Chapter Ten

When Yichen saw Faye packing the soft toys into bags, his lips curled up into a proud smile. She was not really cold to other people, merely oblivious. Like living in her own little world.

The only exception to that were family, children, and especially animals.

She would make such a great mother...

"Who should go after the families?" Miles blocked his line of sight.

"Everybody with a weapon should remain last, I have a feeling we should have made the fences studier," Yichen chuckled, trying to calm his nerves over the creaking metal and groans.

"Are you sure we shouldn't get the others?" Miles asked for the third time.

"As I've said, the doors aren't locked, if they want to follow they'll follow," Yichen couldn't be bothered to drag the others. They were all capable adults.

Miles moved aside, to get the next batch of people ready to cross, allowing Faye to come back into Yichen's sight. She was picking up the bags, then suddenly froze. From the corner of the stall, a man raised a gun, pointing it at her, and spoke.

This was one of the bastards that shot people dead in the dream. He recognized him as the corpse Miles had shot in retaliation for killing their people.

Was the world trying to balance things out? Would Faye be shot dead in those he had saved's stead?

Another moment just like the dream but different because of his choices... How reliable will the dream be going forward?

Raising his gun, he fired at the man's wrist, then again at his chest. He could have aimed at the man's head, but he wanted to clarify what happened to normal people after death now. So long the man did not turn, the virus worked the same way as the dream, only the infected would turn.

Rushing over, Yichen grabbed Faye's wrist and began to pull her back to the others. She resisted initially, grabbing the two large bin bags and looking at the still unmoving corpse.

"Don't shoot, we just want to come with," a man called out from around the stall.

"The gates won't last," Faye mumbled, "send them back inside."

Yichen's brow raised at her rejecting them, but he wasn't surprised. What sane person would want to help a group that raised a gun at them?

"Go back inside, or we will shoot," Yichen called out, hearing the groans turn to feverish snarls as the scent of blood filled the crisp air, "if I were you, I'd be quick."

He walked backward carefully, his gun aimed at the location the man spoke from.

Behind him, the boat had just returned again, Miles was instructing them to load the boat with only their belongings and to get ready to swim.

The guards all had their guns raised, encircling the others behind them. A bullet was fired, hitting Rei in the shoulder.

Yichen instinctively fired back in that direction. Repeatedly he fired, not giving them the chance to come out of hiding and fire again. A few other guards also copied.

Metal fences collapsed in the distance and the groans and growls of the dead could be heard amongst the gunfire like some horrific nightclub beat.

The people hiding began to scream and fire their own weapons.

"Injured people on the boat," Yichen shouted as the people began frantically jumping into the water, "there are sharks here, we don't want to lure one over."

A few people about to jump hesitated at the word shark.

"I'm on my period," Poppy squeaked, clutching Faye's hand desperately.

"Glocks fire underwater, sharks are solitary animals, just stay beside the boat," Faye pushed her in, then turned to Yichen and the three guards yet to jump.

"Remember, you can always just shoot a shark," Faye reminded him and jumped in.

As the last person to go into the water, Yichen hesitated at the gate. He didn't want any of the scumbags jumping into the water and following, but if they did run this way, he was condemning them.

Seeing the bloodied corpse of the man being ripped to shreds, Yichen sighed, shutting and locking the gate.

Once in the water, he felt uncomfortable at the drag on his clothes from the cool water, luckily the wetsuit under his clothes kept him warm. The guard who had been shot and the driver was the only one on the small motorboat, as those with a gun surrounded the others following behind it.

On the pier, the distance between it and the yacht wasn't that much, but once in the water, Yichen felt like it was too far. His heart sped erratically in his chest as his eyes could not stop scanning the hidden depths around them.

It was late afternoon and the winter sun was setting on the horizon.

The motorboat returned empty with just the driver, letting the less athletic adults climb on board. Yichen frowned to see both Faye and Claire still on the water, refusing to join Poppy.

At least they were competent swimmers unlike him.

Just as they reached the yacht and began climbing on the dipped rear deck, his worst fears were brought to reality.

"Shark," he shouted, spotting the dorsal fin coming closer.

Instead of hurrying to climb aboard, his stupid wife swam over to him, then dipped under the water. A few seconds later she reemerged with a smile on her face, "It's just a baby tiger shark, leave it alone."

Her hand tugged on his right arm, which shakingly held his Glock, then dragged him to climb up with the rest.

The small boat was attached to the back of the yacht for the final time as Yichen lay flat on the wooden decking and stared at the dorsal fin still growing closer. Faye was leaning over the edge, looking at it eagerly.

Reaching over to pull her back, he forced her to lie on his chest as he scolded her, "I don't care how small it is, a Tiger shark bit my father before, it'll bite you too, even if it is a baby."

Faye rolled her eyes, attempting to break free from his grip and failing.

"As if you'd let it get that close..."

"Damn straight," Yichen looked at the Glock in his hand debating using it since it was still just getting closer and closer, "what if it's a zombie too?" A zombie shark would continue following the boat, even attacking it when they get stronger in time.

Faye stopped resisting his touch and stared out at the small fin following, "Is the virus zoonotic?"

Yichen almost bit his tongue to silence himself. Technically, it wasn't yet, but it was constantly mutating and it was only a matter of time before it was.

"No idea, I'm of the opinion that anything is possible until proven otherwise right now."

Faye nodded her head, "Sorry, I got a bit carried away, it was my first time seeing a tiger shark in person."

Most people here went into the ocean wanting to avoid these man-eaters. Faye on the other hand had gone in hoping to see at least one each time and only encountered dolphins.

Yichen pushed himself up to peck her cheek, "Let's go get changed out of these wet clothes."

Faye calmly nodded, then stood to follow Yichen inside. The others were all finding their luggage and being allocated rooms by Miles.

"Shouldn't we go help?" Faye asked, her eyes following her friends, who gathered beside the infinity pool's bar and having a stiff drink.

"You'll catch a cold," Yichen lied, knowing full well how their bodies had mutated due to the virus, making them eventually become Gods amongst men. The only fevers they'll endure in the future would be caused by further, miraculous mutations.

Her friends were also all also soaking wet. They had stripped down to their underwear without shame and wrapped themselves in towels to drink and wait for the rooms to be chosen. Part of her wanted to go join them, but the hand holding hers was gripping too tightly.

Dragged into the master suite, Faye noticed their suitcases had already been placed inside of it. Was he even going to give her the choice to bunk with her friends?

When she came to her senses, Yichen was already stripped to just his boxers and rummaging through her suitcase for clothes.

Seeing him holding a pair of lacey underwear, Faye finally blew a fuse.

"Yichen!"

The underwear in his hands dropped back onto the pile of clothes.

"I know the elders want us married and I agreed to, to date you, but you're, you're too much," Faye pulled her suitcase along the floor to grab her own clothes, "just what is your brain full of? The whole world is falling apart outside, there are zombies, fucking zombies, and we both know that the government has fallen. So slow down okay, refocus."

Yichen sat on the carpet, elbow resting on his knee as his hand supported his tilting head, "I am focused. Focused on what's most important..."

Faye shot him a warning look. Where was the reserved, mature man her grandmother boasted of?

"The world is falling apart, the government is gone, the country is sparsely populated and here on the West Coast we're on our own, so it's right to feel scared... I won't lie and say I'm not scared too," his previously playful smile turned more solemn, "but if I were to spend the remainder of my life scared, focusing on just surviving, then what would separate me from the zombies?"

He had done that for years in the dream and where had that gotten him? Alone, miserable, and dead by her zombified hands.

"From the second you agreed to be with me, you became my wife, and I will treat you as such. I vow to make every moment of survival one worth living for."

At a loss for words, Faye could only clutch the clothes and stare into his golden eyes, finding bottomless depths that she found herself wanting to explore more so than the ocean.

"Okay," Faye finally spoke, letting Yichen's heart and mind finally find calm.

"Great," he jumped up, grabbing Faye to stand also, "let's shower together the electricity and water are limited..."

Seeing her pouting cheeks inflate, Yichen laughed dragging her into the ensuite, "I'll turn my back, don't think too much."

Under the large waterfall-style shower, Yichen did just that. Sensing she had finished stripping off to join him, he took off his own underwear, and read the toiletries bottle to keep his mind occupied.

Unfortunately, the ingredients list was too boring and his mind recalled the first shower they shared together in his dream. Where she embraced him from behind, her ample breasts squished against his broad back and her hands had trailed down his abs to...

Little Yichen was now standing attention and Yichen never felt such regret in his life. What would she think of him if she noticed? Would he scare her away so fast?

As Yichen was regretfully washing his hair, facing the corner, Faye's eyes couldn't help but linger over. Subconsciously, she couldn't help but compare his body to Leo's, the only man she had seen naked before.

Leo was not only taller than Yichen, but bulkier in his muscles too. That kind of man wasn't really one Faye was interested in, to be honest, she found a woman's body more appealing. But Leo had been her childhood friend, chased after her since they were teenagers and his parents got along with hers, so she relented.

For someone who loved to swim freely in the ocean, she sure let herself be carried by the current far too much.

So long as she got to do her hobbies and her bottom line wasn't crossed, she couldn't care much for other things.

Noticing the proud member of Yichen's standing attention, Faye's eyes quickly returned to the women's toiletries to wash all that bit quicker. For a smaller man, his member was larger than Leo's.

Leo always took her whenever she was drunk or too tired to care, afterwards she was always sore all over, especially there. So it was something she thoroughly avoided, which led to her finding out a month ago that he had been sleeping around, mainly with her classmate.

Their friends and families were too heavily entwined, and she had no choice but to let him come along with the others. Claire convinced her it would be good to shove it in his face that she had moved on before he departed back to Britain with the rest. Only Claire knew that she was not returning with them.

Now it was likely none of them would ever return to their home country, all because of her.

Leaving the bathroom in just a bathrobe, she heard someone knocking at the door.

Checking over her appearance in the mirror by the door, she opened it to see Claire and Poppy freshly showered and changed.

Claire, seeing Faye in just a bathrobe, assumed she was alone and dragged Poppy inside the room, closing the door behind her. They were both a bit tipsy.

"They're serving dinner now, hurry up and get dressed," Claire threw herself onto the bed as Poppy was a bit more reserved and sat on the vanity stool.

"Okay, go ahead, I'll be there soon," Faye tried to drag Claire off the bed, but Claire pulled her, forcing Faye to awkwardly land on top of her. At that moment, the bathroom door opened with Yichen in a matching bathrobe, the front opened exposing his abs to all three girls.

"Did I transmigrate inside of a harem novel or something?" Yichen looked at the three startled girls and couldn't help but laugh as he grabbed his clothes and walked back into the bathroom.

He wasn't the least bit concerned that his wife was pinning her best friend on the bed with her breasts exposed. Even if his wife was a bi-sexual, he knew that Claire was one hundred percent only into muscular men.

"Claire," Faye slapped her friend's paws off her bathrobe, then with a red face gathered her clothes to dress and storm out of the room.

By the time Yichen returned from the ensuite, the room was empty.

The chef and assistants had made a variety of mixed dishes using the fresh food about to expire in the kitchen, leaving a self-serving buffet for the others to get their meals.

Faye filled a large bowl with sweet and sour chicken and rice, then walked outside to the stern of the yacht. There was an outside entertaining area with a bar, lounge chairs, table and chairs, and the infinity pool.

As before, all her friends had returned to this area to eat under the evening sky.

"Where's the other two?" David asked, pouring Faye a glass of rose wine. David was quite close to the girls, compared to the boys in the friend group.

He was one of the oldest at twenty-five, amusingly he also looked the youngest with a baby face and ear-length hair that he died a different color monthly. Right now it was bubblegum pink.

Like most children of elites, they streamlined through their education, graduating earlier than the average person. David however had taken a two-year gap to travel Europe with a backpack alone.

Faye glanced over her shoulder, only just realizing the pair hadn't directly followed her, "I'm sure they won't get lost."

David sipped his own wine, hiding his smirk. Poppy had a terrible sense of direction, combined with her blonde hair she was teased as an airhead, but she was training to be a psychiatrist like her father and was one of the most intelligent in the group besides Faye and David. So they naturally all got along well.

Just as she finished the meal, the two girls joined them. After grabbing a few bottles of wine from the poolside bar, they unceremoniously sat on the floor.

"Girl, you're such a sly devil, you were such a prude on the beach and yet you're already showering with your new hubby behind my back," Claire poured out herself a glass of wine and took a deep drink, "I don't know if I should feel proud or betrayed."

Faye felt her friend's eyes all lingering in her direction, especially Leo's shocked, widened baby blues.

"I'll shower with you next time," Faye groaned and took a larger drink herself.