How to Raise a Baby in an Apocalypse - Chapter 221

Anran sits on the ground and looks back, but after glancing at Liu Yuan, she freezes. Liu Yuan is also sitting on the ground, head lowered, reaching out to touch her shoulder, where the zombie bit her. The blood on her wound is dark red, thick, and sticky, clinging to her fingers like glue.

“Mom, Mom!!!”

Heng Heng rushes over, throwing his arms around Liu Yuan in fear. But Liu Yuan, her face pale, grips the tattered fabric of her shirt and pulls it aside, revealing the skin near the wound. Blue veins are beginning to spread up her neck.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Anran’s heart clenches at Liu Yuan’s helpless expression, but she forces herself to reassure her. “I’ve been bitten by zombies twice. It’s fine, you’ll be fine too!”

“Mom, hug me! Mom, you’re hurt, I’m scared.”

Heng Heng is too young to understand anything except fear. His mother is his whole world, and now that world is crumbling before his eyes.

Liu Yuan slowly closes her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. She reaches out and hugs Heng Heng tightly. Her face grows paler and paler. Gathering her strength, she carries Heng Heng into the maternity store and lays him on a quilt spread on the floor.

She speaks to him gently. “Heng Heng, be good. Sleep for a while. You haven’t been sleeping well. Children won’t grow if they don’t sleep.”

“Mom, I don’t want to sleep! Mom, don’t go! Don’t leave me!”

Forced to lie down, Heng Heng starts crying and struggling. But Liu Yuan no longer has the patience to coax him. The blue veins on her neck are creeping upward, threatening to spread across her face. She knows—perhaps instinctively—what this means.

Choking back sobs, Liu Yuan lifts Heng Heng again, cradling him as tears shimmer in her eyes. She turns to Anran, silently pleading for help.

Anran smiles bitterly. “It’s okay. I really was bitten by zombies twice. I’m fine, and you will be too.”

But she doesn’t say the rest. Although she was bitten twice, the blue veins had only spread to her hands—they never reached her brain. Liu Yuan’s condition is different. The blue veins are spreading too fast, creeping all over her body, inching toward her head.

Anran forces a smile but can’t bear to look any longer. She turns her head away.

“I just want to say… if anything happens, don’t let Heng Heng see it.”

Tears spill down Liu Yuan’s face. Seeing that Anran won’t respond, she turns to Yun Tao instead. She doesn’t need to say a word—her expression says it all.

Yun Tao hesitates, reluctant, but in the end, he nods.

He and Anran both understand. If the blue veins reach Liu Yuan’s forehead, then… whatever happens next, Heng Heng must not witness it. They must protect him.

Sunlight filters through the transparent ceiling, illuminating the white lilies swaying gently on the first floor. The distant roars of zombies outside the mall rise and fall, but inside, everything is eerily silent.

So silent, it makes people want to cry.

Amid the rich fragrance of flowers, Liu Yuan softly hums a lullaby, gently patting Heng Heng’s small back. In her arms, Heng Heng listens to the familiar melody and, slowly, his eyes drift closed.

The humming continues—no longer a conscious effort, but an unconscious habit.

Tears slip down Anran’s face as she stares at the veins now reaching Liu Yuan’s forehead. Without a word, she steps into the maternity store and stands beside Doll’s stroller.