Chương 64: Passion

Hearing the heavy, muffled thuds echoing from the stairwell, Claire hurriedly ran to the front door and peered through the peephole into the corridor. This morning, the vast majority of the zombies that had poured through the breached stairwell gate had been drawn into the first-floor pet clinic by the sound of the thugs prying the roller shutter. However, the first two zombies to enter had spotted Claire and chased her all the way up the stairs.

Fortunately, zombies lacked the agility to navigate stairs efficiently. Claire had preemptively wedged the metal curtain rod Vince had given her across the landing, tripping the two pursuers. This bought her just enough time to escape back into Apartment 301 without a scratch. Those two zombies had been wandering the hallway ever since. Hearing the sudden, violent thuds just now, she instantly knew—Vince was coming upstairs! She kept her eye pressed to the peephole.

A moment later, that familiar, broad-shouldered silhouette slowly climbed into view. As Vince walked up the stairs, he patted his pockets, only to realize his apartment keys were in his tactical backpack, which he had left in the cargo van. Ah, right. Claire is home... Having lived alone for so long, he wasn't used to the idea of having someone waiting inside to open the door for him.

Even though he had just seen her from the street mere minutes ago, the moment he stepped onto these familiar stairs, his lone-wolf instincts had briefly taken over again. Before he even reached the third-floor landing, he heard the sharp clack-clack of the deadbolt unlocking. With a heavy creak, the iron security door swung open, and a slender, fragrant figure violently crashed directly into his chest.

The sheer kinetic impact of her desperate embrace forced Vince—the "Superman of Xingfu Complex" who was currently sitting at nearly 600 Max HP—to actually take a half-step back to steady himself. Claire's arms wrapped around his waist with a vice-like grip, pressing her body flush against his chest, refusing to let go for even a microsecond. Clatter, clatter. Vince simply dropped his twin short spears onto the concrete floor.

He wiped the gore off his hands onto his pants, wrapped his arms around Claire's back, and gently stroked her hair. Glancing at the [92] HP floating above her head, he knew she must have been terrified out of her mind these past two days. A moment later, he felt the fabric of his collar growing damp. The faint, suppressed sound of muffled sobbing finally reached his ears.

"Vince... I missed you so much..." Hearing Claire's trembling voice murmur against his neck, Vince was suddenly struck by a profound, inexplicable sense of home. From yesterday morning to right this second, he had been fighting non-stop. Even though his Max HP had skyrocketed to [590] and his health had recovered significantly, the sheer mental and physical exhaustion of survival still weighed heavily on him.

But hearing her voice, it felt as though the deep-seated fatigue seeping from every bone and muscle fiber in his body suddenly demanded release. All he wanted to do right now was hold her tightly, collapse onto the sofa, and sleep...

"... Just how much did you miss me?" Pressing his cheek against her hair, he greedily inhaled her familiar scent, unable to resist teasing her. The soft body in his arms froze for a second. Vince felt a faint breath of air brush against his neck, followed by a warm, delicate softness pressing against his skin. An instant later, two rows of perfectly even teeth clamped down hard. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. [-1]!

"Ow, ow, ow!" But her jaw only tightened for a second before relaxing. A soft, incredibly tender tongue lightly swept over the fresh bite marks, sending a bizarre, tingling numbness down his spine.

"Is it salty...?"

"Hmph..." Clinging to him like a giant, affectionate leech, Claire refused to let go, merely letting out a soft hum through her nose. A long while later, with both of their shirts damp from a mixture of sweat and the humid rain, Claire finally lifted her head and looked deeply into Vince's eyes.

"Who is the girl in the car...?"

"Just a stray I picked up at the gas station..." Staring at her glossy lips, their eyes met. He could clearly see the hazy, intoxicating mist swirling in her gaze. Vince hesitated no longer. After a brief, gentle probe, he leaned in and kissed her deeply... Claire could barely breathe, letting out soft, intermittent whimpers as her arms wrapped even tighter around his neck, as if desperately trying to melt her very being into his.

It wasn't until both of them were completely out of breath that they finally, reluctantly loosened their embrace. Meeting Vince's intense, predatory gaze, a deep, crimson flush spread across Claire's cheeks. She shyly turned her head away.

"They're... they're still waiting for you downstairs... You smell terrible. Take a proper bath tonight..." With that, she retreated back into the apartment. While Vince was still standing in the hallway letting his imagination run wild, Claire reappeared. She had tied her hair up and thrown on a sturdy canvas jacket. She even brought out a clean set of clothes for him.

"Vince, what happened to your clothes? Why are they all shredded...?" she asked, holding up the fresh shirt.

"It's nothing. Just snagged them while I was running around earlier..." Since the catastrophic wounds on his waist had already closed and scabbed over beneath his ruined shirt, Claire couldn't see the true extent of the damage. Not wanting to give her a panic attack, Vince smoothly lied to cover it up.

"You're coming down too? I won't bother changing just yet, then. We still have a ton of supplies to haul up." Seeing Claire fully dressed and ready to head downstairs, Vince hesitated for a second. As their relationship deepened, the lingering ghost of old-world societal norms still haunted his subconscious. He was afraid that once they crossed that line, he would no longer be able to treat her as an equal survival partner.

He feared his protective instincts would subconsciously force her to stay away from all danger. But is that truly protection? In this brutal apocalypse, keeping someone weak was a death sentence. Since Claire was actively volunteering to go downstairs and help, it meant she wanted to be involved. She wanted to pull her weight. The final trace of hesitation in Vince's heart evaporated.

"Claire, wait here for a second. Let me sweep the upper floors first. I'll be right back." Concerned that stray zombies might still be lurking in the upper stairwells, Vince picked up his short spears and methodically cleared the building all the way up to the sixth floor. After confirming the building was completely secure, he returned to the third floor. He and Claire then made their way down to the first-floor pet clinic.

The clinic lobby had been completely trashed by the horde of zombies that had poured in earlier. Pet supplies, kibble, and shattered shelving littered the floor. However, Vince noticed a glaring detail: Where were all the supplies he had hauled back yesterday?

"I moved everything upstairs. Half of it is in 301, the other half is in 302..." Claire proactively explained.

"Yesterday afternoon, right after you left, the street got chaotic. I was terrified someone might try to break in while you were gone, so I came downstairs to check..."

"I saw the massive pile of supplies in the lobby and figured you must have left them. I hauled them all upstairs so that if someone did break the roller shutter, the loot would be safe..."

"Who knew they would still insist on prying the door today? If they had actually gotten inside, the wooden door of 302 wouldn't have stopped them either. That's why I had to..." Hearing her explanation, Vince gently rubbed her back.

"Hauling all those supplies up three flights of stairs... you must have been exhausted..."

"Oh, stop it. Hurry up, let's go outside..." Claire chided playfully, pushing Vince toward the doorway. The three students had parked the convoy in front of the clinic quite a while ago. Seeing Vince and Claire finally emerge, Zoe immediately hopped out of the driver's seat and jogged up to him.

"Dage! Were there still zombies hiding in the building? You were in there for so long..." She visually inspected Vince up and down. Seeing that he wasn't injured, she let out a sigh of relief. Noticing the visible, crimson flush rapidly spreading across Claire's face beside him, Vince hastily cleared his throat and deflected.

"Ah, yeah. There was an incredibly fierce zombie in there. Held me up for a bit..." Eager to change the subject before Zoe asked for details on the "fierce zombie," he immediately shouted toward the two RVs:"Alright, get out and get to work! Start by carrying a few cases of water upstairs!"