Chapter 3: Night of the Living Dead (2)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

In the second-floor corridor, Old Zhang stared at the corpses littering the floor with mixed emotions. As a retired veteran and former firefighter, he had witnessed his share of scenes, yet even the most tragic accident sites he’d experienced couldn’t compare to the shock of what lay before him now.

The oppressive atmosphere created by over a hundred corpses was beyond description. However, he knew this was nothing compared to the streets outside, where bodies lay scattered like fallen leaves! The Blood Rain had stopped at noon, and the floodwaters were gradually receding, leaving behind streets filled with corpses. Even as a former soldier, the sight of those disorderly bodies through his window had left him with profound psychological trauma.

Nevertheless, being a professionally trained retired soldier, he remained proactive in finding ways to help others. He was currently disinfecting the perimeter of the corpse storage area using a spray bottle filled with a mixture of Disinfectant and alcohol – after all, many people were still alive in the building.

“Old Zhang, let me take over. Go rest and get something to eat.” Old Liu came down from the third floor and took the spray bottle from Old Zhang’s hands.

Old Zhang looked at his companion with heartache, wanting to say something but finding no words. Old Liu was his comrade-in-arms, having served together since their conscription days, and they had been childhood friends. Their relationship had always been excellent, with Old Liu and his wife running a small supermarket here. Just today, however, his wife had been poisoned by the bloody water while trying to salvage goods from the flood.

Her body now lay among the row of corpses before them. Old Liu’s resilience was remarkable – the pain of losing his wife hadn’t broken him, and he had actively joined the temporary rescue team, doing his utmost to help others. This was perhaps the noble character of a seasoned veteran.

“A Hong… is that you?”

Just as Old Zhang turned to go upstairs for food, he suddenly heard Old Liu tremblingly call his beloved’s name. Puzzled, he turned back to see Old Liu’s wife slowly sitting up from the floor.

“A Hong!”

Old Liu choked out his beloved’s name and rushed to her side in an instant, helping his struggling wife to her feet.

“A Hong, are you okay? Do you feel unwell anywhere? Let me…”

Old Liu’s words cut off midway as he froze in place, watching A Hong sink her teeth into his arm. With tremendous biting force, she tore a large chunk of flesh from his arm right through his clothing.

Old Liu stared blankly at the scene, momentarily unable to believe what was happening. But the intense pain shooting from his arm confirmed this was all too real!

Old Liu’s wife chewed the flesh in her mouth like a wild animal, her clouded eyes filled with satisfaction, occasionally emitting strange guttural sounds from her throat. Within moments, she swallowed the flesh along with shreds of fabric. Slowly rising to her feet, she let out a beast-like roar toward the ceiling – a roar that seemed like a summons from Hell itself. As A Hong roared, the corpses in the corridor began to twist and rise!

“Old Liu, run!” Only then did Old Zhang realize what was happening – the corpses were reviving, and they were cannibals!Old Zhang’s warning was feeble. Old Liu, being closest to the reanimated corpses, had no time to react before his lover once again pinned him to the ground, this time sinking her teeth into his neck.

In the blink of an eye, Old Liu’s blood gushed out like water from a broken pipe—a clearly fatal wound. Though utterly horrified by the scene before him, Old Zhang’s veteran instincts kicked in. Before the resurrected corpses could surround him, he swiftly turned and dashed toward the third-floor staircase.

The roars of the Living Corpses were heard by many residents. Several on the second floor opened their doors to investigate, only to witness the corpses feeding on human flesh. The closest was a woman in her fifties who, upon seeing Old Liu’s neck being torn open by his own wife, lost control of her bladder and bowels in terror. This was followed by a blood-curdling scream: “Ghosts!”

This shriek echoed through every household in the Tube-Style Apartment Building, prompting people to open their doors and investigate. The building’s corridors were semi-open, allowing partial views of other floors’ walkways. An Sheng, standing in the corridor, heard the woman’s scream and leaned over the railing to look down. He saw a crowd gathered around the area where the bodies had been placed earlier, though he couldn’t discern what they were doing.

Holy shit! Zombies!

An Sheng saw everything clearly: a group of people—no, more accurately, a group of individuals declared dead that morning, a cluster of corpses! And these corpses were now devouring human flesh raw!

“What the hell is this? Resident Evil? Dawn of the Living Dead? Has the damn apocalypse really arrived?” Such thoughts flashed through An Sheng’s mind instantly. But the next moment, he spun around and sprinted back into his home, slamming and deadbolting the security door. Still uneasy, he barricaded the entrance with his sofa and refrigerator before finally feeling somewhat secure.

The older woman desperately wished she could rush home and lock her door, but her legs had turned to jelly, leaving her collapsed like a heap of mud in her doorway. Her son emerged from the bedroom and, seeing his mother slumped on the floor, hurried to help her up. But in the next instant, several blood-soaked figures pounced on his mother and began tearing into her flesh. In her final moments, the old woman turned her desperate gaze toward her charging son and managed to rasp two words:

“Run! Now!”

Those were the only words she could utter before her throat was severed by a gaping, blood-drenched maw. The sight drove her son into a frenzy. Snatching up a stool, he smashed it against his mother’s killers, only to quickly realize these Monsters felt no pain and remained unfazed by his attacks.

Blinded by grief, the young man lost all reason. Cursing madly, he stormed into the kitchen and emerged brandishing a kitchen knife. He swung the blade wildly at the Monsters invading his home, but they seemed indestructible—no amount of hacking inflicted substantial damage. They continued advancing, encircling him step by step until his strength began to fail.At that moment, one of the monsters he had kicked to the ground bit his calf. The sharp pain jolted him out of his frenzy. Having seen zombie-themed films and shows, the young man roughly guessed his time was limited. The hatred from losing his family and despair drove him mad once more. Ignoring the agonizing pain in his calf, he forcefully shook off the freak biting him, turned and ran into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him.

But the kitchen door was wooden, offering little resistance against the monsters. It shuddered violently under their impact, on the verge of splintering. The young man didn’t need much time, though. He ripped off the gas cylinder’s hose, turned the valve to maximum, and noxious liquefied gas instantly filled the cramped space. Trembling, he sat on the floor and slowly pulled a lighter from his pocket…

A massive explosion drew more zombies toward the Tube-Style Apartment Building. The streets, once littered with corpses, now teemed with ghostly figures. The dead seemed collectively summoned, one after another reanimating into the living dead—or rather, zombies.