Yun Ming had observed the rising temperatures in the past two weeks and reached a bleak conclusion, the world was indeed ending. And, it was going to occur faster in his city than anywhere else due to the lack of public action taken by governing officials. Everywhere people online complained about the shortage on water and panicked online about the unending news reporting on the various weird mutations occurring to animals and the famine from food shortages due to lack of water, diseases and other infrastructure issues that came from the unbearable temperature.
Sitting in his rented Yun Ming also felt that this situation was hopeless for humanity. Even if the government did something now, it was too late. Humans had wasted their chance at a quick and effective response. Before they knew it, the resources every person in the city took for granted---water, basic necessities and food quickly ran out faced with the evaporation of clean drinking water. If it was simply the shortage of water, the ocean filtration technology could perhaps have saved them and brought some time, at last until the water shortage problems could be settled. However, at the worst time diseases all around the word broke out. Deadly viruses spread from mosquitoes and flies and the common cold suddenly mutated to become extremely infectious. It was a disaster not just for mankind, even animals including livestock was harmed.
People could barely go out to work, and stayed home in fear of catching the deadly viruses. But without manual labour crucial in so many industries, coupled with the shortage of food and water supply, how long could the governments keep people locked up? If they left their houses, it was likely flies that bread and multiplied at a speed equal to the rising temperature would come eat them alive, and then there was also the heat that was barely tolerable. But if they stayed inside with the household water supply and ordering online materials, how long could even the best doomsday bunker survive for?
This was a pincher attack on humanity. Instead of a smooth wipe from a huge explosion, or a massive world war, natural disasters and diseases worked together to surround humanity in a hopeless and exhausting long, hard battle.
In the two weeks, it wasn't that research on the viruses and solutions hadn't been conducted and proposed. It was just that the findings only confused humanity even more. Research on the viruses found that it was even more abnormal to the normal behaviour of viruses that it resembled an extremely evolved pathogen that originated from the viruses. Except it was obvious that such an evolution seemed unnatural, and mankind had never seen something like it. Proposals to the water problem had better results, but the hope seemed bleak. Due to the shortage of manpower, the desalination plants for the ocean's water showed problems due to the heat, but some couldn't be fixed immediately. This was in fact just a minor issues in some areas with poorly constructed infrastructure. A week ago, the government disclosed in a press conference that the ocean was showing signs of 'mutation.' What this meant was that many life in the sea was ongoing inexplicable changes like the mosquitos and flies transmitting the diseases. It started with the decay of coral and small sea life and had as of now, reached the larger fish. The most recent mutation being a salmon developing hard black scales that were analysed to be made from plastic.
But Yun Ming also knew one other thing that hadn't been 'disclosed' to the public. A team of researchers in Qing Dao University found that the smaller sea life that showed mutations and strange structural adaptions started to 'engulf' each other. A collected sample held in the national laboratory had shrunk into one fish from a cage of fifty. The fifty small fish had been consumed by one fish, until there was only a gigantic fish the size of a white shark.
The researched reported this phenomenon as the 'culling'. Apparently, the mutated animals became cannibalistic, aiming to devour their own kind so that one of them can become bigger.
Yun Ming held the badge identification hanging from his neck and stared at it for a few seconds. Then he took it off. In the plastic pocket was a photo of a young man looking in his 20s, a clean face with sharp features and a pair of beautiful eyes. The name tag underneath was Yun Ming's name. Yun Ming threw the badge into the trash and walked to his sofa. He slumped down onto it with a sigh and loosened his tie.
Yun Ming thought back to the beuru's last meeting.
"Yun Ming, I'm sorry but the government can't do anything now you anymore. For now, there's nothing for you to do. So, don't take this personally, but we have to lay off some workers due to the situation. Go home and rest. Maybe this is good too, maybe you can avoid the the risk of catching M-17U Virus." His direct superior, Chen Jue had a weary smile on his face. The thin man with square framed glasses patted his shoulder before walking out of the head office. He was probably going to assist in the research operation down Qing cove. Yun Ming had replied saying that he understood and for Chen Jue to be careful. He also thanked the man for his help all these years. This all happened three days ago.
Yesterday, Yun Ming got a call from the bear that the seventh reconnaissance team had failed. Everyone in the team had died, including Chen Jue. When entering the cove, the group had encountered a sudden attack by a swarm of mosquitos. Despite the protective gear they wore, it was useless against the numbers that they met. The mosquitos had apparently also mutated again, this time with sharper stingers as long and thick as a sewing needle. When he heard this he had just been at the fridge, hoping to see some food left inside. He had removed the phone from his ear only after a long time had passed, and hadn't said anything but a dull, 'ok.' At the time he only thought that Chen Jue's words came true, he really had been better off staying at home. But now, it was all useless. He had stared at his empty fridge. The sounds of the telephone ring echoed in his head. He thought about the laboratory with the salmon fish. The one that had become big and consumed its siblings had ultimately died. Its mutated body couldn't withstand the cannibal flesh it consumed and died only a few days after consuming the other forty nine fish. Yun Ming thought that if he was one of the forty nine fish to be culled out of the company, then Chen Jue was like the one that died later. It was a cruel association, but at that moment the hopelessness Yun Ming felt for his situation, and the futures of all of the government, his colleagues and friends, their families and everyone else outweighed that moment of guilt. Chen Jue's death was sad, but Yun Ming felt like it was merely the last straw that kept him from giving up. Like most residents in City Qing, he poured himself a cup of wine and laid dazedly on the couch. It was like the piece of furniture was sucking the very will to live out of him. He decided to drink one last thing before sleeping in the increasing temperature of his room. Heat waves gradually became visible in front of his eyes, and they moved slightly in the air in his apartment. The sound of the fan and air conditioner continued on, and just like that Yun Ming quietly dosed off, his last thoughts being that perhaps he would die here, rotting away on his sofa like millions of others trapped inside buildings.
Perhaps it was the heat, or something else, but Yun Ming didn't fall asleep. In fact right before his eyes shut a sharp jolt of pain rang through his brain and down his spine. He screamed slightly, and clutched his stomach in pain. Amidst his pain however, Yun Ming had a odd realisation. The heat from before had gradually faded, and apart from the sharp pain radiating from all parts of his body, he had no sweat or fatigue. It was as if he wasn't dying from overheating in the first place. Gradually though, the pain subsided bit by bit. But Yun Ming felt tired quickly after, as if the pain was the thing keeping his mind still awake. This time he didn't think of death before he fell unconscious.