My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

Chapter 238: Ch 238: Survivors need to keep going

With his job being taken over, Rin suddenly found himself with nothing to do but wait. So, he decided to join Shelly and the others in the waiting area.

"Should we all go and rest now?"

Rin asked, and Reina nodded after yawning and stretching her body.

"Yeah, sure! I am tired, so I think I will go to sleep now."

She declared before leaving. Rin expected Shelly and Teressa to leave as well, but they showed no intention of doing so.

"Shelly, are you not tired?"

Rin asked, and Shelly bit her lip, clearly hiding something from him. Guilt swirled in her eyes, but she had no intention of telling him what was making her look like this.

"I...think I will stay here for a little while longer. Someone needs to keep an eye on these intruders, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving Albus to do that."

An offended sound came out of Albus, but that was the extent of his protest.

Rin opened his mouth to question Shelly’s behavior, but he decided to give up at the last second.

He could tell that Shelly had made this decision after much deliberation, so it was only right for Rin to follow her lead for once.

"Alright, I will let you stay here. But don’t stay up too late. You also need to look after your health and go to sleep on time."

Rin told her this after placing a hand on her shoulder. He headed out, and Teressa followed him. She did not say much, but Rin had a feeling she was dealing with too much at the moment.

Things had happened too fast—first the situation with Serena, and then this task. Teressa must have been feeling pretty overwhelmed right now.

Still, he did not want to bring up a heavy topic from the get-go. So, he decided to start with something lighter.

"I had no idea you were still in the habit of carrying your phone around with you all the time. Don’t you find it bothersome? After all, there is not much you can do with a phone now."

Since the internet hardly worked, it was impossible to find most things online. And with the system acting like a pseudo-internet at this point, most people had ditched their phones.

"I told you it’s a habit, right? This phone was something my mother passed on to me before she left on a business trip. She told me she would call me, but she never did. I knew in my heart that she would never come back, but I kept hoping that she would at least call me once."

"Hey, before you give me a pity-filled look, don’t! My mother will call me one day! I am sure of it. And that’s why I always keep my phone with me. If you want to make fun of me for it, then go ahead."

Rin felt like he understood Teressa much more than she expected.

He was someone who only got a call from his parents once or twice a year as well...not that it was remotely the same as Teressa never getting a call.

However, there was a key difference between him and her.

For one, he never wanted to get that call from his parents since he neither liked nor knew them. But it was not the case for Teressa. She desperately wanted that call from her mother.

He wanted to tell Teressa that she should stop waiting for that call to come, but he could not bring himself to open his mouth. The look on Teressa’s face was tender as she looked down at her phone.

Maybe hope was better for her since it kept her going.

"I am sure your mother will call you one day. And when you take her call, you will be able to tell her all about us."

Rin told Teressa, and she nodded. She looked happy, but that mood quickly changed as she sighed and looked at him with an almost detached expression.

"About Serena...I am sorry. I did not realize what was happening until it was too late. I should have told you or someone, and maybe Serena wouldn’t have—"

Teressa started to breathe faster, and her eyes began to water. She looked unfocused, and Rin quickly grabbed her shoulder to steady her.

"It’s fine! Take a deep breath. In and out...that’s good. Do you feel better now?"

Rin asked Teressa, and she nodded hesitantly.

"I...I am fine now. However, I don’t know what to do with these feelings inside me. They just feel so heavy, like they want to crush me and also..."

"I know. It’s hard to deal with the guilt at first, but it gets better. Serena was in pain all the time, so the sooner we liberated her from it, the better. Besides, that was something she chose, right?"

Teressa nodded with an uncertain look on her face.

"She did choose it, but she did not seem to have a choice. That’s what bothers me. Would she have chosen the same if she had a choice? Somehow, she was not ready to die yet, so why—"

"It looked like the opposite to me. She always looked like she was about to float away and break at the slightest breeze, and in the end, she went out on her own terms. I am sure Serena’s spirit is resting peacefully wherever it is."

Rin assured Teressa, and she took a sharp breath. She looked at him for more reassurance, and Rin gave it to her.

"Don’t let her death break you. That is the last thing she would want. Now, you should go and rest as well. Don’t let the life Serena saved go to waste."

It was harsh of Rin to blackmail Teressa like this. He knew it was not right and that Teressa had every right to complain.

But she did not say anything and silently followed his lead.

He felt both sorry and thankful for her silent support. He watched her leave and stood leaning against the wall for a while.

"I feel like I need something to take the edge off my mind."

Rin had never drunk or smoked before, and he had never felt like starting either.

But maybe, if it helped him cope with the situation, he could try it once?