Chapter 223 - 5.33 Darkest Nightmare
The ward Yves was in was a similarly private ward as Lu Yizhou, albeit a little smaller. Hence the cramped and straight hallway where he needed to go straight in order to make their exit. Lu Yizhou had no idea how many parasites had snuck their way in but on every intersection, there would be at least one who jumped in on them. The number of Lu Yizhou’s bullets was rapidly declining and his body was splattered with green substance all over. Until when he finally ran out of ammo, he opted to throw the empty gun altogether and use his fists instead.
Terra’s presence was a silent anchor beside him. They fought back to back, watching over each other whilst Lu Yizhou mentally calculated where they should go for hiding. As much as he worried about Doctor Wyatt, going back to him was a big no and he couldn’t go to where people were either. They were practically living targets and the parasites would follow wherever they went. Lu Yizhou had no problem doing everything alone, but Terra was with him. He couldn’t risk his lover’s safety.
"Terra, are you okay?" He asked without looking back and received a brief grunt in response. "Hold on for a while, okay? Do you know where we can hide for a while?"
This time Terra tugged on his shirt and Lu Yizhou looked sideways to see the guide mouthing ’rooftop’. Lu Yizhou blinked. "That’s a... good idea." If they were lucky, they could lock the rooftop door and take a short break. Below was a crowd of police, army and reporters. Lu Yizhou could get them to spread the air mattress in case they were going to jump. Either way, they would be able to escape safely. "Come on!’
The two wasted no time to run to the nearest emergency stairs so that they could directly climb to the highest floor. As Lu Yizhou had expected, the area was empty but as soon as they climbed one floor, the door burst open below them and a horde of parasites came in. Once again, Lu Yizhou cursed under his breath. He picked up his pace all the while scanning his surroundings warily.
It was at that moment that the corner of his eyes inadvertently caught sight of shining metal reflected by the lightbulb overhead. He looked down and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he saw Joshua — bloody, eerily smiling Joshua — was pointing a gun toward them from two floors below. Where the fuck had he gotten a gun from?!
Lu Yizhou had no time to ponder on the question. His brain geared up to its maximum and in his calculation, he could indeed dodge it but in exchange, Terra would— The warning hadn’t even fallen from Lu Yizhou’s lips yet when a gunshot erupted. Lu Yizhou only had the time to tilt his body sideways and the sudden movement caused him to crash against Terra behind him who slipped and stumbled on his steps, landing on his butt a few steps below.
"Fuck..."
Terra snapped his eyes up at the hoarse curse and his blood instantly ran cold when red filled his vision. Blood, blood, blood, there was so much blood running down Lu Yizhou’s face to the ground. The man was covering one side of his face whilst checking on Terra, his eyes searching. "Are you okay?"
Terra’s lips moved soundlessly, unable to tear his eyes away from the gash on Lu Yizhou’s right cheek that went over his eyelids. His vision was swimming and it was like he was transported into his deepest and darkest nightmare. One moment he was still an eleven years old child who witnessed someone dying in front of him and the next moment, he was in a forest covered in snow, a man in light blue robe in front of him. There was blood on the man’s body, so much blood, and Terra could do nothing but watch him fade away.
Lu Yizhou looked between Terra and the parasites back and forth, cursing. After a split second consideration, he decisively picked Terra up into his arms and sprinted up the stairs. Terra’s eyes were blank as he held onto Lu Yizhou’s shoulders and he was only brought out of his reverie at the continuous gunshots that sounded close, only missing them by an inch or two.