I Have a Post Apocalyptic Online Friend C23.1

Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂

Chapter 23. Part 1

The Mechanic was delirious and unable to feed himself.

Zhou An’an helped him sit up against the wall, then pried open his mouth and spooned the liquid into it, one spoonful at a time.

Lu Yuan emerged from the bathroom with an empty cup, watching with schadenfreude. “Keep it up! Give him more.”

Zhou An’an frowned at the man’s soaked shirt. “So much is spilling out.”

Lu Yuan held the cup beneath his chin to catch the overflow. When it was full, he emptied it into the basin, calling it “resource conservation.”

Under their meticulous care, the Mechanic’s eyes fluttered open.

The first thing he saw was Zhou An’an’s smile.

“How do you feel? Any better?”

Then came Lu Yuan’s voice. “He’s not speaking. He definitely hasn’t had enough. Give him a few more spoonfuls.”

Another spoonful of the drink was forced into his open mouth. He finally tasted the flavor and, leaning against the wall, retched violently.

Lu Yuan was quick to push the basin of grape juice under his chin, catching the spray perfectly.

Zhou An’an looked at the basin with regret. “A whole basin, and he barely drank any. What a waste!”

The Mechanic nearly vomited his stomach out. Visible withered dodder strands floated in the basin, indicating that the stem filaments had even penetrated his stomach.

Zhou An’an imagined the sensation and felt a surge of nausea.

After retching for a long time, the Mechanic felt much lighter and regained some strength in his voice.

“I remember you—the one who modified the bus. Is he your boyfriend?” he said, his gaze fixed on Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan rubbed his nose and looked away. Zhou An’an’s ears turned crimson as she replied, “Not my boyfriend, just my teammate. You’ve misunderstood.”

“Teammate? So you’re one of those Doomsday Players from the internet?” Ignoring his weakened state, he leaned toward Lu Yuan, his eyes burning with curiosity. “Are you really someone who returned from the Doomsday world? I even chatted with you before!”

Doomsday’s arrival was no longer a secret. Lu Yuan gave a noncommittal hum.

The Mechanic was green with envy. “No wonder you modified the bus. I was worried it wouldn’t be roadworthy, but you were actually preparing for Doomsday all along… Wait a minute, this isn’t that vehicle.”

He glanced around at the surroundings and realized they were completely different from his memories.

Zhou An’an explained, “Our car was stolen, so we had to switch to this one.”

He sighed. “What a shame. I put so much effort into that car.”

Curious, Zhou An’an asked, “Why were you here? And how did you get entangled with the dodder?”

He tried to explain, but suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. After a moment, he recovered.

Zhou An’an helped him to the sofa. “Rest here for a bit. I’ll get you something to eat.”

He thought of the taste of grape juice, his lips twitching. “No need to trouble yourself. Do you have anything ready-made? Like biscuits or something? Just give me a few.”

Lu Yuan tossed him the bag of biscuits he’d previously rejected. “Eat up.”

Zhou An’an frowned. “He hasn’t eaten in a long time. Eating something so hard might hurt his stomach.”

Lu Yuan grabbed her by the back of her shirt. “If he wants to eat it, let him. Why are you being so nosy? We promised him extra food tonight. Get cooking—no backing out.”

Zhou An’an was forcibly led away, so she began preparing braised pork. Lu Yuan continued driving.

After a while, she brought a bowl of braised pork to the driver’s seat.

“I’m so sorry for forgetting you on the roof earlier.”

Lu Yuan drove silently.

“Forget it. I never expected anything from you anyway.”

Hearing this, Zhou An’an felt even more guilty. “This was a real accident. I promise it won’t happen again. Please don’t be angry, okay?”

Lu Yuan glanced at her. “Am I that petty? Put the meat down and go.”

“It’s inconvenient for you to eat while driving. Let me feed you.” Zhou An’an plopped down and, true to her word, picked up a piece of meat and held it to his lips.

Lu Yuan hesitated for a few seconds before eating it.

Her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. “This is actually quite nice, don’t you think?”

“What’s nice about it?”

“Facing even the most dangerous moments together. And having someone to talk to during meals—it’s not lonely.”

Lu Yuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’m too full to eat another bite. Put it back.”

“Huh? Does it not taste good?”

This was the first time Zhou An’an had ever seen him refuse to eat.

Lu Yuan shook his head, so she reluctantly carried the bowl back to the kitchen.

After all the commotion, Zhou An’an was exhausted. She set the braised pork to simmer over low heat to keep it warm, then returned to bed to rest. She planned to come back in twenty minutes to turn off the stove, but before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

She woke up to complete darkness outside. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she suddenly gasped.

“My braised pork!”

After all this time, it must be burnt to a crisp!

She rushed to the kitchen, only to find Lu Yuan and the Mechanic sitting face-to-face on the sofa. A large pot of braised pork sat on the table, along with a dozen beers and snacks like braised duck necks and bread.

“You’re awake?” The Mechanic greeted her warmly, as if this were his own home. “Sit down, we were waiting for you to eat together.”

Zhou An’an sat beside Lu Yuan, puzzled by the beers. “Where did these come from?”

She didn’t remember any alcohol in the car.

“We passed a convenience store earlier,” Lu Yuan explained. “He went to get them.”

“He went alone?” Zhou An’an stared at the Mechanic, who was now full of energy after being barely able to speak earlier, and wondered if she was dreaming.

The Mechanic opened three cans of beer, placing one in front of each of them. “When we were modifying the bus, I felt like we had a lot in common,” he said cheerfully. “And you two saved my life today. I have to toast you both.”

He raised his beer, tilted his head back, and drained it in one go.

Lu Yuan took a few sips, seemingly satisfied with the taste, and began studying the recipe with interest.

Zhou An’an never drank alcohol and felt awkward refusing the drink. She took a small sip and set it down, then repeated her earlier question.

“Why were you there alone?”

The Mechanic opened another beer and began recounting his story as he drank.

He explained that he was from the countryside, where his parents worked the family farm and his wife worked in a factory. Their child was in elementary school, while he worked alone at an auto repair shop in the city.

The couple had been saving money for another year to buy an apartment in the city and bring their family to live with him. But then Apocalypse arrived.

In fact, a week before the apocalypse, some employees at the auto repair shop had taken early leave to go home after seeing online rumors.

When his wife’s factory shut down, she urged him to take leave too, but he refused.

He reasoned that staying at the shop meant earning an extra day’s wages, bringing them one step closer to their dream.

He and his family all believed the lockdown would be like previous ones, and that things would return to normal soon enough—back to work, back to school.

Until many people mutated into zombies.

That night, military vehicles passed by, urging survivors to follow them to the Shelter.

He didn’t go. Instead, he drove the shop’s car toward home, desperate to retrieve his family and get them to the shelter together as quickly as possible.

When he arrived home, the lights were still on. His heart filled with joy as he opened the door, only to be greeted by his parents and wife, now transformed into zombies, and the gnawed remains of his child on the floor.

The rest of the village had also turned into zombies. He was forced to hide in the granary for several days before seizing an opportunity to escape in his car.

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