Chapter 2: Night of the Living Dead (1)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

The deathly gray sky loomed oppressive and gloomy, the streets already submerged in blood-colored liquid. Judging by the exposed cars, the bloody water was at least one meter deep. Not far away, a building billowed thick smoke – likely the source of the earlier explosion.

Yet none of this was the most terrifying part. What truly frightened An Sheng were the human figures floating in the blood-like currents – to be precise, they were corpses! What was happening? A flood? But why was the water blood-red? Corpses drifting in crimson floods created unimaginable visual and psychological impact. The scene before him formed four words in An Sheng’s mind: The End of the World!

The commotion in the hallway snapped An Sheng out of his horrified thoughts. Outside echoed curses, weeping, and cries for help – in one word: chaos!

The earlier explosion had awakened the sleeping residents of the tube-style apartment building. Soon, the terrifying scene left many at a loss, followed by pandemonium.

Some discovered their husbands had turned into corpses. Others, whose beds were near windows, got cut by explosion-shattered glass. The second floor residents faced the worst chaos – being mostly shop owners from the first floor, they found their merchandise flooded and were desperately trying to salvage their goods when horror struck immediately.

A man who jumped into the bloody water suddenly felt weak and collapsed. When his family tried to rescue him, they suffered the same fate upon entering the water.

Soon, people realized the blood-colored water was dangerous. When someone dragged the victims out, they discovered in horror that these people had become cold corpses! Within mere minutes, over thirty second-floor residents died from contacting the bloody water. Combined with those exposed to last night’s rain, over a hundred living souls in this single building had become corpses.

These ordinary residents had never witnessed such scenes, throwing the entire tube-style apartment into disarray. Many more barricaded their doors, using every means to isolate themselves from the outside world, especially the deadly blood-colored rain.

Witnessing everything from the hallway, An Sheng felt equally terrified and helpless. Yet he also felt grateful – though exposed to last night’s blood rain, he had survived. He clearly remembered nearly dying, experiencing the same symptoms of fever and weakness.

An Sheng speculated that minimal rain exposure and immediate showering might have saved him. But now wasn’t the time to marvel at his survival – he urgently needed to repair his explosion-shattered window, as the lethal blood rain continued falling relentlessly.

First, An Sheng sealed the broken window with his rain poncho and waterproof cloth. Still uneasy, he dismantled wooden coffee and dining tables, nailing them to the window frame. After thorough inspection, he concluded the repairs were quite secure.An Sheng slumped onto the sofa like a deflated balloon. He needed to think now. After waking up, he had experienced too many terrifying events, his mind had been in a state of high tension, and he hadn’t yet calmed down to think carefully.

He pinched his thigh hard, wishing he could jolt himself awake and end this horrifying nightmare. Unfortunately, the piercing pain mercilessly reminded him that this wasn’t a dream but reality.

Though deeply frustrated, An Sheng had to force himself to calm down because fear and helplessness wouldn’t keep him alive. He began to assess his current situation.

Previously, he had watched many post-apocalyptic films and read novels on the subject. Setting aside their bizarre plots, they contained plenty of survival knowledge. How to stay alive was the fundamental question he needed to consider now.

Food and water!

For food, his household reserves were substantial. Just the day before yesterday, he had bought fifty catties of rice and a fifty-catty bag of flour, plus the remaining fresh and dried vegetables at home. Under normal circumstances, this could last two months; with rationing and frugality, it might even stretch to half a year.

Next was water. He couldn’t say whether the tap water was contaminated, nor did he dare to test it. After all, the Blood Rain had caused flooding, and no one could guarantee the water treatment plant wasn’t polluted.

However, his home already had a water tank for bathing, which was full. Additionally, since this old Tube-Style Apartment Building frequently experienced water outages, he always kept two large buckets filled as backup. There were also two barrels of purified water he had purchased. For now, drinking water wasn’t a problem.

Looking at his supplies, An Sheng felt slightly more at ease. His idea was simple: hide at home and wait to see how things developed, ideally holding out until national rescue arrived.

In his view, such a major event couldn’t be ignored by the government. Rescue teams were probably already on their way, just not moving very fast yet.

Outside, the commotion continued. Most residents of the Tube-Style Apartment Building were still struggling with fear. It was only human to be unable to face such a sudden disaster immediately. Still, some mentally resilient individuals had stepped up in time to maintain order temporarily.

Several older middle-aged men and a few veterans spontaneously formed a temporary rescue team. They organized everyone to begin self-rescue efforts. The deceased residents had all been heavily exposed to the Blood Rain.

Of course, some people with less exposure, while not in immediate life-threatening condition, had developed symptoms like high fever and weakness.

The temporary rescue team split into two groups: one gathered the corpses and placed them in second-floor corridors and some vacant rooms; the other went door-to-door tallying those with fever symptoms, isolating and caring for the sick together.

This was a necessary measure, as it was unclear whether the strange Virus was contagious. Better safe than sorry.

Most of the dead were second-floor residents, who were shop owners from the first-floor businesses. Many had rushed into the bloody water to salvage their goods, with entire families tragically wiped out.An Sheng did not go out to help. He was afraid, afraid that he might accidentally come into contact with that deadly Blood Rain again. This time, he might not have the same luck as last night.

The flood had caused widespread power outages, and the internet had collapsed along with it. For some reason, mobile signals were also gone. Modern people relied too heavily on electricity and the internet. Without these, they instantly became deaf and blind, completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

An Sheng’s heart had been hanging in the air, partly for this reason. How extensive was the Blood Rain? Was it only in their area, or was it nationwide, or even worldwide? He knew nothing about this information. If it was only in their area, that would be one thing. But if it was nationwide or even worldwide, then it could only be described as the end of the world!

An Sheng remained holed up in his small room like this. The entire day passed in a haze of fear, helplessness, and confusion.

It wasn’t until dusk approached that he finally felt the hunger gnawing at his stomach. He hadn’t eaten all day. Just as he thought about getting up to find something to eat, he struggled for a long time but couldn’t manage to stand. After curling up all day, his legs had gone numb and temporarily lost their ability to move.

An Sheng first used his hands to massage his calves, then pressed hard on his thighs to stimulate blood circulation. It took a long time before he finally managed to stand up with difficulty. He simply ate two steamed buns with pickles and drank a glass of plain water. Only then did he feel his body returning to its usual state of health.

“I wonder what’s happening outside?”

An Sheng muttered to himself, unconsciously walking to the door. He really wanted to go out and see, but he felt uncertain and afraid of the dangers outside. However, human curiosity often triumphs over the instinct to avoid danger. After much hesitation, An Sheng gently opened his security door.

In the hallway, a few neighbors were scattered about, likely taking advantage of the emergency lights due to the power outage.

Under the dim glow of the emergency lights, An Sheng secretly observed these neighbors. Everyone’s expression was heavy, many of them terrified by the sight of corpses strewn across the second-floor hallway. Just the day before, these had been living, breathing people, but now they lay there as lifeless bodies.

Thinking about it, if no rescue came, he too could end up as a corpse like those people. Anyone would likely wear the same expression—after all, they were all ordinary people who had never experienced such a catastrophe!