On June 13, 2030, a meteorite from outer space pierced Earth's atmosphere and finally fell into the Pacific Ocean.
The meteorite had already been detected by satellites. However, this meteorite was only ten meters in diameter, and its impact location was the uninhabited Pacific Ocean. Apart from astronomy enthusiasts, few people paid attention to it. It was just a meteorite, not one capable of destroying the Earth, so there was no need to worry.
Of course, the news media would not miss such a story. On the evening of its fall, they managed to capture photos of the meteor streaking across the sky and published them online. Many people paid attention, with over a million views. Everyone was engaged in heated discussions, as meteorites are indeed very rare.
What seemed like an ordinary piece of news was not worth much attention. However, in the month that followed, various strange incidents occurred worldwide. Some people lost their minds and began biting others madly in the streets. Some animals died inexplicably, as if afflicted with a contagious disease. Other animals mutated; for example, usually docile animals grew fangs and began attacking humans. Some fish by the sea struggled to come ashore, as if sensing a crisis and wanting to leave the ocean.
These news reports forced people to pay attention. Was this situation caused by some country secretly dumping waste, plunging all of humanity into crisis?
Of course, such news had nothing to do with Shen Feng, as he was a complete shut-in. In his free time, he played games and watched anime. He attended classes when he had them, and when he didn't, he stayed in his dorm without moving. Even during meal times, he would shamelessly ask his roommates to bring him food. This behavior displeased his roommates. It wasn't about not paying for the food, but rather that the guy was truly too lazy. Shen Feng was grateful to his roommates, because despite their complaints, they would still bring him food after he spoke a few kind words.
If there were no special circumstances, Shen Feng would not go out. But today, he was forcibly called out of the dorm by a senior student. The reason was simple: he was a freshman and had accidentally joined the anime club. He had expected to meet fellow enthusiasts, but he had overlooked one thing: true enthusiasts were immersed in the two-dimensional world, and who would join an anime club for no reason? After joining, he realized that most of the members had only casually watched some anime and joined, nowhere near his level as an expert with countless anime watched.
However, it was too late for Shen Feng to regret it. Once joined, it was difficult to withdraw, so he had to stay on the sinking ship.
The club culture festival was about to begin. The senior student, the club president, began to rally members to contribute. As a result, everyone started to play dead. Shen Feng also intended to feign ignorance, but he was seen through by the senior student, who forcibly called him out of school to purchase supplies for the culture festival.
Walking on the street, Shen Feng looked up at the gloomy sky and said to the senior student beside him with some helplessness, "Senior, it looks like it's going to rain. Shall we come back tomorrow? If I get wet, and you're next to me, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself!"
Chang Jianyi heard the teasing from the young man beside her. Her eyebrows twitched, and she patted him hard on the shoulder, saying, "Why are you so unmotivated? The club elections are next semester. If you perform well now, I'll fully support you becoming president next semester. How glorious would that be?"
Shen Feng grumbled, "Glorious? Glorious with only one follower? I should have stayed home alone and been a shut-in, it would have been so much more comfortable."
"Stop the nonsense. We need to buy a lot of things today, and you're definitely doing the heavy lifting. I'm telling you, you're the only one destined to be the next president. Everyone else is too lazy and undisciplined. You're the only one worth cultivating!" Chang Jianyi said with dissatisfaction.
If she couldn't find anyone else, Chang Jianyi wouldn't bother taking this shut-in junior out shopping. Wouldn't it be better to lie in bed and watch anime? Unfortunately, the heavy responsibility of being president weighed on her, so she had to take a shut-in out to shop. However, the culture festival was just setting up a stall, just to fool the school and students, nothing difficult.
Unexpectedly, it started raining at that moment, and it seemed to be getting worse. Chang Jianyi quickly pulled Shen Feng to seek shelter. As a result, the two could only stand outside a clothing store and watch the rain. Chang Jianyi was somewhat displeased, "It's all your bad luck, saying it would rain, and now it's raining. I don't know when we'll finish shopping."
Shen Feng said indifferently, "Senior, that's where you're wrong. I suggested coming out tomorrow, but you insisted on coming out today, and now you're blaming me for bad luck."
With nothing else to do while sheltering from the rain, the two idly played on their phones. Just then, both their phones received a text message simultaneously: "Attention all citizens, please note that the rainwater is abnormal. Do not get wet, or you risk turning into a zombie. Also, please find a safe place to stay and try to save yourselves or wait for rescue."
Shen Feng glanced at the message and said dismissively, "Are the prank levels this low now? They're actually using zombies to scare people. If I believed this, I'd be an idiot!"
The method of sending prank texts was too cliché. Shen Feng felt that someone was deliberately pranking them, so he completely disbelieved the content of the message.
However, at that moment, Chang Jianyi nervously tugged at Shen Feng's sleeve and pointed at the people on the street, saying, "Shen Feng, look quickly, what's wrong with these people? Why are they standing so still?"
Shen Feng followed the direction his senior pointed and saw a bizarre scene. The pedestrians on the street had, at some point, discarded their umbrellas and were standing blankly in the middle of the street. Rainwater poured down from the sky, and the skin of these people gradually turned gray and white, completely devoid of color, making them look like walking dead.
The change in these people was too rapid. What were once living individuals suddenly became people with gray-white skin and vacant eyes, like salted fish that had lost their dreams, completely devoid of vitality.
As Shen Feng prepared to look closer, he heard a scream not far away: "Ah... Help me..."
The two looked in the direction of the scream and saw a group of gray-white-skinned people surrounding a burly man in the center. Blood flowed down, and these people were devouring the man. Seeing the man's breath growing weaker, Shen Feng thought of something ominous! Could the earlier text message be true? Could people really turn into zombies after getting rained on?
With this thought, Shen Feng's heart instantly tensed. He looked at the crowd on the street. So many people had been rained on, at least several hundred. If they all turned into zombies, wouldn't that be a disaster? So, he grabbed his senior's hand and said, "Let's run!"
Shen Feng had watched the Resident Evil series, so he was naturally familiar with zombies. Therefore, to survive, they could only stay away from zombies!
Unexpectedly, Shen Feng and his senior's escape instantly alerted the motionless zombies on the street. In an instant, dozens of gray-white-skinned zombies surrounded them, ready to enjoy their meal. At this time, the two were moving under the eaves, and to avoid getting rained on, their movement space was greatly reduced, forcing them to shelter under the eaves. Yet, the street was full of zombies, making escape a hellish difficulty.
Shen Feng, holding his senior's hand, ran continuously. Suddenly, two zombies emerged from a children's clothing store ahead, blocking their path. These two seemed to be store clerks. Although they hadn't been rained on, they had still turned into zombies! Shen Feng didn't have time to think. He kicked one zombie away and pushed the other down before continuing to charge forward.
At this moment, seeing that he could easily push away the zombies, Shen Feng felt a bit more at ease. These zombies' strength and speed didn't seem to be much. Escaping should not be difficult. Earlier, in his panic, Shen Feng thought zombies were like the frenzied animals in movies. However, upon calming down and observing, these zombies were not fast, nor were they strong. The burly man who was being devoured earlier was caught because he had walked into the crowd.
This meant that as long as they weren't caught by zombies, as long as they weren't bitten by zombies, there was no danger.
Just then, Chang Jianyi said anxiously, "Shen Feng, there's no cover ahead. How do we run?"
It turned out that the two had run hard, avoiding many zombies under the eaves. However, the street had reached its end. If they continued forward, they would likely get rained on.
Shen Feng looked at the senior student beside him. She had specifically worn a short-sleeved shirt and jeans for going out today, and her fair arms were exposed. If they rushed out, she would definitely get rained on. Thinking of this, Shen Feng immediately took off his jacket and covered his senior's head, saying, "Keep running?"
Chang Jianyi passively followed Shen Feng forward. Touching the jacket on her head, she felt a sense of security. However, after leaving the street, she noticed that on the road not far away, lonely zombies were still wandering around. Her heart suddenly leaped; it seemed the number of zombies was too large!
Shen Feng was also dumbfounded. With so many zombies, where could they run? It seemed no matter where they ran, it was a dead end!
Fortunately, at this moment, a large iron gate not far away opened, and a man in overalls shouted, "Hey, young couple, hurry in! If you don't want to die, come over!"
Shen Feng quickly brought his senior inside. The zombies followed slowly from behind. Before they reached the gate, the large iron gate suddenly closed. The zombies, having lost their targets, had no choice but to continue wandering on the street.
After rushing through the iron gate, Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi had the opportunity to observe their surroundings. They saw packages of various sizes on the ground, and only then did they realize this place was a courier sorting center. Behind the iron gate was a spacious hall, and the conveyor belts were still running, but no one was sorting packages anymore.
There were about a dozen people in the sorting center. Eight of them were employees, all wearing work uniforms. The rest were people who had run in to shelter from the rain. However, the pedestrians on the street had suddenly turned into zombies, and everyone was trapped here.
A woman began to cry sadly, "What do we do now? The zombies outside are eating people. Will we be eaten too?"
The man beside her quickly comforted her, "It's okay. Didn't we just receive a text message? The government will definitely rescue us. Maybe these zombies will be cleared out in a few days."
Hearing them say this, Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi also remembered something and quickly opened their phones to go online. The internet was full of discussions about zombies. It turned out that zombies had appeared not only in their city but also in other cities. Upon closer inspection, even cities abroad had zombies. The web pages flashed red, indicating that this crisis was global, not just a situation in one or two cities.
As Chang Jianyi was carefully observing the web pages, Shen Feng suddenly leaned on her. Then, he slowly slumped down, murmuring, "Senior, I'm so hot, I want to sleep."
Chang Jianyi was startled by her junior's reaction. She quickly bent down and hugged Shen Feng, asking with concern, "Shen Feng, Shen Feng, what's wrong with you?"
However, Shen Feng could not answer at this moment. His eyes were closed, and he mumbled, "Senior, I'm so hot."
Chang Jianyi quickly touched her junior's forehead and found it to be abnormally hot. Only then did she remember that he had taken off his jacket to cover her head earlier, but he himself had been soaked by the heavy rain. If the text message was to be believed, didn't that mean her junior had been infected by the virus and was about to turn into a zombie?
"Shen Feng, don't scare me, I'm very timid," Chang Jianyi said softly, looking at the junior in her arms. With zombies everywhere now, if it weren't for her junior's protection earlier, she might have been eaten or even infected and turned into a zombie. She had been able to rely on her junior, but now that her junior had a fever, she was at a loss.
Just then, a middle-aged man in a suit spoke, "That kid got wet from the rain, he'll definitely turn into a zombie. Hurry and send him outside, or we'll all die!"
As soon as he said this, others began to chime in, "Yes, throw him out, don't drag us down!"
"I think both of them are unsafe. Why don't we throw both of them out?"
"That's right, both of them might have been rained on, neither is safe!"
The crowd spoke with righteous indignation, all accusing Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi, as if they had done something unforgivable, and this place could no longer accommodate them. However, no one stepped forward; they all sat in their places and accused, as accusing anyone was easy, but when it came to taking action, such accusations became powerless.