Thrive in Catastrophe Chapter 17

Xiao Yan ran past the two a.s.sa.s.sins without looking back. He could feel something closing into his neck from behind, followed by several clings and clashes. He figured that the attack was blocked off by Maya.

On his way to the control room, a zombie wandering at the pa.s.sageway spotted Xiao Yan and chased after him.

"d.a.m.nit!"

What rotten luck!

Xiao Yan ran with all his might. He knows he can't hope for Maya to save him this time, he could only pray that the door to the control room is opened, otherwise, without the authority to unlock, he's going to end up becoming the zombie's meal!

Sensing the zombie getting closer and closer, Xiao Yan strained all his muscles to put on a spurt. He has never been faster in his whole life!

Laboured breathing and racing heartbeats no longer matter the only concern is to survive.

Xiao Yan sees a silver lining in his desperate situation when he caught a glimpse of the wide opened door of the control room.

Faster! I need to be faster!

Using the momentum, he slid through the door into the control room, quickly turned around and pressed the b.u.t.ton by the door. The zombie tried to squeeze through the narrowing gap but was stuck between the closing doors. It placed both of its hands by the sliding doors, attempting to force himself through.

Xiao Yan's heart was pounding. With a sudden surge of courage, he opened the emergency armory to find that most of the weapons are taken away, leaving only a gun and a sharp-edged knife. Without further hesitation, Xiao Yan grabbed the knife and darted towards the struggling zombie.

"AH——"

He could not see the menacing look on his face, as all he could think of is to survive!

In the first swing of his knife, he cut off the zombie's arms that were stretching towards him, pus spattered onto his body, his mind went blank. Thereafter, he wields the knife once again and swings it onto the zombie's neck.

He could not remember the sensation of it, as the zombie's head fell off. The knife slipped through his trembling hands and dropped to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan raised his leg and kicked the torso of the headless zombie from the door, and the door slid close.

With no further time to think, Xiao Yan sat down and put on the terminal connector. This was his first time to connect to a terminal for military use.

"Keep calm, Xiao Yan! You've learned this! You can do it!" he said to himself.

Sending the command to "connect", Xiao Yan's mind was instantly connected to countless databases that are interconnected. In an instant, the platform that was once defunct came back to life. Xiao Yan had successfully formed a connection with Base 2.

"This is Platform 47! I'm Xiao Yan, an apprentice from Central Academy of Science! ID1665! In mission with Colonel Heine Burton's unit! We’ve been ambushed by three aircrafts of the Tides during the mission to rescue Major-General Manson! Our aircraft has been destroyed! Request to send in aircraft for support!

"Apprentice Xiao Yan, please report the current situation!"

Xiao Yan nearly burst into tears of joy when he received a reply from the liaison officer. After regulating his breathing, he reported the current situation systematically.

"Alright, please remain calm. The central is sending the Special Task unit for reinforcements! Expected to arrive in an hour!"

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and breathe out a long sigh of relief. As the connection ended, he turned on the surveillance monitor screen of the pa.s.sageways and saw a terror-stricken sight.

Just as Maya stopped one of the a.s.sa.s.sin's attack, another's blade came slashing towards him, swift and savagely, onto Maya's left shoulder.

Maya pays no heed to the pain and continue to press further towards the enemy in front of him, and pierced through the opponent's abdomen. However, it was hardly lethal.

Maya then shoved the opponent off with a kick while the other a.s.sa.s.sin behind him slashed towards his healing left shoulder once again.

Maya turned around as though he feels no pain, and the moment his left shoulder was severed by the opponent, he swung the dagger in his right arm together with the momentum of the turn and cut off the opponent’s head.

Xiao Yan was stunned. He stared at Maya's bleeding left shoulder through the surveillance camera, and then his eyes shifted to the lifeless left arm lying on the ground……

The world was covered in blood.

"d.a.m.nit!"

Keeping a cool head, Xiao Yan closed off the nodes within the pa.s.sageways, secluding all the zombies that are wandering within the platform. Thereafter, he took off the terminal, grabbed the gun laying in the armory. He activated the gun power, turned on its auto-lock system and darted out from the control room.

The moment he rushed over to where Maya is, he caught sight of Maya swinging his dagger towards the opponent's neck at the speed of light. And just as Xiao Yan thought that the attack was inescapable, Maya staggered slightly from imbalance caused by his lost arm. With that moment of pause, the opponent blocked Maya's landing attack. However, Maya went with the flow and pressed further onto the opponent's blade instantly, chopping off the opponent's left arm.

The opponent tripped from the force, and without warning, he swung his right arm and cut off Maya's ankle the moment he fell. Maya collapsed to the ground, covered in blood.

"Maya——" Xiao Yan screamed while rushing over to him.

The a.s.sa.s.sin staggered to his feet, raising his right arm, preparing to slash towards Maya's neck.

Xiao Yan lifted his hand and activated the gun before firing a shot at the a.s.sa.s.sin who he had his target locked on. The opponent swiftly reflected his bullet with a swing of his blade.

"I told you not to leave the room, didn't I!" Maya yelled at Xiao Yan in anger.

Ignoring his reproach, Xiao Yan fired another three consecutive shots at the opponent without much thinking. The opponent continued to reflect all his shots precisely despite losing an arm.

Stay calm, Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath.

In his next shot, Xiao Yan aimed for his right arm! As the bullet was targeted from a completely different angle than previous shots, the opponent was taken off guard and lost the opportunity to block off the bullet. And just as he attempted to evade it swiftly with the time lag, Xiao Yan took aim at his head and fired his last shot.

'Bang——', the a.s.sa.s.sin's head blasted into bits, leaving his standing body that flopped onto the ground with a low 'thump' seconds after.

Xiao Yan stood there, still in his shooting position, shoulders shuddering.

"……have you've received firearm training?" Maya asked wearily, leaning against the wall.

Xiao Yan finally snapped back to his senses and rushed over to Maya. This fellow greeted Xiao Yan with a smile despite losing an arm and a leg.

"This type of gun is a rare find, only an instructor has it. Where did you get it?"

"Only an instructor has it? Then… the one that Reeve gave me……"

"That's Boss's. I'd never thought that he'll give you his own gun as well. Hey, don't just stand there, care to lend me a hand here?" Maya tried to support himself to his feet with the blade in his right hand as Xiao Yan scampered over to help.

When Maya placed his body weight on him, Xiao Yan nearly tripped.

"I don't see any zombies…… You're quite a lucky fellow."

"I've closed off the nodes of the pa.s.sageways that are wandered by zombies. You're the lucky one, not me, it just happens that there are no zombies on the pa.s.sage leading from here to the control room," Xiao Yan said through gritted teeth as while proceeding with Maya on his back.

"I do remember, that I've told you to stay put in the control room until someone comes to rescue, otherwise, you mustn't open the door."

"Yes, you did."

"I'm a Major and you're just a reserve soldier. You've violated the order issued by your superior," Maya said in a low voice.

"Well, how are you going to punish me then?" Xiao Yan shoved Maya into the control room and shut the door.

"Have s.e.x with me?"

"Then you might as well be dead," Xiao Yan was in no mood to joke with him.

Maya laid on the ground with a lazy smile, and as he turned his head sideways, he saw a zombie's head in front of him.

"Don't tell me you did this."

"I did," Xiao Yan hefted up Maya's back, circled around his shoulders and hauled him up from behind. He dragged him over to the sofa and begin to check on his wounds.

The bleeding of his severed arms and ankle has stopped, his wounds have recovered on their way here.

Xiao Yan stared at his severed limbs, kneeling on the ground, quiet.

Whenever he recalled the moment Maya's arm was chopped off, he felt his own world was torn apart as well.

He turned his face away, couldn't get himself to look at Maya. Even now, in front of Maya, he is still a weakling that could not even protect himself. He's no rights to sympathise him.

He won't be asking him whether if the wounds hurt either because he knows, for sure, it hurts more than a normal person could bear, and that the pain that will sear on his memory.

"I wonder how does the nerves connection in the prosthetic limbs work, hey, tech soldier, you should know about it right? Since it's a project working under the Central Academy of Science," Maya used his left leg to kick Xiao Yan's b.u.t.t.

"I'm not a tech soldier, I'm a reserve. And I have no idea how the project works because I'm just an apprentice, not a researcher."

"When will the reinforcements arrive?"

"In an hour."

"Hah, let's pray that the Tides won't blast off this place within the hour," Maya scoffed. Life and death no longer matter to this man, "I have less than three years to live anyway…… perhaps I could get off the front line with these glorious injuries?"

Xiao Yan tightened his fist subconsciously. He could have guessed, that Maya's top-notch skills were not gained from sole talent, but also from years of training and experiences. And the more skilled he becomes, the shorter the time he's left to live.

Xiao Yan remained silent.

"Hey, is my hair alright?" Maya asked solemnly, as though he has just recalled something very important and began to tidy up his hair.

"You have a beautiful hair."

"Really?"

"Ya, it was your hair that caught my attention when I first saw you in the base's cafeteria," Xiao Yan said earnestly.

"Really?!" there was a perk in Maya's voice. When it comes to his hair, this guy can turn from a top-notch soldier into an idiot instantly.

"Yes," Xiao Yan ran his fingers through his hair gently. Feeling the smooth and comfortable touch to his fingers, he felt a sudden lump in his throat.

Right at the same time, the communication device on Maya's wrist started beeping, followed by a calm and commanding voice, "Open the door."

"It's Boss, Xiao Yao, open the door," Maya lifted his chin towards the door.

Xiao Yan hurried over to the door and pressed the unlock b.u.t.ton. As the door slid open, Heine stepped into the room, carrying the container with Manson's head in it. As cool and stern as usual, with a dangerous aura revolving around him.

Xiao Yan thought he would show a different look when he saw Maya's condition, but the man had the same aloof face.

"Hey, Boss! I'm still alive!" Maya waved his hand, sounding triumphant.

Heine nodded silent, "They're dead," Heine replied, lowering his eyes slowly. For a second, Xiao Yan felt a surge of silent sorrow from this man.

"However, one of them was killed by Xiao Yan. I'd have been dead if it wasn't for this fellow."

Maya had an earnest look on his face, as though it is extremely important to let Heine know Xiao Yan saved his life.

"No…… actually, it's because Maya tried to protect me…"

As he was speaking, Heine appeared before him. He cupped the back of Xiao Yan's head with his hand and pressed him against his chest.

Note: We still need Maya to be the troublemaker in future, so we can't have him dead! Without him, who's gonna be the catalyst for XY and Heine's relationship! ~v~ Keep an eye on our rookie XY's growth chapter by chapter. This chapter is one of his main turning point, the unsettlement of being weak and useless, the irritation of not able to fight back, and facing the cruel reality of nearly losing a friend. It's definitely not a pleasant feeling if someone died protecting you. I believe one will feel a great sense of guilty rather than rejoice for being alive. This time was quite lucky, because Maya's alive, though with a price. But will things be the same in future? What's the best way to prevent it from happening again? Perhaps we could reflect the similar situations we face in our life =)

In next chapter…. XY's gonna get a new brother! (obviously, from the next chap t.i.tle >_> ). Who might it be? And Heine just did what? Gave XY a… hug? Hmm……