Chapter 450 - 62 - Bombing
Chen stared at the injured man as though the words he had just spoken had completely broken something inside his head.
"2040?"
His voice came out quieter than he intended. His brows slowly pulled together, and his fingers tightened around the rifle until his knuckles began to pale. Twenty years. The man had said twenty years, yet Chen knew with absolute certainty that it had been twenty-five years since the outbreak began.
That was impossible.
For several seconds, Chen remained frozen, his mind desperately trying to make sense of what he had heard. His gaze shifted toward the man, then toward the bloodstained factory around them, before finally landing on Skyy. The moment he looked at him, a strange sense of urgency rushed through his chest.
"Come here."
Skyy blinked at him. "Chen?"
"Come here," Chen repeated, this time more firmly.
There was something in his expression that made Skyy stop questioning him. He quickly moved closer, and Chen caught him by the wrist and pulled him toward the far corner of the room. His movements were more hurried than usual, almost rough with the panic he was trying to keep under control. Once Skyy was beside him, Chen stepped slightly in front of him, putting his own body between Skyy and the injured stranger.
Skyy frowned, looking up at him. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Just stay here."
"But—"
"Please, Skyy."
The quiet plea made Skyy fall silent.
Chen crouched down and immediately reached toward the collar of Skyy's clothes.
Skyy jerked backward in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Trexa."
Chen pulled the collar aside, and there, nestled comfortably against Skyy's neck, was the tiny rat.
Trexa was fast asleep.
Completely asleep.
Her little body was curled into a ball, her paws tucked beneath her chin as if the world wasn't falling apart around her. Apparently, being carried around in Skyy's collar had been comfortable enough for her to sleep through everything that had happened.
Chen's eyebrow twitched.
"Trexa."
Nothing.
He reached in and carefully pulled her out.
The moment her body left the warmth of Skyy's collar, Trexa's nose twitched. Her whiskers moved, and she slowly opened one eye.
Then the other.
Her tiny face immediately scrunched up. "Grrr..."
She rubbed her face with both paws before glaring up at Chen with the unmistakable irritation of someone who had just been rudely dragged out of a very good sleep.
Chen stared back at her. "Wake up."
Trexa's ears flattened.
"Trexa."
The rat let out an annoyed little grunt and scratched the side of her face before yawning.
Chen's brows knitted together. "I said wake up."
Trexa finally stopped scratching and glared at him again. "What?" Her voice came through their mental connection sounding just as grumpy as her expression.
Chen took a slow breath. "What year is it?"
She scratched her cheek. "I don't know."
His eyes twitched at this. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I didn't check." Trexa gave another careless shrug, then began grooming one of her paws as though this conversation wasn't particularly important.
Chen stared at her in disbelief. "You didn't check?"
"No."
"Trexa, you dragged us through time!"
"I know."
"And you didn't check what time you dragged us into?"
Trexa paused mid-grooming and looked up at him. "I took you somewhere relatively safe."
Chen's mouth fell open slightly. "Relatively safe?"
He glanced around the factory, his expression becoming increasingly strained. His lips pressed into a thin line. "This isn't safe."
Trexa scratched her face again. "It's safer than that place."
Chen's brows pulled even tighter.
That was not reassuring.
He slowly lowered his gaze, his thoughts racing as everything began to fall into place.
His father had planned for this year.
Twenty-five years after the outbreak, the infected zones had become too dangerous to leave alone. The survivors couldn't keep expanding their settlements while massive areas remained filled with high-level zombies. Eventually, his fathers and the leaders of several other settlements had worked together on a plan to bomb the most heavily infected regions.
Chen remembered hearing the adults talk about it when he was younger. Maps had been spread across tables, entire regions marked and divided into different zones. It had been a dangerous decision, but it was also how they had managed to clear so much of the infected territory and keep their own base safe.
The bombing had changed everything.
It had wiped out countless infected creatures and allowed the surviving settlements to reclaim some of the surrounding land.
But that meant one thing.
If this really was 2040, then they could be standing inside one of the areas marked for destruction.
Chen's stomach tightened. His gaze slowly traveled toward the dark factory windows.
He didn't know when the bombing would happen.
It could be tomorrow.
It could be in a week.
It could even be tonight.
And if they stayed here when it happened...
Chen immediately stood. "We have to leave."
Skyy looked up at him, his expression becoming worried. "Leave where?"
"Anywhere. Just not here."
Chen started toward the entrance before stopping himself. He turned back and looked at Skyy, his face tense. "We need to move before the bombs fall."
Skyy's eyes widened. "Bombs?"
"Yes."
The injured man, who had been sitting quietly against the wall, suddenly lifted his head. "Bombs?"
Chen's head snapped toward him.
The man immediately shut his mouth.
Chen narrowed his eyes before turning back to Trexa. "Can you send us back?"
Trexa's ears twitched. "Back?"
"To our own time."
Trexa stared at him for a moment before her tiny shoulders sagged. "I can't."
His expression tightened. "Why not?"
"I used too much power."
Trexa rubbed her face again, looking tired now rather than annoyed. She slowly stretched her tiny paws before settling them against her stomach. "The jump took a lot of energy. I need to recover before I can do it again."
"How long?" he crouched down in front of her.
"I don't know."
"Give me an estimate."
She thought about it, scratching behind one ear. "A year."
Chen's face went blank.
Trexa added casually, "Maybe two."
"A year or two?"
Trexa nodded. "Maybe less if I recover quickly."
Chen stared at her, his jaw tightening as he struggled to keep his temper under control.
"We don't have a year!"
Trexa blinked at him.
Chen dragged a hand down his face and let out a slow breath. His fingers lingered against his forehead as he tried to calm himself. A year was impossible. Two years was even worse. They couldn't remain trapped here for that long, especially when he knew what was supposed to happen to this entire region.
Skyy quietly stepped closer and caught the edge of Chen's sleeve.
"Chen..."
Chen lowered his hand and looked at him.
Skyy's brows were drawn together, his blue eyes filled with confusion and worry. He clearly didn't understand what was happening, but he could see enough of Chen's expression to know that something was seriously wrong.
"What are we going to do?"
Chen opened his mouth, but no answer came.
"we are going to S city."
He needed to see his fathers…