Krista walked quick, her boots creaking in the snow. Although she was wearing a coat, she still shivered from occasionally. She blew a breath of hot air on her hands, and a layer of white mist appeared in the air with every breath. Her sister once told her that the breath she exhaled in winter was misty because she had magic and could control air. Her sister whispered to her gently, but her appearance was blurred and she couldn't remember it, as if a piece of her memory was missing. She continued to walk forward, which could be said to be aimless. The place she had regarded as her home all her life was a ruin. The rotting city covered with ice and snow was no longer a safe haven but a place where zombies thrive and humans could hardly survive. The simple smell of blood in the air had upgraded to the smell of corpses. She could see the miserable state of the city: the thick snow covered the corpses but did not cover up the smell. She had to be careful with every step she took, she didn't want to step on someone's fingers or clothes or skull. She quickened her pace, trying to get rid of those things related to death. It was enough to be alive. She didn't even think about surviving through the first day.
The abandoned school was a safe place to stay but also a cage, with tall wire mesh trapping her inside. Just as she thought, the school only had damaged classrooms and broken glass windows, and it was lifeless. It was probably no one used it before the virus broke out. Krista made a decision: to leave. She meticulously folded the supplies she had scavenged from the cafeteria, office and equipment room into pieces and put them in her bag, and finally took a look at the school's towering teaching building. She needed food and water. The only source of water in the school was a small water dispenser. She knew she needed to leave.
When she got up in the morning, there was a name and a faint taste of rust on the tip of her tongue. It seemed that she had bitten her lip unconsciously again. The name was Ymir. She didn't know why it was this brown-haired girl, but she hoped she was still alive, although the only time they had contact was in a small department store. Krista didn't know why this ordinary girl impressed her so much. The difference between her and herself was as big as the difference between a glacier and a desert. Ymir looked so confident and relaxed, as if she was not so sure of her choice in a city full of dangers. Unlike Krista's own cowardice and tense nerves.
But Ymir doesn't seem to trust others easily, let alone act with others. She is willing to face this desperate place alone. Krista felt that she must have thought so much because of dehydration. Living alone in the past few days made her more eager for the company of another living thing, even a small animal would make her feel comforted.
Suddenly she asked a different smell, the smell of blood, the smell of fresh blood, she herself didn't know why her sense of smell became so sharp. It was at the corner. Did someone just die here? Her hand found the steel knife at her belt, and the other hand was on her chest. Her heartbeat accelerated so fast, and adrenaline filled her body. She carefully poked her head out, glanced at it, and then suddenly retracted it. She held her breath and hoped that she could relax a little. There were at least ten zombies waiting for her at the corner, but they all fell to the ground in weird postures, with their joints bent at strange angles. There was a person leaning against the wall on the left side of the alley. Maybe she was just a passerby, or maybe a zombie, but Krista's intuition told her that the brown ponytail and leather jacket were definitely familiar. She walked closer and saw: Sure enough, it was her, Ymir.
But: her face no longer had a contemptuous smile, her clothes were no longer intact, and she was in a mess. The second thing she noticed was that Ymir's right hand was tightly covering her side, and blood seeped out from there, turning the snow pile under her into a red carpet. Is she... still alive?
"Ymir!" Krista shouted, hoping that the girl was still conscious, and squatted down to feel her breath.
"What do you mean by that gesture, as if I'm dead." Ymir's voice was very weak, her face was pale, and a layer of cold sweat accumulated on her forehead: "I'm fine."
"Take your hand away." Krista said sternly. No matter how stupid she was, she could see that Ymir was not "fine". How could a person who lose so much blood and still be "fine"? Ymir seemed to have no strength to refute her. She pulled her right hand away from the wound, and her hand was covered with crimson liquid. Krista took out a knife and pushed away the clothes on the wound. When she saw the wound, she felt a thump in her heart and a little nausea. She quickly took off her backpack, took out cotton pads and some wine from it, poured some wine on the cotton pads and simply cleaned the wound. Ymir took a breath of cold air from between his clenched teeth. Krista pretended not to hear it and finished wrapping it with a bandage.
"Okay, let's find a place to sleep." Krista squatted in front of Ymir. Unknowingly, the sun had set. It gets dark early in winter. She guessed that it was about 5:30 now. It would be difficult to see the road later.
Ymir turned her head aside: "Tsk, who said I want to be with you." Krista knew she was just being stubborn, so she sighed and stretched out her hand for Ymir to hold her hand. She reluctantly held it. Although she was still weak due to excessive blood loss, it at least comforted Krista. Although the two of them were strangers, she didn't want to leave Ymir here. She tried hard to pull Ymir up, and the two walked towards the main road. Ymir put one arm on Krista's shoulder and stayed close together.
"There's a subway station ahead." Ymir said with difficulty, pointing vaguely to the right front with her hand.
"Then we'll stay there for one night." Although Ymir was not very heavy, Krista was still bent over by the pressure.
They stumbled into the subway station, and Krista helped Ymir sit down in the corner. She tried not to look at the red bandages on Ymir's body. She pulled out a sleeping bag from her bag and spread it on the floor. The underground was much warmer than the road, even though there was no heating.
"I only have one sleeping bag, so we have to sleep together." Krista wanted to slap herself to change the sleeping bag. It would be too crowded for two people to share the same sleeping bag.
Ymir did not object. She climbed into the sleeping bag and Krista laid down beside her. A little peace, a temporary haven; Krista fell into the open arms of Hypnos as she listened to Ymir's steady breath.