"Wow, look at the sky. It's only two in the afternoon, but it looks like night already."
It was a little past two in the afternoon. Just after finishing a busy morning at work, Xiao Jin returned to his desk. From the 17th floor of the company, the view through the glass window confirmed what his colleague said. The sky was covered with dark clouds, turning what should have been a bright afternoon into a gloomy evening.
The colleague, who had been busy all morning, stretched lazily and said, "It's your first time coming to G City, right? This weather is typical around May and June. It gets windy before a storm. It's quite normal."
As he spoke, there was a sudden gust of wind, and the glass windows rattled.
Xiao Jin couldn't help but look outside and muttered nervously, "Oh no, is it going to rain? I didn't bring an umbrella."
"Don't worry," said the colleague, reassuring him. He glanced outside and, seeing that the windows were still shut, got up, walked over, and casually closed them tighter. "The weather here can be a bit unpredictable. Let's hope it won't rain too hard."
As he spoke, he tugged the window shut and it emitted a loud, ear-piercing "crack!"
Then, Xiao Jin watched in shock as the man standing by the window suddenly collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
"Li-ge!" Xiao Jin shouted in surprise. He quickly rushed to the man's side, panicking as he asked, "Li-ge, are you okay?"
But the man didn't respond. Instead, his eyes kept rolling back, his tongue lolling as if he wanted to say something but couldn't, looking as though he had some kind of seizure. Xiao Jin was at a loss.
Just as he was about to shout for help, he noticed that Jiang Xing, who had been dozing off on a chair not far away, had also collapsed.
He quickly ran over to Jiang Xing and shook his shoulder.
"Jiang-ge, wake up! Li-ge looks like he's having a seizure!"
"Leave me alone, it's just the weather..."
Jiang Xing mumbled a few words, half-asleep, but when he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed Li convulsing violently on the ground, and he quickly became alert.
"Hey, Li! What's wrong?!"
Jiang Xing thought to himself that he had worked with Li for half a year and had no idea if he had any medical conditions. Li seemed to be someone who paid attention to his health, so why was this happening all of a sudden?
Seeing Li's convulsions growing more intense, Jiang Xing didn't dare to approach. Like Xiao Jin, he watched Li carefully and quickly grabbed his phone from his desk.
[14:09]
Wait a minute, it's already this time, and yet, no one else is here? Did no one clock in? Is everyone skipping work today?
There was no time to dwell on it. Jiang Xing quickly dialed the emergency number, but after a single ring, the call was disconnected, leaving him only with a message prompt. He tried dialing again and again but received the same response each time.
Clang! Clang!
Another gust of wind hit the glass window, which rattled with a loud noise. This, coupled with Li's condition, increased Jiang Xing's anxiety. He was about to attempt calling 119 when Xiao Jin suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
"Jiang-ge, earlier... Earlier it seemed like Li-ge stopped breathing..." Xiao Jin's voice was trembling, and his face looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
He was a recent graduate; how could he have encountered something like this? Just a moment ago, Li was still talking to him, but now, he wasn't breathing.
"What?"
Jiang Xing's eyes widened as he saw that Li had suddenly gone still, his eyes slightly open, as if maintaining his final, tense expression. His limbs were in odd, rigid positions.
This startled Jiang Xing. He had no idea how to perform CPR, and he couldn't bring himself to touch Li like this.
"Right, do you have your phone? Try calling 120 instead."
"Okay, okay!" Xiao Jin fumbled for his phone, nervously attempting to dial the emergency number.
Jiang Xing decided to try 119 again, only to find that his phone was behaving the same way, stuck on the repeated dialing attempts. He looked at the screen and saw a group chat message:
[Has anyone been able to reach emergency services? The department head suddenly collapsed, and his head hit the floor! The line is busy!]
[Several people around me have collapsed too…]
[Everyone in my office started convulsing all of a sudden. What on earth is happening?]
[Is there some kind of event going on today? I saw people dressed up like cosplayers outside.]
[This isn't cosplay! People have gone crazy! They're attacking anyone they see!]
[...]
Bang!
There was a sudden loud noise from the stairwell. The stairway door was flung open, and a man covered in blood rushed in, stumbling into a desk, stretching out his arms towards Jiang Xing and Xiao Jin.
"Help… help me…"
Several other colleagues rushed in behind him, their faces filled with fear, their clothes stained with blood, and one of them screamed in panic:
"Run, quickly! They've gone crazy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several blood-soaked people charged in through the open door, their eyes bloodshot and feral. They lunged at the nearest person—the same man who had run in earlier—and tackled him onto the desk, biting him ferociously. They pulled and tore at his clothes, ripping a chunk of fabric along with flesh, before sinking their teeth in again.
"Is… is this real?"
Jiang Xing took a step back in fear, only to see that the once-motionless Li had somehow stood up. He swayed, as if intoxicated, before staggering toward Xiao Jin, who was standing behind him.
"Li… Li-ge?" Jiang Xing wanted to call out to him but noticed that Li's eyes had turned bloodshot, his face unnaturally twisted, and his expression disturbingly distorted.
His formerly convulsing limbs now moved in an odd and jerky manner. He stretched out his hands, trying to grab Xiao Jin, but his movements were erratic and awkward, as if he had lost control over his own body, all while making unsettling chewing noises, as if savoring a bizarre taste.
At the same time, Jiang Xing caught a whiff of a foul, decaying stench.
Xiao Jin, completely oblivious to the danger behind him, was still staring blankly at the man being bitten.
"Sis, sis, what's happening!? This isn't something I signed up for when I came to work!"
"What do we do?"
He turned his head, and Jiang Xing grabbed a chair and swung it at him fiercely.
"Move!" Jiang Xing yelled.
Xiao Jin was jolted, his brain seemingly failing to register what was happening. His body froze, staring blankly at the chair being swung towards him.
Crash!
The chair slammed into Li, knocking him over. Li's head hit the floor hard, making a loud cracking sound. Blood began to flow, but he seemed completely unfazed. Instead, he tried to push the chair away and crawl back up.
"Run!"
Jiang Xing desperately pulled Xiao Jin, dragging the stunned and silent boy away.
The man who was being attacked had stopped screaming, while the people biting him turned their heads, seemingly scanning for a new target. Their eyes landed on Jiang Xing.
"Ah!"
The bloodshot eyes and gaping mouths sent chills down Jiang Xing's spine. He dared not look back and could only turn around and run.
Just then, the office door was suddenly thrown open, and a frightened female colleague burst in, running toward Jiang Xing. As she got close, Jiang Xing instinctively stepped aside, but as soon as she entered, everyone in the room turned their attention to her. Several of the crazed attackers, still holding chairs or other objects, staggered toward her.
With a loud slam, the group began pushing toward the doorway, all squeezing tightly in a desperate attempt to get out, hoping they could escape.
No one knew how much time had passed when suddenly, a scream came from outside. There was a clamor of footsteps at the doorway, and the banging noises stopped.
"Did they leave?" a man huddled in the corner asked quietly.
"Seems like it."
"What the hell was that? Scared me to death."
"It's zombies." Jiang Xing was still slumped on the couch, panting. She looked at her still-terrified colleagues and said with certainty, "Zombies. You've all seen movies like 'Train to Busan,' right? Just like that."