Maybe it was because he had reunited with Henry and gotten too happy, but the next day Joshua ca down with a fever.
The sickness struck without warning, and his temperature shot up far too quickly. By the ti Henry sensed sothing was wrong and went in to check, Joshua’s fever had already climbed past forty degrees.
Luckily the base still had so fever dication. Joshua was given an injection, and his condition stabilized quite a bit. But by evening his temperature rose again just like before. Joshua remained unconscious, refusing to wake up, and his breathing grew weaker and weaker.
Henry was on the verge of losing his mind, yet in this era there were no hospitals, no doctors. The fact that they even had dicine was already a luxury. All they knew was that Joshua was burning up with fever.
Ian could not even find a word of comfort to offer Henry.
Under the moonlight flooding into the room, Henry quietly wiped Joshua’s face. The silence felt so deep, as if it were the calm before a massive storm.
Joshua lay on the bed, his face pale as paper. His temperature was abnormally high. He looked as though he were in pain, his brows tightly knit. His body shifted slightly as if trying to curl up, but he truly had no strength left. The only thing he could do was faintly twitch the tips of his fingers.
Henry watched everything.
He held Joshua’s hand. The heat radiating from it was alarming, the kind of feverish heat that could fry a person’s mind when they finally recovered.
"Joshua, wake up..."
Henry spoke softly. But Joshua stayed still, not reacting in the slightest.
Why? All he wanted was for Joshua to live peacefully and stay healthy.
He had done everything for that. Even Eden was for Joshua. He had tried so hard, yet why did his Joshua still have to suffer through things like this for no reason at all?
Henry silently begged for every misfortune in the world to fall on him instead, as long as Joshua could be happy.
He had no idea how long he stared at Joshua.
Eventually the door to the room was knocked on. Ian stepped inside and said it was ti for the eting.
Henry had no choice but to step out for now, reminding Ian to keep an eye on Joshua’s condition.
Ian nodded.
Ian was Henry’s comrade in the military unit. He knew Henry had a younger boy living next door, that the two had practically grown up together, and he knew just how much Henry cherished this "younger brother."
Before the apocalypse, he had seen Joshua a few tis. The boy was always smiling brightly, sotis grinning until his eyes curved just because of a few words or expressions from Henry.
But ever since waking up after the apocalypse, Joshua practically clung to Henry nonstop, unwilling to leave him even for a mont, and Henry spoiled him endlessly...
Ian lifted Joshua’s hand and gently tucked it back under the blanket. It was only right. Soone like him deserved to be protected with everything they had.
Joshua felt as though he had slept for a very long ti. When he finally opened his eyes again, it felt like entire lifetis had passed. His mind was hazy and muddled, like everything inside had lted together into a sticky ss.
The heat rising from within his body was impossible to ignore. It was unbearable. He needed sothing, although even Joshua himself didn’t know what that sothing was. He only searched for it on instinct.
Henry hurried back to the room as soon as the eting ended. Ian had said Joshua’s temperature had stabilized again, but Henry would never truly feel at ease unless he confird it with his own eyes.
Yet the mont he opened the door, Henry froze. The bed was empty.
His brows drew together, his expression turning frighteningly cold. His first thought was—who dared take Joshua away?!
But he quickly cald himself.
Joshua wouldn’t go anywhere. He might have woken up and gone to wash his face.
Henry steadied his thoughts and stepped into the room. But just then, a faint sound ca from the wardrobe, stopping him in his tracks.
Impossible...
Henry thought to himself, yet he still walked toward the wardrobe to check.
He pulled the doors open. A sliver of light spilled inside. From Henry’s angle he could see his own clothes dragged into a pile, and Joshua curled up within them. Joshua’s face was buried in Henry’s shirt, his breathing rough and unsteady, soft sweet whimpers slipping past his lips from ti to ti.
The rustle of fabric brushed against Henry’s ears, and he nearly went still at the sight before him.
He parted his lips and called softly, "Joshua..."
Only then did Joshua seem to react. He lifted his gaze in a daze, and the mont he saw Henry, his eyes imdiately brimd with tears. He pushed himself upright, crying, his soft, trembling arms reaching out toward Henry as if he didn’t have a shred of strength left.
"Henry..."
Henry heard Joshua call him, the sound as soft as a mosquito’s hum.
He froze, then almost imdiately bent down to scoop Joshua into his arms, no matter how chaotic his own heart felt.
Joshua’s legs wrapped tightly around his waist at once. His arms looped around Henry’s neck, and his face kept rubbing into the crook of Henry’s shoulder.
Henry could feel Joshua inhaling him over and over, like there was so scent on Henry that Joshua was almost addicted to.
Henry went stiff. He knew sothing was definitely wrong with Joshua’s condition, but he also had no idea what this situation ant.
He held Joshua tightly and eventually decided he needed to call a doctor.
A real doctor.
By this ti, Eden had started completing more and more facilities—of course a laboratory and dical center were included.
The doctor was a woman in her thirties, her face showing so exhaustion. When she saw Henry, she greeted him.
Henry didn’t waste ti and quickly explained Joshua’s situation.
The doctor paused for a mont. She looked at Joshua clinging so tightly to Henry and couldn’t help asking, "These symptoms only started recently? They’ve never happened before, correct?"
Henry nodded firmly.
By then, the doctor had already finished putting on her gloves.
She walked up to Joshua, gave Henry a brief look, and said, "My next actions are only to verify my suspicion."
Henry nodded. He wasn’t an idiot—as long as nothing hard Joshua, there was no problem.
The female doctor lifted her hand and gently touched the back of Joshua’s neck. His nape was slightly flushed, and she could feel a small, raised area there—more prominent than on an ordinary person.
She pressed down lightly.
Joshua’s eyes flew open instantly. His whole body jolted, and he let out a cry.
Both the doctor and Henry froze. Henry imdiately pulled Joshua tightly against him, noticing that Joshua’s face was covered in tears, his legs rubbing together nonstop as he cried and begged Henry to help him.
Henry’s gaze turned heavy as he looked toward the doctor.
Instinctively, the doctor raised her hands slightly and said softly, "It sounds absurd, I know. But ever since the apocalypse began, I feel like any ’absurd’ theory might actually be true."
"This world might just be going through a selection process, and a ’new humanity’ will erge after the catastrophe passes. And Joshua... he may simply be an early evolution of that new humanity."
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