Note: This is not an exact translation to make things flow better in English. Anyway, enjoy.
Once he was awake, Ye Feng had a bit of a headache and his throat was parched. He figured he must have fallen asleep for a long time, a reason for feeling so dehydrated.
Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Ye Feng wasn't sure how long he had slept for. He got up from the bed, poured himself a cup of water, and drank a mouthful to soothe his thirst. It was then that his stomach growled. Ye Feng laughed painfully; it seemed like it was time for instant noodles again…
After he finished whipping it up, Ye Feng held the cup of noodles and ate voraciously.
When he filled himself somewhat, he found it was already past 5 in the afternoon, and so, he switched on the TV. Ye Feng had a habit where every day, at this time, he would watch the news so that he could keep updated on what was going on in the world. Although the news were often not related to him on a personal note, it was always better to be more aware than anything else. As a proverb once said: we should care not just about ourselves, but also about our country and everything else….
Once he turned on the TV, Ye Feng skipped a few channels, only, “This… what the hell is happening? Why are all the channels broadcasting the same thing?”
All the channels showed something similar: a chaotic street like he had earlier, which had a lot of people running around in a craze. There were people covered in blood and chasing others, their faces severely disfigured and transfixed in a ferocious expression. It was… frightening.
Watching this, Ye Feng started to get suspicious. “Wait… isn't this the movie from this morning? It can't be that they haven't finished it yet?”
Staring the screen for a while, he realized that something was wrong. The broadcast was shaking and glitchy. If it was a movie, it wouldn’t be that real.
While he was analyzing his previous guess, a scream came from below. Ye Feng became alert.
“Can't be… this is real?” Yen Feng said, terrified.
It was then that the screen went black. Ye Feng frowned. He was a bit doubtful and rushed to the windowsill. When he opened the window, the thick, pungent smell of blood assailed his nose; and what laid before his eyes left him stupefied.
“Holy cow… is this? It was actually real?!”
Ye Feng was shocked. The sky was filled with grey clouds, and the streets were filled with fire and smoke. Cars were scattered; the roads were completely jammed, and bodies laid lying on the street. There were a few people, here and there, shuffling in a daze… it was like the end of the world.
Occasionally, the sounds of crying and shouting would come from down below, soon followed by a terrible roar, and those sounds would stop.
After he saw that, Yen Feng was left dazed. He thought back to all those zombie movies he loved to watch, only, this time, it was the real deal. Ye Feng swallowed his spittle, and let out a shivering sound, “World… the end of the world is really here!”
If he didn’t see all of this himself, he would never have believed that this was reality, else he would just chalk it as an illusion. Others who didn't know any better would think this a mere movie, but Yen Feng knew that no movie could be on such a scale. Apparently, this was in every city, every, country – a tragedy.
He had watched so many American zombie movies, but he did not expect that hypothetical moment would actually come. Ye Feng was flabbergasted, but he was not blind. It was right in front of him. It couldn't be any more real.
When he thought of all of this, Ye Feng quickly closed the window, shutting off the arid, vomit-inducing, air. Adding on the fact that he lived on the third floor, which was very close to the ground, if he was seen by those zombies on the street and attacked, then he will be in trouble.
Immediately after, Ye Feng returned to the sofa he had gotten from a second hand market. He no longer had the mood to finish his noodles. His mind was in complete disarray, and he couldn't help but think, “Now that the end of the world has come, how do I get out of here? How will I survive…?”
He shifted in his stance.
“Fine, I'll stake it! A good death is better than drifting around aimlessly. Even if it is the end of the world, so what?! Screw being scared. I am going to survive the apocalypse! My life will be fantastic!” Yen Feng shouted confidently.
When he came back to reality, Ye Feng quickly turned on his phone and connected the internet. Fortunately, the network was still working and it didn’t disappoint him. The internet didn't even lag, and after watching for news for a while, Ye Feng knew that regardless if it was a live broadcast, or Baidu's forums or WeiBo, they were all talking about the same thing: the incident that happened today.
Everywhere on the internet, there was a post about the end of the world: the apocalypse is here, the human race is infected. Everyone has become zombiefied! And similar news headlines alike.
Is the human race done for?
Is the Earth finished?
Where did the virus come from?
Can humans overcome this crisis?
What should humanity do to survive this…
Even now, there were people sending SOS messages on Baidu.
Ye Feng understood that most people were in a situation impossible to survive in. Who could possibly take the time to go save someone else? Unless their brain had been kicked by a donkey, of course.
Seeing this, Yen Feng lit a cigarette and took a deep breathe. Now, he felt a bit lost. Knowing that the world was in chaos, he didn't know why but in his heart, he suddenly wanted to save mankind. But after thinking about it, he was just a common citizen, not some hero. He didn’t even know whether he, himself, could survive or not. How could he save mankind? Even thinking about it was laughable.
In the end, he still believed that with the combined strength of the Hua Xia government, and the governments across the world, they would be able to solve this crisis.
The fact remained, the apocalypse was here. He had to face it, and the first key to all this was to stay alive..
Now, the most important thing was to make preparations; that was more practical.
At the moment, staying at home was safer than going outside, but this was not a long-term plan; there wasn't enough food to live off of at home.
As he was surfing the internet, a news broadcast from a government press came up in his search. He watched and couldn't help but laugh. It had informed everyone to stay at home and await military rescue….
Anyone with a brain could see what was going on. The whole world was a mess. It was easy to reckon that governmental armed forces probably had a lot on their plate already, so to speak. How was he supposed to expect a military rescue anytime soon. He'd probably be waiting forever. If a person wanted to survive in this world, they could only rely on themselves; relying on someone else was impossible.
Keys to surviving were being strong enough and have food and clean water, all of this was a must.
Ye Feng knew that the outside world was filled with wondering zombies. There was no need to speak of the dangers, so he planned to prepare a convenient weapon that can at least block a zombie attack, and prevent an injury.
According to what he observed, if a human was bitten, then, in a very short period of time, the body would become infected, and they would turn into something non-human. A non-ghost zombie. The thought gave Ye Feng chills.
*
In A Random Corridor:
On a news feed, a female reporter in yellow stood, covered in dust. Glancing back and forth as she was, she seemed frightened.
Trembling as she held on tight to a microphone, she said breathlessly, “The situation has already become very bad. Everyone can now see that that the whole world is like this. Many people have already gone crazy, completely losing their humanity. When they see a human, they'll try and eat them, just like any zombie movie you may have seen. Yes! They're zombies! The companion with me just now has already been -” The reporter was interrupted when a roar came from behind.
“What? This… this is?”
The screen turned and a human appeared in front of the reporter. No, we can’t call it human because the picture in front was too terrifying. It was akin to a zombie.
The zombie’s face was ferocious, it's face disfigured. Half of it's mouth drooped, nearly dropping from it's head. In fact, if it was not attached by a thin layer of kin, it would probably have broken off a long time ago. Black blood dripped down it's jaw… it gave out soft roars as it limped towards the reporter.
Seeing this, the reporter nearly puked. Her heart raced, she said, her voice trembling, “This… is this really a zombie?”
Watching the person creep towards her step by step, the reporter trembled even further.
“Ah, don’t… don’t come closer…” she cried. She kept stepping back, but her back hit the wall; there was no way to retreat.
Property of © Fantasy-Books.live; outside of it, it is stolen.How could a zombie understand what she was saying?
As if it found it's prey, the zombified man uttered a low roar, and pounced.
The woman paled in fright. Her whole body shivered as she watched it charge. Suddenly she gave a shout, and, drawing strength from somewhere, she abruptly grabbed the camera and smashed it down.
A smash. She had knocked the zombie to the ground, and there, it stopped moving. Grasping this chance, she fled…
*
As he rummaged through boxes and cabinets, Ye Feng finally found an old metal pipe. Even though it was rusty, but that wouldn’t affect the plans he had for it. Still, he continued look for something more. As the saying goes, help yourself and God will help you. He found 2 packets of instant noodles he left a few days prior, but that was all. Ye Feng felt odd. Food was that little; there was only enough for a single meal. It was now that he hated himself for not having been stocked. Unbidden, he smiled bitterly.
Thinking deeply, he knew he could not continue to stay in this small apartment. A rescue happening anytime soon would simply be a miracle. He had to go. His first objective was to find food, after all, there was not much food left except of course for instant noodle.
Although there is so much danger outside, he had to go. Without any supplies, he would not last. Food could be found in supermarket; in the market there will be all kinds of food.
There was one just in front of the apartment complex. He had to move quickly. After making that decision, he started to get ready.
He found a bag in the room, carried it, and then found an emergency aid kit: it had flu meds, injury pads, band aids… Something like this, he hadn't used much before, but now, it would definitely come in handy. After that he packed a self-made torch, some rope, and few pieces of clothing…
After the bag was now half-filled. It wasn't much, but there were all relatively useful items.
Walking to the door his locked door, Ye Feng took a deep breath, and pressed his ear against it. He listened for a while. He didn't hear much movement.
“En, it should be safe…” Yen Feng thought.
But just in case, Yen Feng took out his metal pipe. He held it tightly in one hand. Then, he opened the door slightly and took a peak. There was a trail of black blood and corpses. Other than that, there was nothing. Not a zombie in sight.
Ye Feng heaved a sigh of relief, then he tiptoed out quickly, fearful of causing a commotion. He tiptoed as he walked down the corridor.
“Help…”
At this moment, a call for help came from behind. Ye Feng glanced backwards.
Coming around the corner, a woman clothed in yellow was running, and behind, a zombie…
The woman turned and ran towards Ye Feng. It seemed she had seen him. You could see that there was a tinge of happiness in her eyes.
“Hey! Help me! It's coming! Save me!” The woman charged towards Ye Feng. It was as if this was her lifeline.