Apocalypse Awakening

Chapter 5: Facing the New Reality

As his mother approached with hatred in her eyes, the surroundings started to distort, as if in a nightmare. So, things hadn’t actually returned to normal... Sean recalled Layla’s words: the world gave him less than a day's respite after killing John before returning to its malevolent state. What should he do now?

His heart began to thud heavily, blood rushing to his brain. “Is this Sean's home?” Just as panic and unease peaked, a voice sounded from behind.

Sean turned around in surprise and saw Layla in a white shirt and jeans, wearing a white baseball cap, holding a box of bird's nest, smiling into the yard. His anxiety immediately eased, as if seeing a savior.

“This…” Before Sean could articulate his shock, his “mother,” who had just stepped out of the yard, appeared visibly startled. Her face rapidly shifted from anger and bitterness to confusion, then to a surprised greeting towards Sean, “Is this child...?”

Before Sean could answer, Layla walked past him, greeting with a smile, “Hello, auntie, I’m Layla, Sean’s high school classmate.”

“Ah, hello, hello…” The mother seemed flustered, hurrying to invite Layla inside: “Come sit, you see, Sean didn’t even tell me, and the house is such a mess…”

“No need to fuss, auntie, water is fine for me…”

Sean watched, almost in a daze, as Layla and his mother entered the house like a real guest. His mother, now devoid of any demonic behavior, warmly invited Layla to sit, then went to change out of her work clothes, even tidying her hair. After a brief chat, she enthusiastically invited Layla to stay for dinner, pushing Sean into the house to talk with Layla and happily going out to buy groceries. The contrast was so stark, it felt unreal.

“Sean's mother, are you going shopping now?”

“Yes, my son’s classmate has come, I want to cook something nice.”

“Oh, is that Sean’s friend? Such a pretty girl…”

“Yes, Sean’s high school classmate. The child didn’t even tell me, leaving me unprepared.”

From the distant yard, Sean could hear his mother greeting the neighbors. Sitting on the sofa, he felt the absurdity of it all.

“What is she doing?”

“Parents always care about their children's romantic interests, right?” Layla said quietly, a mysterious smile on her face, sitting on the sofa. “Especially since, it seems, you don’t have many friends?”

Sean felt absurd: “But…”

“I've told you before, they act just like normal people do, faithfully playing their roles until the malice strikes,” Layla continued, looking at Sean. “Interacting with them is the first lesson you need to learn. We must find the truth among each other while adapting to the falseness of this world.”

“Otherwise, you’ll suffer. There was one of our kind who couldn't bear such falsehood and chose self-destruction. I don’t want you to follow in his footsteps.”

Sean fell silent, not fully understanding but remembering her words.

“Besides…” Layla looked at Sean curiously, “I'm also interested to know, what would you have done if I hadn't arrived just in time?”

“What would I have done?” Sean recalled the moment at the yard entrance, facing his “mother” alone, and looked into Layla's eyes.

After a while, he said quietly, “I would have run away, of course…”

“Oh?” Layla raised an eyebrow, “But she was about to turn into a monster that would devour you…”

“But she still looked like my mother…” Sean, unsure why Layla asked this, rubbed his face tiredly, “What else could I do but run away?”

Layla didn’t respond, but her expression seemed much more relaxed.

Sean had thought that when he saw Layla again, he would be able to eagerly ask all the questions in his heart. However, to his surprise, Layla's visit turned out to be like a casual visit to an old classmate, staying for dinner at his home. His mother prepared a lavish meal, including roast beef, and grilled fish, and even took out a bottle of red wine, claiming it was high-end. Layla conversed politely and gently, patiently dealing with his mother’s roundabout inquiries…

Sean felt like an outsider in his own home. However, having not eaten all day, he was genuinely hungry and started eating heartily, seeing Layla comfortably doing so. After all, he had been eating there for years; if there were any issues, they would have arisen by now. His lack of appetite that day was probably just a repercussion of yesterday’s shock.

After the meal, Layla spent some time chatting with his mother before politely saying she needed to leave, asking Sean to escort her home.

“Go ahead,” his mother instructed, pointing outside, almost as if saying he should not only go but also stay out for the night: “Take Layla home; it’s not safe at night.”

Layla awkwardly responded, “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

Under the cold streetlights, Sean instinctively donned his hood, stretching their shadows long. He joked, “See, your mom really cares about you, and your family seems well-off; the houses here are expensive.”

“You’re discussing housing prices with me now?” Sean said somewhat helplessly. After a pause, he spoke quietly, “I went out today to see if the world is real… After all, I haven’t been out in a long time…”

Hearing Sean's words, Layla smiled, her beautiful eyes looking at him: “Still doubting whether it's you who has a problem?” Sean remained silent. Indeed, it seemed more logical that he was the one who had gone crazy rather than the world.

“Trust yourself, young man,” Layla said, seeing him deep in thought. She couldn't help but laugh, patting his shoulder, “Subconsciously doubting oneself is a reasonable and common reaction.”

“But once I introduce you to ‘him,’ you won’t think that way anymore.”

“Him?” Sean suddenly looked up, “Who is it?”

Layla gently put her index finger to her lips, signaling him not to ask further, and turned her gaze towards a direction.

Sean then realized that he had been walking with Layla for quite some time, but they hadn’t stopped at her car. Instead, they were heading towards a subway station. Inside the station, no trains were stopping anymore, but many homeless people huddled in the corners. The place reeked of urine and an unidentifiable rotting smell.

Sean had visited this place during the day, pondering how even in a post-death world, so many people still needed to cram into the subway for work, a terrifying thought indeed. But now, returning with Layla, he noticed the lights were glaringly pale and flickered due to unstable voltage. Every time the subway zipped by, the shadows reflected in the windows distorted his own body's image. The surrounding crowd seemed dazed and zombie-like.

Instinctively, Sean stayed close to Layla, observing her scanning the diverse crowd as if appreciating a scenery. They stopped next to a sleeping homeless man. Layla smiled at the man, emitting a pungent odor, and greeted, “Hello.”

It took a moment for the homeless man to slowly uncover his head from the dirty blanket, revealing only his eyes, blankly staring at Layla’s stunning face. “Who are you?” he asked in a sharp, child-like voice.

“I get paid to do jobs,” Layla replied, smiling. “Someone paid me to do a job of catching mice.”

After a moment of silence, the man suddenly sat up, his dirty blanket falling off. He stared blankly at Layla: “Who’s the mouse?”

Sean instinctively stepped back, filled with caution. But it was then that he realized the man under the blanket wasn’t a monster, just a typical homeless man, gaunt with a slightly swollen belly and skinny limbs. His skin was greyish-brown from malnutrition, surrounded by scattered wine bottles. He seemed nervously trembling, instinctively shrinking towards the corner as Layla approached.

Layla’s smile deepened, thoroughly examining the homeless man before nodding gently. She opened her bag, pulled out a cold-looking firearm, and handed it to Sean, saying, “Kill him.”

“Kill him?” Feeling the cold touch of the gun in his hand, Sean was genuinely shocked.

Layla nodded as if it was a trivial matter. Sean turned to the homeless man, who seemed frightened, curling up in the corner upon hearing their conversation. With a look of disbelief, Sean suddenly raised the gun and aimed it at the man's chest, continuously pulling the trigger.

“Bang” “Bang” “Bang” “Bang” “Bang”

Layla: “?”