Chapter 111 - 111 - Snooping

Juda suddenly grabbed his arms and pulled him away from the door. "Don't get involved, it will only get worse," she mouthed with a slightly fearful look in her eyes.

Zou Yue silently peered at her. 'It looks like this was not the first time he came looking for her. Why is she not fighting back?'

After the heavy footsteps receded, they both walked out of the lecture room.

"Juda...."

She glanced back with a visibly fake smile. "I'm okay. It's.. it's okay,"

"It's not okay, and you know it,"

Her smile faltered a bit. "This world is cruel to us women. If I can't change it, I might have to go with the flow," a single tear rolled down her pale cheeks. "But.... it's not a big problem. I can avoid him easily, plus Lui is there..."

Yue patted her trembling back softly. "I can't say I understand your struggles. But going with the flow might end up being a risk to you and your life."

Her pupils trembled visibly.

"If you want to survive in this world, you must fight back. Fight back with all you've got. But if you know you are in a disadvantageous situation, run. Go somewhere where you feel safe,"

"No! You...you are wrong!" Juda suddenly shouted out loud, startling him a bit. "There... there is nowhere safe in this world,"

"...."

Yue glanced at the ground, slightly embarrassed.

He immediately understood the setback of his suggestion. Juda was just a young girl with no combat experience. If she goes out into the world now, she would be easy zombie buffet.

Even if one decides to hide and live, there was no place that was truly safe. Not within the safety walls of a settlement, nor in the safety of your home. Nowhere is really safe.

'I feel like shit for saying that... darn...'

Yue awkwardly glanced at her.

"I'm sorry for suggesting that. This situation.... my approach has always been different from yours. I meet them head on and fight with all I've got. But that might not be a good option for you. I'm sorry,"

"Hey its okay, you were only thinking of my well being," Juda held his hands softly. "To be honest, I admire you so much. You can fight so well,"

"How do you know that?" Yue curiously looked at her.

Juda raised a brow. "Everyone knows already. The supply team came back boasting about this new pretty girl's skills."

"Oh....."

'Everyone? That's not a good thing,'

Being famous in a settlement was never a good thing. It will only garter unwanted affection.

Affection of those ability users.

'I should leave as soon as possible,'

They both went back to their room. It was already lunch time and his stomach was growling loudly.

Yue took out a ramen packet for his bag and crushed it up. He tossed the spice packet in and mixed it will with the crushed up ramen.

"You are not going to cook that?"

"No, waste of energy," Yue raised his head and poured the ramen in. It tasted crunch and chewy and filling. 'It tastes good when cooked though,' he pouted as he chewed on it loudly.

"Eh, you might damage your teeth eating like that. Here I have a secret fuel stove." She pulled out a small folded metal form under her bed. "It was for a project, but it got cancelled. Let's use it,' she tossed in the fuel cubes.

"No, don't waste your resources."

Juda just gestured for him to hand the ramen packet over.

"Fine, we can have half-half," Rolling his eyes, Zou Yue handed it to her. "You know..... you shouldn't be too kind to other, especially during these times. They might misuse it."

Juda suddenly laughed. "Lui said the same."

"You should listen to her. Kindness is not going to help. The world has become a cruel place. We have to harden our hearts and become cruel as well,"

"Who said so?" Juda tossed the broken up noodles in a small pot. "Kindness can be contagious." 

They had a very pleasant meal together.

Yue cleaned up the pot, glancing at her weirdly. She was studying a huge book on human biology.

The young girl was an aspiring nurse. Her studies were stopped midway, but she still put a lot of effort into studying her profession. She said it was to help others.

'Maybe... maybe good people do exist in this world.' He nodded. "I'll wash this."

"Yeah use less water," she gestured to the attached bathroom.

Yue walked in and clean up the pot. The dirt was easy to get off, but the grease was stuck to the corners of the pot. He stepped out of the bathroom. "Hey Juda, do you have a..."

"What are you doing?"

The young girl was snooping into his weapons bag.

"I...I didn't mean to. I just wanted t leave a small gift," she smiled at him.

But Yue had already become defensive. "Don't touch my stuff," he placed the pan near her bed and laid down on his.

"I'm sorry... I don't mean to..."'

"It's okay, don't do that again,' he refused to look at her.

Juda just awkwardly stood for a while. "I.. I should get back to my shift..."

Yue waited until she left to sit up. He searched the bag. Indeed, there was a small candy bar inside. 'I don't know what to think of this. God, why is trusting people so hard.....'

He laid back down, trying to get it through his head that not everyone is a bad person.

'but I hate it when people just snoop around my stuff and barge in when I don't expect it.'

"Wait, I barged into my sister's life like that. No wonder she rejected me so....." he pouted. "I should have tried to get to know her better before exposing my identity..... no, that would feel like I was betraying her. Ughhhh! This is so hard!"

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on his door.

"Who is it?" he vigilantly sat up.

"It's senior Mei!" an annoyed voice came from outside.

Zou Yue moved close to the door with a knife in hand. "What is it?"

"The department reps are calling for you,"

"Why?"

"Just come out. Don't waste my time," the girl snapped back.

Yue glared at the closed door. "Give me a minute." he tied the knife holster to his hip. He also hid another knife in his boots.

Plus, he loaded a gun and pushed it into jeans. He pulled out the top that he had neatly tucked in to hide the gun seamlessly.

"Hurry!"

Yue opened the door and walked out with his gun bag. "Hmm. Take me to them,"

'We'll see who those three department heads are. If they try anything suspicious, I shall just shoot them..' he subtly touched the gun in his pants.