Chapter 6
A couple was walking down the street when, without warning, the man lunged at his girlfriend and tore into her neck.
Scarlet blood spurted from the gaping wound.
But the man didn't seem to notice—or care. He ignored her shrill screams, crouched over her, and began devouring her flesh like a starving beast.
Not far away, a young child mutated and turned on his own mother.
Though he looked no older than five, the strength in his jaws now rivaled that of a tiger or leopard.
His mother stared at her son as he staggered toward her, step by step. Her eyes welled up with tears—but she made no move to escape. She couldn't bring herself to hurt her child, even like this.
Meanwhile, the community I lived in remained eerily quiet.
Maybe it was the low occupancy rate, or maybe because most of the young adults were still working in the city during the day, but there were very few people around.
Only a handful of elderly residents—those who usually spent their days walking or dancing in the courtyard—had turned into zombies.
They now wandered aimlessly through the community like headless flies, slow and confused.
But I wasn't afraid. I had lived through the apocalypse once before. I was used to this.
After a quick scan of the area to confirm it was still relatively safe, I returned to my apartment.
The hot pot water was already boiling on the stove, sending up fragrant steam.
I tossed in the base seasoning, then began adding ingredients—veggies, sliced meat, and meatballs—one by one.
I even made my favorite sesame dipping sauce before finally sitting down in front of the screen to check the surveillance feed from my boyfriend's side.
On the screen, he came into view, panting heavily as he fled up the stairs like a terrified bird.
Bai Yueguang stood trembling beside him. One of her high heels was missing, and she had collapsed onto the ground, pale and panicked.
"Thank god we ran," Jake gasped, leaning against the wall, his legs trembling. "Otherwise we'd be zombie chow right now."
His expression quickly shifted from fear to anger.
"This is all that bitch's fault! If the car hadn't run out of gas, we'd have been home already. We wouldn't have had to run into those damn things!"
"Now's not the time to argue," Bai Yueguang snapped. "It's not safe here. What if the zombies follow us up? Let's just go in, kick her out, and leave her to fend for herself!"
Jake nodded and pushed himself off the wall, fishing out the keys from his pocket.
He shoved the key into the lock and twisted.
Nothing.
He tried again. Still nothing.
"What's wrong with this thing?"
He twisted the key several more times, but the door didn't budge.
Growing impatient, Bai Yueguang asked, "What's going on? Why won't it open?"
They were stuck in the corridor, exposed. While no zombies had shown up yet, it was only a matter of time.
"I spent over a hundred thousand yuan on this security door. It can't be broken!" Jake muttered, frowning.
He tried again and again.
But what he didn't know was—I had already changed the lock.
After several failed attempts, he finally sensed something was wrong.
He pulled out his phone and called me.
I answered.
Before I could say anything, his accusatory voice exploded through the speaker.
"What the hell is going on? Why can't the key open the door?"
Feigning confusion, I responded calmly.
"What do you mean it won't open? I used it just yesterday—it was fine. Are you sure you brought the right key?"
Jake faltered. "The wrong key?"
He looked at the key in his hand, comparing it to what he remembered. To be fair, the new key wasn't that different from the old one. For a moment, he genuinely wasn't sure.
The line went quiet for a while.
Then his uncertain voice came back on the phone.