My mom, embarrassed by my dad's undignified behavior, grabbed him by the collar and unceremoniously plunked him down onto a chair to sit properly.The following day, Ashton slipped back into a deep sleep.My mom and I figured we would try every medicine we had in the house. None of it was likely to harm him. Maybe one of them might just turn out to be a miracle cure.Two days later, when Ashton finally woke up, I felt a surge of joy, as if my man had returned from the brink of death.From then on, my dad began treating him better than he treated me. I knew it was because Ashton fed him snacks every day.Meanwhile, my mom seized every opportunity to remind me to intensify my efforts to win him over. She would say, "You clueless girl, you better step up your game! A kid that handsome was rare back in the day, and now? He's practically a unicorn. Go after him while you still can!"Exasperated, I sighed deeply. But then my mom offered a pep talk. "Don't get discouraged. It took me ov
This was too good a chance to show off—I wasn't about to miss it.Of course, he didn't want me tagging along, but I insisted the outside wasn't safe and an extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt.The moment we stepped outside, I puffed out my chest and strutted ahead of him like a hen protecting her chicks.I knew exactly where the safe zones were. I planned to give him a little tour, earn some brownie points, and head back home.He remained silent for most of the journey, and just as expected, the nearby streets were immaculate. My dad had cleared them so thoroughly that we didn't encounter a single zombie.When we reached Riverside Road, I saw Tina's body still lying there, her school uniform untouched.We searched several streets for supplies, but our efforts turned up nothing, dampening my spirits.As I dragged my feet along a main road, a zombie suddenly dropped from above, its limbs contorting as it crawled toward me. My legs nearly buckled.Glancing back at Ashton, who was fr
Maybe it was because he instinctively felt that communicating with my mom was pointless.Ashton looked at my dad with awe, as if he were observing a rare beauty, and remarked, "Psychic abilities. Impressive."… After that revelation, my mom transformed into a completely different person. She became unusually attentive toward my dad, a stark departure from her usual demeanor. "Since Ashton said you don't need to eat, we won't eat. How about a rock to gnaw on instead? I'll go find you one."Derick, I've charged your phone."What are you listening to? You're smiling so much. Let me listen, too."Derick, your daughter farts, grinds her teeth, and snores in her sleep. I don't want to share a bed with her anymore."'Seriously, this woman,' I grumbled to myself. I was utterly mortified. "How shameless of you."Given my mom's previous treatment of my dad, I expected him to ignore her for at least a month.As predicted, my dad responded with a cold snort. "Do you regret it now? You
"Who are you?" another middle-aged man asked."Who cares about that, John? We lost five people on this trip and came back empty-handed. Look at them. They're carrying so many supplies. It's like lambs walking into the slaughter.""Hand over the supplies, and we will let you go."Since the man, John Cooper, was holding a gun, we were understandably frightened.As we reluctantly set down our supplies, the group's audacity grew. The blonde guy flashed a grin and said, "Why don't the two beauties have some fun with us? I'll give you two packs of instant noodles in exchange. How about that?""Enough," John interjected sternly.Hearing his command, the blonde guy pouted but quickly resumed his smile, saying, "Don't worry, John. I won't force them if they're not willing."Just when I thought we were at their mercy, he suddenly grabbed Ashton's and my dad's hands.I was left speechless.Ashton didn't resist, but his expression turned icy. My dad, meanwhile, was visibly shocked.At t
When my mom heard his words, her eyes lit up. She didn't care whether Ashton had lied to her or not. She only asked eagerly, "Ashton, do you have any meat or vegetables?" On the other hand, my dad was excited. "Wow! Alternate space? That's the kind of ultimate cheat the main characters have in novels! Ashton, I'll be your number-one sidekick from now on!" Looking at their reactions, Ashton glanced at me in confusion. Then, I quickly chimed in, "I want to eat meat, veggies, and ice cream too!" 'Mostly, I want to eat you,' I thought inwardly. In that split second, Ashton stiffened, and his ears turned slightly red. Then, he ignored me and said to my dad, "Mr. Olson, thank you for saving me. I'm forever in your debt. You can consider me as part of your family." Hearing his words, my dad was deeply touched. However, my mom interrupted them and said, "Let's eat first." Soon, we found a two-story house on the side of the road that was built by some local folk. That night, we ha
"This is my brother." For some reason, Ashton suddenly looked upset and had a grim expression for the entire time. 'Didn't he say he wanted to be a part of my family? That makes him my brother, right?' I thought. Afterward, my mom was taken for a test of her mutant abilities. As we waited outside, we suddenly heard a loud bang. In that split second, the entire ground shook. … When my mom came out, she was surrounded by the staff. "Are you sure I don't need to pay for that? Don't come at me later looking for trouble. I'm not owning up to it. You guys are the ones who told me to hit it." It turned out my mom had smashed the strength-testing machine with one punch, and the concrete ground had sunk more than a meter deep. "Cool," I exclaimed. Hearing my words, my mom instinctively tried to smack me, but I quickly darted behind Ashton for cover. Initially, my mom was assigned to District 3. However, she was being brought to District 5 since our family didn't want to be s
Seeing that I was feeling awkward, Xandra said she would take me for a walk around the neighborhood. She was quite friendly, probably because it was rare for her to have peers around."I heard from your mom that your name is Anna."I nodded. "What about you?""My name is Xandra Tayson."The neighborhood wasn't quite big. She took me on a walk and kept chatting, giving me a new understanding of the base.It turned out the leader of the base was a leader at the nuclear power plant who had previously served in the military. He was a very upright and selfless person. Initially, there was no need for people to pay the crystal core to the base every month as he would lead the mutants to gather food and support many ordinary people.However, as the number of people at the base increased, he became overwhelmed, which led to the tax system. He encouraged everyone to find jobs and actively contribute to building the base, going out to eliminate zombies, collecting supplies, and even establi
Ever since I found out he had an alternate space, I immediately suppressed any inappropriate thoughts. After all, he must be a powerful figure. He told us that the area of his space was ten times bigger than my family's supermarkets, assuring us that we could eat as much as we wanted.Thinking about it, I felt inferior. With the current conditions, he could have any woman he wanted. He could even marry ten women without any problem. Hell, those women might even have tried to snatch him. This only proved that we were not a perfect match.As Xandra tried to pry information out of me, I kept repeatedly emphasizing I was only siblings with Ashton.In the meantime, Ashton stood at the door and looked at me coldly before going back to help in the kitchen.Then, she pointed toward the kitchen and said, "I think he has a crush on you."Hearing her words, I felt that she must have gone mad since such a thing would be impossible. Even after all that time with him, I had never seen him wav