Chenghai still wasn’t completely sure how this had become his life.

One minute they had been fighting for their lives against a screaming undead nightmare capable of making people’s brains leak out through their ears.

And the next?

They were sitting in the middle of the highway having lunch while two monster hordes ripped each other apart fifty feet away.

Reality had officially stopped making sense somewhere around the point where Rouxi started handing out sandwiches from pockets that were definitely not big enough to fit them in.

But that was something to figure out another time.

Lingyun sat sideways on an overturned crate with one boot propped against a chunk of concrete while he drank an energy drink like they were hanging out behind a convenience store instead of watching the apocalypse evolve in real time.

He and Zhenlan both had coffee cups in their hands, steam curling upward lazily while Yuche leaned against the SUV drinking bottled water with the expression of a man wishing very strongly that it was whiskey.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he was pretty sure that he was going to have to fight again, Chenghai was all for getting shit faced.

"You keep emergency snacks in your coat?" Lingyun asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

Rouxi looked offended by the question. "You ask that like you have no idea who I am. Of course I have snacks everywhere."

"That can’t possibly all fit in there."

"Sounds like a lack of imagination on your part. Or you greatly underestimate my desire for snacks."

Lingyun narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You’re like a squirrel if squirrels hoarded junk food instead of nuts."

"I also hoard nuts," Rouxi replied casually before popping another cheezie into her mouth. "They are in the truck inside the spare tire."

Lingyun choked on his drink while Zhenlan sighed into his coffee.

Chenghai pretended not to hear any of that.

Behind them, the Butcher slammed its oversized fist downward hard enough to flatten three zombies instantly while the Banshee shrieked violently from somewhere beneath the creature’s arm.

Several of the smaller zombies immediately threw themselves at the larger evolved one in response, clawing and biting while the Butcher laughed loud enough to echo across the highway.

The sound was deeply unsettling.

Not because it sounded human so much as because it almost did.

Like a horror movie soundtrack put on repeat.

The Banshee screamed again, but it came out weaker this time.

Lingyun glanced over his shoulder. "Your little screamy thing sounds like she’s losing."

"That’s because she’s a baby," Rouxi replied with a shrug. "She doesn’t stand much of a chance against a butcher. I have to give her credit for even trying. And for lasting this long."

Chenghai looked over at her. "A baby."

"Mm."

"That thing was making people’s skulls explode."

"And?"

"And that’s considered a baby?"

Rouxi blinked at him slowly before taking another bite of her sandwich. "I mean... compared to the not baby versions? Very."

Nobody looked comforted by that information.

Yuche twisted the cap back onto his water bottle before grimacing slightly. "Please tell me you’ve got something stronger hidden in that SUV."

Rouxi pointed toward the trunk without even looking up from her food. "Second compartment on the left."

Yuche stared at her for a second before pushing himself upright and heading toward the vehicle.

"...There are compartments?" Lingyun asked his eyes going to Zhenlan. "Since when does that model have compartment?"

"You’re asking me?" replied Zhenlan blankly, even as he stared down the other man.

Shaking his head, Lingyun turned to Rouxi. "How many compartments does your SUV have?"

Rouxi shrugged. "Enough to keep snacks in."

That was not an answer.

Yuche opened the trunk a few seconds later before pausing completely.

Then he slowly looked back toward Rouxi.

"There’s whiskey in here."

"There’s also vodka under the false bottom if you move the tool kit."

Lingyun sat up straighter immediately. "There’s a false bottom?!"

"Did you really think I would survive the apocalypse without emergency alcohol?"

Honestly, Chenghai was starting to think she had been preparing for the end of the world long before any of them realized it was happening.

The Butcher roared suddenly.

Everyone looked up.

The massive evolved creature had finally gotten its hands around the Banshee’s throat. The smaller zombie shrieked violently, claws digging into the Butcher’s arm while its horde practically threw themselves at the larger creature in desperation.

The Butcher laughed harder.

Then ripped the Banshee in half.

The highway went silent for half a second and even the surrounding zombies froze.

"...Well," Lingyun muttered softly. "That seems unhealthy."

The Butcher shoved one massive hand directly into the Banshee’s skull and started digging around. What made it worse was that the banshee was clearly still alive... and still screaming desperately.

After a moment, the butcher pulled something out of the skull and the inhuman sound stopped so suddenly Chenghai wished for just a moment that it was still going.

The silence was nothing if not deafening.

Between two massive fingers that looked more like over full sausages than actual fingers sat a single pink crystal.

But this thing was huge.

Even from this distance, it was easy to see it. The thing glowed softly and was easily the size of both of Rouxi’s fists put together.

Everyone stared as the Butcher twisted it in the sun, a smile on its face appearing. Even Rouxi lowered her sandwich slowly as she narrowed her eyes like she was not happy that the Butcher had one.

Then, it opened its mouth and brought the crystal closer to its lips. But before he could put it in his mouth, the crystal vanished.

One second it was there, the next. Gone.

The Butcher froze in shock.

Slowly, the massive evolved looked downward as if trying to figure out exactly where the crystal had gone.

Rouxi grunted in satisfaction even as the creature spun around in a full circle, searching for its prize. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Okay," she announced cheerfully. "Break time’s over. Time to play some more."

The snacks vanished and the drinks disappeared. Even the overturned crates they had been sitting on suddenly blinked out of existence.

And just like that, every zombie on the highway turned back toward them again, letting out a low moan.