Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

After a few minutes in the hot water, Xiaoyun suddenly broke the silence as he opened his eyes and looked straight towards her naked body.

"Houqin, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Houqin quietly asked, her eyes still closed.

"What was it like when you lost control of your body?"

The room fell into silence once again. It felt like forever as more and more time ticked away inside the hot tub.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. I already told this to Tianci... It felt weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, weird... It was like a dream. Everything was out of control, like a parasite hijacked my entire body."

Houqin paused for a second, her face suddenly held up the slightest, smallest smile.

"And then you came. Every inch of my body wanted you dead... It was a feeling of anger and desire I had never felt before."

"You can remember everything?" Xiaoyun questioned, looking genuinely surprised.

At the same time, he could see her face rapidly changing into a heavy frown as she went on to describe that day.

"I could remember every single bit. You pulling the pistol at me and everything."

"I didn't fire it, if I remember correctly." Xiaoyun immediately pointed it out, as he didn't want to be guilty of something he didn't do.

"I know."

Houqin paused again as her face suddenly looked a little confused, as if there was something that she couldn't understand herself.

"You dragged me into the bathroom and then kept feeding me your flesh... Why did you do that?"

Xiaoyun's brain froze before a flood of memories popped up into his head—the exact memory of what he was thinking of that day.

"I thought I could keep feeding you until you were full. And then maybe, just maybe, it might just work."

"What makes you think I was hungry?" Houqin curiously questioned.

"I mean, Tianci liked to drink blood in the past. Not to mention it was my bodily fluid that was the thing that saved you when you first got bitten by a zombie."

Xiaoyun paused for a second, then continued.

"Also, I had come across a talking zombie in the past that also ate human flesh. I really thought you were just extremely hungry."

The second part made Houqin's face flinch, but she quickly changed back to normal as she finally opened her eyes.

"You really are a dummy... You could have died."

As she started to raise her voice, Xiaoyun remained firm, seemingly as if he didn't regret his decision at all.

"I love you," Xiaoyun whispered.

"D-Don't suddenly s-say that kind of stuff," Houqin murmured as she curled her knees up to her abdomen.

"Why not? Are you not my fiancée?"

Houqin didn't answer back, but Xiaoyun slowly swam beside her before sitting right next to her in the hot tub.

"I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but I'm never going to give you up."

A quiet sob could be heard. A single tear fell from Houqin's face as she finally couldn't resist her feelings any longer.

"You idiot! I-I almost ate your brain! You could have died right there!" Houqin yelled as she fell onto his shoulder.

"I know you won't kill me... Just like how I didn't kill you."

Despite saying it with confidence, Xiaoyun felt a chill down his spine. He couldn't believe how irrational a decision he had made.

One in a thousand coin flips that he would never do, especially when he had so much to lose as thoughts of his wife and kids flashed into his mind.

"You dummy!"

As Houqin repeatedly pounded her fist against Xiaoyun's chest, he took it all without flinching a single time.

"Call me dummy all you want. I love you, and that's the only thing I cared about—"

"Dummy, dummy, dummy!"

"Okay, okay. You want me to give up on your next time then?" Xiaoyun jokingly said out loud as he held onto her fist.

"I..."

No words came out of her lips, almost as if she had the same thought as the one Xiaoyun had just a few moments ago.

It was just too irrational of an idea. A brain-dead choice full of risk that should have never worked no matter what kind of circumstances.

"I'm going to be honest with you for a second, Houqin... I'm never doing that again. I can't bring myself to risk it all."

"I... I understand."

Seeing Houqin willingly accept a blatant betrayal, Xiaoyun's heart started to feel a little guilty. Still, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"But I still love you," Xiaoyun whispered.

"I know."

"Can you say it back?"

"I... I love you." Leyan quietly whispered.

"Can you say it louder?"

"I love you! There, you happy?"

"I'm more than happy."

As she shyly looked down at the water, Xiaoyun finally stopped teasing her. At the same time, another question suddenly popped into his mind.

"Hey Houqin..."

"What is it?"

"This might be a very weird question... But how is it like to eat human flesh?"

"W-Why are you asking that?" Houqin questioned back as her face instantly turned paler than the wall behind her.

"I'm just curious, that's all."

After a whole minute of silence, Houqin finally gave her answer.

"It tasted disgusting."

"Really? But you ate like six of my limbs nonstop. And you even ate my entire body afterward."

"Stop describing it, you dummy!"

"Okay, okay."

As Houqin punched his chest in protest, Xiaoyun quickly backed down. His brain realized how stupid a question he had been asking.

"My turn to ask you a question," Houqin demanded.

"Sure. What do you want to ask?"

"How did you turn me back to normal? And how did you get... those steel scissors of yours on your fingertip?"

"Oh, this?"

Within the blink of an eye, a layer of steel was over his hand, followed by a long, extended blade over his forearm.

"How?"

Houqin looked even more shocked than before, as she didn't expect his power to get even stronger.

"Let's just say I found something and it enhanced my ability even more... And that's how I managed to save you this time."

Seeing all the steel layers disappear from his body, Houqin still had a hard time believing what had just happened before her eyes.

"This is crazy..."

"Mhm. I don't think I have explored this ability fully yet either. There's definitely more creative ways that I can use this."

Xiaoyun turned his attention from his arm back over to Houqin, only to soon find himself freezing at the next question.

"Xiaoyun, can I ask you something again?"

"What?"

"You said you love me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Would you still love me if I were a zombie? Like if you were never able to change my body... I want to hear your honest answer."

"I don't want to answer that question."

"Come on, answer it."

"Can I not?"

As Houqin stared into his eyes with a fully determined face, Xiaoyun couldn't bring himself to lie.

"Fine, fine. I... I do love you... Even when you were a zombie."

"Really? You're not lying?" Houqin looked back at him in disbelief, her face looking genuinely surprised by his answer.

"Did you already forget I kissed you when your face was all hideous? I don't care how you looked."

After answering back out loud, she suddenly started sobbing again. Tears ran down Houqin's face before they merged with the warm water.

"Um, did I say something wrong? Aren't you supposed to be happy to hear I love you because of your personality?"

"It's tears of joy, you dummy."

"Oh. Right. I should have realized that."

The sobbing soon came to a stop as her face mysteriously blushed red, with Xiaoyun's attention still fixated on the mistake.

"Houqin, I really want to let you know, I love you no matter how you looked in the past, now, or in the future."

"I-I know... Thank you."

Seeing her already moving on, Xiaoyun was more than happy to move past it as the water started to get cold.

"Ahem, let's get out of the water before we get dizzy. Surely they had unlocked the door by now."

As Houqin followed Xiaoyun out of the hot tub, the two of them walked back over to the doorway with their body still dripping wet.

"Whew."

The door fortunately pulled open easily, revealing the changing room with two towels sitting on the hanger for them to use.

Both of them began drying themselves with it, except Xiaoyun gave it a rough dry before wrapping the towel over his body.

"Well, Houqin, it was nice talking to you today. Make yourself comfortable and have a good night's sleep."

Just as Xiaoyun reached for the exit out of the changing room, Houqin suddenly pulled his hand.

"W-Wait."

"Hm?"

"Can w-we... um... sleep together for tonight?" Houqin quietly whispered, her face looking a little nervous as if she had used up all her courage.

"If that's what you want... Actually, wait here. Let me find something to dry your hair first."

Xiaoyun quickly went over to the cabinet before taking out a hair dryer. He quickly plugged the power cord into the outlet and turned it on.

"Let me dry your hair... I don't want my pillow to get all wet."