Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

Lin Zhiyao relaxed her grip on the straps, finally letting out a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but smile.

The car was driven for two days.

Su Wanqing kept probing her along the way, asking her how she survived, how she got to the villa, whether anyone was protecting her, and where the food and water came from.

Lin Zhiyao's answer was perfunctory, only saying that the villa area was rich in supplies and that she was lucky to hide there without being discovered.

Su Wanqing clearly didn't believe it, but she didn't press further. Of the two, Lin Zhiyao was as clean as if she lived before the apocalypse, even her complexion was rosier than before, while Su Wanqing was ashen-faced, skin and bones, and filthy all over...

Even because the sports car was provided by Lin Zhiyao, Su Wanqing had to try her best to please Lin Zhiyao in order to maintain her image in front of her boyfriend.

Su Wanqing felt terrible, like she had swallowed a fly. Her health was deteriorating, and she coughed frequently, even more like she had asthma than Lin Zhiyao.

On the afternoon of the third day, Chen Feng looked at the navigation and said excitedly, "The shelter is just ahead. We'll be there in about ten minutes."

Lin Zhiyao leaned against the car window, looking at the distant mountain range, feeling joyful but also with some complicated emotions.

We're almost there.

She would be safe once she entered the shelter.

No matter how powerful Shen Jin is, he can't possibly lead an army of zombies to breach a human shelter.

She can finally live a normal life.

Just then, Chen Feng slammed on the brakes.

Lin Zhiyao leaned forward, her forehead almost hitting the seat in front of her.

She looked up and saw that the road ahead was densely packed with zombies.

Not a dozen, not several dozen, but hundreds, thousands, a dark mass that completely blocked the highway.

They stood there silently, like a black wall, their murky eyes all turning toward the SUV.

The air seemed to freeze.

Lin Zhiyao's heart skipped a beat, and her blood instantly turned cold.

Shen Jin found out.

It must be him who came to arrest her.

"Turn around! Turn around now!" Su Wanqing screamed, her voice shrill and distorted.

Chen Feng frantically steered the car, the sports car cutting a screech across the road, the tires screeching against the pavement.

But before the car could turn around, the zombie horde had already moved.

They surged in like a tide, faster than any zombies they had ever seen before, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the SUV.

The stench seeped in through the cracks in the car window, and Lin Zhiyao covered her mouth and nose, her stomach churning.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Su Wanqing frantically pounded on the car window, her dust-covered face filled with terror. "They're coming in! They're coming in!"

A zombie lunged at the driver's side window, its rotting face pressed against the glass, its teeth scraping against the glass with a sickening sound.

Chen Feng was terrified and slammed on the gas pedal. The car sped forward, smashing through a few zombies, but was quickly blocked by even more.

"Jump out of the car!"

Chen Feng shouted and pulled open the car door, ready to rush out.

But as soon as he poked his head out, he was bitten on the shoulder and dragged out of the car, instantly screaming as he was swallowed up by the horde of corpses.

Su Wanqing froze instantly, standing there like a dead chicken with its throat stuck.

Blood splattered on the car window. Lin Zhiyao watched helplessly as he was torn to pieces, leaving not even a complete body behind.

Lin Zhiyao sat in the back seat, her hands gripping the backpack straps tightly, her whole body trembling like a leaf.

She looked out the window at the dense horde of zombies, and fear overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.

Shen Jin got angry.

He wanted to kill her.

A zombie walked up to the car door, stretched out its rotting hand, and opened the door.

Lin Zhiyao closed her eyes, awaiting death.

But the zombie didn't touch her.

It just made a gurgling sound from its throat, then stretched out its fingers and slowly traced them on the ground.

Lin Zhiyao opened her eyes with trembling hands and looked in the direction its finger was pointing.

Two words were written on the ground in blood: "Go home".

Lin Zhiyao's tears welled up instantly.

She shook her head, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "No, I don't want to go back, I want to go to the shelter, please, let me go, I'm so scared, I'm so scared of these zombies..."

Lin Zhiyao cried so hard she could hardly breathe, her chest heaving violently, and wheezing sounds coming from her throat; her asthma had flared up.

And this time it's more serious than any other time.

Lin Zhiyao reached into her bag for the medicine, but her fingers trembled so badly that the bottle slipped from her hand and rolled under the seat.

Lin Zhiyao lay on the ground, desperately trying to reach the bottle of medicine, but her vision blurred and her breathing became increasingly difficult.

She felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her lungs, and each breath felt like swallowing a knife.

"My medicine...my medicine..."

Lin Zhiyao's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and everything in the world began to spin and blur.

Just when she thought she was going to die, a familiar smell of medicine entered her nostrils.

It was crisp and refreshing, with a hint of bittersweetness, like mint mixed with some plant she didn't recognize.

Lin Zhiyao took a deep breath, and the spasm in her lungs miraculously eased a little, but she still fainted due to exhaustion.

When Lin Zhiyao opened her eyes with difficulty, the zombies around her had all disappeared, leaving only a few bottles of medicine beside her and a black backpack.

She picked up a bottle of medicine with trembling hands. On the ground next to the bottle were engraved words, the handwriting sharp and chilling: "I'll give you three days to play with. After three days, come back to me."

Lin Zhiyao stared at the words, tears falling to the ground and blurring the writing.

Damn it, she's not playing around at all, and she doesn't want to go back.

She didn't want to go back to that gilded cage, didn't want to be pinned down on the bed, sofa, in the bathroom, or in front of the French windows by Shen Jin every day, didn't want to be kissed by him until she couldn't breathe, didn't want to be covered in marks by him, and didn't want to become his pet.

She wants to be free.

Even if it's just for a day, an hour, or a minute.

Lin Zhiyao wiped away her tears, stuffed the medicine into her backpack, and stood up unsteadily.

Su Wanqing is gone. Perhaps she ran away, or perhaps she was bitten to death by zombies.

Chen Feng's body lay not far away, mutilated, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

Lin Zhiyao didn't look at it much.

With her backpack on, she walked around the bloodstains on the ground toward the shelter.

As darkness fell, she saw the walls of the shelter.

A tall concrete wall, covered with barbed wire, with searchlights sweeping back and forth from the top.

Lin Zhiyao's almond-shaped eyes lit up instantly.

After undergoing a check-up, she successfully entered the shelter.

It was more crowded inside than she had imagined.

People were everywhere, tents were densely packed on the open ground, and the air was filled with the smell of sweat and disinfectant.

Some people were queuing to receive supplies, some were talking quietly in a corner, and some children were crying, making a lot of noise that was a headache.

A woman in uniform walked over and handed Lin Zhiyao a number tag and a basic supplies package—two bottles of water, two packs of compressed biscuits, and a thin blanket.

"Go to Area C to register, and they will assign you accommodation." The woman said expressionlessly, then turned to greet the next person.

Lin Zhiyao struggled through the crowded throng.

Section C was a row of temporary prefabricated houses. She waited in line for two hours before it was finally her turn.

Because she has no special talents, Lin Zhiyao can only do basic jobs, such as cleaning up garbage or moving supplies.

Lin Zhiyao received the key and followed the signs to her dormitory.

The room I was assigned was very small, less than 15 square meters, with only a single bed, a folding table and a chair.

The walls were made of thin wooden planks, and the coughing from next door could be heard clearly.

But Lin Zhiyao felt incredibly at ease.

This is her own space.

There was no trace of Shen Jin, no suffocating intimacy, and no constant surveillance.

Lin Zhiyao put her backpack on the table, took out the bottle of medicine left by Shen Jin, stared at it for a long time, and finally stuffed it into the box under the bed.

She won't go back.

Absolutely not.

The next day, Lin Zhiyao began her life in the shelter. She worked in Area A in the morning and ate her assigned meal at the canteen at noon—two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge.

The porridge was so thin you could see your reflection in it, and the steamed buns were as hard as rocks, but Lin Zhiyao ate them with great relish.

She earned it herself.

I continued picking up trash in the afternoon until 8 p.m. before I got off work.

She dragged her tired body back to her small room, collapsed onto the bed, and didn't even want to move a finger.

But my heart is full.

The feeling of supporting oneself with one's own hands is both novel and reassuring.

On the third day, Lin Zhiyao went to the shelter's medical station to inquire about asthma medication.

"Asthma medication?" The doctor frowned. "The shelter's pharmaceutical factory is still under construction. At present, it can only produce some basic medicines. Asthma medication... is not available yet."

Lin Zhiyao's heart sank.

The doctor then changed the subject, "However, I've heard that another shelter in the north is also developing drugs for chronic diseases while researching the virus. If the shelter can establish contact with them, there might be hope."

"How long will it take?"

"I'm not sure, maybe a few months, maybe a year or two." The doctor looked at her pale face and his tone softened a bit. "Take this first, it's to relieve the symptoms. Although it doesn't cure the root cause, it's better than nothing."

She handed Lin Zhiyao a small bottle of pills.

Lin Zhiyao thanked him, took the pills, and returned to her room.

She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the gray sky outside the window, and a feeling she couldn't quite describe welled up inside her.

One or two years.

The aerosol spray in her backpack will last for at most two years.

If the shelter cannot produce the medicine within two years, she will still die.

But Lin Zhiyao quickly suppressed the thought.

At least for now, she is alive and free.

Three days passed quickly.

On the last night, Lin Zhiyao lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

Shen Jin left a message stating that today is the final deadline.

Will he come?

Will he send zombies to capture her like last time?

Will he come in person, pin her to the bed, and punish her escape in an even more brutal way?

Lin Zhiyao grew increasingly frightened, wrapped herself in the blanket, trembling all over, and kept her eyes open until dawn.

But the night passed and nothing happened.

Lin Zhiyao stared blankly as the morning light streamed in through the window, remaining stunned for a long time.

Did Shen Jin let her go?

Or was it that the shelter's walls really blocked him out?

In any case, she is safe.

Lin Zhiyao breathed a sigh of relief; the tension in her chest finally eased, and a feeling of rebirth welled up inside her.

The days passed by.

One week, two weeks later, Lin Zhiyao gradually adapted to this simple but fulfilling life in the shelter.

She even made a few friends—an older woman in the next room who always enthusiastically shared her pickled vegetables with her; a young girl in the moving team who would chat with her about pre-apocalyptic TV dramas during breaks; and an older man in the cafeteria who would always scoop an extra half spoonful of food for her.

This ordinary warmth made Lin Zhiyao feel like a real person, not someone's pet.

Lin Zhiyao's smile grew wider and wider.

She thought life would continue like this forever.