Li Yi nearly collided with someone coming from the opposite direction and stopped abruptly. Unsure if the person was infected, he prepared to turn and run.
"Are you human or...?" the shadowy figure whispered cautiously.
"Of course, I'm human!" Li Yi, realizing the other was also human, turned around. Both let out a relieved sigh.
It was Wang Wei, who had been heading up through the emergency stairwell, only to nearly crash into Li Yi, who was descending.
"What are you doing here?" Li Yi asked urgently.
"The main hall is full of zombies. I had no choice but to run here. The outside isn't any better," Wang Wei replied, still shaken.
"You went outside? Then why are you back?"
"The military has the whole place locked down," Wang Wei panted. "They're shooting at anyone trying to escape—zombie or not. It's a slaughter out there." His brief description of the outside world left Li Yi in shock.
The sounds of chaos outside grew louder, forcing Li Yi to make a quick decision. "Follow me," he said. "I know another way. It might still be clear."
The two moved quickly down a dimly lit corridor. The emergency lighting cast an eerie red glow, bathing every corner in a bloody hue.
They passed through scenes of horror: a janitor's closet where the staff had been torn to shreds, the shattered glass of the dining area where food and blood smeared the floor, and two bodies still twitching on a broken chair, their skin faintly glowing with an unsettling blue light.
"What the hell is going on? Is this the end of the world?" Wang Wei muttered.
"I don't know," Li Yi replied, equally confused. "One moment, everything seemed normal. Then chaos broke out. I was upstairs in the data management room when I saw the mess downstairs. All communication has been cut off—no phones, no internet. I have no idea how many people are still alive."
They turned a corner and were met with a disturbing scene: three infected creatures tearing into a corpse. Strangely, their movements were unnervingly synchronized, as though following a programmed routine.
"Don't draw their attention. This way!" Li Yi whispered, pulling Wang Wei back toward an inconspicuous metal door. "This leads to the network room's electrical shaft. It connects to the basement."
The door was locked, but Li Yi swiped his work badge, and it clicked open. They squeezed into the narrow passage, surrounded by tangled wires and pipes. The cramped space was suffocating but relatively safe—for now.
"We'll follow this maintenance shaft to the basement. Be careful where you step. These beams aren't meant to hold much weight," Li Yi instructed.
As they descended, the air grew damp and cold. At one corner, a bare electrical wire crackled with sparks, casting flashes of blue light in the darkness. Wang Wei shuddered, recalling the eerie blue glow in the infected's eyes.
"What's that noise?" Wang Wei whispered as the sound of metal scraping echoed from below.
They held their breath. In the darkness, something darted between the pipes—a rat, perhaps, or something worse. Neither dared to imagine.
After climbing down for about ten minutes, they spotted a faint light. It was a distribution room with another exit on the far side. Li Yi peered through a gap in the wall panels. "Looks clear. That's the ticketing hall on the basement level."
The sight froze them in their tracks. The vast underground hall was packed with people—at least a hundred, injured and terrified. Some cried, others sat in stunned silence. The dim emergency lights barely illuminated the makeshift shelter, where survivors huddled together for a semblance of safety.
Carefully, they moved aside the barrier, but the sound drew everyone's attention.
"What's over there?" someone shouted. All eyes turned to the shaft's entrance as a group of young men grabbed fire extinguishers, ready to defend themselves.
"Wait, wait! We're normal people!" Li Yi shouted, raising his hands as he and Wang Wei slowly climbed out.
"Hold on! I know them!" said a man in a uniform. "That's Engineer Li from the control room!"
The tension eased slightly, but a voice from the crowd called out, "Wang Wei!"
Wang Wei turned toward the voice, his eyes widening. In this dark, death-filled space, he was stunned to see a familiar face. Qi Shan's tearful expression left him speechless.
"Wang Wei! I thought you were..." Qi Shan sobbed.
"It's okay. It's okay. We're both safe—that's what matters," Wang Wei reassured her, barely believing it himself.
Li Yi scanned the room. Injured people filled every corner. In one area, medical staff worked to treat wounds. Among the crowd, he recognized several familiar faces: sports center employees, security guards, and more. Stabilizing the situation and finding a way out became the immediate priority. Above them, countless infected prowled the stadium, hunting survivors.
"How many people are here?" Li Yi asked a young security guard.
"We just counted. About 120 people," the guard replied. "At least a dozen are seriously injured, and many others have minor injuries. Luckily, three doctors and five nurses are trapped with us."
A middle-aged man with glasses stepped forward. "I'm Dr. Chen Xu, a surgeon from City Hospital No. 2. The situation is bad. Many were injured in the stampede, and we're running out of antibiotics and bandages."
"There's a medical room on this floor," said a worker in a blue uniform. "But the corridor leading there is overrun with infected."
"They seem to avoid bright lights," Wang Wei said suddenly. "When I was escaping, I noticed flashlights disoriented them."
Li Yi's eyes lit up. "That matches the surveillance data—they're highly sensitive to strong light. If we can find high-powered lamps..."
"The emergency floodlights in the parking garage!" a security guard interjected. "They run on independent batteries and can last for days."
The crowd grew hopeful. A nurse suggested setting up a temporary medical station near the emergency exits. "There's drinking water and food in the vending machines over there," she added.
"I worked in the dining area," a young woman chimed in. "There's a storeroom nearby with enough food for three days."
Li Yi checked his watch. The outbreak had begun two hours ago. The gunfire outside had stopped, but the stadium remained a death trap.
"First, let's secure this hall. Seal all entrances and exits," Li Yi instructed. "We'll set up a command center in that glass booth. It has a good view and a working intercom system."
Everyone quickly mobilized. Medical staff treated the wounded, security guards fortified entry points, and others organized supplies. Several able-bodied men volunteered to retrieve the floodlights from the parking garage.
"I'll go with them," Wang Wei offered. "I've studied how the infected move."
Suddenly, a muffled thud echoed from above. Dust fell from the ceiling as everyone looked up. The sound of heavy weaponry reverberated through the concrete structure, freezing the room in tense silence.
"Let's move," Wang Wei urged the group, breaking the stillness.