Chapter 2: The car accident downstairs

"Shit."

Li Long almost jumped up from the sofa and rushed to the window to look down.

Shao Ming followed him to the window, curious to see what had happened below.

On the street below, a sedan had crashed into the back of a small cargo truck, with the entire engine hood crushed beneath the truck's cargo compartment. The driver's side was completely deformed, and the two of them saw that half of the driver's body seemed to have been severed.

"My God…"

Li Long turned around, unable to watch any longer.

The sudden crash startled everyone nearby. Some pedestrians ran to a safe spot and were about to call the police, while a few strong individuals rushed over to check the situation.

"Quick, save him! Save him!"

"The driver's still moving! The driver's still moving! Move the truck!"

Only after being urged by onlookers did the truck driver snap out of his shock and inch the truck forward slightly.

Because the sedan had collided with the truck's right rear side, the driver's side was still somewhat intact, but the passenger seat was already a bloodied mess.

"Cough..."

Although Shao Ming had watched plenty of graphic movies, it was the first time he had seen such a scene in real life, and it made his stomach churn.

Several pedestrians below immediately vomited on the side of the road. Screams and cries filled the street, and some students from the nearby school stopped to watch.

A few people were working together to pull the driver out of the car when they suddenly heard an exclamation.

"There's someone in the backseat!"

One of the rescuers shouted.

"It's a kid! It's a kid!"

Several people ran over. Luckily, the rear passenger door hadn't been deformed, so they quickly pulled the child out.

Shao Ming looked down and saw a baby, no older than eight or nine months, staring vacantly into the distance.

"There's a kid."

He turned back and said.

"My God."

Li Long, standing inside, gasped, "This child's psychological trauma will stay with them for life."

Shao Ming wasn't someone who easily empathized with others, but even he couldn't help but think that the child's parents were probably seated in the front.

"Oh! Damn it, let go!"

A shout from outside the window caught Shao Ming's attention, and to his surprise, the baby that had just been rescued had bitten the person holding it.

The crowd around them was once again startled. No one had expected so many changes to happen in such a short time—less than ten minutes.

"Damn it, ah, get someone to pull it off!"

As the baby seemed about to tear a chunk of flesh from the rescuer's neck, a woman, who appeared to be the rescuer's girlfriend, rushed forward to try and pull the baby away.

Unexpectedly, her pulling helped the baby tear into the man's neck even more.

The baby was pulled away, but Shao Ming watched in horror as the child tore off a piece of flesh from the man's neck and began chewing it.

The baby's two tiny teeth were also ripped out in the process, but it didn't care, only staring at its "prey" with blood-red eyes.

This was the beginning of the true zombie outbreak.

The woman, shocked, dropped the baby, who fell to the ground.

"My God…"

The baby hit the ground, seemingly not feeling any pain. It flipped over and began crawling toward the woman, using all four limbs.

Shao Ming, like the other pedestrians around, couldn't make sense of what was happening. On the left side of the road, a sedan was completely deformed, and the small cargo truck was bloodied. On the right side of the road, there was a strange baby crawling toward people, chewing on human flesh.

"Zombies... Zombies!"

Someone shouted, and the crowd scattered. Even the people helping the driver immediately ran for cover.

Apart from a few brave souls on the windowsills of the school and apartments, the street, which had been lively just moments before, was now completely deserted.

However, more and more people gathered at both ends of the street to watch.

Li Long, now back at the window, felt disgusted but was also curious about what had really happened below.

The baby, seeing that all its food had fled, let out a scream into the sky.

The baby's eerie shriek sent a chill down the spine of everyone present.

"My phone…" Li Long fumbled for his phone in his pocket and opened the camera.

The baby turned its head and saw the two of them watching from above. It grinned at them.

If it were any other time, Shao Ming would have jokingly teased Li Long, saying, "You're good with TikTok," but now, he was too shocked to say anything.

A few patrol officers ran out of the crowd, and two police officers rushed toward the baby on the roadside.

"Officer!" Several university students shouted, "Stay away from it!"

"It'll bite!"

The officers exchanged looks and frowned.

"Officer! Don't go near it!"

At the intersection, the girlfriend of the injured man also shouted.

Shao Ming turned his gaze toward the sound and noticed that the crowd had cleared a path for the couple, while the injured man was being helped by another officer to keep pressure on his wound.

At that moment, the baby noticed the officers behind it. It opened its bloodied mouth and began crawling toward the two officers, its innocent eyes now entirely blood-red.

No one needed to point it out anymore—the officers immediately realized that something was terribly wrong with this baby.

Having never encountered anything like this, the two police officers were unsure of how to handle the situation and began to retreat.

Hearing the commotion, a few other officers, who were still helping the driver, pulled away from their task to surround the strange baby.

Shao Ming saw two officers briefly exchange words, with one moving to the right while the other three officers surrounded the bizarre baby.

"Back off!"

The officer in front of the baby drew his stun gun, while another officer pulled out handcuffs.

"Grab it!"

A police officer shouted, and the officer behind the baby lunged forward, grabbing the child by the clothes and lifting it up.

The baby continued to scream, its bloodied little hands flailing in the air. "Calm down, calm down!"

Another officer quickly moved in and handcuffed the baby's legs, but it kept struggling, twisting its head, trying to bite the officers behind it.

Police sirens wailed from the distance, and the surrounding onlookers quickly made way.

The ambulance took away the injured, while the police successfully subdued the mutated child.

The crowd, now anxious, closed in, seeking an explanation from the officers.

"This is an isolated case!" a higher-ranking officer shouted at the crowd. "Don't panic, just go home!"

However, mass cases were unfolding all across Manchester.