Crossdressing To Survive An Apocalypse

Yue held her hand. \'Let\'s ditch the weapons,\' he mouthed to her.

But she anxiously glanced into the passageway. \'I have stuff here.\'

\'It\'s too risky..\' Yue tightly held her hands.

She just shook her head and ran in.

"Darn it," Yue ran after her. In total darkness, all of his other sense heightened. Subtle smell of sweat and blood, of gunpowder....

He closed his eyes for a second.

A pistol cocking into place.

He swiftly ran, all the while trying his best to keep his steps silent. During open shooting in the dark, it was best to be in the corner and leaned on the walls.

"It\'s me," Tian suddenly shouted.

"Tian... is that you? Who are you with?" a gruff voice whispered.

"... Friend..." she whispered back.

Yue slightly felt his heart ache. But he understood. He suddenly popped up in front of her, claiming to be her brother.

It might have been a lot to take in for such an independent person as her.

He sighed softly.

Suddenly a small candle lit the space and a tanned, well built middle-aged man stood there with his gun pointed at Tian.

Yue moved towards her. But she held out a hand, stopping him.

"Ray it\'s me."

"Y—yes... they were my friends too until they all came at me at the same time like crazy wolves." he whispered tremblingly .

Yue only then noticed almost twenty or so corpses on the ground. \'Wow, this man took down that many at the same time. That\'s amazing.\'

"They are zombies according to him," she pointed to him.

Yue awkwardly nodded. "Only a shot to the head can kill them."

"Umm hmm...." the man looked him up and down. "Wait, why do you look like..." he pointed at her and then at Yue in astonishment.

Tian grumbled and patted his hands. "Don\'t even start about that. As I was saying, the people turned into zombies, the world ended. What are you going to do?"

"Going to my family," he said without a minute\'s hesitation.

Tian\'s expression shifted. She blinked softly and nodded. "Where?"

"S city,"

"It\'s too dangerous there. He said so," she pointed to him once again.

"He is a he? I thought he was a she.." ray mumbled, smirking at him flirtatiously.

Yue frowned deeply.

"Ray, snap out of it. It\'s not the time to flirt. S city is a death sentence,"

"But still I\'m going," he resolutely said to her.

"Why?"

Yue looked at his sister. She seemed genuinely confused by this man\'s ambitions. "Because his family will be worried sick thinking of his safety," he said to her.

Ray glance at him and nodded. "My momma might even toss a few frying pans my way for coming home late." He casually said, placing his gun in the holster. "What are you going to do?.."

Tian glanced at the ground, shuffling her feet.

"You are not planning on staying, are you?"

"...."

"Tian..."

Yue peered at her intently. "You said you\'ll think about coming with me.."

Tian did not bother to answer any of them. She just walked past towards a small locker.

Ray sighed and walked close. "Come with me. My mom loves you like a daughter. She will be happy to have you back,"

"No. I\'m staying here."

Zou Yue moved close. "Tian please... you can\'t stay here,"

"He is right, Tian. This place is a fucking biohazard! Who knows, that meteor might even be radioactive!" he peered at the silent woman with a deep frown, "Why are you still stuck up in this place? This is just a darn house! Why would you risk it all for it? From the moment you started this job, I have been asking you this. Why? Why this place?"

"Because this place is my home! It\'s my grandma\'s house! I grew up here, and this is my home!" she shouted, pushing him away. Her tear-filled eyes slightly glanced at Yue. "And I am not leaving, not for a family that threw me away."

Yue nodded. His heart felt slightly heavy from her rejection. But if that was what she wished, he would not go against it.

"For the record, mum did not want to let go of you. She searched for you..."

Tian pulled out a duffle bag and started to fill it with guns. "Let\'s split it in three. We are all going separate ways after all,"

Zou Yue nodded to himself. \'I... I think I should give up on her,\'

"It\'s late now... the zombies are sensitive to light. It\'s dangerous to travel at night." he said dully said and sat in a clean corner. "Blow out the candle,"

Ray nodded and switched it off.

Sitting in the complete darkness, Yue wiped away the tears away. He could hear the small clatters of Tian arranging the guns and bullets.

He hugged his legs tight. \'Coming here was my last straw...\'

Coming to find Tian was his last effort at finding a family. Because he was not confident. Even though things seemed different from the past, he was not sure if his parents will survive.

Thinking of going back to a house with his parent\'s corpses...

\'I don\'t have anyone now...\' he sniffed softly.

Ray, who was quite close to Tian, nudged her. he held her hand and wrote on it. \'he is crying...\'

Tian did not reply.

\'I am serious. Why does he look like you?\'

She took his palm and wrote, \'he is my brother.\'

"What?" he whisper-shouted.

"Shh.." Tian cupped his mouth.

Ray once again took her palm and wrote, \'then why did you refuse to go back with him?\'

\'He and I are different,\'

\'What?\'

\'He grew up with warm love, but I grew up in the cold. I don\'t think I can survive there,\'

Ray sighed loudly, half hugging her. "When life gives you lemons....\'

Tian patted his arm, telling him to stop.

He held her hands softly and wrote, "your hands are warm Tian... you are a warm person.\'

Tian pulled her hands away. "it\'s because I\'m sick." she whispered.

"No... sigh Tian. Give them a chance. You deserve it,\' he whispered, and went back to sorting his bags.

Tian sat there silently. She could hear the subtle snort sound from the other corner. \'I\'m already a disappointment to someone. What if I disappoint his parents too?..\'

Her hands touched the small photo that she had carefully stored in the bag. Her adoptive grandma, the old orphanage owner, was smiling so beautifully. \'What would you have said, grandma? You would have told me to go for it...\'

She gently caressed the small broken corner of the photo frame. \'I don\'t have the confidence to do so...\'

\'I don\'t want to be a disappointment,\'