◇ Phone Calls ◇

Lu Xing had already finished explaining the majority of details to his sister. He withheld the how he knew, along with the gory parts... His sister would certainly find out about the last part on her own.

Plus...she had combat experience.

It was thanks to her that he'd originally been able to survive the start of the Apocalypse. The self defense and martial art classes she'd placed him through the majority of his life up till when he went to college had helped him. She had always looked out for him, and in a way she'd insured his survival.

This time...he would be the one to keep her safe.

After they'd said their goodbyes, and gotten one another to promise that they'd look after themselves till they could meet up...he looked up to see Liu Zhuo observing him from the bunk-bed across from him. Liu Zhuo had actually been rather intently listening in on the conversation, and was now digesting the information. Meanwhile Lu Xing was debating on whether to risk looking more insane than he probably already seemed or to try and convince his friend an immanent Apocalypse was about to come upon them...

It seemed he didn't need to worry.

"I'm in." Liu Zhuo said as he got up from under his covers which revealed a well toned body.

He was only wearing boxers.

Lu Xing blushed slightly embarrassed, he hadn't recalled that Liu Zhuo was the sort to sleep in boxers alone. In his prior life, there had been more men than women...and in order to stave off the loneliness, plenty of men had coupled. Even though Lu Xing had managed to avoid such a fate, it had taken eight years for him to meet Baili, so he had been hit on by quite a few men, and had even twice almost been forced...

He was embarrassed because once having lived in an Apocalypse where everything is either dead or dirty, one would instinctively admire beauty where its due. And this old habit would be hard to kill, as he looked away. Suddenly he remembered something as his eyes landed on his desk drawer.

Lu Xing's abrupt movement startled Liu Zhuo who had grabbed his clean clothes and was placing them on. In an instant Lu Xing was pulling out his small safe, and unlocking it with the small key on his desk. Inside were emergency credit cards, and the trust fund that would help pay for the next three years of college and his meal plans...along with wedding funds that his sister had saved up for him.

He instantly began tallying it all up.

"You should call your family and warn them." Lu Xing said without looking up.

"Alright." Liu Zhuo said as he sat back on his bed with his iPhone in hand.

He was dialing home.

All Lu Xing could remember about the Liu Zhuo he'd known was that his family is in Z City. And that he was rebelling against his family at the moment by attending this college. From the looks of it, his family had been loaded, but Liu Zhuo was not the sort to flaunt it. The lone wolf, he was an introvert with a passion for extreme sports, yet he'd been strung into becoming friends with his three roommates...

Those memories were funny and warm. How the four had become good friends within their first year at college... But then the Apocalypse came and it all ended...

Lu Xing paused for a second before looking up to interrupt Liu Zhuo's conversation.

"They must barricade the home, and gather weapons, and food...and water bottles. Lots of water bottles. There will be a reason for that later on." Lu Xing stated.

Tap water was alright to drink...but only three months into the Apocalypse and Z City became the first to experience a breach in their tap water supply. The reported incident had occurred due to zombie blood coming in contact with the main water source. Which polluted it and caused the slow progress of zombiefication.

Z City lost more than half its surviving population due to that incident and almost didn't survive its first year into the Apocalypse.

Liu Zhuo nodded and went on in details to his family as to what had to be done.

"Yes, that's correct, purchase everything and anything you deem fit for your survival. Also, it may be sudden, but I've decided to stay." Liu Zhuo hung up quickly before his father could berate him, he wasn't even polite enough to say goodbye.

"You should head back home as soon as possible. Forget staying!" Lu Xing stated as he scowled his friend.

Liu Zhuo was already grabbing his climbing pack and packing up essentials along with mountain climbing gear.

"I'm going to follow you." Liu Zhuo said firmly, his deep green eyes showed determination.

'Ah...I'd forgotten how stubborn he could be.' Lu Xing thought as he shook his head, then glanced at the top bunks. 'I'm wondering where those two are...'

Lu Xing who was done tallying up his funds began to place everything that had been in his safe into a backpack.

"So where are the other two?" Lu Xing asked as he grabbed one of his jeans, shirt, a hoodie, and a pair of boots.

He was in the process of changing out of his pjs when he realized Liu Zhuo had yet to answer him.

Lu Xing side glanced in Liu Zhuo's direction and found himself under such deep scrutiny, he almost felt naked.

"Hehe..." Lu Xing attempted an awkward laugh as he quickly began to pull on the jeans and shirt.

"They left yesterday evening to go to their homes, we even went out drinking the night before over it." Liu Zhuo said, "So tell me...how did you manage to forget that?"

Lu Xing knew he'd blundered.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for this." Lu Xing said right as a blue flame became lit upon his right palm.

In an instant, before even Liu Zhuo could even react, the flame had entered his mind. Liu Zhuo stood as still as a statue, his body emitted a blue light before subsiding. His eyes were open but left unseeing.

Lu Xing sighed in relief.

'My abilities are exactly the same as I had them then...no perhaps they've even gotten stronger.' Lu Xing thought as he pondered his next steps.

The time pause can last at max...6hrs.

'Sorry old friend.' Lu Xing thought as he knew Liu Zhuo would be utterly confused after he comes out of Time Pause. 'I haven't the time to deal with this.'

After Lu Xing had made the decision, he went to his desk and wrote something down. Then he placed it in Liu Zhuo's hand, insuring that the hand was holding it tightly. Stepping back, he went and shrugged on his backpack, then calmly walked out of the room.