Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

’Lin Yiyi?’

Song Kexin’s brow furrowed deeply.

’Looks like Lin Yiyi is deliberately standing here to block our way.’

”Su Xiyue,” Lin Yiyi called out, waving enthusiastically at them with the familiarity of old friends reuniting.

Su Xiyue glanced at her in surprise, then looked up at her sister.

Song Kexin frowned at Lin Yiyi and instinctively pulled her sister back half a step.

But Lin Yiyi, as if completely oblivious to the small gesture, remained thrilled and jogged a few steps to stand before them.

The girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, was slender and frail, looking as if a gust of wind could blow her over—the very picture of a gentle, lovely maiden.

But Song Kexin knew the soul hidden beneath this fragile shell was likely colder and more tenacious than any of theirs.

Because of the incident with the mutated cat, Su Xiyue also felt a sense of aversion toward her former deskmate.

She was put off by her sudden approach and reluctant to continue speaking with her.

To this day, Su Xiyue remembered her sister’s warning.

Her sister had said that Lin Yiyi was a very complicated and extremely dangerous person. She had warned Yueyue not to speak to Lin Yiyi, to get away as quickly as possible upon seeing her, and to avoid contact with her at all costs.

Su Xiyue had taken those words to heart, and they came to mind now as Lin Yiyi appeared.

Honestly, she wanted to turn and leave right then, but the girl was blocking their path, and the other Fire Ability Users were all watching them with curiosity.

The female Fire Ability User who had spoken earlier looked Lin Yiyi up and down. ”Hey, aren’t you the Beast Taming Superpower User from the Swift Leopard Team?”

”Hello, miss.” Lin Yiyi flashed her a sweet smile.

As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face. Even though the female Superpower User despised the actions of the Swift Leopard Team’s ”Her Majesty” Xu Yu, she wasn’t about to deliberately give a child a hard time.

She smiled without saying more and glanced at Song Kexin and her sister. ”Well, we’ll head to Zone A-3 first. You guys go ahead and talk.”

Zheng Heng, Xu Bailiang, and the others all nodded to Song Kexin before turning to leave.

An inexplicable feeling of disgust washed over Song Kexin.

’They’re making it seem like my sister and I are close with Lin Yiyi, even deliberately leaving us space to talk.’

’As if! We have absolutely no desire to talk to this Lin Yiyi.’

”Yueyue, why don’t we go over there and talk?” Lin Yiyi said with a sweet smile, looking at Su Xiyue and pointing to a row of plastic chairs against the wall.

But Su Xiyue held tightly to Song Kexin’s hand and offered a polite smile. ”I have to go with my sister to Zone A-3 for something. Can we talk later when we have time?”

”Yueyue, I wanted to talk to you about Yu Xiaofei, who sat behind us. I saw her in Zone A-3 last night. She’s really, really sick.”

”Ah.” Su Xiyue froze for a moment, her round eyes widening. ”She’s in A-3?”

”Yes,” Lin Yiyi said, leaning half a step closer.

”If Yu Xiaofei is in A-3, then what are we talking about here for? Let’s go see her,” Su Xiyue said, tightening her grip on Song Kexin’s hand. ”Sister, can I go see our classmate Yu Xiaofei?”

Song Kexin nodded. ”Yu Xiaofei was your deskmate before, right?”

”Mhm,” Su Xiyue nodded. ”Yu Xiaofei and I were deskmates for over two years.”

Later, when Yu Xiaofei had a growth spurt, she moved to the back of the class, and Su Xiyue became deskmates with Lin Yiyi.

Come to think of it, she had a closer bond with Yu Xiaofei.

”Yueyue,” Lin Yiyi murmured, biting her lip softly. ”Then I’ll go with you.”

Su Xiyue seemed resistant to her deliberate attempt to get closer. After a moment of hesitation, she couldn’t help but say, ”I heard my sister has had a complete falling out with your Swift Leopard Team. It’s probably better if we keep our distance.”

Lin Yiyi’s watery eyes widened, brimming with tears. ”Why would you say that? Yueyue, no matter what, we used to be good friends.”

Song Kexin sized up the girl and gave Su Xiyue’s hand a subtle squeeze.

Su Xiyue took the hint and said no more, following Song Kexin toward Zone A-3.

When they reached the entrance, they saw a junior supervisor standing there receiving Zheng Heng and the other Fire Ability Users. ”Thank you all for your trouble.”

”Around nine or ten tonight, we’ll need you all to come back one more time.”

”No problem. If you need us, just send someone with a message.”

”Thank you, thank you.”

”Where did you see Yu Xiaofei?” Su Xiyue suddenly turned and asked Lin Yiyi, who was trailing behind them.

”I’ll take you there,” Lin Yiyi said, breaking into a sweet smile and glancing at Song Kexin. ”Miss, don’t you have things to do? I can just take Yueyue.”

Song Kexin also gave her a sweet smile. ”Lin Yiyi, why are you always trying to get rid of me? Are you planning to do something unspeakable to Yueyue?”

Lin Yiyi’s expression froze. She hurriedly waved her hands. ”Miss, please don’t misunderstand, I...”

”Alright, cut the act.” Song Kexin mimicked her cloyingly sweet smile, then her expression hardened into seriousness. ”What are you trying to accomplish by always trying to get Yueyue alone?”

”And don’t give me that nonsense about ’rekindling old friendships’ or ’catching up.’ We both know that’s not it. Impossible.”

”What is your real goal? Why don’t you just say it.”

”Miss,” Lin Yiyi fretted, practically tearing her hair out. She turned to Su Xiyue, her eyes full of tears. ”Yueyue, do you think of me like that too? I really don’t have any ulterior motives. I just wanted to chat with you alone, you know, girl talk.”

Song Kexin rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flew out of her head. ”So you’re saying I’m an old hag?”

’I’m not that much older than them, hmph!’

’Five years at most, if you round up!’

”Yueyue, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit.” Lin Yiyi’s tears started to fall, PLIP, PLOP. ”I never thought you’d misunderstand me so deeply. We were classmates for so many years. Would I really try to harm you?”

Su Xiyue clasped her hands tightly, her expression turning somewhat serious. ”If you don’t have any other motives, then take us to our classmate Yu Xiaofei right now.”

”Follow me.” Lin Yiyi turned and walked into A-3. The moment she turned, the pitiful look on her face instantly twisted into a vicious scowl.

’How hateful!’

’Su Xiyue, that innocent little flower who knew nothing, was now so guarded against her.’

’It wasn’t like this before.’

’In the past, hothouse flowers like her were completely clueless. They’d just hide behind adults and cry whenever something happened.’

’Where did my act go wrong? Why has Su Xiyue become so deeply wary of me?’

’Damn it!’

Lin Yiyi clenched her fists and hurried past the rows of sleeping mats in A-3.

The deeper they went, the more Song Kexin noticed the stagnant air and the increasingly foul smell.

Five or six air purifiers had been placed in the two corridors, but they didn’t seem to be very effective.

After all, over a thousand people were gathered here.