“Yue, another spoon full,”

“no.. Mum, I don’t want anymore,” Zou Yue whined loudly as he rolled in bed. It had been two days since he contracted the virus and his parents have been extremely protective of him.

They never left his side, which he liked a lot.

But the only problem is that his mother kept making ‘healthy’ meals and guilt tripped him into eating them.

“Come on, ginger soup is good for your cold,” she grumbled and plucked a spoon full of hot soup into his mouth.

With a sour face, he swallowed it. “I’m not even sick mommy!! And I’m full!!” he whined with a cute pout.

.

“Nope, you just ate two spoon full’s,” she chided and pushed the bowl towards him. “Drink it baby, it’s good for your health,”

“I don’t want to though..” Zou Yue glanced at the half full soup bowl with a frown. “I already drank half a bowl, mommy. I don’t want to anymore.” He placed the bowl on the table.

“Yue baby, come on…”

“It’s okay. Don’t force him.” His father, who entered the room just then, stopped his nagging wife.

“But Zou baba, this kid looks as lanky as a stick now. We have to feed him good food.”

“Yeah, in moderation.” Zou Yue chuckled at her. “Mommy, I love you so much but I can’t handle another bowl of ginger soup. Pease….”

“Fine.” his mother pouted and glared at them both. “You know how much effort I put into making this. I woke up early in the morning to cook the ginger until it’s soft and mushy and I had to simmer this for three hours to get that consistency.”

“OKAY, I’ll drink. I’ll drink it. Geez,” Zou Yue drowned the horrendous liquid down his throat in one gulp. The bitter liquid rolled down his throat, leaving a very bad after taste. “agh…”

“Good boy.” she happily took the bowl and left the room.

His father sat beside him with his laptop in hand. “Don’t mind her… next time I’ll secretly bring you some ramen.”

“Aww thanks dada,” he leaned onto his shoulders and side glanced into his laptop. “What are you working on?”

“My resignation,” his father slowly said.

“What!! You are resigning…. but you still have a month of service before you retire. If you resign now, you might not get your pension benefits,” he whispered with a frown.

“I don’t care about that.” he removed his reading glasses and glanced at him. “I missed almost half of your growth because of my work. I wish to spend some time with you.”

Zou Yue’s eyes started to water uncontrollably. His father was a research professor who dedicated almost all his life to his research. At his young age, he never saw his father much because he used to spend most of his time in college. As years went in their relationship became stiff.

Eventually they became almost like enemies, shouting at each other whenever they met.

“Daddy….. I love you,” he cried and hugged him tight. “You did everything for your family, and I really respect you for that. Please don’t put yourself down like that. You are my hero,” he whispered with a soft smile.

“Silly kid, stop crying for everything, hmm.” his father wiped his own eyes subtly. “Come on, shall we escape from here to get some fried chicken?,”

“deal!!”

They both sneaked out the house without their mother’s knowledge to go to the nearby fried chicken shop.

After a hearty meal, they both lazily walked down the road toward their home…

Zou Yue looked at each of the bustling stores, but one store caught his eyes in particular. It was a real estate agency..

‘Oh, I forgot.. we should leave this area.’ He thought, biting his lips.

His father was very fond of this neighbourhood and he refused to move even when his college was far away. “Dad, if you resign now, can we move to another place. I can find work there and we can make do with what we have,” he hesitantly whispered.

His father’s expression changed minutely.

‘Shit, I’m not sure he will agree. Should I just buy another house secretly and move us there when the world comes to an end,’ he nodded to himself.

“We can. Do you have any place in particular,” he suddenly said.

“What!! Do you really mean that?” he jumped onto his shoulders and peered at him with exited eyes

His father chuckled and slightly swatted his forehead. “When am I not serious, huh?”

Zou Yue peered at him intently. “You really do mean it? I mean, you love this area so much. If you don’t want, we shall not move..”

“Silly kid, if you want, we should move anywhere you want. But not abroad. You mum can’t speak English properly,” his father jovially whispered.

“Ha-ha, sure.”

Getting the green light from his father made him super happy. He glanced around the neighbourhood, and his smile melted away. ‘In six months this place will be swarming with zombies…. and all these people will pass away…’

He knew that he can’t save everyone but the thought that so many people will die made his heart ache badly.

“Dad, can I ask you something. If you knew that one day the earth is going to end would you tell everyone?”

His father hummed a bit. “Complicated. Even if I tell everyone, people might not believe me.”

Zou Yue’s face fell. He kicked a pebble on the ground with a pout.

“But, some might take the advice and prepare for the worse.”

Zou glanced up with shimmering eyes. “So you suggest I tell everyone?”

“Silly, if you tell everyone they are gonna call you crazy.”

“But you said….”

“YOU shouldn’t say it, but make it seem like SOMEONE said it. Make it anonymous. That way you can covey your information as well as keep your identity safe.” His father chuckled and walked ahead.

“That sounds great.”