Reminiscing about the time when their world was prosperous and glamorous, Ni Mei had a look of nostalgia appear on her face. She really missed the time of peace, it wasn't perfect but the world was still peaceful on the surface. She was barely an adult and was still a sophomore in college when the world started to fall apart.
At first, it was a series of isolated disasters like earthquakes and typhoons. All were tragic but none that humanity had never seen before. No one really took it seriously. After all, the nation was strong enough to always pull through such disasters. But for some reason, nature's fury unleashed in relentless waves as the frequency and intensity escalated unnaturally.
Then massive volcanos erupted darkening the sky with ash, blocking out the sun. Unprecedented floods swallowed whole cities across the globe and in other places, droughts turned the fertile lands into barren wastelands. Hurricanes tore through regions and grounds turned into sinkholes and quakes ripped apart continents and swallowed up its inhabitants.
As the planet continued to tear itself apart, the world finally realized that these weren't just normal natural disasters. It was the result of destabilized ecosystems. The domino effect spiraled out of control as melting polar ice caps raised sea levels and methane released from thawing permafrost worsened the already dire climate crisis.
Lightening struck and set buildings on fire, rains poured for months, weather took drastic turns between hot and cold. All in all, the situation was out of anyone's understanding or control at this point. Amidst the chaos, resources dwindled, the government collapsed, and desperation turned into violence. Humanity's structured world crumbled, leaving only a shattered and desolate landscape.
"But just when everyone thought they were already facing the worst, they didn't know that something even worse was yet to come," added Ni Mei a depressed look in her eyes.
"Worse? What could be worse than natural disasters?" questioned Ni Ni.
"Three years ago, the natural disasters stopped. It was as if nature had finally taken a break except for the change in temperature; everything else seemed normal. So, everyone started to get back to their work. Everyone wanted to get the society back in order. However, this peace only lasted for a year before people started falling ill."
"Falling ill?" questioned Ni Ni. "What kind of illness? Was it a plague?"
"Call it a plague, or call it a virus, it won't make a difference. The only thing is this virus started turning humans into conscienceless beasts that only knew how to hunt down humans."
Ni Ni's eyes widened in surprise, "Zombies?"
Ni Mei nodded her head with a heavy look. "Indeed. What started from natural disasters turned into a zombie apocalypse."
'System! Get out here and tell me why you hid this from me?!' Ni Ni screamed in her head. She was ready to throw hands with the system right now.
The system didn't hide and answered conscientiously. [Host, you didn't ask for details about the apocalypse. The system didn't get the chance to explain things to you yet. In fact, you still have no idea why you were chosen as the host.]
"Are you scared?" Seeing the look on Ni Ni's face, Ni Mei asked as she slowed down her speech and lowered her voice to sound gentle.
Ni Ni left the system aside and shook her head, "No. What else? What happened after that?"
"After that..." Ni Mei seemed lost in memories as she continued, "Then things got trickier than before. As humanity was struggling with zombies, the weapons were not enough to fight and zombies were endless. They didn't die unless they were shot in the head. When the second wave of people fell ill, after a week of fever, they woke up with special abilities as if nature was compensating for humanity."
"Special abilities?" questioned Ni Ni with interest.
"Don't look at me like that. You and I weren't one of the chosen ones. We didn't awaken any ability that's why Mom and Dad had to work harder to protect us. The good thing was that Dad and Mom both became the ability users successfully. They were already one of the strong ones in this fight for survival and with their abilities, no one could casually mess with them."
Ni Ni did not expect that while she was dead, the world really took a different turn. There were zombies that seemed like a thing from science fiction comics became reality and humans formed another hierarchy where special ability users would stand at the top of the pyramid.
"Actually, we had been living pretty safely in the base until a month ago when parents went out for an important mission but they never came back. I don't know if they are still alive or not. However, I believe they are still alive. I'll definitely find them." Ni Mei looked determined to find her parents at all costs. "Only when our family is reunited will I feel safe."
Ni Ni felt a little closer to Ni Mei because this girl had the same goal as to reunite with her family.
"Okay. I'll help you!" said Ni Ni. "But where are we gonna find them in this disordered world? Do you have any clues?"
"I know the location where their mission was. We'll go there first to look for them," answered Ni Mei. "The rest will be decided after we get there."
"Don't you think waiting for them in the base would be safer? Dad must have left someone to watch over us in the base. Just because I fell for the tricks once doesn't mean it'll happen again."
"No!" refused Ni Mei. "The base is no longer safe for us. You can guard against a thief for a hundred days but you won't be lucky forever. We should learn to depend on ourselves now. We have been hiding behind our parents for a long time. We are indeed luckier than most or we would not have been able to survive on our own until now. But that's enough. We need to look forward now, Ni Ni."
"I understand," replied Ni Ni as she also agreed with those words. One should depend on oneself. You can't always expect someone to save you. Just like this time when Ni Mei had to risk it all to save her. "I'll listen to you."
Ni Mei was shocked to hear those words coming from Ni Ni and instinctively touched her forehead to check if she had a fever. Because she couldn't understand why else would Ni Ni be so obedient. Even after the apocalypse came, because of the parents protection, Ni Ni had been well protected and didn't change her naivety, willfulness, and a few other bad habits.
But now... She seemed like a different person. Did she get enlightened?