Chapter 234 - 215: Singing in the Rain (Part 2)

Chapter 234: Chapter 215: Singing in the Rain (Part 2)

The two of them stood amidst the scattered glass shards, grabbing what they wanted, their faces glowing with the gratifying relief of a score settled.

"..."

Cheng Qi silently came up behind them, holding a flashlight in one hand and a keycard in the other.

"Are you two children?"

"Here, driver, have a Red Bull..."

Lin Fan had just grabbed a can of soda and—CLICK—popped the tab. Hearing Cheng Qi, he grabbed a Red Bull from the machine and tossed it back to shut him up.

Cheng Qi caught the drink. He watched the other two, who looked ready to brawl over the last bottle of milk tea, and shook his head, speechless. He popped open his can and took a long swig.

"This is mine too! I want it all..."

Ye Qingniao swiftly swept several rows of chocolate bars and wafer snacks off the shelves. She stuffed everything into her baggy pockets until they were bulging.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan had Cheng Qi open a handbag and stuffed the rest of the sugary drinks and snacks inside.

"Hah... Let’s go. Upstairs. The rooms should have instant noodles..."

Lin Fan tapped the carpet lightly with his spear, then tossed the empty soda can aside. It landed with a sharp CLATTER.

The sound of shattering glass from the vending machine or the clatter of the can would have attracted zombies on a clear day. But now, any noise that escaped the hotel was instantly crushed and swallowed by the downpour.

The trio needed to go upstairs, and the elevator was obviously out of commission. Lin Fan kicked open a stuck fire door, splattering a zombie that was blocking it against the opposite wall. A few more zombies, drawn by the noise, lunged down from the floor above, only to fall to his spear.

The concentration of zombies in the stairwell was much higher than outside. It seemed many of the hotel guests had tried to escape this way when the outbreak began.

But judging by the dark brown blood splattered across the stairwell walls and the piles of shredded flesh and severed limbs at every landing, it was clear their escape attempt had ended in total annihilation.

The trio cut through them effortlessly, clearing a path from the first floor to the fourth without incident. The budget hotel’s hallway wasn’t wide, but it was lined with thick carpeting.

Soaked by the damp air, the carpet emanated a pungent, musty odor.

Cheng Qi followed, sweeping his flashlight from side to side, wary of any zombies that might burst out from the rooms.

They continued until they reached the rooms at the very end of the hall, where they began swiping the master keycard, opening the doors one by one.

The locks on these budget hotel doors ran on batteries that usually lasted a year, so the keycards still worked despite the power outage.

But Lin Fan’s group didn’t settle in right away. Instead, they began patiently clearing the rooms.

They killed the zombies in any occupied rooms and marked the empty ones, continuing until they had cleared out a "firebreak."

Or, to be more precise, a "sound break." After all, Lin Fan had come to the hotel for a good night’s rest. To prevent the tireless scratching of zombies at their walls, the three of them cleared over a dozen rooms, ensuring every clean room was flanked by other empty rooms.

Lin Fan even dragged two single beds out to form a pair of barricades in the hallway, creating a completely quiet and enclosed safe zone.

Everything was ready.

"Cheng Qi, you take the innermost room. Cyan Bird, you’re in the middle. I’ll take the outermost one..."

After assigning the rooms by pointing to each one, Lin Fan pointed at Cheng Qi.

"If you run into trouble, open fire."

Then he pointed to Ye Qingniao.

"You... You won’t run into any trouble. Go get some sleep."

"Oh... where are you going?"

Ye Qingniao’s eyes widened. She saw he had no intention of returning to his room and was instead grabbing things to take outside, and she had to ask.

"Me?"

Lin Fan thought for a moment. He wrapped a bottle of shower gel, shampoo, and a bar of soap in a bath towel, cradled it in one arm, and pointed a finger diagonally upward.

"I’m going to take a shower."

...

Of course, there was no water in the rooms. And even if there was some left in the pipes, the overpowering smell of rust made it unusable.

Besides, with an Awakened One’s constitution, he wasn’t about to catch a cold. A little wind and rain were nothing.

So, Lin Fan simply grabbed the toiletries, headed back up the stairs, and broke open the fire door to the roof.

WHOOSH—FWOOSH!

A violent spray of water blasted him in the face. The world was a churning vortex of darkness and noise.

Lin Fan scanned the area. Seeing no strange health bars, he took a deep breath. He stripped off his clothes in the stairwell, set the flashlight on the floor to illuminate the area just outside, and stepped naked into the downpour.

The roof had excellent drainage; despite the torrential rain, there were no puddles.

Fat, bean-sized raindrops hammered against his body, bouncing and merging into a solid sheet of water that streamed down the contours of his muscles, washing away the fresh bloodstains he’d acquired on the way up.

This kind of savage shower would have given him a cold in the past, but for the man he was now, it was nothing short of exhilarating.

He picked up the hotel shampoo, not caring about the brand, and squeezed a large dollop of liquid that reeked of pungent, artificial lemon onto his head, rubbing it in vigorously.

Even when he’d showered back home, the limited water supply meant washing his hair was just a quick wipe. He hadn’t seen a downpour like this in days; in fact, he hadn’t had a proper wash since the apocalypse began.

Lather streamed down his face, obscuring his vision and shutting out the world.

On a rooftop in the dead of night, amidst the downpour, surrounded by the zombie-infested ruins of the apocalypse, Lin Fan stood alone, naked, taking a cold shower like a savage returning to his primal roots.

It was an almost insane luxury, and a silent release against the horrors of his new reality.

SPLASH, SPLASH...

A few sudden footsteps sounded from behind. Lin Fan glanced over from the corner of his foam-filled eyes. Backlit by the flashlight, he could just make out a slender silhouette, a yellow health bar reading [392/700], and an eye dancing with dark blue flames.

"What are you doing here?"

Lin Fan asked without turning, still working the lather through his hair.

Though he prided himself on being thick-skinned, his voice held an unavoidable note of awkwardness.

"There’s no water in the rooms..."

Ye Qingniao’s voice cut through the rain, devoid of any discernible emotion. It sounded perfectly matter-of-fact.

"I’m covered in sweat and mud, and I smell like something’s burning..."

She seemed completely unfazed by Lin Fan’s current state. In fact, her tone suggested she was even enjoying his discomfort.

"It’s unbearable..."

A RUSTLING sound came from behind him in the downpour, like the friction of fabric. It was followed by a dull THUD as heavy, wet clothes were tossed carelessly to the ground.

It was her baggy, oversized combat fatigues.

Lin Fan tensed up, subconsciously taking half a step forward.

"Men and women..."

"Prude."

But before he could finish his sentence, Ye Qingniao cut him off.

A warm, soft, yet rain-chilled body pressed against Lin Fan’s back. His muscles seized, tightening like a fully drawn bow.

Then, two slender, pale arms reached around from his shoulder blades. Ten soft fingers worked into his hair, massaging and helping him rinse the lather from his roots.

"It’s all because of that stupid medicine of yours... my bra strap snapped..."

Her ten fingers dug in, as if trying to rip his hair out.

"You said you’d take responsibility."

"Heh... heh... But you’ve recovered, haven’t you?"

Lin Fan gave a dry cough, unsure of what to say. He reached up and pulled down one of her hands. The black, charred marks from the lightning strike had faded, leaving only a few burn scars on her palm.

But her pale arm was still traced with faint, lightning-shaped scars—pink and slightly raised.

"Does it hurt?"

he asked, looking at the scars on her arm. His voice was a bit hoarse, washed out by the rain.

"The cool rain feels much better. It hurts when my clothes rub against it..."

Ye Qingniao turned her hand over, palm up, and held it out to Lin Fan.

"Give me the shampoo."

"...Here, take it!"

Resigned, Lin Fan could only reach back and shove the slippery plastic bottle into her waiting hand.

Their fingertips brushed. Her hand was cold, but the scar in her palm—a remnant of her channeling lightning—had a rough texture that stood out against the slickness of the rain.

As she took the shampoo bottle, she pulled away from his back.

The flashlight beam shot out along the ground. Its light, scattered by the curtain of rain, wasn’t enough to fully illuminate them. A faint halo traced the delicate contours of her calves and ankles, but the rest of her was cloaked in endless darkness.

But it was this very darkness, combined with the RUSHING rain, that created an intensely private and strangely intimate atmosphere on the exposed rooftop.

Through the roar of the rain, Lin Fan could clearly hear the squish of the shampoo bottle behind him, followed by the soft rustle of her rubbing her hair. And then... the sound of water sluicing over her neck, down her spine, across the small of her back, and finally splashing onto the concrete.

Every raindrop felt like a feather, landing on his skin and tracing a delicate path, making his scalp tingle.

And the scent of artificial lemon suddenly seemed much, much stronger.