Book 1 Chapter 1:Rebirth
"Crunch-crack!"
Experiencing severe pain transmitted from hischest, Ye Chen reluctantly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a worldstained in blood. From his ears, he could hear low excited growls followed bythe crunching of bones; the experience was truly blood-curdling.
Am I going to die?
Ye Chen was bitter, having struggled for tengrueling years, spending his days in intense caution, even clenching his weaponin his sleep, waking from the slightest disturbance. Yet today, because of aminor negligence of not masking the scent after successfully hunting andkilling a Cerberus, he was pursued by aBlood-horn beast.
Just like that, he felt his body slowly being devoured;perhaps such a death was as good as any?
While Ye Chen was entertaining such a morbidline of thought, he couldn"t help but laugh bitterly. After acknowledging thathe could not overturn the situation and his death was imminent, he actuallyfelt a sense of relief.
During high school, his parents died in atragic car accident, leaving his younger sister as his sole companion, yet whenthe apocalypse struck, his sister fell victim to the infectious maw of azombie.
Now that he thought abought it, he wondered forwhat reason had he to continue living?
Perhaps it was the same reason as everyoneelse, living just to survive….
Throughout these ten years, he relied on hisfear of death as well as his thirst for life, aimlessly staggering on the brinkof life and death, struggling like a ragged dog, gasping, to the extent wherehe doubted, was he still human?
Death perhaps, could be perceived as a release!
Perhaps having figured it out, Ye Chen felthimself relieved from a heavy burden, he wholeheartedly relaxed.
Lil" sis, I"ll be with you soon.
His consciousness gradually dimmed, fallinginto a deep slumber.
"Big brother, time to wake up."
A crisp and gentle voice entered his ears,followed by a cool and delicate hand pinching his nose, which instantly joltedhim from his slumber. With a "whoosh" he flipped out of bed and subconsciouslyretreated. However halfway through the motions, his back slammed into the wall,causing intense pain.
What"s going on?
As his consciousness gradually cleared, Ye Chendiscovered that he was no longer under the b.l.o.o.d.y maw of the Blood-horn beast,but on top of a soft, comfortable bed.
As he raised his head, the sight that greetedhim seemed to cause time to stretch into eternity.
Beside the bed, under the lights stood adelicate and charming girl, with long eyelashes, curved lips, a face br.i.m.m.i.n.gwith a smile, she was a indeed beautiful. Her smile caused her eyes to curveinto a pair of crescent moons, on her exquisite cheeks were two shallowdimples. The air around seemed to have ceased flowing, time itself seemed topause during this moment.
"Big brother, what are you dawdling about for,its time to get ready. Today is your graduation day, it"d be terrible if youwere late." The girl blinked her large eyes while talking with puffed cheeks.
This familiar appearance and voice, fell likedroplets of rain on Ye Chen"s heart. For a while, he felt everything a dream,not daring to believe that the sister that fell to a zombie during thebeginning of the apocalypse was actually standing right before him alive andwell!
Wait a sec!
University graduation?
Ye Chen felt a shudder; doesn"t that mean thattoday is the 1st of July 2013, also known as that day the apocalypse struck?Could it be that he was reborn back into that very day ten years ago?
Ye Chen gave the room a look over; it was stillquite dark outside, the surroundings were not very s.p.a.cious. The antique clockhanging on the wall chimed incessantly with an ominous "dong dong", on theyellowing walls were plastered a couple of dated posters as well as two old photosdisplaying a young couple with compa.s.sionate smiles seeming quite endearing and amiable. Far off, therestood a desk stacked with various books.
This appears to be his room while he wasstudying at university.
Ye Chen stared blankly for quite a while beforedetermining that he was indeed not in a dream, but actually back in time tenyears ago! Such a bizarre occurrence did not sent him into a panic, but merelystupefied him for a while. He immediately calmed down, after a moment of deepsilence, he walked off the bed and solemnly told his sister Ye Zhu saying:"Lil" Sis, in a while I want you to take our bank card and take out all of oursavings!"
Ye Zhu was startled, confused she asked: "Allof it? What do you plan to do with it?"
Ye Chen patted her head while gazing at herdotingly saying: "Rest a.s.sured, I won"t do anything insensible."
Ye Zhu gave him a look filled with suspicion,yet did not say another word. Ever since their parents died in that caraccident, it was Ye Chen who provided for her in their place, whether it beschool fees or rental fees, Ye Chen had to earn enough by working whilemanaging his studies. She remembered that on one occasion, during the thirdyear of middle school, she was envious of her cla.s.smate"s gorgeous leatherwallet, when Ye Chen found out; he secretly went to a work site and helped dovarious odd jobs for a week, exhausting himself severely in order to save upenough to buy her that exact wallet.
It was because he figured that as a girl, hisyounger sister had to maintain a favorable impression. Ye Chen rather had lessto wear and eat than be a miser when it comes to his sister, be it clothes oraccessories, he would always pick ones of better quality, all so that she wouldnever be ashamed in front of her peers.
On recalling the event, Ye Zhu felt her nosetingle and tighten, she nodded her head gently, turned and approached thebedside. Underneath the bed, below a dusty wooden plank, she took out a rag. Withinit was wrapped a sparkling white bank card, no thief could possibly haveguessed that Ye Chen would store his wallet in such a place.
"Then, off I go." Ye Zhu took the bank card,and carefully placed it in the inner pocket of her jeans, followed by a smile.
Ye Chen nodded, saying: "Take care on the way."
Ye Zhu"s gave a playful laugh which soundedlike an oriole"s song, with that, she turned to leave.
After Ye Zhu left, Ye Chen withdrew the smileon his face and resumed his cold demeanor, he approached the antique clock andobserved that it was 6:20 in the morning, if he wasn"t mistaken, the apocalypsewould strike at around 7:00 this very night, he only had roughly 12 hours toprepare!
Ye Chen calmly calculated his next move, sincehe was given another chance, he would definitely not allow the tragedy torepeat itself!
In the previous life, it was because he went toattend his graduation leaving his sister alone at home, which resulted in hersuffering death at the hands of a d.a.m.ned zombie.
On top of the desk, under a lamp stood an oldphoto frame, within it was a family picture featuring a young couple in thecenter, on both sides stood a boy and a girl around fifteen and eleven years ofage respectively.
"Dad, Mom." Ye Chen gazed at the photo witheyes glistening, quietly he spoke: "I will take good care of Ye Zhu, absolutely!"
He turned to approach the bedside and proceededto pack anything useful he could find. During the apocalypse, roughly 70% ofpeople will turn into zombies, a cheap rental housing like this simply cannotstand up to a zombie a.s.sault, he definitely had to secure a safer residence.
After a while, Ye Chen was done packing, boththeir belongings were packed into a small suitcase. Inside it contained a fewsets of clean clothes, as for everything else; they were largely pointless,like blankets and textbooks for example.
Ye Chen approached the desk and gazed deeply atthe photo frame. After a long silence, he decided to take it along, placing itinto his suitcase. After which, he sat on his bed in deep thought, carefullyplanning his next move.
This apocalypse was no trifle, at 7:00 tonight;an explosion during ascientific experiment in North America will result in a virus leaking out andspreading throughout the world at the speed of light, instantly enveloping theentire world denying any chance of a prior indication.
Under the influence of such a virus, those with weak const.i.tutions as wellas those suffering from major illnesses, will be instantly mutated into viciouszombies. These zombies were not the lumbering and weak zombies as seen in themovies, but were shockingly powerful, equivalent to the combined strength ofthree adult men. The steel sheeted door of a rental apartment would be shreddedalmost instantly!
Other than zombies, the animals all over the world would instantlyexperience a mutation. Transformed into brutal and bloodthirsty beasts, theanimals would become far more terrifying that the likes of zombies!
Before long after he had sunken into deep thought, Ye Zhu returned from hererrand. She had to bend over in order to access the concealed inner pocket inher jeans, which was currently bulging, inside it was filled with money.
"Brother, where are you going?" Ye Zhu instantly caught sight of thesuitcase positioned in the center of the room.
Ye Chen received the money from Ye Zhu without confirming the amount. If heremembered correctly; there should be around twelve thousand, enough for him toprocure a sizable amount of food.
"Come with me and don"t ask anything, when the time is right, I will tellyou everything." Ye Chen spoke gravely.
Ye Zhu was startled, seeing Ye Chen"s grave expression, she deeply felt anominous sensation. She did not ask further, when it came to Ye Chen, shebelieved in him with all her heart.
Not matter what he plans to do; he was still her older brother!
That alone was reason enough!
Ye Chen carried the suitcase, and led the way. Right now, it was stillmorning, there still weren"t many pedestrians on the streets. Ye Chen proceededdirectly towards the bus stop where he would normally catch a bus touniversity. Standing there, he silently waited.
Ye Zhu quietly followed behind him, although she was br.i.m.m.i.n.g withquestions, she kept them to herself.
Not long after, the bus arrived. Ye Chen gave a quick estimation, from heretowards the bus station, followed by the ride from the station towards citycentre, would take up around 4 hours, meaning he had just 8 hours left toprepare.
On the bus, Ye Chen paid for 2 tickets and motioned towards a seat by thewindow. Leaning against it, he gazed outside while sinking back intocontemplation.
Hangzhou city centre was like a jungle of iron and steel, the toweringskysc.r.a.pers as well as the numerous pedestrians and heavy traffic only added tothe flourishing hustle and bustle.
Ye Chen led Ye Zhu towards a five-star hotel and requested for a penthousesuite, with four separate rooms and a living room. After dropping off theirluggage and grabbing lunch, Ye Chen left Ye Zhu at the hotel and went alonetowards the supermarket.
Ye Chen did not buy anything from the meat and veg aisle, but went straightto the snacks aisle. He grabbed two large bags and filled them with sweets andchocolate.
Sweets were a rich source of calories; furthermore they have a long shelflife which made them perfect for storing.
Ye Chen still remembered that during the days of the apocalypse, a singlepiece of candy could be traded for a low grade piece of leather armor. Fromthat, he could deduce how precious a piece of candy would become.
Other than sweets and chocolates, Ye Chen also bought plenty of eggs;around five hundred of them. His way of buying things left the other shoppersspeechless, even the shopping a.s.sistants were dumbfounded.
Translator"s Notes:
The surname Ye means leaf in Chinese, Ye Chen"s Chen means morning/dawnwhile Ye Zhu"s Zhu means bamboo.