[BL] NEET life in the Apocalypse

Chapter 56—Road Trip

by Bocchan13

The one week road trip to City N took much preparation. Unlike the times Song Yu went out and only had to worry about himself, he now had an additional 5 people to think of. In order to alleviate time, they unanimously decided on foods that were packaged, dry and/or easy to cook. Song Yu scoured his entire inventory and came up with bread, already-made stir-fry, dried fruits, and the vegetables foraged from the garden and an assortment of dry biscuits.

Song Yu had already shown he was a space ability user, and the food was put in his space much to his relief. His space was like a separate entity containing purifying properties and stagnation. Anything that went in would come out better.

In Wang Cheng’s case, the objects would stay in the same state it came in. However, Wang Cheng’s space was almost 2x’s Song Yu’s and things like humans and even zombies could enter. He was in charge of the weaponry and vehicles.

Everyone opted to bring firearms. They didn’t know the situation in City N and was worried there was a zombie tide. Song Yu was also quite scared. The last high level zombie was a level 7. It was extremely likely they would meet some on the road.

The preparations took a few days until everyone was prepped on the itinerary, location, and possible routes and safe stops. Song Yu was quite hesitant at the beginning but relaxed as the day came closer and closer.

Lan Zhou and his gang were extremely proficient in these kinds of missions. In their past life, they explained that they had been on the front line of the zombie hoard but also had gone on scavenger hunts, looking for anything useful.

Song Yu who had always been in Paradise Base and never left was kind of fascinated of how other people survived the apocalypse and created a sort of occupation during these times.

Bleary eyed, Song Yu rubbed his tired eyes and glared at Lan Zhou’s innocent face. He was too overboard! Lan Zhou went ham on Song Yu as if he was cramming a week’s worth of intimacy in one night.

Which he might have been, but he didn’t let go until morning! Song Yu saw the kiss marks peppered all along his body and inner thighs and couldn’t help but grumble. Slapping Lan Zhou on his butt, he tottered into the bathroom for a quick shower.

“Get up! You pervert!”

Lan Zhou giggled on the bed and laughed even harder when Song Yu slapped him. Stretching out his arms, he happily got up and followed him in.

Lan Zhou wasn’t a total beast and let Song Yu finish his shower in peace. The villa was lively as everyone woke up before the sun rose. Squinty came in through the walls and wagged his tail affectionately.

“You happy all of these people are going to leave, huh?”

“Woof woof!”

Yeah, you guys all suck!

Song Yu wanted to slap his little butt but Squinty high-tailed it out of there and skipped to the other rooms. Song Yu sighed and retrieved his rubber suit and poncho. Summer had arrived and the sun was scorching hot. Song Yu was not going to bring Derpy or Squinty on this excursion, letting them lead the animals here for the week.

Squinty was proficient in the overall work done in the base, whilst Derpy was a great guard, walking around the perimeter. If anything happened within these 7 days, Squinty would send a resonance to Song Yu as long as Song Yu was listening for it.

Song Yu hissed as his abused bottom was trapped in his body suit. For the summer months, the suit did not absorb heat and even had cooling effects. Lan Zhou on the other hand was wearing rubber infused military grade armour. There was still cuts on the suit, but had been neatly sewn by Lan Zhou himself.

Song Yu reached a hand and trailed his fingertips on Lan Zhou’s muscular chest.

“Looks good.”

Lan Zhou kissed Song Yu fiercely and almost made them late! By 5:00, everyone was downstairs ready to go.

Song Yu double checked everything and they set off.

Song Yu’s off road mobile had been stagnant for the past year or so. The gasoline and oil were almost depleted and would only last a few hours. To everyone, that was fine. Wang Cheng had a small drum of gasoline and they would find a gas line closer to City R.

Before the trip, Song Yu had secretly brought the off-road vehicle into his space to treat it for its 1 year dust collection. The bed was converted back into seats and the door that was automatic had several new keys added to its programming.

Yu Ci and Lu Jingxiu whistled as they saw the glorious sight.

“Wowza. The previous owner has taste. This monster is gonna rip zombies to shreds.”

Song Yu proudly patted himself on the back and had everyone get in.

The insides were fresh and clean. Since the off-road vehicle sat only 5, Yu Ci as the biggest person sat in the driver’s seat alongside Lan Zhou who would act as their navigator whilst everyone else had to cram in the back. Song Yu and Xiao Zi were relegated to the middle with Lu Jingxiu and Wang Cheng taking the windows. None of them had car sickness so everyone settled in quickly.

“Okay, let’s go! The nearest gas station is pretty far, so we will only stop for bathroom breaks. Keep it in as long as you can. Yu Ci will switch with Lu Jingxiu in the next six hours.”

“Ah man, I shouldn’t have drunk so much orange juice this morning!” Wang Cheng whined.  Shaking his head, Lan Zhou threw back.

“Not to mention the eight cups of water afterwards.”

“I don’t know when I can drink water!”

“Lu Jingxiu is RIGHT there.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Song Yu sat next to Xiao Zi and listened to their joyful conversation. He remembered the first time he left the base to snoop around. The entire 5 hour drive was silent and the only thing accompanying Song Yu was anxiety. The joyful banter and raucous atmosphere once again warmed his heart.

 Xiao Zi on his left wasn’t much of a chit-chatter, but they had several interests in agriculture and biochemical fertilizer so they started conversation there. It then changed to sports and the rock climbing Xiao Zi used to do.

“You’re pretty spry yourself. You’ve got some nice upper arm strength and a core balance. If you had a climbing wall, you’d do great.”

“I was thinking about making one, but then I realized how dangerous it could be since I didn’t have any information on making a stable foundation. I’d like recommendations.”

“For sure! We need cement though which is hard enough to find as is.”

“It’s okay! I—uh, the previous owner made that large fence and there are still leftover bags in storage!”

“Wow! Okay, I can design a good course and...”

The two were deeply immersed in their conversation, tragically ignoring Lu Jingxiu and Lan Zhou. Feeling the bitterness of his sweetheart being taken away, Lu Jingxiu tugged Xiao Zi’s shirt.

Xiao Zi ignored him and continued talking. When he felt a warm touch the inside of his shirt feeling the bodysuit underneath, Xiao Zi reluctantly glared back.

“Are you a child? Can’t be away from me for a second?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Zi pinched his nose, but entwined their fingers together. Song Yu and the rest felt they had been fed dog food, the sickly sweetness pervading the entire car. Lan Zhu cleared his throat and re-adjusted the map.

“We are just reaching the outskirts of the forest and into nomad territory. The gas line will probably have people. Be prepared. These guys are cutthroat and will kill you.”

Song Yu nodded.

Back when he and his ex-friends were on the run, Song Yu was still delusional and depressed. They stopped at a gas station and traded a few things with the owners who blockaded the entire place. However, their form of ‘trade’ was the nicely hand out things and then ruthlessly steal when your guard was down.

Song Yu remembered Ye Xin was so angry, that when the Paradise Base was made, he went back and slaughtered the entire crew who was now an operational facility for the G Base. G Base did not take kindly to that, which started a full year long war between the factions before Ye Xin was satisfied, decimating G Base by 90%.

G Base was slowly integrated into Paradise Base not even a year later. Song Yu and the rest didn’t think it was problematic. They had stolen from them when they were at their weakest, and now complained when Paradise Base grew stronger.

Later on, Song Yu came to realize that what the people at the gas station weren’t technically wrong either. At least they hadn’t killed any of them, which they could have easily done. Instead, they just stole the bare minimum, letting them keep their clothes and shoes which was now a luxury.

Now was reaching the third year of the apocalypse. The people were getting more and more ruthless and wouldn’t even leave a single strand of hair now. Every part of the body could be sold too.

Song Yu shivered when he recalled those child prostitutes and organ ‘donors’. They were coming closer and closer to the gas station, so Song Yu stayed vigilant inside the car.

When they reached the 20 minute mark to the station, Lu Jingxiu narrowed his eyes.

“We’re being followed.”