Doomsday Wonderland

The sky was getting bluer as the sun gradually crawled up from the horizon. Lin Sanjiu continued to drag Yu Yuan forward, leaving a long trail behind. Her face was cold and bereft of any expression.

She felt as if she had been walking for quite a distance, yet the armory was still very far away, despite looking close.

Some time had passed after the speaker fell silent, but Lin Sanjiu couldn’t be sure how long it had been since the time flow in the dream was rather erratic. There were more faces, wan and ashen-faced, shuffling in the corner and behind the building, while the line of people trailing behind her became longer.

Even though the girl said her rifle had run out of ammo, nobody dared to pounce on her.

After all, in their current situation where food was scarce and living conditions were just too bad, it was every man for himself. Nobody wanted to be the white mouse for the other, as no one wanted to get the short end of the stick.

Lin Sanjiu noticed that the people who followed behind her were all men, with their own makeshift weapons held tightly in front of their chests: a bat coiled with wire, a sharpened shaver, a brick, and even one bow made from twigs and branches. Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu realized that, aside from the girl, she had not seen a woman or a child for a long while.

She was like a wounded lion threading on the great grass plain, followed by a group of hyenas that were hell-bent on feasting on her.

Suddenly, Yu Yuan groaned, which prompted Lin Sanjiu to cast her eyes downward. She saw that his brows were tightly creased as if he was in some kind of nightmare. Be that as it may, he showed no sign of waking up. Lin Sanjiu felt sore on one side of her shoulder, as she had to shoulder his weight. There were times where she could not hold him and he kept sliding down.

After taking a deep breath, she stopped moving forward and gave the people a backward glance.

The line of people stopped when they noticed her gaze, and hesitation flashed across their faces. Without giving them time to react, Lin Sanjiu raised her rifle and fired a shot. The bullet flew across the air and went through a person’s thigh.

A scream of pain and horror erupted and echoed through the air. The man fell to the ground, holding his leg as he squirmed in pain. The rest of the people hadn’t expected such a maneuver from Lin Sanjiu. Like a swarm of disturbed ants, all of them skedaddled and dispersed. Nobody went up to help the man.

Lin Sanjiu turned around and readjusted Yu Yuan’s body as she continued her journey to the armory.

The gunshot had successfully scared away part of the citizens that were hiding in the dark. The shuffling noise and glinting eyes had toned down by a huge degree and they did not show themselves after a long while. Suddenly, the man’s pained scream rose a few octaves higher and became laden with despair. Lin Sanjiu turned her head around and saw several men with stocky builds dragging him away.

Her feet shuffled, and just as she was about to go after them, something in her mind held her back.

Lin Sanjiu’s feet were planted deeply on the ground; her jaw clenched. She remained standing still until the group of people went out of her sight and the screaming of the man out of earshot. After that, she scanned her surroundings, and wherever her eyes reached, the people would scatter as if her gaze would poison them.

Just as she felt happy with the result of her plan and turned around to resume her journey, a speaker not far away from her came to life once again.

“Dear brethren.” The girl’s voice rang out from the speaker, but it felt even more strange. “Listen to me! Don’t fret! She has a gun only, but we have more bullets! On the first floor of the corner building No.15 at Town Hall Street, there is an armory. Inside of the armory, there is a great abundance of ammunition left over by the golden age, courtesy of our late great Mayor Orlean. Whoever can get a hand on her rifle, he will be the owner of the armory. Think about it, guys. You will have a gun and you will have an unlimited supply of ammo, what could stop you?”

The voice was getting on Lin Sanjiu’s nerve and she could not tolerate it anymore. She raised her rifle and silenced it with a shot. A hole appeared in the speaker as it sputtered sparks here and there.

Be that as it may, there were more speakers along the roadside, and the girl’s voice continued to ring through the town. “There are a lot of ways to subdue her if you don’t want to hurt yourself. You can work together, pounce on her, or find some tools…”

Lin Sanjiu clenched her fist so tight they were trembling. She could barely remember the last time she was this angry. Silencing one speaker did nothing, and it would only be a waste of her bullets if she were to destroy all the remaining speakers in a fit of rage. With that thought in mind, her anger soon evaporated. Slowly, she came around, her hands trembling to a stop.

Block after block of buildings stood staunchly at the mercy of the morning sun. The windows on their bodies acted like their eyes and followed her movements everywhere she went.

A layer of sweat was dewing on Lin Sanjiu’s forehead. The echoes of the man’s pained scream still lingered in her ears, and she wondered if her mind or her ears were playing a trick on her again, for the man was long gone. She shook her head to chase away the haunting scream, and as she raised her feet, ready to resume her journey, she suddenly sensed something and jerked her head back.

A long figure was coming straight at her. She didn’t even have time to think or look before she felt the wind on her face. With both her hands fully occupied, there were fewer things she could do. Pushing Yu Yuan behind her, she clenched her teeth and unleashed a spray of bullets at the figure.

The air was instantly filled with the rattle of the rifle. The spray of bullets lodged into its target and turned it into a ragged doll in the blink of an eye. Be that as it may, the barrage of bullets failed to stop the figure’s momentum. It smashed right into Lin Sanjiu, and together, both of them fell to the ground.

Lin Sanjiu’s eye went black for a second and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground with the figure sprawled on top of her. She kicked it away, and then she saw two bulging white cloudy eyes.

It was the man who she shot earlier, though he was already dead now.

Lin Sanjiu looked past the dead body and stopped her gaze on a double-story building behind her. To accommodate the rapid increase in population, the street had once again become narrow, as more buildings were built on it. The building she was staring at right now was very close to the street. The group of men who dragged the injured citizen away was looking down at her from the roof of the building. When she pointed her rifle at them, all of them ducked down and hid behind the balustrade.

No matter which world she went to, there was always a group of people who lived a better life than most of the populace. This flock of men was that group of people. They all had stocky builds and their eyes were sharp as eagles. They probably dragged the injured citizen away because they wanted to use him as a sandbag to throw at her.

“Find me more people!” a distant voice erupted. “I want to see how long she can hold up! If you can’t get more people, get me something heavy! I swear to god I am going to smash her to death here today!”

Lin Sanjiu was greatly startled by the voice and she hastily leaped to her feet. She took a few quick steps and went to check on Yu Yuan’s condition. The young man’s face was as pale as a sheet of white paper, a stark contrast with his royal blue tattoos, which covered his entire exposed skin. It was lucky that Lin Sanjiu pushed him out of danger’s way in the nick of time. Even though his breathing was shallow, he was otherwise fine. She quickly propped him up, but before she could move away, another black figure rammed into her face.

Her heart skipped a beat and she recoiled two steps back. A round table smashed into the table, spurting shrapnels of wood all around.

“Go now!” As she closed her eyes to evade flying shrapnel, Mrs. Manas shouted.

Lin Sanjiu’s heart was in her throat when she forced her eyes open and realized where she was. Right now, Yu Yuan and her had retreated to the shadows of the building. Just as Lin Sanjiu thought they were safe, she raised her head and her blood turned cold.

Silhouetted against the sky, there were several people looking at them from the roof.

“Get lost now! Otherwise, I will shoot you!”

Lin Sanjiu took two steps back, raised her rifle, and shouted menacingly. The group of people knew what she was capable of, so they ducked down. Just when Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh, a few arms popped out from the roof and began throwing things at her.

By the time she saw a car seat, it was already too late. The thing had slammed and drilled deep into Yu Yuan’s stomach.

However, he did not even utter a moan of pain. His limbs quivered, and then everything went quiet.

In that instant, the fire in Lin Sanjiu’s chest rose to the top. Her brain turned to mush and she felt a tightness in her chest. Sickened and disoriented, she staggered up, and then she heard Mrs. Manas shouting, “He is dead!”

“No… no, no, no… That is not possible…”

“He is dead! If people die here, they will die outside as well! There is nothing you can do now!” Mrs. Manas shouted again. “If you don’t go to the armory right away, you will be dead too! Get moving!”

Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth so tight her jaw ached. She knew everything that Mrs. Manas was saying, it was just that she refused to believe it. After a few seconds of hesitation, she turned away from Yu Yuan and rushed towards the corner of the road at her top speed.

Ever since she entered the Reverie Libretto, everything looked very clear in her eyes.

Until now.

She did not know why but her vision was getting foggy. It was like looking through the water, as the scene in front of her was getting bent out of shape. Her bones, her brain, and her thoughts were screaming painfully as if there was a sledgehammer hammering her head.

Lin Sanjiu wanted to shout. She wanted to thrash about and make herself bleed. She daren’t look back at Yu Yuan, who she had abandoned, but there was a voice inside of her that kept telling her to take a glimpse. When she arrived in front of the armory, she gave in to the voice and cast her eyes back.

The car seat was lying next to the young man. Lying lifelessly on the ground, Yu Yuan looked like a doll. Through her blurry vision, she could see that there was a crowd of scrawny figures moving towards Yu Yuan.

Lin Sanjiu forced her head back and shattered the lock by spraying a deluge of bullets at it. Then, she kicked the door open.

Judging from her past experience of interacting with the people of Peanut Town, Lin Sanjiu was almost certain that the girl was just bluffing. She charged into the armory and swept through the racks like a lunatic on the loose. Even though she knew there was a high possibility that there wasn’t any ammo here, it did not stop her from searching frantically. Right after she pushed a row of boxes onto the ground, Lin Sanjiu finally found what she had been searching for.

Ammo.

Perhaps the girl was too eager to form an interim governing council that she told the truth.

With a faltering arm, Lin Sanjiu reloaded her rifle and saddled a box full of ammo on her back.

When she stepped out of the armory, she was welcomed by a group of people. Her opponents did not expect Lin Sanjiu to come out so fast, so they were stunned. Looking at their bodies’ figures, Lin Sanjiu was confident that they were the group of people from the roof.

Like a panther that found its prey, Lin Sanjiu kicked the ground and charged forward. As the light from the sun filled her vision, her rifle spilled a hail of bullets outward.

Pillars of blood sprayed into the air, dying everything in her vision red.

The group of men plopped to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut. Some of them still twitched while others already died.

The speakers went live and buzzed with static. Just when she was anticipating that the girl would say something, a woman’s voice, deep and hoarse, but bewitching, wafted into her ears. It sounded as if she was sleeping on her lover’s lap, coquettishly and delightfully humming a song.