The Return: Forgotten Era

Chapter 2: Kai

When he opened his eyes, the dog’s head had already fallen to the floor beside him. Noah quickly sat up and backed away a few meters, then gasped for air, realizing he hadn’t been able to breathe all this time.

Once he had calmed down, Noah saw a young man, about twenty years old, wiping blood off a knife and sheathing it.

"Are you Noah?" the young man asked coldly, observing Noah's terrified state.

"Yes, thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I probably would have gone to heaven by now." Noah said, pushing the headless dog’s body aside and standing up.

Unable to stand the sticky, grimy feeling on his face, Noah went to the sink to wash up.

After washing his face repeatedly until his skin was red from the scrubbing, he finally felt somewhat better. Only then did he have a chance to notice the young man, who was inspecting the dog’s body on the floor.

Looking closely, the young man’s face showed no expression, his eyes cold and serious. His features were striking, and his military uniform displayed his tall, strong physique. Although Noah wasn’t short, he still appeared a full head shorter than the young man.

Noah thought to himself: “Do soldiers these days have to be this handsome and tall?”

Noticing Noah’s eyes on him, the young man stood up and said: "Pack your things. We are going to a nearby military base to fly to Moon City."

"So, you’re the person my aunt mentioned. But why do we have to go to Moon City?" Noah finally realized who the young man was but still had many questions.

"Don’t ask unnecessary questions. Pack the essentials and vacuum-sealed food. We don’t need anything else." The young man replied sternly.

“Can’t you say something nicer instead of yelling?” Noah pouted.

“Why should I go to Moon City? If I leave now, I’ll probably freeze to death outside.” Noah said as he walked over to the window.

Suddenly, he felt a chill at the back of his neck. Turning around, he saw the barrel of a gun aimed at him.

"This place will soon be unsafe. You have no choice but to come with me to Moon City." The young man said without hesitation, pointing the gun at the back of Noah’s head.

"Hey, let’s talk this through. I should at least know what’s going on, right?" Noah raised his hands, still unable to resist his curiosity.

The young man lowered the gun, glanced at the bloody corpse on the floor, and said: "If you don’t come with me, those creatures will kill you."

"What’s going on? Why is a Poodle now as big as a saber-toothed tiger? You must know what’s happening since you’re the one my aunt sent here, right?" Noah asked.

After a series of questions, the young man coldly replied: "An ancient mutated virus!"

"An ancient mutated virus?" Noah looked down at the corpse. "You’re saying this is caused by a virus?" After thinking for a while, he asked again: "From Antarctica?"

"Yes, they say the virus has been rising from Antarctica with the water vapor and is now in the snowflakes falling from the sky, but it doesn’t directly infect humans. It only invades dead hosts. And the evolution speed of living creatures is extremely fast now!" The young man nodded as he answered.

"Evolution?"

"That's right, considering the size of the dog and its strength earlier, there’s no word more accurate than EVOLUTION."

The young man didn’t pay attention to Noah muttering to himself and walked straight to the fridge to grab food and put it in his bag.

Seeing this, Noah quickly ran over and stopped him.

"You can’t just take other people's things like that. I’m not going anywhere! Going outside now is just asking to die! I’m safer here at home."

Noah’s temple felt the cold again.

"From now on, if you say anything unnecessary, I’ll cut your tongue off! You think you’ll be safe with a door like that?" The soldier pointed at the door and spoke.

Noah’s face turned pale: "Who is this young man? Why does he point a gun at others every time he’s dissatisfied? Can’t you be a bit kinder to people?"

After the young man lowered his gun, Noah quietly watched him continue taking food from the fridge and putting it into a backpack. Noah didn’t want a hole in his head, and after dying, he didn’t want to become a zombie. That would be too ugly.

Noah took a breath and continued trying to talk to the young soldier:

"Hey, how old are you? You’re so young and already in the military? Are all soldiers like you?"

The soldier didn’t pay attention to Noah and continued searching for food in the fridge, then went around the house to find anything that could help keep them warm.

"Why are you so cold? We’ll be going to Moon City together, right? Isn’t it good to get to know each other a little first?"

"Why can’t we stay in Sun City? Why do we have to go to Moon City? Is it safe there?"

After many of Noah’s questions, the young soldier finally shifted his attention from the fridge to Noah and took a recorder from his jacket pocket, tossing it to him.

Noah clumsily caught the recorder. He pressed play, and a familiar voice spoke:

"Given the current situation, with your smart head, you should be able to think for yourself about what’s going on. Sun City will soon be in trouble. Follow Kai to Moon City to find me. You must try your best to get here. You are my only remaining family."

Noah listened to the recording over and over. What echoed in his head was the feeling that everything in his life, from his childhood up until now, was about to go wrong. His aunt, who worked as a government researcher, must know more than he does. When she said things were bad, it was really bad.

Not letting Noah continue to zone out, the young soldier named Kai said:

"Let’s go!"

Seeing Kai about to leave, Noah quickly stopped him.

"Hey, hey! You’re just going to leave like this? At least wait for me to grab my clothes and my savings book!" Noah was determined not to let the money he’d worked so hard for over the years go to waste.

"What have you been doing all this time? You have five minutes!" Kai took out a watch and started the timer.

Noah rushed into his room, grabbed two sets of clothes and shoved them into his backpack, then chose the warmest jacket to wear. After that, he stuffed his savings book under the backpack and finally felt reassured. The money he’d struggled to save for years had to be brought along. In case the world went back to normal later, he didn’t want to become poor.

Noah took one last lingering look around the room, then threw himself onto the warm bed where he had slept for so many years. At that moment, his nose tingled. He had lived here for so many years and felt a deep attachment to this home. He didn’t want to leave it at all. If everything went back to normal later, he promised to return to this place.

"Let’s go! I’m ready now." Noah walked out of the room, his nose slightly red.

Noah set the door back up, the one that had been broken earlier. In his heart, he still hoped that this was just a nightmare. When he woke up, everything would go back to the way it was.

The two of them left the house together.

Sitting in the military vehicle, Noah turned and asked:

"Are we going to Moon City in this vehicle?"

"No, the military headquarters is in Wind City. We’ll drive there first, then take the military plane to Moon City!" Kai answered without looking away.

"Wind City? My friend is there, I wonder how he’s doing." Noah remembered that yesterday, Fin mentioned he had a performance there today, and he hoped his friend was okay.

"We’ll find out when we get there! The people here have gradually evacuated to Wind City." Kai's eyes were focused ahead as he spoke.

Leaning back in his seat, Noah thought to himself. Once they got to Wind City, he’d look for Fin and ask Kai if his friend could join them on the way to Moon City. A few hours on the plane, and they’d be there. After reuniting with his aunt after so many years, he would ask her in detail about what was happening.

Kai hadn’t said a word during the entire journey. If Noah didn’t ask, he wouldn’t answer. Since this was a military vehicle, its tires easily moved through the thick snow, and all Noah could see outside was a vast white, with no end in sight.

They reached the highway, where many vehicles had been stopped by the thick snow. Many people had decided to leave their vehicles and walk.

Seeing this, Noah turned and asked:

"Are these people all trying to leave Moon City?"