"Mom, your son is starving to death."
Nie Yizhou pushed open the door, tossed a bag carelessly aside, and collapsed onto the sofa like a limp rag.
His ho was in Rong City, and his university was here too. So, he usually ca back every weekend.
"Don’t talk like that, you brat. No more 'death' talk—it’s bad luck."
A scolding yet amused voice drifted out from the kitchen.
"Co help . I made your favorite braised pork trotters."
"Wow! Mom, you’re the best!"
Nie Yizhou instantly revived, springing up from the sofa.
Though he ca from a single-parent household, he never felt like he was missing anything. His mother had poured all her love into him.
He was happy.
He had even tried to set her up on a blind date, hoping she’d find soone who’d cherish her.
But she had yelled at him for it.
After that, he never brought it up again.
Still, he secretly vowed to visit her as often as possible. Soday, he’d make big money, buy a huge house, and make sure everyone envied his mom.
The two of them shared a lively, hearty dinner, chatting and laughing.
Back in his room, Nie Yizhou booted up his computer and jumped into a ga with his buddies.
It was the weekend—ti to unwind.
Mid-ga, one of his teammates ntioned a trending topic on Weibo: soone predicting the apocalypse.
Curious, Nie Yizhou checked it out but quickly dismissed it and returned to gaming.
He played until the early hours of the morning.
After a quick wash, he fell into a deep sleep.
Then, in the dead of night, a deafening boom shook the sky.
The noise jolted him awake.
He tried to go back to sleep, but rest wouldn’t co.
He got up, poured himself a glass of water, and stood by the window, sipping as he gazed at the nightscape.
But what he saw next nearly stopped his heart.
Across the street, only two apartnts in the entire building had their lights on.
In one of them, a woman in pajamas—long hair disheveled—suddenly lunged at a shirtless man in shorts and sank her teeth into his neck.
She tore at him savagely, ripping a chunk of flesh from his throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere, a grueso sight.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the night.
"Cough—cough—!"
Nie Yizhou’s eyes widened in disbelief. The water he hadn’t yet swallowed went down the wrong pipe, sending him into a fit of violent coughing.
Before he could recover, his gaze shifted to the other lit apartnt.
An old woman’s hunched back ca into view.
Then she turned around.
Her face was deathly pale, mottled and grotesque, sared with blood.
She let out a guttural screech, and a lump of flesh fell from her mouth.
"Ugh—"
Nie Yizhou gagged, barely holding back vomit.
Before he could steady himself, a loud bang echoed through the house—the sound of a door slamming shut.
His blood ran cold.
He rushed to his mother’s room and knocked.
No answer.
His stomach dropped.
He fumbled for his phone and dialed her number.
She picked up almost imdiately.
"Mom, where are you?"
His voice trembled with urgency.
"Yizhou? The hospital’s swamped with ergencies. I had to go in. Don’t worry about —just rest. Okay, gotta go, bye!"
She hung up before he could respond, her voice breathless, as if she were running.
His mother was a surgeon, and late-night call-ins weren’t unusual.
But this ti, dread coiled in his gut.
Sothing was wrong.
"Mom, don’t go!"
He shouted into the phone, but the line was already dead.
He called again and again—no answer.
Panic set in.
He grabbed his jacket and keys, bolting for the door.
Then he stopped.
Turning back, he snatched a hamr from the storage room before rushing out.
The elevator ride down to the parking garage was eerily silent.
No one around.
Just an unsettling, suffocating quiet.
Gripping the hamr tightly, he hurried toward his family’s parking spot.
Empty.
The car was gone.
She’d already left.
Cursing himself for not moving faster, he spun around, ready to hail a cab outside.
Then he froze.
Under the dim garage lights, a figure swayed unsteadily.
A security guard, head drooping, shoulders twitching—his uniform soaked in blood.
Nie Yizhou’s heart lurched.
Run.
And he did.
He sprinted in the opposite direction.
The guard’s head snapped up with a raspy, inhuman snarl before charging after him.
The thing was fast.
It closed the distance in seconds.
Nie Yizhou glanced back—
And t its horrifying, blood-streaked face.
"Holy—!"
He barely made it to the stairwell door, slamming it shut just as the guard crashed against it.
BANG!
The door shuddered under the impact.
Then again.
And again.
Nie Yizhou gasped for breath, pressing a hand to his pounding chest.
His mother—he had to find her.
No ti to rest.
He raced up the stairs.
When he burst outside, screams and wails echoed from every direction.
The ground floor was deserted, at least.
He bolted for the gates, desperate to flag down a taxi.
Then—
SCREECH!
CRASH!
Two cars collided right in front of him.
Flas erupted, engulfing both vehicles in seconds.
Down the street, a man and woman sprinted toward him, shrieking for help.
Close behind them—a bartender, face half-eaten, mouth gaping black, snarling like a beast.
Before Nie Yizhou could react, the bartender pounced.
"AAAAH!"
The woman at the back went down hard.
The bartender’s jaws clamped onto her face.
Blood sprayed.
"H-help... ..."
Her hand reached for her boyfriend.
But the man was already running, leaving her behind without a second glance.
Her eyes filled with despair.
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