92: Chapter 92 Is the Apocalypse Over?

One year later.

Twilight light leaked through the cracks in the broken floor slabs. Xu Wanning's ice spike pierced into the eye socket of the last zombie. The moment the skull was penetrated, the ice spike paused slightly before sliding all the way in.

Xu Wanning wiped the sweat from her forehead. Over the past year, her Supernatural ability had risen to C-rank, allowing her to use it for three hours.

Xu Wanning crushed the ice spike. Zombie blood dripped onto the ground along the wound. The zombie's body twitched twice before going still. "It's over."

The voice echoed through the empty ruins of the shopping mall, swallowed by the silence.

Lu Chengyue stood three steps behind her, the Wind Ability in his palm still poised to be released at any moment. He waited for a moment, and confirming there was no movement, he withdrew the Wind Ability.

"What about those three?" Xu Wanning wiped the zombie blood off her body.

Lu Chengyue walked over. "Dead."

"You're faster than me." Xu Wanning gave a thumbs-up.

"You were on night watch and didn't sleep, it's normal to be slower." Lu Chengyue took out paper to wipe Xu Wanning's hands.

"How is your arm?" Xu Wanning stared at the bandage wrapped around his left forearm; it was bleeding through again.

Yesterday, while saving a survivor who had snuck out, he was scratched by a zombie. They didn't have anyone with Healing Ability, so they could only bandage it simply.

"It's fine." Lu Chengyue subconsciously wanted to hide his arm.

"Let me see." Xu Wanning reached out.

"Let's look when we get back." Lu Chengyue dodged back; he was afraid that Ningning would be upset if she saw it.

Xu Wanning didn't insist; she couldn't heal it even if she checked. She took the walkie-talkie from her waist, pressed the talk button, and said, "The Great Leader, the Sixth District has been cleared. All buildings have been searched, and zero zombies have been confirmed."

There was only the sound of static in the walkie-talkie, followed by a moment of silence, and then explosive cheers erupted from the other end.

Blurred, overlapping, people crying, people laughing, the noise mixed together.

Xu Wanning turned down the volume of the walkie-talkie.

"It's really over." Lu Chengyue curled his lips.

"It seems so." Xu Wanning held his hand. His hand was rough, with scars left from injuries, feeling like sandpaper when held.

Xu Wanning's fingers were colder than Lu Chengyue's. He gripped them tighter, passing warmth over. "Let's go, back to the base."

The two walked outside. The zombie corpses were transported directly outside using Wind Ability, and the fire-element teammates would burn them immediately.

The two passed through the hall of the shopping mall ruins. Half the ceiling had collapsed, and the remaining light of the setting sun poured through the hole, shining on the rubble and dried blood covering the ground.

There were zombie corpses everywhere. The zombies they had cleared were piled haphazardly in the corridors, and their teammates were throwing them downstairs.

Walking out of the shopping mall entrance, the setting sun was right in front of them, and the evening glow shone gently on the buildings.

"Almost a year has passed!" Xu Wanning spread her arms, feeling the sunlight.

Lu Chengyue put his arm around her waist. The setting sun blurred her profile, making the three fresh scratch wounds on her right cheek very clear.

Loose hair stuck to her sweat-dampened neck; she looked a bit exhausted. After nearly a year of fighting, she had lost a lot of weight.

The Apocalypse could have ended earlier, but most survivors chose to wait at home; they were unwilling to participate in clearing out the zombies.

It was understandable. Having survived with such difficulty, if they happened to get infected while clearing zombies, it would be too late to regret it.

This resulted in no one clearing zombies except for the military and a very small number of survivor squads. The situation in other cities across the country was about the same.

Many Ability Users didn't even clear zombies to help people, but to upgrade their Supernatural ability. Once they collected enough crystal nucleus to upgrade, they would stop and only continue when they needed more.

However, the country didn't just leave them be, nor did it provide unlimited supplies. Instead, it restored some production within the Safe Zone, reopening many factories and having them go to work.

The survivors preferred to return to their daily work routines rather than kill zombies. They thought that by providing support from the rear, it could also be considered a contribution.

Lu Chengyue pinched Xu Wanning's cheek. "It's over. After this, we just wait for the high temperatures to arrive."

Xu Wanning nodded. "Yeah, the high temperatures will also strike on June 25th. There are still 3 days left. Let's move everything to the Underground City tonight, and sleep underground, just in case."

The two held hands, a long-lost feeling, walking down the empty street. They had strolled here when they were dating before The Apocalypse, but never since then.

No one knew which door or which corner a zombie might jump out from. The road was very empty; survivors had become accustomed to staying indoors and within the Safe Zone.

Now it was different. Those zombies that had slipped through the net were found one by one. Now they could walk in the middle of the road and stroll around without any worries.

To the left was a flower shop. The glass storefront was shattered, and the inside was a mess. Flower pots were overturned, and dry soil was scattered on the ground.

Lu Chengyue stopped. "Wait for me." He walked into the flower shop and rummaged around for a while.

Xu Wanning stood outside watching his back. A-Yue couldn't possibly think there were still living flowers, could he?

Lu Chengyue dug out a few dust-covered paper bags and shook them; the contents rattled.

"What is it?" Xu Wanning asked curiously.

"Flower seeds." Lu Chengyue put all the paper bags into a plastic bag. "When we get back, let Wen Shuyang force them to sprout and plant them in the yard. It's time for us to enjoy life, too."

Xu Wanning stifled a laugh, it sounded like they should be retiring. "Okay, enjoy life. There's plenty of time."

Plenty of time—for the Xu Wanning of her past life, these words were too extravagant. Fortunately, heaven had given her a chance to start over. In this life, everyone would definitely be able to live well.

Xu Wanning squeezed Lu Chengyue's hand a bit tighter. The two continued walking forward, leaving one long and one short shadow behind them.

"Sister Ning, brother-in-law, let's go!" Xia Xingxi waved to them from behind.

The two turned back, exchanged a glance, and turned to walk back.

In the third month of The Apocalypse, they met Xia Xingxi. Just like in her past life, she still had the Light Ability.

Originally, she thought that in this life, she would choose to stay at the base's medical center. She hadn't expected her to insist on following Xu Wanning out on missions.

Zhao Qiang and Gu Xi joined the team one month after The Apocalypse, and Ye Yuhe with the Metal Ability had also joined two months ago.

It felt very surreal to have teammates and friends from her past life returning one by one.

Two buses drove towards the Central District, everyone sitting in their seats, not wanting to move.

Wen Shuyang turned to look at Xu Wanning beside her. "Ningning, have the zombies really all been eliminated? Is The Apocalypse considered over?"

Xu Wanning sighed. "The zombie phase should be over, but there's still the high temperatures and the next wave of Acid Rain ahead. The good thing this time is that we don't have to fight zombies while resisting the high temperatures."

"The high temperatures are nothing, as long as we live in the Underground City, it'll be fine. Besides, we've prepared so many ice blocks, and the Lightning Ability users have all gone to work at the power plant, so the air conditioning can run normally. It'll definitely be fine." Wen Shuyang was very optimistic.

Xu Wanning wasn't as optimistic. With temperatures that high, could the outdoor air conditioning units really handle it?