Chapter 2 - Night of Calamity

in a thin veil, stirring one’s imagination on such a night. At this hour, I would ordinarily have finished dinner and be in my cozy little “nest” working on assignments. However, everything has inexplicably changed now.

The once bustling, never-sleeping city had turned into a silent, pitch-black dead town, with only those demons banished to earth by Satan-zombies-roaming around, searching for humans to devour.

“Growl…” My disobedient stomach began to rumble again. Thinking back on the events of the day: I had killed two people with my own hands! And yet, I didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt-nothing at all!

The moment I dwelled on this, the hunger pangs vanished, replaced by a slight feeling of nausea. I felt utterly disgusted with myself! Meanwhile, Ye Xiang, that so-called “inhuman,” remained oblivious to the bloodshed, only persistently complaining of hunger. Ling Qimeng, having just lost her brother earlier in the afternoon, had no appetite and kept her head buried deeply in her arms.

As I looked up at the hazy moonlight, I felt utterly lost about what tomorrow might bring. Although the rooftop door was barricaded with debris, granting us temporary peace, would there be any rescue? With no signal on the phone, it seemed the local cell towers had either been destroyed or deliberately jammed. I had little hope left-Tian Chao Country not dropping a nuclear bomb here felt like a blessing in itself.

But in this zombie-ridden city, could the three of us really survive on our own? Food and water were the most pressing needs, but would the zombies below allow us to get them?

Clearly not! Nevertheless, rather than sitting here waiting for death, perhaps it’s worth taking a risk and charging out! Sleep now and leave everything in the hands of dreams.

Yet, could this night really be so peaceful?

With a sausage clamped in my mouth, I mumbled, “Hey, Ye Xiang, where did you get all this food?”

Ye Xiang took a gulp of bottled water and said, “Have you forgotten? There’s a convenience store at school! Not only are there supplies on the shelves, but there’s also a small room behind it stocked with additional goods.”

“But weren’t there a lot of zombies along the way?” Ling Qimeng jumped in, saying, “Yes, there were quite a few, but we ran into other survivors on our way there.”

“What? There are other survivors?”

“That’s right, there are four of them, all hiding in the infirmary near the convenience store. There’s Xueqi and Shen Wei from Class G, Wang Yi and Liu Yonglin from Class T, and a school doctor named Ye Ling. We’ve decided to look for the school bus keys this afternoon because we’re planning to leave this place.”

“Do we have a destination?”

“There’s a temporary base set up by the government at the Municipal Armed Forces Department. We received their broadcast on our phones. The entire FZ-HOPE City has fallen, and nearly all of the city’s survivors, about eight to nine thousand people, have gathered there. They’re evacuating people in batches with helicopters. However, due to the sheer number of evacuees and the limited capacity of the helicopters, they can’t spare any manpower for search and rescue in the city. So we have to figure out our own way!”

The entire FZ-HOPE City has fallen. Even though I was mentally prepared, hearing it out loud was quite a blow. It seems this journey for survival holds little promise of making it out alive.

The journey from TP High School to the Armed Forces Department is at least thirty kilometers. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but now, considering that FZ-HOPE City is a large metropolis second only to the capital City J of Country Z, with a population exceeding ten million, a large population also means a lot of zombies! From what we currently know, we have to face at least millions of zombies on this trip! If we’re slightly unlucky, like if the bus breaks down halfway, it could truly be a dead end for us.

I certainly don’t want to end up as zombie excrement, even if I don’t know whether zombies can digest us. Staying here guarantees a certain death. Once the Armed Forces Department evacuates everyone, Tian Chao dropping a nuclear bomb here won’t be far off. So, by breaking out, we might still have a fighting chance. Hopefully, the school bus isn’t in such bad shape.

While I was lost in thought, Ye Xiang pulled me aside, away from Ling Qimeng, and whispered, “Hey, you’re in luck.”

“What do you mean?”

“Playing dumb?” Ye Xiang smirked, nodding toward Ling Qimeng. “You’re one lucky guy. I honestly thought there was no hope for you, but she insisted that you wouldn’t be harmed and refused to leave you behind. When we met the group at the infirmary today, I didn’t want to come back. It’s rare to see other people around. But Ling Qimeng said you were unconscious and couldn’t be left alone, so she dragged me back with her. Don’t miss this golden opportunity, buddy.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. You should focus on what we need to do this afternoon!”

I looked up at the somber sky. It won’t rain this afternoon, will it?

“Bang-! Bang-!”

The sound of two heavy blows jolted our already fragile nerves! Although I had just overcome my hunger and fallen asleep, I wasn’t deeply asleep, so I woke up immediately at the noise. This is bad! Zombies are starting to bash against the door!

“Roar- Roar-!”

The zombies on the playground seemed to be agitated by these two noises as well, and some even started moving towards the teaching building!

Although I wasn’t certain how those zombies detected us, I knew that if we didn’t deal with the ones at the door immediately, the entire school of zombies would be drawn over. If we got surrounded by a large number of zombies, we’d be done for. But we didn’t know the number of zombies currently pounding on the door, and opening the door recklessly would spell death just the same.

“Tiankuang, what do we do now?” Ye Xiang asked, gripping the steel spike tightly.

I glanced at Ling Qimeng, who was still sitting motionless against the wall, sighed, and said, “You hold the door as best as you can while I figure out how many zombies are out there. If there aren’t too many, we’ll take them down!”

Ye Xiang nodded and immediately braced himself against the door. I grabbed the steel spike and smashed the decorative door handle lock apart, creating a small hole. Carefully peering through it, I saw that, even in the dim light, there were only three zombies!

Fortunately, the number was small. If we were careful, I was confident we could take them down! After all, their movements were incredibly sluggish.

“Ye Xiang, there are only three! Remove the debris blocking the door, let them in one by one, and we’ll take them out!” Given Ye Xiang’s top-ranking strength in shot put at school, holding back the force of two zombies should be manageable. As long as I stayed calm, their slow actions shouldn’t pose a problem for me to handle them one-on-one!

“Got it! Be careful yourself!” Ye Xiang replied and began to clear the debris. We both knew we had to deal with the three at the door before more zombies arrived, drawn by the noise.

“I’ll count to three, and then you open the door, Ye Xiang! Let one in and block the door immediately!”

“Understood!”

“One, two, three! Open!”

Imagination is always beautiful, but reality is cruel. Just as Ye Xiang opened the door slightly, the zombies surged in! I had underestimated their strength-they were far more powerful than I anticipated, crashing into Ye Xiang and causing him to stagger, and nearly making me lose my grip on the steel spike.

Everything happened so suddenly, completely beyond my expectations. However, panicking now would mean certain death. Damn it, today I’m going to take you down!

“Roar-Roar-!”

Unfortunately, just as I regained my composure, a zombie with half its intestines exposed lunged at me. The distance was too close; by the time I realized it, I was already knocked to the ground! In this position, I couldn’t effectively use the steel spike, so I horizontally jammed it into its putrid mouth, which was trying to bite down on me!

The zombie’s face was just inches away. I could smell the intense stench from its mouth-this was a mouth that had tasted human flesh! Its saliva dripped onto my clothes, and the stench almost made me vomit bile!

Even worse, its body pinned me down, making it impossible to move. Despite the layers of clothing, I could vividly feel its exposed intestines scraping against me. The soft, slimy sensation was-disgusting! Although I wasn’t weaker in terms of strength, I lacked the endurance it possessed!

I turned my head to look for help and saw that Ye Xiang wasn’t faring much better. The steel spike lay dropped beside him while he grappled with a zombie missing its right hand and with a deformed left hand. Ye Xiang was clamping its neck to prevent its rancid mouth from getting close!

Meanwhile, another zombie staggered towards Ling Qimeng, who was still sitting silently against the wall.

No, if this keeps up, we’re all going to die!

I tried to bend my right leg, attempting to kick the zombie off of me. “Damn it! Get off me!” I shouted as I pushed with all my might. The zombie fell to the ground, but not as dramatically as I had hoped-it didn’t go flying.

It wasn’t that I overestimated my strength-it was because my foot got stuck in its chest cavity! But I couldn’t worry about that then. I got up with all my strength, dragging the zombie with me, grabbed the steel spike, and thrust it towards the zombie approaching Ling Qimeng.

With a “thwack,” the spike went through the back of the zombie’s neck and out through its nose, but unfortunately, it got more than just that zombie-it got my leg too! The zombie I was stepping on bit into my calf at the exact moment I struck with the spike!

I felt a chill colder than ice running down my spine, icy fear piercing my mind. Dear God, this is an over-the-top cruel joke! I’ve been bitten! I’m going to die! I’m going to turn into a zombie!

A dozen thoughts raced through my mind, even imagining a future as a zombie. Would I be eating human flesh, fighting other zombies, and wandering aimlessly around the city?

All of this turned into a roar: “No-! Go to hell!” I pulled the spike out of the zombie’s head and, like a madman, repeatedly stabbed the zombie that wouldn’t let go of my calf. I didn’t stop until its head was as mashed as meat puree. Then I dragged my injured leg over to where Ye Xiang was still struggling with his zombie. With one thrust of the spike, I helped finish it off. Afterward, Ye Xiang and I blocked the door again in silence, communicating through our actions without saying a word.

After we barricaded the door, I sat down heavily next to Ling Qimeng. I didn’t even bother dealing with the wound on my calf-not even to stop the bleeding-because it wouldn’t make a difference.

Those damn viruses were already raging through my bloodstream, and there were no medicines here that could help me. But even if there were, I doubt they could stop the zombification. I could turn into one of those monsters at any moment now.

I gazed blankly at the hazy moonlight overhead, my mind devoid of any thoughts. Maybe this is what they call fate.

“Tiankuang, your injury…” Ye Xiang finally couldn’t hold back. I waved my hand to signal him to stop talking. I nudged Ling Qimeng gently with my elbow and forced a bitter smile. “Hey, young miss, now you can laugh at me. I got bitten too.” Ling Qimeng visibly flinched, staying silent for a long while. Finally, she looked up with a hoarse voice, “So what if you got bitten?”

I placed the steel spike gently beside her and said, “Now I understand what Ling Feng meant. If I turn, please kill me, just like I did for Ling Feng. Sorry, Ye Xiang, bro, I’m going to take a little nap now.”

My eyelids grew heavier, and an irresistible drowsiness washed over me, even overpowering the excruciating pain from the wound.

Sleep, just sleep. This is all just a dream, and when I wake up, everything will be back to normal.

In my unconscious state, I had no way of knowing that my wound had already scabbed over, but the area around it was covered with tiny brownish-purple spots.

I seemed to have a high fever.

My whole body alternated between feeling hot, as if engulfed in flames, and cold, as if plunged into an icy abyss. My joints ached intensely, yet my body refused to move, as if it had been numbed with anesthesia. Even my fingertips were numb, and all my muscles were sore and starting to stiffen.

Even in my delirium, I could clearly sense that my once-rapid heartbeat was slowing, growing weaker, almost stopping. Soon, perhaps, I would transform into one of the living dead, condemned to endlessly slaughter, drink blood, and consume flesh. I never thought my life would end this way, but if I had to die, being taken down by a great beauty like Ling Qimeng seemed like a poetic ending.

But-I didn’t want to die! Not in such a senseless way. I wanted to know the real reason behind this virus outbreak and meet my parents, whom I had never seen. But I seemed to see myself devouring human flesh and drinking human blood with the zombiesI killed my own friends and those unseen parents, consuming their flesh and blood.

“No!” I shouted. Suddenly, I opened my eyes. I was still on the rooftop, but now it was morning. It appeared I hadn’t been unconscious for very long.

“A dream? Just a dream, how boring!” I cursed, slapping my muddled head to try to wake myself up.

What on earth was going on? Two drops of liquid slid down my cheeks-were these…my tears? Or…blood?

I watched as red liquid dripped from my eyes into my hand. Huh? This should be tears, but why were they red?

Then I realized: I was still conscious! I was still human! I hadn’t turned into a zombie! Could it be that I had antibodies?! Having such a one-in-a-billion chance happen to me…maybe my luck really wasn’t that bad. But what about those two drops of red tears? I pondered for a while but reached no conclusion and eventually gave up.

Come to think of it, thank goodness Ling Qimeng didn’t take the opportunity to kill me while I was unconscious. The thought gave me the chills. But where were Ling Qimeng and Ye Xiang? I didn’t see them! Surely they wouldn’t leave me and escape on their own, right?! I glanced around, realizing that even the steel spike I had was nowhere to be found!

“Grumble, grumble.”

I rubbed my stomach, feeling the fiery pangs of hunger. Just as I started worrying about how to find food and survive from now on, a chill swept over my back. Instinctively, I ducked and rolled out of the way.

I heard a “whoosh” as a steel spike sliced through the air where my head had been just a second before. Looking up, I almost burst into tears of relief. It was Ye Xiang and Ling Qimeng! And even more touching was the sight of them carrying a big bag of food!

But just as I was star-struck by the food, Ling Qimeng raised the steel spike and aimed it at my head again! What the heck?! She didn’t strike while I was unconscious, but she chooses now, when I’m perfectly fine, to attack-is she out of her mind? Could she think I’ve turned into a zombie?!

“Hey! I’m still alive! Stop it!” I hurriedly shouted. But Ling Qimeng remained expressionless, relentlessly jabbing the steel spike at me. I was so weakened by hunger that dodging was exhausting, so I probably looked like I was just rolling around on the ground.

“Hey! Come on, Ye Xiang! You’re just standing there laughing-come over here and help me! This girl’s gone crazy!” I called out to Ye Xiang, who was stifling his laughter behind her. But this heartless guy just laughed even harder.

“Hey!” I tried to protest further, but the cold steel spike was suddenly pressed against my throat. Damn it, I didn’t die from the virus, but now I’m about to die at the hands of this madwoman. What kind of world is this?! God, do you really enjoy playing jokes on me this much?!

Just as I closed my eyes and braced for the end, I felt a soft figure throw itself into my arms. Looking down at Ling Qimeng sobbing and sniffling in my embrace, I was left utterly stunned, my hands awkwardly unsure of where to go.

What is happening here? My mind was having difficulty processing this. Was I dreaming? Ye Xiang walked over with a mischievous grin and said, “I knew you were like a dung beetle, always managing to survive!”

“What? A dung beetle?”

I rolled my eyes and cast aside this guy who had just stood by and watched earlier, then gently reassured Ling Qimeng, who was still crying in my arms, “Hey, young miss, stop crying. If you keep it up, my clothes will be soaked. Are you trying to make me ‘wet’ for you?”

Ling Qimeng immediately blushed and jumped away, but not before giving my waist a painful pinch, making me wince. I moved my somewhat stiff limbs and thought, this doesn’t make sense. It’s only around nine in the morning, which means I was unconscious for a maximum of eight hours, like a regular night’s sleep. How could my limbs be this stiff?

I pulled out my phone, which was down to its last bar of battery, to check the time. It was 8:05 and the date was December 25th-no way! I had been out cold for three whole days!

While I was puzzling over this, Ye Xiang had already barricaded the rooftop door again and reached into the bag of food, pulling out a pack of crackers and a bottle of water to hand to me. That’s when I realized I hadn’t eaten in three days! I didn’t hesitate to grab them, rip open the packaging, and start devouring the contents ravenously.

Soon enough, we had devoured more than half of the food in the large bag between the three of us.