Chapter 2: Two Endings

“Bang bang bang-!” 

Accompanied by urgent knocking, a lazy voice came from inside the door.

“Who is it? Knocking so hard-you’ll break the door at this rate,” the person said while opening it.

Outside stood Lin Mo, panting heavily.

“You’re back? Why are you in such a hurry?”

 Zhou Kai looked at Lin Mo in confusion. 

“By the way, where’s the instant noodles?” 

He glanced at Lin Mo’s empty hands, even more puzzled.

“Let me in first!” 

Lin Mo cautiously checked behind him—who knew where those zombies might pop out from?

Once inside, Lin Mo gulped down some water and caught his breath before finally speaking under the bewildered gazes of his three roommates.

 “You heard the commotion outside, right?”

“We heard it… Probably just another club event, right? But what does that have to do with you rushing back empty-handed?” Zhou Kai said. 

“Without noodles, all four of us will be gaming on empty stomachs tonight.”

“Don’t even mention that-the internet suddenly cut out earlier and still hasn’t come back,” the chubby Wang Jie sighed from the side.

“Hold on, let Lin Mo explain first. What exactly happened?” 

The last one, Zhang Yu, was noticeably calmer than the others.

Lin Mo took a deep breath before saying, “That wasn’t any event-it’s zombies! Zombies are out there!”

“Zombies?!” Zhou Kai raised an eyebrow.

 “Lin Mo, are you joking? Those things only exist in movies and novels…”

“Yeah, zombies…?” 

Wang Jie also shook his head, clearly unconvinced.

“Alright, alright. Since the internet’s down anyway, let’s just sleep early. We still have homework to finish-we can wake up early tomorrow to do it,” even Zhang Yu chimed in.

“It’s real!” Lin Mo insisted urgently. 

“I saw it with my own eyes-those were definitely zombies, and there were more than one…” 

“Come on,” Zhou Kai waved him off. 

“Why don’t you say you got bitten too?”

“I wasn’t bitten, but someone else was,” Lin Mo said. 

“And not long after being bitten… they turned into a zombie too.”

“Lin Mo, have you been too stressed lately? Maybe you’re just overworked?” 

Zhang Yu looked at him helplessly—who would believe something like this?

“I’m not lying or joking! If you don’t believe me, just look out the window right now!” 

Lin Mo was getting frustrated. Already shaken from the scare, his roommates’ skepticism only made him angrier.

“Fine…” 

Zhou Kai shrugged, seeing Lin Mo’s irritation, and didn’t press further.

The noise outside continued, and Lin Mo could tell zombies had reached the area near their building.

Then, a girl’s scream pierced through-so clear it could be heard even from the sixth floor.

Wang Jie’s expression changed. He glanced at Zhou Kai, then at Zhang Yu, and said, “Maybe… we should take a look?”

“Fine, let’s look. I still don’t believe—” 

Zhou Kai walked toward the window as he spoke, but his words abruptly cut off.

Downstairs, a zombie had pounced on a girl, sinking its teeth viciously into her neck. Blood instantly sprayed out.

Quickly shutting the window, Zhou Kai’s face turned deathly pale. 

His lips trembled as he looked at Lin Mo. 

“Th-this… this is real?” Lin Mo sighed helplessly. “I told you—it’s all real.”

Wang Jie only glanced outside before shrinking back, completely at a loss. 

Zhang Yu, on the other hand, furrowed his brows tightly, lost in thought.

“What do we do now…?” 

As Lin Mo spoke these words, the dorm room fell into heavy silence.

The screams and chaos outside continued to echo through the window, filling everyone’s ears. 

Fear and helplessness gripped their hearts.

They had all grown up in peaceful times, sheltered and comfortable. 

Faced with this situation, what could they possibly do? 

Forget solutions -their hearts were pounding so hard they could barely think, their minds blank with shock.

The night passed in silence. 

No one spoke, no one slept. 

Only the sounds from outside persisted, unrelenting…

At dawn, when Lin Mo hesitantly approached the window to look down, the ground below the dorm was already stained red with blood. 

A few zombies wandered aimlessly in the distance, while severed limbs and scattered remains littered the area…

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Lin Mo shut the window tightly, blocking out the thick stench of blood.

Without the slightest warning, the apocalypse had arrived. 

Zombies could be lurking anywhere outside, and inside the dorm, all they had left were a few leftover pieces of chocolate. 

Everything felt utterly hopeless. 

Aside from waiting, they seemed powerless to do anything. 

Only two outcomes lay before them-starve to death, or be killed by the zombies…