The Spare's Second Chance in Apocalypse-Chapter 156: Ch : Catching some Rats- Part 4

Ethan let out a deep sigh, watching the silhouettes of the siblings disappear into the distance. His arms were crossed, his brows furrowed in thought.

"Well, that was something. I felt like I would develop a headache if I listened to those people talk a little more. Anyway, no more heading out alone, Selene. You hear those people."

He muttered.

Selene, standing beside him, exhaled through her nose.

"Does this mean my freedom is compromised now? What a bummer! And I had a lot of places I wanted to visit as well."

She mused aloud, tilting her head slightly.

Zara shot her a sharp look.

"Selene, don’t joke about that. This is serious. This situation might be at a completely different level than the ones we are used to dealing with!"

Selene shrugged, the corner of her lips twitching into a faint smirk.

"Come on, Zara. Our world isn’t what it used to be. Bounties, threats, people gunning for our lives—it’s just part of the new normal."

No one seemed amused by her words.

Even Selene knew that she was saying what she was because she was compromising on her now-restricted freedom.

To lighten the mood, she added.

"Besides, Ethan has a way bigger target on his back than I do, just because of his rank. If anything, I should be the one worried about being next to him."

Still, no one laughed.

Ethan simply gave her a flat look. Zara sighed. Orion looked mildly concerned.

Selene groaned, rubbing her temples.

"Ugh. This is so unfair."

The first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of soft gold and pale pink.

Zara stretched her arms and turned toward Selene.

"We should at least get a few hours of sleep before the volunteers arrive. We’re going to have another long day ahead of us."

Selene considered arguing, but the dull ache in her body was enough proof that she desperately needed rest. She was running on fumes, and it was catching up with her.

"Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. I feel like I am about to collapse due to a lack of sleep."

She mumbled, rolling her shoulders. This was not the first all-nighter she had pulled, but the past few days had been hectic, leaving Selene running on a lack of sleep.

The moment she lay down, her body melted into the mattress. Sleep claimed her instantly.

______

When she woke up, something felt... off.

Well, off was the wrong thing to say. Selene felt restricted when she tried to move but nothing majorly was wrong with her body.

’Something feels heavy. I want to move, but my body won’t let me move.’

She blinked groggily, struggling to push away the haze of sleep. Her body was stiff, her muscles sore from exhaustion.

But more than that, there was a distinct weight pressing down on her, making it hard to move.

It took her a second to realize that something—or rather, someone—was on top of her.

Her gaze dropped, and sure enough, there was an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. A familiar, muscular arm.

Ethan.

Selene let out a slow exhale, trying not to panic. She attempted to move the arm off of her, but the moment she tried, he only pulled her closer.

Her eye twitched.

"...Ethan, wake up! Your arm is crushing me."

She whispered, poking his side.

No response.

She tried again, this time attempting to pry his arm away.

That only made him tighten his grip further. It was never hurtful, but the restriction did make Selene feel trapped.

Ethan’s small moments made it feel like he would wake up any moment, and yet, he never did.

And everytime Ethan moved, Selene froze. Was he awake? Was he doing this on purpose?

She gave him another poke. Then a soft shove.

Nothing.

Annoyed, she resorted to more drastic measures.

She bit him.

The second her teeth sank into his skin, a deep grunt left Ethan’s lips. His brows furrowed as he shifted slightly, clearly displeased.

At the same time, Zara and Orion also woke up.

There was a moment of silence as their groggy minds processed the scene before them.

Then, without missing a beat, Zara immediately covered Orion’s eyes.

"You’re too young to see this."

She declared.

Orion, who was definitely not too young for whatever this was, let out a confused noise.

"Huh?"

Selene, mortified, jerked upright.

"This is not what it looks like!"

Zara arched an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Sure."

Before Selene could even begin to clear up the very incorrect assumptions being made, Ethan finally stirred, lifting his recently bitten arm to examine it. He let out a slow, amused hum.

"Selene, you’ve been getting bold these days. I didn’t know you were into marking me."

He mused.

Smack.

Selene whacked his arm, her face burning.

"Shut. Up."

Ethan chuckled, entirely unbothered.

Zara sighed, finally dropping her hand from Orion’s eyes.

"You know, I was hoping for a peaceful morning. But clearly, that’s too much to ask for."

Orion rubbed his temples, mumbling something about "mature adults acting immature."

Selene groaned, flinging herself out of bed.

"I don’t have time for this. I need to check on the volunteers."

Zara rolled onto her side.

"We have time before they show up. You should rest more."

"Can’t."

Selene replied, already heading for the door.

The moment she stood up, though, a wave of exhaustion hit her. Her limbs felt heavy, her mind sluggish.

She barely got any sleep.

Still, she forced herself to push through it.

She had things to do.

Zara watched her go, shaking her head.

"One of these days, she’s going to collapse from overworking herself."

Ethan let out a soft exhale, flexing his arm where teeth marks were still faintly visible.

"She already is."

He muttered.

Orion tilted his head.

"Then why don’t we stop her?"

Ethan smirked.

"Because stopping Selene is like stopping a storm."

A beat of silence.

"Impossible."

Orion finished.

"Exactly."