Crossdressing To Survive An Apocalypse

"From the future?" 

Fan xui nodded. "I'm actually from an alternate world, but time travel also fits the bill,"

"Umm...." eyes narrowed Qian Wen peered at him. After a few seconds he let out a boutrous laughter. "Stop pulling my leg. Alternate universe my ass. There is no scientific proof for that."

Fan xui sighed and let go of the topic. 

Everyone settled down, but tension in the room was intense. The floor was slightly vibrating from the crowd of zombies that were rushing into the building.

"They are still moving close to our floor." Fan Xui whispered with a deep frown.

Tian Ai glanced at Hary worriedly. "um.... I need to tell you something... it.. it's..."

"They might smell us," Hary intervened, holding Tian back. "What If they can smell our sweat just like they can smell our blood?"

"That is possible." Qian Wen curiously looked his way. "Even after they were zombified, some of them still retain their humanly senses like vision hearing and smell. Maybe they can smell our sweat."

"We have to mask it. Do you have any chemicals that smell nasty?"

Qian smirked widely. "You have come to the right person. Do you want to smell like piss, puke, rotten egg and skunk's butt?"

"Anything is okay," Tian urgently whispered. Her hands started to tremble slightly. "Can it block any kind of scent?"

"Well, it smells like skunk's butt. of course it can mask any smell. Wait just a bit, I'll find some for you. It was right here somewhere...," Qian excitedly ran to the shelf with various glass bottles of chemicals.

Fan Xui, on the other hand, peculiarly looked at Tian and Hary.

'There is no way they are smelling our sweat,'

A year later into the apocalypse, it was proven scientifically that zombies can't smell sweat or any other bodily fluids except blood. Qian Wen was the one who found it, actually.

'How are they following us if so?' he looked at Tian. She looked slightly panicked and Hary was whispering something calming her down.

'Weird.... she has never been fazed by anything.. What is making her so anxious? Was she hurt?'

His eyes narrowed at that thought. If in case one of them was infected, it would be very dangerous for the rest of the team. Even though the chance of the person surviving was fifty percent, he did not want to risk it while they were on the run.

He intently looked at her up and down. He could not spot any signs of injury.

'then... why?'

Another thought came to his mind. Tian Ai was a girl. A young girl in her primes.

'She is having her cycles. Oh that's why that annoying guy suggested we stay for a few days back then.'

They decided to stay in Qian Wen's research lab for five days only because Hary kept suggesting that Tian was very tired after that attack.

His own legs were still numb. So he took that time to rehabilitate his legs and walk normally.

'Five days have passed. is she is still having her cycle? Then we might be in trouble...' he silently walked close to Qian. "hey..." he patted his back.

"Hmm.."

"Can it mask blood?"

Qian paused and glanced back. "Yes, it can. Why do you ask?" his eyes suddenly went wide. "No way." He held his shoulders and pulled him over to a corner. "where are you hurt? Show me? I- I can try to somehow eliminate that virus."

"I'm not hurt. Just curious," he patted his back.

"You gave me a fright man," Qian walked back to the table swirling around a small test tube he found in one of the shelves. "This chemical is called ethanethiol, nasty smelling, dangerously combustible, but it can keep our odours in check. Just a con. We have to wear gas masks and hazmat suits,"

Fan Xui curiously looked at the yellow, orange liquid. "this... can this be synthesised enough?,"

"It's a huge process. Chemistry is not just mixing up few things. Plus, I'm not a chemist, I'm a virologist. I use chemicals not synthesise them." Qian handed the test tube to him.

Fan Xui took it and walked over to the two. "Here, wear and hazmat suit and apply it. It's combustible, so be careful when using your flames,"

Tian took it from his hands carefully. "... Can I directly.. ahem.... apply it on my skin?"

"no, it's a skin irritant,"' Qian shouted from the back.

"You heard him, wear a hazmat suit and apply it,"

Tian nodded.

Everyone got dressed up in hazmat suit and smeared that mysterious liquid on themselves. The whole room started to reek so badly.

Thankfully, the gas mask helped.

"Where's Yue..." Tian suddenly whispered, glancing around. "He said that he was going to look around but never came back. Did anyone see him?"

"I'll go search for him," Fan Xui anxiously ran through the room. "Yue! Yue where are you?"

"I'm here." a small voice came from behind one shelf.

They all hurriedly ran close to see Yue squatting on the ground peeking out a fist-sized hole.

"Yue, I told you to stay close. Why did you run off like that?" Tian sat down next to him.

Yue did not respond. With a crestfallen look, he glanced at her. "The situation outside does not look good."

Wordlessly, Tian pulled him back and glanced out the hole.

The sight outside almost gave her a heart attack.

The whole hospital area was swarmed. Not even the ground was seen, only small heads bobbing around as they were trying to enter the buildings.

"Our car... we can get to it, right?" she glanced around.

"It already got swarmed by the zombies." Yue said dully. "Even if we somehow go down safely, I don't know how we are going to drive out of here,"

"I can try to burn them..." Tian said, trying to comfort him.

"No, you can't burn them all. Not even Fan Xui can do anything...." Yue sat back, leaning against the walls. "We are stuck."

"Hey, don't be so negative,"' Hary smirked widely. "Where there is a will, there is a way. What if we can't burn out way through? We can always bomb our way out,"

"How?" everyone cast their hopeful eyes at him.

Tian stood up excitedly. "We can make a homemade grenade."

"That's what we are talking about!"

They both walked away, discussing some random chemicals and stuff.

"Are those two really normal people? How can one know about making grenades?" Qian looked at the two questionably. But a second later, he shrugged. "It is the age of the internet after all. Even a five-year-old knows more DIY than me,"

Fan Xui did not answer his friend. He knew that Hary was a very powerful ability user as well as a trained professional.

Even Yue's sister was not a normal person at all. In fact, when she infiltrated his office he had almost ten guards standing out the door. Even so, she came in so silently and killed him and Qian with just a small blast.

It can't be achieved by just anyone.

'They are from a shady background, that's for sure,'

 "Bombing might work for a while, but we won't be able to escape scot free. Sigh....." Yue's small sigh disrupted his thoughts.

He sat next to him. "It's okay. We'll survive this."

"I hope so," Yue leaned his head on his shoulders. "I thought I could change things this time.... but I just can't. My powers are so insignificant." He held up his clenched fist. "All I can do is break open doors and kick down walls. It sucks..."

Fan Xui gently caressed his clenched fist, slowly unwinding his fingers one by one. "You came here for me and saved me...that requires a lot of courage,"

"What can courage do? I can't go to a zombie and say, 'hey I'm brave and courageous. Don't kill me,'" he whispered with a pout. "I feel pathetic for whining. God has given me a lot, yet I am feeling ungrateful."

Wordlessly, fan Xui held his hands.

"Fan...." Yue looked at him with a sad look. "If one day you get the opportunity to get strong, but that opportunity does not belong to you, will you take it?"

"I will," he said unhesitant.

In fact, he ate that lotus out of desperation after the Bai family trapped him in the house with an ability zombie. It was the only reason he developed two abilities. It not only improved his ability, it also eliminated the cool off time between each use. It was like a miracle drug.

This time, if he got the change he would.....

He glanced at Yue. 'Maybe this time I should give it to him? I owe him my life after all,'

"What if I can give you something that will make you powerful?"

Zou Yue froze.

"I won't take it," he said unhesitantly.

Fan Xui lifted his chin up and glanced into his clear eyes. "really?'

"Really. You know why?" He looked up with a wide smirk. "Because I know that if you take that opportunity you will do more good for the people, save more lives than I would. I am selfish, Fan. I only think about my family and my people. I don't care about others. That's why I don't deserve such a miraculous chance. Nor would I take it when I'm offered on a silver platter,"

Yue stood up starching his back. "I have to work with what I have and survive. Plus, I have Tian and my family. They are more powerful. For once I can be a rice bug," he winked at him playfully.

Fan Xui chuckled. "You have me too." He got a hold of his hand and gently kissed his knuckles. "So be my rice bug,"

"Oh, that offer is so tempting. I might just take it up,"