LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 10: Echoes of the New World
Anllela was deep in thought. Alexa, respecting her silence, kept her focus on the road, while Celine also grew quiet, staring out the window.
After a while, Anllela finally voiced her theory, "Perhaps this world isn't our original world. Suppose—just hypothetically—that Sandra brought us back, but to a parallel world?"
"Squeak!" Alexa suddenly slammed on the brakes, turning to Anllela in shock. Celine, too, looked up in surprise, her eyes wide.
With a slightly trembling voice, Alexa asked, "Then…is Ander still the Ander we know?"
Anllela pondered briefly before answering calmly, "Essentially, no. But now, he is."
She turned off the music a little irritably, then continued, "We're already involved with Ander, so we owe it to him to be faithful. If either of you wants to leave, do so quietly—I'm staying with him."
These women were unwavering in their loyalty to their man, while Ander himself had multiple female companions, a reality they found completely acceptable. In an apocalypse, it was common for powerful men to have multiple partners. Though unfair to women, such harsh realities couldn't be changed in this ruthless world.
Alexa leaned her head on the steering wheel, deep in thought. Celine lowered her head, immersed in her own silence.
Suddenly, Alexa lifted her head, looking at Anllela, "If Sandra triggers another time reversal, would she make the same mistake again?"
"The possibility is very high. If you make a mistake once, it is not impossible the second time."Anllela responded.
"In that case, what is there to hesitate about? He's my man now!" Alexa's gaze grew determined once more.
"Wait a minute, if one day Sandra starts the reverse flow of time again, will we be reborn with her?"Celine asked.
Alexa rolled her eyes: "You and Ander may not be fifteen years old by then. Your thoughts are really evil!"
Celine muttered, "Right, that would be…early dating, I guess?"
Alexa sighed, deciding to ignore her.
"Alexa, I don't mean to pry…" Anllela hesitated, then asked, "I noticed you were looking up baby supplies and diapers last night. Are you…?"
Alexa nodded quietly, "Just as you're thinking. In the previous life, I had thought about having a child."
"Having a baby isn't a bad idea; babies are adorable." Celine's normally lively face softened at the thought of children, her maternal side shining through. After all, her psychological age was over thirty-five with her previous life added on.
"Let's stop by the baby store later for formula and other supplies," Anllela suggested.
Alexa agreed. After a brief pause, a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Hey, I have an idea."
"What idea?" both women asked in unison.
"I remember there's a sanitary pad factory next to the pharmaceutical one—we need that thing!"
"Ho, Ho!"Celine roared happily:"Then take them all!"
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In the morning, though the time approached nine-thirty, the city remained shrouded in gloom, the sky dim and lifeless. Traces of the previous night's dampness lingered on the streets, where fallen leaves from last night's wind and rain lay scattered. Puddles reflected faint light, casting an eerie glow. Normally, such a scene might go unnoticed, but today, these small glimmers felt strange and unsettling.
The streets were nearly void of movement, yet scattered bodies lay everywhere. Startlingly, these people—suited office workers, elderly women with shopping baskets, young students about to board buses—all lay motionless on the ground, faces serene but devoid of life, as if a vast slumber had overtaken them all at once.
At a nearby intersection, cars were piled up in chaos. Drivers, having suddenly passed out, left vehicles swerving into one another, their hoods twisted and dented, with the impact scars glaring in the stillness. Shattered windows littered the ground; some car hoods emitted faint smoke, tinged with a sharp, burnt scent—a grim reminder of the violent collisions. One white sedan had a severely dented side, the driver slumped against the seat with an arm hanging loosely, head tilted toward the window, a once firm grip on the wheel now limp and fragile.
Nearby shops all had their doors ajar, with lifeless goods displayed in glass cases, yet no people were present. Inside a convenience store, the cash register's screen was still on, and a young cashier lay on the floor behind the counter, his hand clutching change. A customer's body lay beside the refrigerated section, an unpaid item having fallen from his hand onto the floor. The register's faint beep flashed a "Please Pay" message, but no one responded.
Looking around, only the traffic lights continued their rhythm, their lights changing as usual, an oddly ironic sight. A fallen motorcycle approached the roadside, and the oil droplets meandered along the ground to the mouth of the ditch, turning into a tiny flowing sound in this silent world, but in the extremely silent environment, this sound seemed particularly abrupt. . The front of the bus hit the guardrail on the roadside. The driver fell into a deep sleep as his consciousness disappeared, and his head tilted towards the window. A passenger also leaned on the seat silently, leaning forward slightly, and his hands hanging down naturally, as if he was just Rest a little.
The usual hustle and bustle of people, noisy traffic, and the flashing sound of electronic billboards seemed to have been taken away overnight, leaving only the gloomy sky and endless silence. The whole world seemed to be captured in a still moment, frozen in the dark morning light. A gust of wind blew from afar, bringing a bit of chill, pushing the plastic bags and newspapers on the ground, making a faint rustling sound, as if to remind that the world is not completely still, but even with these small sounds, it cannot Cover up this apocalyptic silence and oppression.
Standing on the empty, silent street, one could feel a vague sense of fear and desolation spreading. Buildings remained standing but seemed ancient, as if slowly decaying in the undisturbed quiet.
Ander and his group drove out of the villa and arrived on the main street, where they witnessed this haunting scene. The sky remained cloudy, but they realized that the city before them was no longer the one they knew.
The group stepped out of the car and fell silent, staring in astonishment at the scene before them. Mei's legs even felt weak, as if crushed by the overwhelming shock.
"Is this… the apocalypse?" Hatala whispered, her muscles taut with tension.
Ander felt a dry sensation in his throat, unable to resist swallowing. "If these zombies really start moving again, the true shape of the apocalypse will become much clearer."
"Ander… I think… we should go back. This scene is terrifying…" Mei's voice trembled as she spoke, her whole body shaking slightly, her fear clearly visible.
"Go back?" Ander paused, then regained his composure, his voice growing firm. "Mei, the apocalypse is inevitable. We have to learn to adapt; it's the only choice we have."
Just then, Marina stepped forward and gently took Mei's hand, trying to comfort her. "Mei, we're already very fortunate. Yes, this is the apocalypse, but at least there are no zombies moving around right now. This is an opportunity for us to get used to the atmosphere so that when zombies do start moving, we won't be as panicked. Think about it—the people lying on the ground, if they wake up and see zombies right away, imagine how terrifying that would be. Compared to them, aren't we much luckier?"
Hatala stepped up and patted Mei's shoulder, her eyes full of encouragement. "Mei, don't forget, you're now a Level 1 superpower user. You have the ability to fight zombies—that's your strength."
"Yes, Mei, and don't forget you have us." Lily walked over, taking Mei's other hand, her tone warm and steady. "No matter what happens, we'll be by your side. We won't abandon you."
Mei's eyes filled with tears, touched by the unwavering support of her companions. In this apocalypse, having one another felt like an irreplaceable treasure. She took a deep breath and nodded slowly, "I feel less scared now… thank you all."
At that moment, Ander's team had established a solid foundation of trust. In the future, in this distorted human nature and morally broken world, they would become a candle in the darkness, warming each other's hearts and facing every storm together...
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In the end, Ander and his group didn't collect supplies; instead, they wandered around the streets, taking in the peaceful atmosphere of pre-apocalypse life. If they encountered anyone with head injuries, Lily would stop to bandage their wounds.
Due to the street being littered with crashed cars, they couldn't drive in, so they parked by the roadside and now they were walking back.
Suddenly, Ander's phone rang.
"Ander, where are you?" Alexa's voice had a slight edge of tension.
"Don't worry, we're just wandering around, enjoying the last moments of peace before the apocalypse."
"Glad to hear it. We're already back at the villa."
"We're on our way back, too." Ander looked at Marina beside him, handed the driver's seat to her, and got into the passenger seat. "By the way, with the streets in such chaos, how did you manage to drive to the suburbs?"
"Easy! We rode motorcycles in the city. When we could go, we went; when we couldn't, we stored the motorcycles in our space and climbed over car hoods or used sidewalks. We repeated that a few times and eventually got out of the city. After that, we drove a Ferrari the rest of the way."
At that moment, Celine's voice came through the speaker. "Ander, since we're a team, why not give us a team name?"
Ander put the phone on speaker mode. "Sure, any suggestions?"
"How about Angel Team?" Celine suggested.
Alexa and Anllela chimed in with their own ideas: "Warrior Team?" "Pioneer Team?"
"Wolf Squad?"...
After a vote, Mei's suggestion, "Hope Squad," won with three votes. Thus, the team was officially named "Hope Squad," with Ander as the captain and Marina as the vice-captain.
With the advancement of technology, mobile phones bring us closer to each other, though communication would soon be cut off. Hope Squad members cherished these last moments of convenience, enjoying the final moments of technology before the apocalypse. Quickening their pace, they finally arrived back at the villa.
"Ander, the water's out," someone called.
"Sigh, first the power, now the water. Gas will probably be next." Ander laughed wryly. "Do you want to cook, or should we eat what's in the space storage?"
After a moment of thought, Blaire said, "Let's cook. There are not many opportunities to cook."
"Hasn't the power gone out? How is the AC still on?" Hatala asked, puzzled.
"I rewired things three months ago. If the power goes out, it automatically switches to the generator in the basement," Alexa explained. "We turned it on when we came back because it felt a bit warm."
After lunch was prepared, everyone relaxed and chatted about the afternoon's plans. When asked about his plans, Ander shook his head. "I think I'll stay home and savor the last bit of peace."
"We want to go out and buy some formula."
Celine added with a smile, "Baby formula."
The entire table fell silent at her words.
Anllela chimed in, "Alexa wants a baby."
Ander couldn't help but ask, "With me?"
"Fuck!" Alexa said angrily, "Do I have another man besides you?"
Ander grinned, feeling immensely proud and satisfied that an Oscar-winning actress wanted to have his child.
"Then give birth. After all, we lack nothing." He turned to Anllela, "Do you want a baby too?"
Alexa and Anllela were both 32, making it a reasonable time to consider having a child. The others were younger and didn't feel the same urgency.
Anllela thought for a moment before replying, "In another two or three years!"
Ander nodded and reminded them, "You need to be back by three in the afternoon."
Judging from the current situation, zombies were likely to appear in about six hours. Alexa waved off his concern. "Even if we run into zombies, there's nothing to fear; they're easy to handle."
Ander rolled his eyes, thinking, "Only you would say that—anyone else would be long gone."