Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 67

Seven drops of the pale red solution had already fallen. On dozens of screens, the displayed data fluctuated wildly.

Clair continuously adjusted the mapping tables based on the data analysis, but every emotional feedback result pointed to one thing: pain.

He didn’t want the being inside the cocoon to suffer like this. It was never his intention.

“Stop. Tell them—” Clair wanted to halt the injection of the stimulant but a hoarse voice interrupted him in his mind.

That voice rasped, “She’s about to wake up.”

It was as if a switch had been flipped and Clair fell silent.

His golden eyes fixed on the eighth drop of solution forming at the tip of the needle in the observation chamber. It transformed from an arc to a semicircle, then from a semicircle to a full sphere. Under the pull of gravity, it slowly elongated into a teardrop shape, hanging precariously on the needle tip…

Finally, it could no longer hold on and fell into the cocoon.

At that moment, Clair saw the data on the screens spike wildly, surging and plummeting at extreme speeds. He didn’t even need the mapping tables to recognize that emotion. He had analyzed it enough times already.

Pain.

“Let them continue,” the hoarse voice ordered.

Clair snapped out of his trance. “No! No! Tell them to stop!”

“You will regret this,” the voice rasped, like a saw grinding against his decision.

Clair hesitated for two seconds. But as the ninth drop of the stimulant was about to fall, he resolutely ordered it to stop.

However, even after the injection ceased, the sensor data did not gradually stabilize as expected. Instead, the readings remained chaotic and erratic.

Several times, they neared critical levels, triggering alarm warnings.

The recorders and analysts in the observation room looked at each other in confusion. It was the first time they had ever seen something like this.

Clair rushed to the glass wall, his eyes locked onto the cocoon. His heart pounded rapidly.

Was She waking up…?

***

An endless cold surged toward Lin Bai.

The hammering in her mind was relentless.

Her energy was drained…

Then replenished…

Then drained again…

It felt as if she had returned to that dark place, like a vegetative patient, paralyzed from the neck down. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and couldn’t hear anyone. There was only herself.

She struggled to regain control of her body, to break free from the small space that trapped her. But her subconscious warned her not to and told her it was dangerous.

Then what was she supposed to do?

There was something she had yet to finish. She couldn’t wake up now; at least, not be forced to wake up.

Otherwise…

She would disappear.

“Lin Bai!”

There it was again, that voice.

But… who was Lin Bai?

“Lin Bai!”

Lou Tiannan felt that something was seriously wrong with Lin Bai. He didn’t know if it was because of the snow outside but even though he had built a fire around them, Lin Bai’s body temperature kept dropping, becoming as cold as iron.

He unzipped both his and Lin Bai’s combat suits and wrapped her entirely inside his, pressing his face against her forehead. His hands continuously rubbed her arms, shoulders, and back to generate warmth.

Lou Tiannan didn’t notice that every time his palm brushed past Lin Bai’s left arm, his energy particles were rapidly absorbed.

The entire night, Lou Tiannan did his best to keep Lin Bai warm.

Outside the cave, the snow had nearly buried the entrance. Snowflakes that drifted inside quickly melted from the cave’s heat, forming small trickling streams on the ground…

Drip, drip…

***

When Lin Bai regained consciousness, she felt as if she were tightly bound by something, almost to the point of suffocation.

Someone was still rubbing and patting her back and arms. She didn’t move immediately but kept her eyes closed, recalling what had happened before she lost consciousness.

The automatic recording chip had been a great help.

She remembered Lou Tiannan taking her and jumping from the 17th floor of the research institute, encountering the hurricane, parachuting down, and taking shelter in the cave. Then Lou Tiannan had been providing her with energy…

Lin Bai lifted her head from his embrace.

She saw the sharp contours of Lou Tiannan’s jawline, now covered with stubble, making him look a little unkempt.

Sensing movement in his arms, Lou Tiannan immediately looked down at her. Their eyes met. It was just a pair of ordinary eyes, the makeup on her eyelids had long since smudged, and her face was bruised and dirty. He stared at her for a few seconds, unexpectedly finding her… beautiful.

Lin Bai’s open eyes had color in them again.

Relieved, he let out a breath. “You’re awake.”

Lou Tiannan’s voice was hoarse, carrying deep exhaustion.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” Lin Bai responded, shifting slightly.

The next moment, Lou Tiannan’s head drooped slightly, his bloodshot eyes closing as he fell silent.

Lin Bai: “…”

After confirming that he had fallen asleep, she stopped moving as well and closed her eyes…

And continued absorbing energy.

***

Three hours later, Lou Tiannan opened his eyes.

As soon as he moved, he felt the weight on his chest. Seeing Lin Bai still resting with her eyes closed, he was momentarily dazed. Had she really woken up?

Only when her eyelashes trembled slightly before her eyes slowly opened did he confirm that she was truly awake.

As he instinctively moved his hand to help her sit up, he suddenly became aware of their… awkward position.

Last night, in an urgent attempt to warm her up, he had wrapped Lin Bai entirely inside his combat suit. Now he could clearly feel her skin pressed against his. In the heat of the moment, he hadn’t thought much about it, but now…

A lone man and woman. An Alpha and a Beta. This close…

Just as Lou Tiannan struggled to figure out how to explain, Lin Bai, still lying against his chest, looked up and asked, “Can I get up now?”

“I can…” Lou Tiannan replied.

“Then could you… loosen your hand?” Lin Bai patted the firm arm wrapped around her waist.

Lou Tiannan jerked his hand away as if electrocuted. He wanted to explain, afraid she might misunderstand. “I… it was an emergency at the time, I only—”

But Lin Bai was much more understanding than he expected. “I know, it’s fine. I should actually thank you, Captain Lou.”

She naturally moved away from Lou Tiannan’s chest, slipping out of his combat suit. She was only wearing a combat vest, so she glanced around and spotted the combat jacket on the ground. Picking it up, she draped it over her shoulders, then stood up from his lap and immediately began assessing her surroundings.

Seeing how natural and unbothered she was, Lou Tiannan should have felt relieved. There was no misunderstanding, after all. But…

He couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling. Like killing a third-tier zombie without a crystal core. Like eating an entire pack of compressed biscuits without drinking water. Like liking someone, but she—

In short, it was uncomfortable!

“Captain Lou?”

After standing up, Lin Bai noticed Lou Tiannan hadn’t moved at all. She looked down to see his sharp brows tightly furrowed, lost in thought.

“Hmm.” Lou Tiannan pressed his lips together and stood up. Because his combat suit was still open, his muscular chest and abdomen were exposed. He lowered his head and zipped it up.

Lin Bai wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but the way he zipped it up with one swift motion, right up to his neck, was oddly dramatic.

She made no comment on his behavior and instead walked a few steps toward the cave entrance. Seeing that the snow had almost sealed them inside, she asked without looking back, “Captain Lou, where are we?”

A stiff reply came from behind her. “I don’t know.”

“Hm?” Lin Bai turned around, finding his tone strange.

“We should be in the artificial forest of Northern District Two,” Lou Tiannan replied, his face serious, as if he had been sure of it all along.

If Lin Bai hadn’t clearly heard his earlier ‘I don’t know,’ she would have thought she had imagined it.

Northern District Two’s artificial forest was a pre-apocalypse simulation of an ancient planet’s primeval forest, recreated at a 1:1 scale to serve as a leisure and recreation area for the Federation’s citizens.

“We got blown this far?” Lin Bai was surprised. Northern District Two and Eastern District One were separated by two entire zones.

She stepped into the snow at the cave entrance to get a look outside but the biting cold quickly forced her back in.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she picked up a rock and began sketching a map. After confirming their position, she dug into her combat suit pocket, took out a few small components, and started assembling a makeshift signal receiver to contact Bai Chuan and the others.

Lou Tiannan stood beside her, watching as she methodically assessed the terrain, sketched a map, and now, without lifting her head, focused on building a device.

None of it was wrong.

Yes, none of it was wrong! Lou Tiannan tried to convince himself.

After finishing the wiring, Lin Bai tilted her head up to look at the silent, brooding Lou Tiannan. “Captain Lou, are you angry?”

Lou Tiannan froze. For the first time in his life, he was the one to break eye contact first. “I’m not angry. I was just thinking… whether Elena and the others might be in danger.”

Lin Bai noticed the change in topic but didn’t press him. “Elena’s situation is tricky right now. Let’s just hope she doesn’t run into the Federation’s military. Otherwise, she’ll definitely end up back in there again.”

Lou Tiannan did not forget his mission. He quickly regained his cautious, battle-ready mindset and joined Lin Bai in studying their route. He needed to bring the Primal Blood Vaccine back to the Federation as soon as possible and also help clear Elena of the charge of betraying the Federation.

But as the saying goes, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.

Elena was hiding on the rooftop of a high-rise building, observing the Federation troops on the street below, led by the Aurora priest, Coomber. Her brows were tightly furrowed.

She had been swept onto the rooftop by the hurricane. Fortunately, the rooftop was sealed off and there were no zombies.

After landing, she repeatedly tried to contact Lou Tiannan, Lin Bai, and the others.

Only Bai Chuan and Tang Mary responded.

Since Elena was the closest to Eastern District Five, she was waiting for Bai Chuan and Tang Mary to arrive from other areas.

She hadn’t expected to run into a Federation rescue team heading to Eastern District Five.

Although it was a Federation rescue team, they followed the lead of the Aurora missionaries.

Elena watched as her former comrades, once familiar to her, fawned over the detestable Aurora members. Thinking of the zombies in white Aurora robes she had seen at the research institute, her usually gentle eyes flashed with anger.

Suddenly, she noticed a strikingly handsome young man beside Coomber tilting his head, looking in her direction.

Her heart clenched and she quickly turned to hide behind cover.

That young man was incredibly sharp!

She didn’t dare risk peeking again. Until she found Lin Bai, she couldn’t afford any mistakes.

Coomber noticed Caesar looking at a building and asked, “Caesar, do you see something there?”

Caesar turned his head back and shook it.

He wasn’t sure but he couldn’t waste time.

Their master’s orders were to move quickly to Eastern District Five and capture anyone who had entered the 621 Biopharmaceutical Research Institute.