Curled up on the ground, Tang Cheng sat dazed for a long while. But the zombies around him still didn’t attack.
Though he didn’t understand what was happening, fear still pushed him to his feet—he ran forward.
The board building’s doors, previously shut tight, were now inexplicably wide open—someone must’ve unlocked them from the inside.
Tang Cheng rushed in, panic guiding his steps, and ran up the stairs.
But as he reached the second floor, a zombie with a rotting face suddenly emerged from around the corner.
“Ah!”
Tang Cheng collapsed to the ground in fright.
Yet the zombie gave no reaction whatsoever. It simply dragged its limp limbs and staggered right past him.
“That… that was Class 5’s homeroom teacher, wasn’t it…”
Still trembling, Tang Cheng sat stunned on the floor. He recognized the zombie—it was Lin Ligang, the homeroom teacher from Class 5.
Just like the others downstairs, he didn’t attack.
This is too weird. Can they not see me?
He couldn’t make sense of it at all.
Sitting there, Tang Cheng carefully examined his own body. His clothes were still soaked in blood, but strangely, the bite wounds on his arms and torso had already started to heal.
“Wait—my wounds… they’re healing?”
Though they still ached, the injuries from the zombie bites were clearly regenerating—almost as if he was growing new flesh.
“Why… why didn’t I die?”
“How long was I even unconscious?”
He got to his feet and looked around. The corridor still reeked of blood, and the hallway lights flickered faintly. Apparently, the building still had electricity.
He walked cautiously forward.
The hallway and rooms were crawling with zombified teachers and staff—some bumping into walls, others wandering aimlessly…
But none of them paid him any attention.
Even as he passed right by them, not a single one spared him a glance.
That emboldened Tang Cheng. He calmly walked straight through the zombie-infested corridor and eventually reached the restroom deep in the hallway.
He turned on the faucet and splashed water onto his face.
But as he looked up—
He saw a zombie’s half-rotted face reflected in the mirror.
“Ah! A zombie!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin.
But then—he took a closer look.
That face in the mirror… was his own.
“M-my face! What the hell happened to my face!?”
His entire left cheek was rotting, identical to any infected zombie. It was horrifying to look at.
“I… I’ve turned into a zombie?”
The face staring back at him—wasn’t human anymore. It was the face of a monster.
“No wonder they didn’t attack me… I’m one of them now.”
“A zombie, huh…”
He let out a bitter laugh at his grotesque reflection. At last, he understood why the others hadn’t pounced.
But wait—!
If I’ve become a zombie, then why do I still have human thoughts?
He’d seen what happened to people who got bitten. They lost all sense of self and became mindless monsters.
Yet here he was—fully conscious.
Could it be that his body had developed some kind of antibody?
Or had the zombie virus only infected him halfway?
Would he still eventually lose himself… and become a mindless flesh-eater?
Questions flooded his mind.
He splashed water onto the decaying left side of his face. It stung—meaning some of the tissue was still alive.
Would it heal? Or rot away completely?
This is all because of Chu Ruoyun! This is all her fault!
Tang Cheng thought of her—she was the one who ordered the gate shut. Because of her, he’d ended up like this.
And worst of all—his face was ruined!
Even if he survived—how was he supposed to face people again?
Chu Ruoyun! You better hope I never find you!
Burning with rage, he stormed out of the restroom and began searching the building room by room.
Partly to look for other survivors.
But more importantly—he was hoping that spoiled Young Lady Chu might still be somewhere inside.
The hallway elevator was still operational.
He pressed the button.
When the doors opened, several zombies were inside—banging their heads against the elevator walls.
One of them, a hulking man in a black suit, dragged his feet as he staggered out.
“That’s Chu Ruoyun’s bodyguard!”
“He was bitten too…”
Tang Cheng quickly recognized the man in black. It seemed that Chu Ruoyun must have also encountered a zombie attack on her way out.
Just like the other zombies, the bodyguard didn’t lunge at him, but instead wandered numb and slow toward the deeper part of the corridor.
Even though he was surrounded by hungry zombies, none of them attacked him—it was a small blessing in the midst of all this misfortune.
“I’d better not take the elevator… What if the power suddenly goes out…”
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. If the electricity failed, he’d be trapped in there forever.
So, he took the stairs and began climbing toward the third floor, continuing his search for any living survivors.
“Hey, is anyone alive?”
“Anybody there?”
“…”
Aside from the flickering hallway lights and the zombies’ low groans, no human voices answered back.
With no threat of being attacked, Tang Cheng called out loudly through the building. A few of the wandering zombies showed slight reactions to his voice, but still showed no sign of aggression.
He kept climbing. The building had thirteen floors, but aside from the roaming undead, not a single living person appeared.
Even when he finally reached the rooftop helipad, it was completely deserted.
The helicopter was long gone. Chu Ruoyun had clearly escaped from the school via air.
Standing on the rooftop, Tang Cheng looked down at the F City district beyond the school. But the streets were filled only with zombies and ruins—an eerie silence hung over the city. A metropolis of six million had seemingly died overnight.
“Could I really be the only one left?”
Despair flooded his chest. Could it be that everyone in F City was already dead?
He had never imagined that the apocalyptic scenes from movies would actually happen in real life.
“Forget it… no point thinking too much. I should at least find something to eat.”
Feeling hunger gnaw at him, Tang Cheng turned toward the door leading back downstairs.
Just then, the distant sound of helicopters echoed through the sky. Two or three choppers sped overhead, each with heavily armed special forces soldiers inside, holding M4A1 rifles.
Rescue teams?
“Hey! I’m here!”
“Help me!”
Tang Cheng quickly grabbed a piece of white cloth and waved it while shouting at the sky.
“Survivor spotted below. Moving in!”
Responding to his cries, one of the helicopters descended toward the rooftop and hovered in place.
But almost immediately, the special forces soldier in the open side door raised his rifle and aimed directly at Tang Cheng’s head.
“No good—he’s already infected. Abort the rescue!”
Seeing the zombified left side of Tang Cheng’s face, the helicopter lifted sharply, preparing to leave.
“Wait! Help me! Why are you leaving?!” Tang Cheng shouted desperately.
“Sorry. You’re infected. You’ll soon turn into a zombie. We can’t save you,” said a female soldier inside the chopper, her voice full of regret.
“But I’m still alive! Maybe I’m not fully infected yet…” Tang Cheng pleaded, raising his voice, but the helicopter only continued to ascend.
“Sorry, you really are infected.”
The female soldier looked at him apologetically. “Do you want me to put you out of your misery? You’re going to become one of them anyway.”
As she spoke, a red laser dot from her rifle locked onto Tang Cheng’s forehead.