"Ah, shoot, it’s all over!" Tang Ye weakly opened the window of his rented room and, looking at the crowd in the street below as if it were a festive holiday, let out a cry of despair. The creatures below were not human; they were monsters that ate people!
The disaster had erupted three days ago. On the first day, Tang Ye had only half a bowl of instant noodles, and now he hadn’t eaten for two days. He was so hungry that he didn’t even want to move. He had wanted to see if the zombies below had dispersed a little, so he could go down and grab some food, but the street below was still exactly the same as it had been two days ago!
Desperation appeared in Tang Ye’s eyes. The last of the bottled water in the room had been finished yesterday. Since then, he had been surviving on tap water. However, this morning when he went to fill up at the tap, he discovered the water coming out was brown. He didn’t dare drink such colored water, afraid it would turn him into one of those monsters below—it would be such an injustice!
He propped himself up with the last of his strength and walked into the bathroom. When he turned on the shower head, he saw that the water coming out was also a reddish-brown. He was utterly hopeless! He lay down quietly on the floor, the monstrous howls from upstairs ringing in his ears. Did he need to risk going down and get some food to sustain his life? But he was scared! Any ordinary person facing death would shrink back, let alone possibly turning into a zombie seen only in movies.
Tang Ye lay there quietly. He could feel his body gradually warming up, getting warmer and warmer, hotter and hotter, until it was scalding.
"Ugh—so uncomfortable, so uncomfortable, a fever! I don’t want a fever, it’ll be the death of me!" He moaned softly until it turned into a roar. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, only that he felt extremely uncomfortable, so much so that his entire body began to twist.
He wanted to sleep. It had been a long time since any food entered his stomach, and he felt the corrosive pain of stomach acid gnawing at his stomach walls spreading through his entire body! He felt his consciousness gradually fading away, sinking into darkness.
"Is this what dying feels like?" he murmured with difficulty. "Well, maybe it’s for the best. I’ve got nothing to hold on to anyway. Better to just die."
Tang Ye was an orphan. As a child, he was found at the door of the orphanage by the director. Despite being perfectly healthy, he could never understand why his parents had abandoned him. He went through life alone, with very few friends. In his twenties, he had never even held a girl’s hand, except for a sister whom he had been working to put through school, though he rarely contacted her.
He was too uncomfortable, so he simply closed his heavy eyelids. The zombies’ howls outside got louder and louder, incessant in his ears, occasionally accompanied by the screams of survivors...
He didn’t know how much time had passed... Tang Ye reopened his eyes. His blurred vision slowly became clear. He felt relieved that he must be okay and was somewhat glad. He quickly crawled out of bed, feeling a little unsteady and his head a bit heavy. The hunger in his stomach had disappeared, and his ears had become especially sensitive, making every howl outside sound so close.
Tang Ye walked to the window and saw that the world outside was still the same, swarming with a horde of zombies! He raised his hand to turn on the tap, and found his arm was very heavy and lacked strength, but his wrist and fingers felt as if they had an inexhaustible force. It was a strange feeling, but he didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a temporary symptom after the fever had just subsided, which would pass in a bit.
After turning on the tap, the water that flowed out was still brownish-red. Tang Ye pursed his lips, feeling strangely indifferent, because he wasn’t hungry or thirsty anymore, and the zombies’ howling outside didn’t seem terrifying any longer. In fact, he even felt like going out for a walk and finding some food.
He gathered some cardboard and, imitating a funny skit from the movie Train to Busan where the hefty uncle wraps himself up tightly with books, he stepped out the door. The corridor was silent, with bloodstains all over the floor—a sign of a terrible bloodbath having taken place. This grim and terrifying scene made Tang Ye a bit scared, fearful that a zombie might suddenly pop out at any corner to startle him.
He mustered up the courage to go down the stairs but didn’t notice how horrifyingly abnormal his appearance was in the mirror by the staircase. Tang Ye’s floor was a dead floor, and after descending, he arrived at the third floor. He planned to go right to the bottom floor. There were too many zombies below, so he wanted to check if there was anything to eat in the other residents’ homes.
Tang Ye had just reached the third floor when he turned a corner and saw a staggering zombie with flesh flipped outwards on its face walking towards him. Startled, Tang Ye hurriedly ran up to the fourth floor and, after arriving, noticed that the zombie hadn’t chased after him. He found this strange; in the past few days, every zombie he’d encountered had chased after a living person like a rabid dog, but this one hadn’t.
Descending the stairs again, Tang Ye saw the zombie facing him. His heart tightened, and he moved to run, but in the next second, he noticed that the zombie didn’t pursue him, instead it walked back and vanished into the corridor. Puzzled, Tang Ye went directly down to the third floor in search of the zombie.
He called out to the zombie’s retreating figure.
"What’s going on? Huh? Why am I doing this?" Tang Ye’s voice came out hoarse, just like a zombie’s. His mind became chaotic; he thought he was hallucinating. He opened his mouth again to properly greet the zombie.
"Heh-ho~" It was the same sound. Tang Ye began to panic. He tried to produce coherent speech, but his throat felt as if something was stuck in it; all that emerged was a hissing growl.
Meanwhile, the zombie wandered aimlessly, occasionally emitting a hissing sound similar to Tang Ye’s. Realizing something, Tang Ye hastily ran back up to the fourth floor and stood in front of the mirror by the stairwell.
He was shocked by his own reflection. His skin had turned a grayish-white color; some flesh had peeled away, revealing the crimson tissue beneath. His eyes had become white, devoid of pupils, emotionlessly staring at his reflection in the mirror.
"Howl~" He let out a hollow howl. He had no idea how he had become a zombie; he was sure he hadn’t been bitten or scratched by one. And yet, here he was, transformed.
Three days earlier, the global sky had turned blood red and black rain began to fall. Those drenched by the rain transformed into zombies. That day, Tang Ye was eating instant noodles and scrolling through funny skits, feeling lucky that he hadn’t gone outside and been caught in the black rain.
Becoming a zombie felt odd, with a heavy head and light feet, and his teeth felt as if they had been coated with 502 Glue, it was very uncomfortable. Tang Ye supported his body downstairs, only to see that same zombie appear before him again, igniting an inexplicable rage within him.
"Damn zombies!" Tang Ye charged at it, lifting his heavy arm and delivering a punch to the zombie.
The zombie crashed to the ground, but Tang Ye still felt unsatisfied. He raised his hand and violently tore off a piece of the dangling flesh from the zombie’s face, splashing down sickly yellow blood in disgust.
PS: This story, a product of boredom, was written by an avid reader with nine years of reading experience. Please note that the content is purely fictional nonsense concocted by the author and should not be taken seriously by readers.
Reader Group 1: 757319841 (This group may be full, and the author can’t afford a premium membership upgrade)/Funny.