The Fallen City

Working late into the night, Zhao Chen came across a video titled “Rabies Patient Bites Someone” and reported it without a second thought. “Another clickbait headline,” he muttered, turning off his phone and getting back to revising the proposal. Three hours later, screams tore through the office building’s silence. He watched with his own eyes as the cleaning lady knocked his supervisor down and tore into his carotid artery. Every escape route was blocked by a horde of corpses, and Zhao Chen hid in the break room. There was no government rescue, no System cheat, only half a jug of water left in the water cooler. He made a crude spear from a utility knife and a mop handle, then found half a packet of crackers in a corpse’s pocket. On the seventh day, the office building became a dead zone. Outside the window, the city had turned into a silent graveyard. Zhao Chen gripped his spear. It was time to leave.