Apocaly Utopi apocaly utop

Chapter 12 Alive

In an instant, the scene descended into chaos.

Shirley's elbow was forcefully shoved by Emma, scraping against the ground and leaving her skin raw and burning with pain. Before she could even utter the words "What are you doing?" Jack's voice rang out from behind, shouting as he charged forward with a knife, slashing it fiercely towards the two of them—

A sharp metallic clang echoed as a thin, agile black shadow brushed past Shirley's face, sent flying by Jack's strike. She blinked, only then realizing it was the proboscis of a Fallen One.

Emma rolled to the side and quickly sprang to her feet; Shirley followed suit, standing up as well, only to feel a sudden warmth on her face—she reached up to touch it and found that the proboscis had indeed grazed her skin, drawing blood.

A few drops of bright red blood fell to the ground, staining a small patch of the floor.

"Ah... Auntie, can Mary drink this?" A soft, timid child's voice piped up.

The three of them froze, their expressions grim.

The door to the staff room was wide open, and a wave of nauseating, putrid stench immediately wafted out. Standing in the doorway was a figure in a light pink floral dress—though no one could call this thing a little girl—a Fallen One.

Unlike the security guard they had encountered earlier, Wang Mary's body was smaller, slightly more plump. Though her skin was still wrinkled and laid in deep brown folds, at least the floral dress was still intact—though it was unclear whether the dark stains on the chest were from the mucus oozing from Wang Mary herself or someone's blood. A few sparse, coarse black hairs sprouted from the sticky, laid skin on her head, tied with what was once a pink bow.

That must have been Wang Mary's ponytail.

She seemed delighted, grabbing the hem of her dress and swaying it slightly, her proboscis emitting a "giggle." "Thank you, big brother, big sister, and auntie. Mary can eat again."

Emma was about to speak when, suddenly, the Fallen One's agile, needle-like proboscis shot forward—the three of them instinctively jumped back, narrowly avoiding it—the proboscis swept across the ground, and the bloodstain vanished instantly.

As the blood entered her mouth, Wang Mary let out a guttural "Ugh," her proboscis vibrating with anger. "Not tasty! Not tasty! I hate this!"—compared to the security guard, her speech was much clearer. If one closed their eyes, it would sound like a normal child throwing a tantrum.

Her lidless eyes then turned, landing on Emma. "You're the sister who wasn't gentle at all just now."

Emma felt a surge of bile rising in her stomach—she suppressed her discomfort and coldly said, "We underestimated you. I had no idea the intelligence of you Fallen Ones could be so advanced..."

She was much taller than Wang Mary and was standing directly in front of the staff room door, so with just a glance, she could see everything inside.

Behind Wang Mary was a workbench, on which lay the corpse of a middle-aged man in a supermarket uniform. His throat had been torn open, and the stench was coming from his decomposing body. Despite the high temperatures causing the corpse to rot significantly, the look of terror was still etched on his face, stark and unmistakable.

Jack's "Eagle Eye" ability came into play—he scanned the scene and gasped. "Emma, Shirley, there's a name tag on the corpse's chest... His name is Wang Ming."

Shirley shuddered, exchanging a glance with Emma as they both realized something. The next second, their suspicion was confirmed—

"... You know my dad?" Wang Mary's large, pale eyeballs rolled in her sunken, dark eye sockets, looking as though they might fall out at any moment.

"You drained your father's—" Shirley couldn't finish her sentence, seemingly unable to stomach the thought, covering her mouth as she swallowed the rest of the words along with her bile.

Emma suddenly understood why Wang Mary looked slightly more plump than the security guard—it was because her body was filled with the fluids of a human!

"I get it—when you attacked your father, someone must have seen you, right? The manager here? She must have been terrified and locked you in this room with the key while you were feeding, right? The door was too sturdy for a little mummy like you to break out." Emma spoke calmly, every muscle in her body tensed and ready. "After we arrived, you heard our voices and came up with this plan to trick us into letting you out... I never would have guessed that your shriveled brain could be so clever."

Provoked by her harsh words, Wang Mary let out a piercing screech, her proboscis vibrating with rage. "You think just because you're full of water, you're so great!" Her proboscis shot toward Emma without warning.

Since Wang Mary was small, her proboscis was shorter, and Emma was prepared. She rolled toward Jack, narrowly dodging the first strike. Without a second's delay, the sharp proboscis whipped toward them again, slicing through the air with a sharp hiss—

Jack quickly raised his knife to block it, and with a clang, the proboscis was momentarily halted, but the knife was sent flying, leaving both of them unarmed.

Seeing the danger, Shirley lunged forward, her nails extending half a meter as she aimed straight for Wang Mary's eyeballs—but the proboscis was too agile, coiling back like a snake and striking her attack away.

Wang Mary clicked her tongue, disappointed that the person who had fallen before her was someone she didn't find appetizing—before Shirley could even get a clear look, the proboscis was already whipping toward Emma again.

This time, however, Emma didn't dodge. Instead, she charged forward, grabbing the tip of the proboscis just as it was about to pierce her throat. With a forceful tug, she managed to pull it slightly away from her.

Instantly, Wang Mary's layered skin bunched up in what seemed like delight. "Hay, i***t, I can still drink your blood from your hand!"

Jack and Shirley were both startled, about to rush to Emma's aid when a flash of white light appeared. Wang Mary suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream, thrashing and writhing in agony—her wail was so loud it nearly shook items off the shelves.

Embedded deep into the mucus-covered proboscis was a knife that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere—its handle firmly gripped by Emma. Hearing Wang Mary's scream, she smirked viciously, her hands tightly clutching the knife to keep the dangerous proboscis pinned—then she shouted to the others, "Jack, kick her back into the room! Shirley, lock the door!"

Everything happened in the blink of an eye—even if Wang Mary had heard the plan, it was too late. A dark figure rushed forward, delivering a powerful kick to her chest—a series of cracking sounds suggested Jack had shattered her ribs—

Emma seized the moment, releasing her grip, and the proboscis, still impaled by the knife, flew back into the room along with its owner.

Shirley, who had been ready, dashed forward almost instantly, grabbing the door handle.

Just then, a clear, childlike voice cried out pitifully from inside the room, "Auntie, I was wrong, auntie, don't lock me up—sob, it hurts... Auntie Shirley, I won't do it again..."

Shirley hesitated for a moment.

Then, she muttered under her breath, "Screw you, I'm not your auntie!" Without another word, she slammed the door shut and turned the key—the key fob had been left in the lock—two twists, and the door was securely locked once more.

Only then did Emma let out a long exhale, her body finally giving out as she collapsed to the ground.

With a thud, Jack also lay down beside her, equally exhausted.

Wang Mary's pitiful cries continued, alternating between the sobs of a little girl and desperate pleas to Shirley. When none of it worked, her screams turned to furious shrieks—but no matter how much she cried or how hard she slammed against the door, the three outside acted as if they couldn't hear her.

"What do we do now?" Jack asked with a bitter smile, tossing a few towels to Emma and Shirley. "Are we just supposed to settle down here with a Fallen One?"

Emma's heart was still pounding. She used the towel to wipe the blood from her injured palm, then sighed. "Let's find some shelves to block the door... Where else can we go?"

Shirley nodded. "When we went out earlier to look for the key, we almost passed out from the heat..." The thought made her somber. "How could these Fall Ones, who still have their minds, do something so cruel to their own family?"

But no one had an answer.

After drinking some water and resting briefly, the three of them worked together to push several nearby shelves in front of the door, sealing it tightly. Each shelf was heavy, and they made sure to leave unnecessary items on them, ensuring that Wang Mary, who couldn't even break the door, would have no chance of escaping.

By the time they finished, Emma was utterly drained. From the moment she had woken up in the middle of the night due to the heat, only five or six hours had passed, but her world had been turned upside down—she had never been in a fight before, yet now she was capable of killing without hesitation...

Since the supermarket didn't sell bedding, Shirley brought out a stack of large bath towels to use as makeshift sheets. Emma carefully cleaned herself with half a bottle of water, then collapsed onto the towels.

The rolling shutter at the supermarket entrance had been lowered and locked with the manager's key. Outside, the sunlight was deadly, but inside the underground supermarket, it was still dim enough to sustain life. The three of them lay side by side on the towels, listening to Wang Mary's shrill, futile screams in the distance. Gradually, the surroundings blurred, and the sounds faded...

Emma fell asleep.