The Second Wave

Time passed by on this final day. The majority of the world had no idea what was about to take hold, but not everyone was oblivious. After all, there were 100 people in Blackwater City in possession of the system, just like Zhan.

There was even a small group that had been trying to draw the public's attention towards the second wave. However, even Zhan didn't notice this group, they were just lumped together with all the other doomsday preachers who had increased in numbers by a hundred fold during this past month.

Zhan wasn't paying any attention to the news, so he didn't know about this. The way Zhan saw it, training was more important than anything else!

After training for four hours, he started checking around the apartment complex and making the final preparations for the second wave.

He brought up multiple cases into the apartment. Miu and Shia already guessed what was in the cases, but Nui was shocked when she saw the various guns and weapons that he had procured.

Not only the guns, but Zhan made sure to get multiple backup spears, both foldable and fixed, as well as swords, knives, axes and shields.

"Z-Zhan, where did you get these weapons?" Nui asked as she started sweating slightly. She was beginning to realise that Zhan might not be an ordinary person!

"I bought them, don't worry about the details, none of that will matter soon enough anyway."

"Y-You say that, but this second wave will only last for a month, right?"

Zhan paused for a moment and turned to Nui. He looked up at Miu and Shia questioningly and both of the girls paled slightly. At this moment, they realised that nobody had told Nui that this might be the end of life as they knew it…

"Nui, the second wave will last for a month and cover the entire earth." Zhan began. Nui nodded, he had already explained this. However, Zhan's next words made her become stiff with fright.

"One month after the end of the second wave, the third wave will commence. The third wave will be endless." He said bluntly.

"This, this…ah, so after this month, we only have another month to prepare for the end of the world?!" She cried out.

"No." Zhan shook his head and sighed. "The earth most likely won't be able to recover from the second wave within a single month. That month will be a bit easier, but mutated animals will still be running wild all across the planet."

Nui's face was pale like a ghost. Zhan started to regret telling her this so late into the evening, she would probably struggle to sleep now.

As expected, Nui didn't want to go to bed that night.

"I, I'll just stay here for the night I think…" She smiled weakly at Zhan as she curled up on the sofa and pulled a blanket over herself. Miu's heart lurched slightly and she bit her lip. She was also worried and din't expect to sleep well tonight, but she needed to play the role of an older sister.

"Nui…I'll stay here with you."

"I'll stay too." Shia smiled.

"Alright, you all do that, make sure to wake up on time." Zhan nodded and then turned to leave.

"You, isn't this meant to be the part where you say 'don't worry, I'll stay with you for the night and protect you' or something like that?" Miu said to him with wide eyes.

"Eh, now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea." Zhan nodded seriously and then sat back down on the sofa. He pressed a button on the side and it slowly stretched out and turned into a bed. He set an alarm on his phone and also on his watch, as well as an alarm clock, then lay down between the girls and closed his eyes.

Shia stared speechlessly. Was this his plan all along? To wait for somebody to suggest that he stay, to give him a just reason to do so?

Nui felt warmth in her heart as she looked at the people around her who were willing to stay with her just to ease her worry. Without thinking too much, she lay down next to Zhan.

A few seconds later, her eyes shot open and she turned a deep shade of red. She didn't really think about it until now, but wasn't she sleeping right next to a man?!

Shia sighed and turned off the lights just as Nui's eyes opened. She really had no reason to turn down Zhan's idea of sleeping with them now, and if she was being honest, she also felt more secure with him here.

And so, Nui now had a second reason that she was unable to sleep. Once Zhan fell asleep she calmed down slightly though, and soon enough, she drifted off into her last dream in a safe world.

**********

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…

Everyone was woken up at 10am by the three arm clocks set by Zhan, all of which went off at the same time. He opened his eyes and was about to sit up, but then paused.

"Hmm?"

"Nnnn…ah?"

Zhan stared into Nui's eyes and she stared back. She blinked, then quickly sat up. At some point during the night, she ended up grabbing onto Zhan's arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I, I, I didn't do it on purpose!" She stuttered and blushed.

Zhan turned over and saw that Shia and Miu were already up. Little did he know that both of these girls woke up even before the alarm went off in a similar situation to Nui. Miu didn't really mind it, but Shia was glad that she woke up before Zhan did.

Zhan chuckled and got himself up, then patted Nui's head as he walked past. Her blush deepened. She was feeling strange, she felt her heart beating wildly in anxiety, yet somehow she liked this feeling…

The morning was strangely normal, making Shia and Miu feel some doubt towards this 'second wave'.

Would the second wave really happen? Maybe Zhan was wrong, maybe everything would be fine?

After all, it was already mid-day, and-

"AWOOOOOOOOH!"

Shia and Miu looked at one another in dismay. At 12:01pm, they could now confirm that what Zhan said was true. The fact that he had got this so precisely correct gave everything else he said much more credibility…this really was the end of life as they knew it.

"Let's go." Zhan stood up calmly, then passed a handgun and multiple clips to each of the girls. He didn't intend for them to fight, but it would be best if they had some form of self defence. He taught them how to shoot the previous day, though they hadn't actually shot the guns, on account of the loud noise that would probably lead to someone calling the police again.

"Do we, do we need to go downstairs?" Nui asked uneasily.

"Yeah, we need to check the situation. Hopefully we can somewhat defend the apartment from the ground level, but if we can't, then we can just move up by one floor and defend from there. It wouldn't be a good move to just allow the beasts to flood in and take over the entire building."

Zhan said this as he picked up multiple cases filled with swords and spears. The reason he waited until the cataclysm began to actually head down, was because taking out all of these swords, shields and spears would attract too much attention. People would get in the way and ask questions before the cataclysm, but now, they would flood to Zhan's side to gain a method of self defence.

"Keep the guns hidden if you can." He said as they got into the lift and headed down. The girls nodded and tucked the guns away below their clothing.

Zhan saw that they were nervous as they descended, so tried to comfort them.

"Don't worry so much, we prepared for this. If we can't defend the lower floors, we'll just retreat upstairs."

They nodded, but he saw that they still weren't feeling too good. After some consideration, he decided to come out and tell them the real reason that he wanted to go down and meet the beasts head on.

"The more I kill, the more powerful my ability becomes." He said slowly. The girls turned towards him in shock. "I want to grow stronger early on in the second wave, because things will definitely get worse later on."

"I see, so that's why you went to the arena right after the first wave…" Miu muttered.

Shia didn't even feel like asking her what she meant by that.

"I…I'll do whatever I can to help!" Nui clenched her fists and looked at Zhan with a determined gaze. He glanced at her and smile softly for a moment. She was clearly trembling, but he could see her resolve.

"Well who knows, maybe you'll all develop abilities. Perhaps eating mutated beast meat really is the best option…" Zhan pondered out loud. The girls were silent…for now, they weren't willing to take this risk.

Ding!

The lift opened. The lift didn't stop on the way down since Zhan inputted his private code to gain full control over it.

They went directly down to the reception area, then walked out into a chaotic scene more bloody than anyone had expected.

Compared to the first wave when Zhan had been in the reception when the outbreak began, the people in the lobby were caught unprepared and multiple people were killed by a pack of mutated coyotes.

Body parts scattered across the floor, the air was permeated with the metallic stench of blood as screams of fear, grief and despair added to the horrific atmosphere.

The girls froze up, but Zhan didn't hesitate to rush forwards. He ignored everything else and licked his lips with anticipation as he narrowed his eyes and kept track of the seven coyotes.

The coyotes ranged in size, from that of a large dog all the way up to a large mass rivalling a grizzly bear. They looked like quite the ragtag bunch, with their range of colours and varying number of limbs.

Chi!

Before the beasts could even react, Zhan stabbed through a coyote's throat, then pulled his spear up and half decapitated the pitiful creature. The coyote closest to its now dead comrade quickly turned towards Zhan in alarm, but it wasn't fast enough.

CHI!

From how easily he stabbed through its rib cage, it was obvious that Zhan's strength was now at the level of a superhuman.