21 – The Remaining Thread Of Mercy

The city had already fallen into chaos and panic!

Not mentioning the zombies that had previously sprang out all of a sudden, but the  infected alike to a mythical beast that appeared today …

The army in the city had finally realized that they couldn’t standby any longer, so they started their offensive.

All this had nothing to do with the dismal city.

The land was shacking because of the appearance of that monster.

Even underneath the pedestrian bridge …

“Cousin … I … I can’t go on.”

The female reporter, Dana, gasped for breath as she leaned against a wall. Underneath the pedestrian bridge, there was a great chaos of crashed vehicles. In order to continue further, one had to climb over the vehicles.

“Dana … you’re out of strength?” Dana’s cousin glanced at her sitting on the ground behind him.

That scene just now, he won’t be able to forget it throughout his life. That monster … that monster was nearly the height of a building!

Therefore, the moment the building collapsed, he wisely chose to run away with his cousin. At that time, the Exorcist had already lost his reason, there was no way he would protect them.

What’s wrong with this world? He looked around and found the scarlet muscle tissue winding about the wall and the ground. That stuff made him feel restless.

“Dana, lets rest after we leave this pedestrian bridge, lets first hide from those monsters …”

He reached out to pull his cousin up.

“But cousin …”

When Dana had gasped for breath, he suddenly sensed a very familiar smell.

It wasn’t the smell of flesh and blood, but rather the pungent smell of gasoline …

The smell … of gasoline!

f.u.c.k! He swept the surrounding nearly sc.r.a.pped vehicles that had crashed against one another and the large fire currently wrecking havoc trough this city with a glance.

A sense of danger surged in his mind.

“Dana, get down!”

“What?”

Dana had just stood up and was about to continue escaping, when she heard her cousin shouting for her to get down.

Unfortunately, is was too late.

BOOM!

Because of the gasoline leaks, the vehicles underneath the pedestrian bridge started exploding. At times, fierce flares and scorching flames were scarier than zombies.

The blast wave caused by the explosions flung the two cousins against the wall.

When the young american man was on the verge of loosing consciousness, he saw the figure of his cousin lying unconsciously on the ground.

Dana …

Flames were burning in the background.

He widened his eyes and forced himself to stand up …

But he found that his body was already bound by something.

What is it? He lowered his head, the scarlet muscle tissue winding on the wall wrapped around his hands like a rope, tightening its grip more and more!

What’s going on? Is this stuff alive?

He depleted his strength as he tried to struggle free from that stuff binding him.

At this moment, footsteps sounded underneath the pedestrian bridge.

He raised his head … and saw a figure.

“You’re cutting quite the sorry figure.”

“!”

He’s still alive?

The last scene he saw before fleeing was Stein grabbing Lu Qiu by the collar, followed by the both of them falling into the sea of zombies.

Yet he’s still alive!

In the end, what happened? Didn’t the zombies eat him? Or rather … rather … he …

He’s also a monster!

“In here.” The crisp sound of a pistol being loaded reverberated underneath the pedestrian bridge.

Lu Qiu stood in front of him, with the muzzle pointed at him.

Not a single human … would be spared.

The young american man revealed an expression of horror.

Sure enough, as long as one was a human, one would fear death.

What do you want to do? He watched Lu Qiu. He is pointing his pistol at me … does he want to kill me?

Those pupils, only a beast should have them!

His limbs were bound by the scarlet muscle tissue. No matter how he struggled, he was still unable to break free. He could only stay, have Lu Qiu aim at him, and then shoot him!

Will I die? He didn’t dare to blink, all along looking at the pistol in Lu Qiu’s hand.

Lu Qiu put his finger on the trigger …

Their gazes met for a moment.

Bang!

A gunshot!

“!”

He closed his eyes tightly, he closed them in fear!

A shot was fired.

The muzzle was pointed at him, but why didn’t he felt any pain?

He opened his eyes slightly, yet what faced him where a pair of gentle pitch-black pupils.

As if the pair of penetrating scarlet pupils, with a s.h.i.+ver inducing aura, were a misconception just now.

Eyes emitting slight anxiety were below the black-rimmed gla.s.ses.

Those are human eyes.

As if the one standing in front of him just a moment ago was but a hallucination.

Hallucination? He struggled once more, before discovering that the scarlet tissue binding his hands was torn by Lu Qiu’s shot.

The purpose of that shot was to save me? He looked with puzzlement at Lu Qiu.

“Hurry up and escape.” Lu Qiu adopted a warm smile as he looked at him: “Quickly, stand up and run. The zombie crowd is about to arrive.”

Run? Doe’s he want to save me? He was very suspicious …

However, violent vibrations erupted above the pedestrian bridge, accompanied by beast-like roars!

He once again revealed an expression of horror. He stood up without thinking, his instinct propping him to flee.

Right … that’s it.

Hurry up and escape. Lu Qiu attentively watched the young american man in secret. He hated to kill people without the will to fight, that is, to personally kill …

Let me see the ugliness of humans … he glanced at the female reporter, Dana, lying unconscious on the ground and then glanced back at the young american who had stood up.

This woman is dead weight.

You’re weak, you want be able to escape with her.

Give her up if you want to survive.

That’s the only way, isn’t it?

In order to survive, humans wouldn’t shrink from doing it.

It was the same that night, when that brat …

You’re just like him, isn’t that right?

Lu Qiu definitely wouldn’t let any human off the hook. Lu Qiu had detected a zombie in the shadows underneath the pedestrian bridge. As long as he took a single step, the zombie would ponce of him and eat him up.

Just like that night.

Being fool of hope, yet then die in despair.

Lu Qiu was fond of such …

That was why he didn’t shoot him.

But …

He didn’t flee. He half squatted and reached out to embrace the person lying unconsciously on the ground, who was clearly covered in scars and obviously no longer had any strength.

It was his cousin …

Idiot! Lu Qiu’s pupils dilated, he gnashed his teeth.

What are you doing?!

You won’t survive like this! … in this world with a burden! You won’t survive without power!

But he didn’t give up, he embraced his cousin tightly and laboriously stood up.

What a joke … you’re just a trifling human without any power, nothing more … are you kidding me?!

“What a joke!” Lu Qiu raised his pistol and aimed at his head.

“…” The beast-like aura abruptly emitted by Lu Qiu frightened him, the pistol …

So he’s really a monster? Does he want to kill me?!

“Grr!”

“Bang!”

A gunshot and a mournful howl sounded simultaneously.

Lu Qiu aimed at his head and pulled the trigger.

His pupils trembled, and his body s.h.i.+vered.

There’s no pain.

Did he miss?

No … he’s shot was accurate!

He stiffly turned around, and discovered a zombie lying behind him. It was lurking in the shadows of the pedestrian bridge, it wanted to eat the two humans …

This zombie’s head was pierced through by a bullet; blood slowly flowed down from the hole. It convulsed a few times, and then no longer moved.

Lu Qiu had fired the shot just now in order to kill the zombie that wanted to eat the two humans.

He turned around and saw Lu Qiu maintaining the shooting position, with smoke still rising from the muzzle.

“Hurry up and leave this place.” Uttered Lu Qiu. Lu Qiu watched him, pondering about the pistol in his hand …

The pistol … doesn’t has any more bullets, now I can’t kill anyone with it.

He knew that if he continued to stay here, then this monster would definitely kill him as well as his cousin.

Although he didn’t knew why the other would let him go.

But he chose to firmly embrace his unconscious cousin, before walking outside.

But.

“Wait a second …” Lu Qiu’s voice made his entire body go stiff, an oppressive feeling was suddenly spreading from his heart.

For what?

He turned around and found an unknown object flying towards him. Reflected in his pupils, the object’s speed suddenly dropped. He instinctively lifted his hand and caught the object.

A cold feeling entered his hand. He looked down and discovered a pistol …

It was the pistol that Lu Qiu had used just a moment ago.

Why give me this? He looked at Lu Qiu …

Lu Qiu then threw a small black messenger bag, it landed beside his feet. By the sound of it, it should contain ammunition for the pistol.

It should be quite a lot.

Why?

He became even more confused.

“In this world, you can’t protect anyone without power.” Lu Qiu finally glanced at him, their gazes met. Without saying anything else, Lu Qiu turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

I can’t protect … anyone without power.

He seemed to have understood something, he looking at Lu Qiu’s back.

“My name is Alex! And you …”

“Lu Qiu.”

After Lu Qiu raised his hand and waved, he once again showed him his back, before turning and disappearing in the shadows of the pedestrian bridge.

A monster? Alex looked down at the bullets beside his feet that Lu Qiu had left, at the hope for his and his cousin’s survival.

Would a real monster reveal such helpless and sorrowful eyes?

It was what Alex had seen the last time their gazes met.

“Protect her well …”

“What?!” Alex suddenly heard a voice beside his ear, when he once more looked up, the pedestrian bridge had no one.

He had no time to mule over it. He embraced his unconscious cousin as well as picked up the ammunition, and then began fleeing.

Translator’s note: the ‘brat’ appeared in chapter 14. is it a coincidence that the young american man has the same name as the mc from prototype mentioned in the description?