14. The Space

Tik!

A light sound woke him from a small, stolen nap time away. He wiped his drool hastily and murmured apology to the older man.

" It's dawn. It's normal to get sleepy. " Shang Hao peeked Shi Xiao exhausted face, who managed to stay awake the whole time.

Unconsciously, they have spent hours inside the barricaded room, and from Shang Hao's wrist watch, it's already 3 in the morning.

The sun rise at 4, but not sure if they will be blocked (by the clouds) today. Last night, the windows lightly rattled as they block the wind, but it was too dark to see if they will rain in the morning or not. Shang Hao glanced at the still dark sky, a bit disappointed that he couldn't watch the clouds.

" Let's just hope the sky is clear today, ba. "

" Hmm. " Shang Hao murmured, clearly still sleepy. Shi Xiao let him sleep for another hour.

Beside hoping for a strong sunlight to help them from this predicament, they could only wait.

Meanwhile, Hua Yun Chen is also in a predicament.

Two minutes ago, he woke up cold. Thinking of getting his cousin's blanket, he turned aside and reached out for the blanket....only to find his hands touching spiky things.

He startled awake and realize...that he wasn't on that shabby place anymore.

He didn't even realize his surrounding is already changed, from that shabby place filled with miscellaneous things, to a strangely not unfamiliar place.

This room is not unfamiliar, in fact, the tiles, the floors, the walls... All of it remind him of his private apartment in the capital. Well, minus that there's nothing inside, there's no furniture at all, just walls, floor ceiling and...door?

His body surprisingly didn't feel feverish anymore, so he got up to look. His hand touched the door which very odd looking.

Although he was sure he never seen this one before, but surprisingly, it didn't feel strange. Just like, something inside him tells him that, what beyond this door, although feels strange, is not dangerous to him.

He turned around to glance at the floor he woke up from, there's no blanket there.

Is it dream or not? Hua Yun Chen don't know, but, he will definitely know when he open that door.

So he took the handle, and slowly...press it down....

" Shang Hao. Get up. "

" Uh....is it morning.....? " To be honest, he didn't want to wake up now. It's been a rough week, and this is one of the best sleep he gotten without having to pay attention to slightest sound. It was peaceful and he didn't even dream.

But not waking up now would make a bad impression towards Shi Xiao, who didn't even sleep at all.

He accidentally look over Shi Xiao's face and surprised by how dark (bad mood) his face is, a pair of red rimmed eyes, it was dropped unlike the usual bright and intelligent looking sharp upturned eyes he saw before the apocalypse began. His eye bag suddenly feel a bit larger, and more prominent on his haggard and slightly pale face.

So he hastily wiped his drool away, then using his sleeves to rub his eyes.

" Did you have a good rest? " Even so, the older man gently ask his condition.

" Thank you Shi Ge.... " He bowed his head down to the elder man. He really is moved by this small act. After all this hardship he have to endure during their journey to the first floor, he suddenly have to matured up quite a lot, even someone he trusted the most is in a bad shape, he couldn't be as cheerful and careless like before, it exhausted him so much.

He couldn't trust anyone, and sleep with one eye open every night.

It was a little grievance that slowly accumulated, and especially shot up when he realized that all of the companion in first floor are all staring at his brother's only weapon.

It slowly become a big grievance, and to a little prince who pampered by his older cousins and families, he tried his best not to fail his cousin's expectation, as a little failure might cost their lives, a small matter like this make him depressed, but he also feel helpless because he couldn't leak his true feeling out.

" It's just a small matter. " Shi Xiao curtly said.

Shang Hao smiled and decided to speed up his preparation, using a bottle he graciously gotten from Shi Xiao, wash his morning breath away and then downed several gulp of water, then using splash of water to pat his neck to further sober himself up.

Shi Xiao didn't sleep all night, and that hoarse voice is also from him didn't let out even a tiny sound, so from his dark, tired eyes, and hoarse voice, he naturally got in bad mood. He done quite well for be able to press down his irritation from that, but Shang Hao, who matured quite a lot, still be able to sense a small emotion from the older man.

" Shall we start? "

" There's only 3.... " He whispered to the other. Currently, one of them peeked through a small gap between the door to see their target.

" Okay, let's solve them via door strategy. Lure them here, then pierce their heart one by one. Any suggestion? "

" No, let's do it according to your strategy, ge. "

" Okay, I lure one here, you prepare for stabbing their heart. Remember, to stab them until it pierce to the back. "

Then Shi Xiao set off.

Unfortunately, the cloud suddenly covered the sunlight on their area, two of the three zombies immediately sensed him, and he have no choice but to act himself.

One of the zombie growled and stalked off to his direction, their slightly purplish fingernails that already grown haywire and become so strong to hunt for humans, Shi Xiao use his weapon's side and smashed the hand away, and with a quick twirl, the sharp end once again facing the zombie, and -thrust! A sickening sound of meat getting impaled filling the corridor instantly.

Like usual, he didn't stop and immediately fling the corpse away, to the direction of the second zombie who lagged behind. After getting bumped by it's former companion, the second zombie staggered, and meet its end with another weapon to the heart.

In the blink of eye, two threatening zombies already cleaned off. The last one naturally finished off by Shang Hao, who saw a chance to prove himself. Although clumsy, he managed to kill it without getting scratched.

" That was close! Shi Ge, you are awesome! " He didn't let his voice raises even though he was very excited. As far what he had seen, only 2 lucky people of his previous group managed to fight 2 vs 1 and managed to won with out a scratch on him. Now he witnessed that this savior is also a very --very-- good fighter, he didn't even break a sweat and calmly dealt with situation without making a slightest noise.

" It's quite dangerous. " Shi Xiao commented, " If you encounter this kind of situation, you better hide if you can. " He honestly said.

" Of course, of course! " Shang Hao nodded fervently, admiration sparkled in his eyes.

" Well, let's get back to the vending machine? "

While they solved a crisis there, Hua Yun Chen isn't far better.