quickly, looking at the two bags of biscuits in her hand. “Could there be maggots in these too?”

The thought alone gave her goosebumps, and she threw the two unopened bags of biscuits away as well.

Gao Lin and Su Yan exchanged glances, holding the instant noodles in their hands. Then Gao Lin said to Su Yan, “I’ll tear it open a little to take a look. Don’t move yet.”

He gently tore a slit in the corner, then his handsome face contorted in disgust, and he threw the instant noodles away as well. “Throw it away; it’s all spoiled.”

“No, these are all sealed items. How did they spoil like this?” Zhou Quan asked in disbelief.

Chu Xihen’s voice slowly sounded, “It might be one of the phenomena of the apocalypse.”

If humanity thinks that the apocalypse is just a Variant invasion, they are sorely mistaken.

Xiao Xi’s face turned pale as she tugged at Zhuang Shi’s sleeve. “Check the things in your bag. If they’re all spoiled, throw them away.”

Zhuang Shi no longer cared how unkind his behavior had been earlier. He put down his backpack and poured out a pile of food: instant noodles, candies, sealed cooked foods, compressed biscuits…

For items in transparent bags, there was no need to tear them open. At a glance, they could see maggots wriggling inside. Even the compressed biscuits were infested.

In the end, Zhuang Shi’s bulging hiking backpack became empty, with nothing left.

“All the food is gone. Should we go back to the airport and reconsider our plans?” Xiao Xi asked with difficulty.

They had come out full of vigor, but now they had to go back without accomplishing anything, which was quite embarrassing.

But seeing all the food turned into maggots had cooled their enthusiasm and made them more fearful.

However, as soon as Xiao Xi finished speaking, a loud noise came from outside, followed by five claw marks appearing on the rolling shutter door.

“D-did a Variant find us?” Su Yan asked, her voice trembling.