The Outbreak

Chapter 107: The Outbreak

"Zombie virus?"

Hearing those words, Ah Biao almost laughed out loud in disbelief. Of course, he'd seen movies like that. But they were fiction! How could a zombie virus exist in the real world?

Xiao Mei saw his skepticism and pressed on. "Look at Zhou Shixian and the others. How are they any different from being infected with a zombie virus? And besides," she reasoned, "if the world can end with heat waves, floods, and now this deep freeze... why couldn't a zombie virus appear?"

Her argument sounded absurd, but as Ah Biao thought it over, a chill crept down his spine. It did have a twisted logic. After the catastrophic shifts they'd endured, a zombie plague suddenly seemed... plausible.

"So... what do you suggest we do?" he asked, his earlier amusement gone.

"Well, none of our people were bitten, right?" Xiao Mei pointed out, her voice low and urgent. "So, we stay alert. We avoid contact with the other groups. We observe. If nothing happens to them... then we were wrong. But if..."

"You really are my brilliant strategist!" Ah Biao chuckled, pulling her close and planting a kiss on her cheek. He had to admit, Xiao Mei, who'd started as just a manipulative social climber, had become remarkably sharp-witted under the crucible of the apocalypse.

"It's all thanks to your guidance, Biao Ge!" Xiao Mei simpered, leaning into his embrace, feigning shyness.

"Well, I'll 'guide' you properly tonight!" Ah Biao replied, emphasizing the word 'guide' with a lewd grin.

Watching their public display of affection, the nearby underlings seethed with resentment, but fear of Ah Biao kept them silent. Their eyes, however, lingered on Xiao Mei with undisguised hunger and malice.

...

"Boss... you died so horribly..."

"Wuuu... don't worry, we'll avenge you! We'll get Su Chen!"

Li Jiawei's men were indeed loyal. They hadn't discarded their boss's mangled corpse. Instead, they found a quilt, wrapped him in it, and knelt before the body, weeping and swearing vengeance.

Just as their mourning was winding down and they prepared to bury him, someone noticed something strange.

"Hey... look! The quilt... it's moving!"

The men froze, following the pointing finger. It was true. The quilt covering Li Jiawei's body was trembling faintly.

"Could... could Boss still be alive?" one loyal underling gasped. He rushed forward and yanked the quilt aside.

Beneath it, Li Jiawei's bloodied, mutilated face stared back. His eyes were open. Slowly, his head turned, his vacant gaze fixing on the man kneeling beside him.

"Come quick! Boss is alive!" the man shouted joyfully to the others.

Hearing this, the group surged forward, crowding around.

"Boss! How are you feeling?"

"Is anyone here a medic? Check on Boss!"

Li Jiawei ignored their frantic questions. His eyes remained locked on the closest underling. Then, with shocking speed, he lunged!

He slammed into the man, knocking him down, and sank his teeth into his face!

"AAAHHH!" The man screamed, shoving Li Jiawei off with desperate strength. He scrambled back, clutching his cheek – a large chunk of flesh was missing.

Before anyone could react, Li Jiawei twisted, grabbing another man's leg. Ignoring the thick winter clothing, he savagely bit down on the ankle, grinding through fabric and flesh with terrifying force. Within moments, blood soaked the snow, the bite wound deep enough to expose bone.

Shocked into action, his men finally threw themselves on Li Jiawei, trying to pin him down. But just like Zhou Shixian before, he fought with inhuman strength, thrashing and biting, wounding several more in the process.

Then, the first man bitten – the one called Xiao Qiang – suddenly collapsed. He hit the ground with a heavy thud.

"Xiao Qiang? What's wrong?" someone called, turning at the sound.

Xiao Qiang didn't answer. He lay convulsing violently on the snow. A concerned friend ran over to him.

Just then, Xiao Qiang stopped convulsing. His eyes snapped open – now a sickly, vacant gray-white. Before his friend could react, Xiao Qiang surged upwards, jaws clamping onto his neck!

The remaining men stared, dumbfounded. They were barely containing their boss, and now Xiao Qiang had gone berserk too?

"Xiao Qiang, you snapped!" someone yelled helplessly. Two men broke away from restraining Li Jiawei and tried to grab Xiao Qiang.

But then, the man bitten on the ankle began convulsing. Moments later, he too rose, his eyes the same dead gray-white, and charged mindlessly at his former comrades.

Panicked, two men holding Li Jiawei let go to dodge this new attacker.

Li Jiawei broke free.

He, Xiao Qiang, and the newly turned ankle-biter became a whirlwind of teeth and claws, falling upon the remaining uninfected men.

Soon, the area around Li Jiawei's former camp fell silent again. Only the low, guttural growls of several figures with gray-white eyes echoed in the cold air. They shuffled aimlessly, blood staining their mouths and clothes.

...

While Li Jiawei's team met its gruesome end, similar scenes unfolded across the mountain. Gao Xiangjun, Xia Bowen, and the other faction leaders had taken their men back to their own shelters to rest, preparing to regroup with Ah Biao at nightfall for the assault on Su Chen.

But before long, those bitten or scratched by Zhou Shixian or the other two infected men began exhibiting the same terrifying symptoms. They convulsed, collapsed, then rose with gray-white eyes and distorted, savage expressions, attacking their former comrades with rabid ferocity.

This alone was horrifying. But the true nightmare was what came next. Those bitten by these newly turned creatures began transforming at an alarming speed – minutes, sometimes seconds – joining the ranks of the attackers, turning on anyone still human.

By the time leaders like Gao Xiangjun and Xia Bowen realized what was happening – that this wasn't rabies, but the terrifying reality of a zombie virus – it was far too late. They knew the lore: destroy the brain. But the human skull is hard. Trying to land a precise, skull-crushing blow while being swarmed by multiple snarling, biting horrors proved nearly impossible.

One by one, the survivors' camps were overrun. Order dissolved into panicked chaos. Those not yet infected fled screaming into the snow-covered ruins, abandoning their shelters, their weapons, their fallen friends. The mountain, once a haven for desperate survivors, became a hunting ground.

...

"It is the zombie virus!"

Ah Biao, watching the unfolding horror from the relative safety of the hotel's upper windows, felt a sickening mix of relief and fury. Relief that he'd listened to Xiao Mei, keeping his distance from Gao Xiangjun and the others. Otherwise, he'd likely be fighting for his life – or worse – down there.

Fury surged through him, hotter than any flame. Su Chen. That bastard. He'd sent them a "peace offering," a crate supposedly filled with supplies. Instead, he'd delivered infected monsters. Under the guise of negotiation, he'd unleashed a plague that had all but wiped out the remaining survivors on Phoenix Mountain. Su Chen was one inhuman bastard.