Sent My Fake Wife to Radiation Wasteland

When human skin comes into contact with sun-baked steel at high temperatures, it will produce a sizzling sound similar to the grease on grilled meat.

I am experiencing this sound very deeply right now.

My hands were bound behind my back with rough iron chains, and my entire back was pressed tightly against the execution post in the central square of the safe zone.

Thousands of survivors from the safe zone were surrounding them.

Most of them were dressed in tattered strips of cloth, their skin tanned dark by the sun, yet they were all excitedly crowding outside the barbed wire fence.

A rusty metal can flew over the barbed wire and hit me squarely on the forehead, leaving a gash.

"murderer!"

"Dry him until he's a dried corpse! He killed the commander's son!"

"You even kill your own kind! You beast with arms and legs deserve to die!"

Stones kept crossing the median strip and hitting my feet.

The soldiers in the safe zone stood under the shade of a canopy, holding their rifles, and watched indifferently as I slowly dehydrated.

My lips were so dry and cracked that the white skin peeled off, and my throat felt like it was filled with shards of glass.

The cursing from the crowd suddenly subsided, and a gap appeared in front of the barbed wire.

A woman wearing a pure white sun-protective linen dress slowly walked into the center of the square, escorted by two fully armed soldiers.

It's Elena.

My wife, or rather, my former wife.

In this safe zone where even drinking water is rationed, she, as a "hero" and the newly adopted daughter of the highest leader of the safe zone, possesses privileges that ordinary people can hardly attain.

Elena stopped three steps in front of the execution post.

"Cole, it breaks my heart to see you in this state."

She spoke with a choked voice, not loud, but loud enough for the civilians and soldiers in the front row to hear.

She looked at me with such compassionate eyes.

“Cole, why don’t you understand?” Her voice was still gentle, with that nauseatingly coaxing quality. “If you hadn’t killed Vance out of jealousy, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. You can never control your violence. I’ve tried to teach you, tried to influence you with love, but you’ve been completely assimilated by the wasteland into a bloodthirsty monster.”

I struggled to lift my eyelids and stared intently into her eyes, which were so close to mine.

She is lying.

Moreover, her lying skills have reached a level where even she herself is convinced of her own lies.

It was clearly she who pulled Vance in front of her to act as a human shield when they were ambushed by thugs.

But now, she can use such an innocent tone to firmly pin the charge of murder on my head.

“I cannot protect you in court, Cole Vance’s father needs the truth, and the safe zone needs justice. If I were to commit perjury for you, it would be a betrayal of basic human decency.”

“The chief was so grieved by Vance’s death that he considered stopping the distribution of supplies to the refugees. I comforted him and became his family in Vance’s place. Now, the refugees’ quotas have been restored, and order has been restored in this safe zone. Rest in peace, I will atone for your sins.”

She took a half step back, stood back in the sunlight, faced the crowd, covered her face, and let out an extremely suppressed sob.

Outside the barbed wire fence, a burst of enthusiastic praise immediately erupted for her.

Memories flashed through my mind: What exactly have I done this past year?

In the first month after the blackout, I was cornered by three thugs while trying to grab a case of canned food in a supermarket. I fought them off, risking having my shoulder pierced.

Elena then gave the canned food to several homeless people on the street corner who were trying to gain sympathy, saying, "They need it more than we do."

In the third month of their escape, their car broke down on the highway.

I was siphoning gasoline from abandoned cars in the sweltering heat, but she kindly took in a few hitchhikers.

That night, the hitchhikers pulled out knives and tried to steal all our supplies. I choked them all, one by one. Afterwards, instead of showing any concern, she accused me of excessive self-defense.

Later, we met the chief's son, Vance.

Vance was deeply attracted by her "purity and kindness" even in the apocalypse.

She comfortably enjoyed Vance's privileges and military rations, even using these rations to give to other low-level thugs in the carriage to maintain her aura. When trouble arose, it was Vance and me who had to smooth things over.

Finally, in that ruined bunker, she didn't hesitate to use Vance as a human shield, saving her own life in the process.

Upon returning to the safe zone, he immediately ran to the commander, pointed his finger at me, and tearfully accused me of causing Vance's death out of jealousy.

It was completely dark.

...

"Pfft."

The sound of metal cutting through flesh could be heard.

Warm liquid splashed onto the back of my hand.

My eyelids twitched suddenly, and I staggered.

There were no heavy iron chains binding his wrists, nor the burning pain of his back being scorched.

I took deep breaths and focused my gaze.

The intense sunlight stung my eyes.

I was standing on the edge of a dry state road, holding a machete in my right hand, the blade wedged against a man's neck.

I had severed the man's throat, and his body slid down the blade like mud onto the scalding hot pavement.

Less than two meters away from him lay another man with a screwdriver stuck in his chest, who had stopped convulsing.

"Cole! Are you crazy?!"

A sharp voice came from behind me, carrying the kind of reproach I had heard countless times before.

I turned my head.

Elena stood by the door of the SUV, wearing a light-colored quick-drying shirt, staring in horror at the two corpses on the ground.

“They just asked us for a couple of sips of water! Why did you kill them? That's a human life, Cole, how could you be so cruel?”

She walked over quickly, not even glancing at the wound on the back of my hand, but staring at the corpse on the ground.

My mind cleared instantly.

I shook the blood off my machete and quickly scanned my surroundings.

The SUV's trunk was open, containing some food, a half-full bucket of clean water, and antibiotics.

This is the only route we can take to reach the military's No. 3 outpost.

I raised my left hand and glanced at the watch on my wrist.

The electronic screen displayed: September 14th, 2:20 PM. Temperature: 138 degrees Fahrenheit.

This is exactly three days before the verification gate at Outpost No. 3 officially opened!

Since the unprecedented heatwave two years ago destroyed the global power grid, runaway nuclear power plants and deadly heat waves have turned the earth's surface into a wasteland full of mutated pathogens , and anything left on the ground would only be swallowed up by high temperatures and dust storms.

The military is organizing a massive evacuation codenamed "Ark".

We must reach the gate within two weeks and present the two "pass chips" we've traded our life savings for as tickets. The military will scan the chips for identity verification. Only those who pass the verification will be eligible to board the military's heavy armored transport convoy and head north to evacuate this dead wasteland and enter the permanent underground safe zone deep in the Rocky Mountains.

I closed my eyes tightly, clenched my back teeth, and even tasted a hint of blood in my mouth.

I came back to life.

I've gone back to a little over a month ago when that woman drained me of all my value.

Vance was still alive then, and I had not yet been falsely accused of murder.

“Cole! I’m talking to you!” Elena, seeing that I didn’t respond, walked up to me with displeasure and pointed to the bloodstains on the ground. “Don’t you realize how aggressive you are right now? The situation is already bad enough. If we shared even a little bit of resources, this conflict could have been completely avoided!”

I looked at her.

The two men waving in the middle of the road weren't asking for water at all. They were hiding sharpened steel bars in their hands and their eyes were fixed on the supplies in the truck. If Elena hadn't insisted on getting out to help and even grabbed the steering wheel, I wouldn't have stopped at all.

I ignored Elena and found the first-aid kit to disinfect my wound.

“They have steel spikes and their target is the supplies behind them. If I don’t kill them, they will kill us.”

“You’re making excuses! If they had spikes, why didn’t they just use them?” Elena raised her voice, as if she had caught a logical flaw. “As long as we show goodwill, communication can solve the problem. I was already going to get them water, and you’re the one who escalated the conflict! Cole, your way of thinking is dangerous; you’re treating everyone you meet as an enemy.”

I checked the car, and it was no longer drivable.

I poured the remaining half bucket of water into a two-liter canteen and hung it on my belt buckle.

Next, I unpacked the medicine and individual rations and stuffed them all into my bag.

"What are you doing?" Elena frowned deeply.

“The oil pan of the off-road vehicle was punctured by a protruding rock during the attack, and the engine oil is almost gone. If we continue driving, the engine will be completely destroyed and burn.” I fastened the buckle on my backpack. “It’s still forty miles to the outpost. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”

Upon hearing the word "hiking," Elena's face paled.

"Are you kidding me? In this temperature? We'll die of heatstroke! There's still water in the vehicle, isn't there? We can wait for other survivor convoys to pass by, and then trade our supplies for a ride!"

She had no idea what was going on. This was a dog-eat-dog world where fair trade didn't exist. The only consequence of hitchhiking with supplies was having them stolen and dying on the highway.

"You can stay here and wait." I didn't look at her again and walked towards the northern outpost.

"Cole!" Elena shouted angrily from behind.

In the past, no matter what disputes arose, I would always compromise and would never leave her alone.

I didn't stop, I just continued to move forward at a steady pace.

She will definitely catch up.

Strip away that veneer of hypocrisy, and she's nothing more than a parasite accustomed to sucking blood.

Of course I could just get rid of her here, but letting her die like this would be too easy for her.