They ran for a long time.
Lin Wan didn't know how long she'd been running. She only knew that blisters had formed on the soles of her feet, that every breath cut at her throat like a blade, and that the man had stayed exactly three steps ahead of her the entire time.
Not too far. Not too close.
Just far enough for her to keep up.
The city had already been left behind. Abandoned vehicles littered the highway. Some had their doors wide open, with phones and backpacks still on the seats, as if their owners had merely gotten out to buy a cup of coffee and would be back any minute.
But no one was coming back.
The sky had grown unnaturally dark. Only a few hours had passed, yet it looked as if something had covered the heavens, blocking out every trace of light. The air smelled of burning, mixed with dust and some indescribable cloying sweetness.
Lin Wan felt sick.
She stopped, bracing both hands on her knees, and dry-heaved twice.
The man stopped too.
He didn't turn around. He simply stood there and waited.
"...What's your name?"
Lin Wan asked between breaths. She felt she should at least know that much. Running for her life with someone whose name she didn't even know was absurd enough on its own.
After a few seconds of silence, he answered.
"Lu Yu."
Two words. Clean and crisp. Just like the man himself.
"Lu Yu." Lin Wan repeated it once, as if trying to press the name into her memory. "Were you... on that street earlier too?"
"Yeah."
"Why did you save me?"
This time, the silence lasted longer.
Lu Yu turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over her before moving away.
"It was on the way."
Lin Wan stared at his back.
She didn't believe him.
That wasn't how someone acted if it was merely on the way. Someone who happened to be passing by wouldn't have pulled her into the alley with such precision the instant the car came barreling toward them. The force, the timing—it was as if he'd been prepared for it all along.
But she didn't press him.
Because right now, she had no other choice.
They kept walking.
At the end of the highway stood the ruins of a gas station. Half the sheet-metal roof had collapsed, but the walls were still mostly intact. Lu Yu walked around the building once. After confirming there was no one else around, he pushed open the door to the employees' break room.
It was tiny. A folding table, two plastic chairs, and a broken water cooler in the corner.
"We're staying here tonight."
Lin Wan stepped inside, her legs giving out beneath her. She dropped straight to the floor.
Only then did she realize that her hands had been shaking the entire time.
From the convenience store until now, she'd been running, moving, following him. Her body had relied on adrenaline to carry her this far. Now that she'd stopped, all her fear came surging back like a tide.
The white light in the sky. Shattering glass. Screams. Flames.
Her eyes began to burn.
But she bit down on her lip.
She didn't want to cry in front of a stranger.
Lu Yu didn't look at her.
He set his backpack on the table, unzipped it, and took out two bottles of water and several packs of compressed rations. His movements were practiced, as if he'd done this many times before.
He placed one bottle of water and one pack of rations in front of her.
"Eat."
Lin Wan took them. Her hands were shaking so badly when she twisted off the cap that some of the water spilled onto the back of her hand.
She lowered her head and took two sips.
It was warm, with a strong plastic taste.
But it was the best water she'd ever had.
"...Thank you."
Lu Yu leaned against the wall and tore open another pack of rations. He ate quietly, as if completing a necessary task, without a single unnecessary expression.
Lin Wan looked at the wound on his temple. The blood had dried, congealing into a dark red streak.
"Your injury..."
"It's not deep."
"But—"
"Don't worry about it."
There it was again.
Every sentence was like a wall.
Lin Wan broke the rations into small pieces and placed them in her mouth one at a time. They were dry and hard, like eating cardboard. But once there was something in her stomach, her hands gradually stopped shaking.
The night was quiet.
Abnormally quiet.
There were no insects chirping. No wind. Not even a sound from the city in the distance reached them.
It was as if the entire world had been muted.
"What... exactly happened out there?" Lin Wan's voice was soft, as if afraid to break the silence.
Lu Yu didn't answer right away.
He stared at the lightless sky outside the window. After a long while, he finally said,
"We don't know yet. But the second wave won't be the final wave."
Lin Wan's heart sank.
"How do you know?"
"Because The first wave was only a signal."
He said it in a tone as flat as if he were giving a weather report.
But Lin Wan saw something in his eyes.
It wasn't fear.
It was the exhaustion of someone who had known all along that this would happen.
She suddenly wanted to ask him: Who are you, really? Why do you act as if none of this surprises you?
But she didn't.
Because he stood up, took off his jacket, and tossed it beside her.
"Get some sleep. We leave at dawn."
"What about you?"
"I'll stand watch."
Lin Wan looked at the black jacket. It was covered in dust and dried blood, but folded up, it made a perfect pillow.
She wanted to say she didn't need it.
But her body had already decided for her.
She put the jacket under her head and lay on her side on the cold floor.
The moment she closed her eyes, darkness pressed her down like a gigantic hand.
She was too tired.
Just before her consciousness blurred, she heard Lu Yu say something in the darkness.
His voice was very soft.
So soft that she wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly.
"...It's going to be okay."
It was the first time his voice had held any warmth.
Lin Wan didn't answer.
But her fingers unconsciously closed around the jacket sleeve.
As if she were holding on to the only thing left in this collapsing world.