Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]-Chapter 252: Chaprer - Forgotten

The door creaked open.

Zei stepped inside, his feet dragging lightly across the wooden floor. His eyes were glazed over, pupils dilated like he wasn’t fully there—like something else had dragged him through the streets and dumped him back in the house without his permission. His breath came in slow, steady gasps, as if he hadn’t realized he’d been holding it in all this time.

The house was dim, the sun just beginning to dip under the ruined skyline, casting golden shadows along the broken furniture and battered walls. The place had been randomly chosen during one of their desperate searches for shelter. A once cozy single-story house, now quiet and stripped of life.

"Zei? Where did you go?" Hana’s voice came from the old leather sofa where she sat cross-legged, her eyes flicking up from a small, half-broken flashlight she’d been fiddling with.

Zei didn’t answer.

"You shouldn’t roam outside alone. It’s not safe, you know that," she added, her voice dropping into a quiet grumble as she leaned back, resting her head against the cushion with a small pout. "You’re not even dressed properly for going out. And don’t even get me started on the infected."

He blinked slowly, like her voice reached him through water. His eyes moved around the room like he didn’t recognize it.

Something was wrong.

Not wrong in a loud, dangerous way—but wrong in a deep, unsettling way. Like a dream fading too quickly upon waking, just out of reach.

His fingers clenched around nothing. His chest rose and fell unevenly.

"What just happened?" he finally muttered under his breath. "Why am I here? Wasn’t I in my room...."

"What?" Hana sat up straighter, brows knitting together. "Hello? Are you listening to me? Don’t just ignore me."

Zei turned to look at her, slow and slightly delayed, like his brain was buffering the world around him. "What... just happened?" he repeated in a softer tone, dazed.

His voice cracked slightly at the end. His hands trembled faintly by his sides.

"You just walked out like ten minutes ago," Hana replied, staring at him now, concern replacing her irritation. "Didn’t say anything. I thought maybe you just needed some air or—" she paused, looking him up and down. "Zei?"

He looked toward the door, then slowly reached up to touch his own neck, as if checking if something was attached to him, like a leash.

"I was out?" he whispered.

Hana blinked. "What do you mean ’was I out’? Of course you were. I watched you leave. You didn’t even respond when I called after you."

Zei stared at the door again, like it held answers. But there were none.

Nothing sparked recognition.

"I... I think I sleepwalked?" he muttered, trying to make sense of it. "But I wasn’t sleeping..."

Hana stood up now and walked over, crouching beside him. "You okay? You don’t look good."

Zei shook his head slowly. "It felt like something was pulling me... something was using me. I couldn’t control my own legs. My arms moved on their own." He reached up and gripped his shoulder tightly, digging his nails into the skin. "I thought I was dreaming, but I couldn’t wake up. I wasn’t even asleep."

A silence followed.

Hana sat beside him, not sure how to respond to that.

"That’s not normal, Zei," she said after a beat, voice low. "You think it’s the infection? You didn’t get scratched, did you?"

He immediately shook his head. "No. I didn’t... at least I don’t think so." He checked his arms and legs, lifting his shirt and pulling down his sleeves to inspect his skin. Nothing. No bite. No scratch. Not even a bruise.

"Maybe it’s mental exhaustion," Hana tried to reason.

"This wasn’t just mental exhaustion," Zei interrupted, more firm now. "It felt real. I could feel someone talking... I swear i.. I saw something and then I was here..."

The room fell quiet again.

Hana exhaled. "Well, at least you’re back now. Whatever that was, you’re okay now."

Zei looked at her sharply. "But what if it happens again? What if I wander off further next time? What if I walk right into a nest of those things and don’t even realize it?"

"We’ll deal with it. We’ll tie you down if we have to," Hana joked lightly, then softened when she saw the haunted look on his face.

Zei didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile. "I think someone was controlling me."

"Who?"

"I don’t know," he whispered, and for the first time, he looked afraid.

His arms wrapped around himself with a small pout. "But now I’m back and I don’t remember a thing."

Hana leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee gently. "We’ll figure it out, okay?"

Zei didn’t respond.

He leaned back against the wall, letting his head fall back with a quiet thud. The weight in his chest wouldn’t lift. Even now, with the control back in his hands, his skin felt cold and clammy. Something had taken over his body, used him like a puppet, and dumped him back without warning.

That was the part that scared him most.

He glanced toward the window. "I feel like I missed something... soemthing tells me its some juicy secret..." he mumbled peering out the window trying to find a clue.

But his brain felt like it was wiped clean.

Just those ten minutes of his outing seemed to he wipe out of his head.

Hana went to prepare something warm to eat. She muttered under her breath about the lack of seasoning and the garbage state of canned food, but her voice barely reached Zei.

But soon Zei shook his head and decided to ignore it. "Hana, do we have any canned peaches? I want to eat something sweat.... God I crave ice cream for gods sake." He mumbled as he ran into the kitchen.

Suddenly Zei froze licking his lips. There was a sweet creamy taste left behind on his lips.

’wait why does my lips taste like ice cream..’