C2 A Zombie Appeared!

Shen Faang tapped into his full potential and made a split-second decision, lunging at the zombie on the edge. He swiftly buckled the belt around its neck and pulled with all his might. Instantly, the other two zombies paused, then erupted into action, charging at him and tugging fiercely.

One zombie hastily tore off its mask, revealing a healthy, human face:

"Shen Faang, have you lost your mind? Release Lin Hao now, or you'll strangle him to death!"

"Ziqing? You're still alive... Come quickly, together we can handle these two..." Shen Faang's words were cut short as the other two zombies also removed their masks, revealing faces he knew well. His expression swiftly changed from joy to utter disbelief.

An almost impossible thought flashed through Shen Faang's mind. His grip loosened involuntarily, and he pinched himself hard, staring blankly at the trio as if he had just traveled through time.

"Brothers, what's the date today?"

"Damn, Shen Faang, what's gotten into you today? Weren't we all set for a zombie party? Why have you suddenly turned into this, almost strangling me with that belt?" The zombie before Shen Faang seized the moment as Shen Faang's grip weakened and darted away. He yanked the belt from his neck, gasping for air, his face contorted in anger as he spat out curses.

Zombie party?

At the mention of those words, Shen Faang's eyes bulged. Without offering any explanation, he frantically rummaged in front of the three until he found a cellphone.

Sure enough!

The time displayed on the cellphone screen caused Shen Faang's heart to clench. After a prolonged silence, he finally stirred. His usually nimble fingers awkwardly tapped the screen, dialing a number deeply etched in his memory.

*Beep! Beep!*

A series of beeps rang out, causing both Shen Faang's heart and those of his companions to hang in suspense. They watched him, completely at a loss, not understanding what had come over Shen Faang. They had never seen him with such an expression before.

Something major must have happened!

The same thought simultaneously struck all three of them, and the subsequent events only confirmed their suspicions.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is not answering. Please..." A sweet female voice came through the handset, but to Shen Faang, it sounded as terrifying as a death knell.

Sweat beaded densely on Shen Faang's forehead. He hastily dialed another number, only to be met with the same lack of response.

In a moment of panic, Shen Faang felt as if the world was on the brink of collapse, frantically redialing the two numbers. Meanwhile, the others looked on in confusion. Seizing the moment, Lin Hao, the zombie Shen Faang had previously injured, quickly jumped down from the water tower and hauled up half a case of Budweiser from the rooftop.

Thankfully, the next sound on the phone wasn't the incessant beeping but a voice tinged with age. "Hello?" came the voice, oddly mixed with anxious breathing, as if the speaker was evading pursuit.

Shen Faang's nerves instantly tensed. He leaped to his feet:

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Fang?" The voice on the other end surged with emotion.

But before he could finish, another voice cut in: "Son, listen to your mom. Cancel your ticket home for the day after tomorrow, and don't come back for a while! There's been a serious incident in our city..."

Shen Faang's anxiety skyrocketed. He was about to respond when yet another person took over the call, cutting off his words. Hearing his father's message, Shen Faang's face registered utter disbelief.

A fierce wind whipped up, tearing at Shen Faang's tattered clothes and pushing his bangs back sharply, the gusts painful against his eardrums.

But Shen Faang couldn't focus on anything but the phone call:

"Dad, what do you mean? Zombies in our city?"

In an unexpected twist, the words Shen Faang intended to say were spoken by his father, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded. The three bystanders were even more bewildered, completely lost as to what was being discussed on the other end of the line.

Shen Faang pulled his phone away from his ear.

Having survived nearly five years in the apocalypse in his previous life, he had developed a calm and swift problem-solving approach, even under extreme stress. As the phone screen lit up, Shen Faang checked the time and activated the speakerphone, motioning for the others to gather around quickly.

"Son, listen to me. Tonight, while your dad and I were out shopping, we saw a very strange person burst out and bite into a woman, tearing off a chunk of her flesh. At first, your dad and I thought it was a film shoot, but as more of these people appeared, we realized something was terribly wrong. We hid in the car, terrified. Eventually, the police arrived and eliminated all the zombies on the street, and only then did we make it back home. They even made us swear to keep quiet and not spread the word!"

His mother's voice on the phone was clear, but it left everyone listening in shock.

Shen Faang remembered that the biochemical crisis was supposed to start in seven hours and forty-three minutes, at eight o'clock the next morning. With over seven hours to go, how could zombies already be appearing in Baiyang City?

Could it be that the timing of the crisis had shifted in this life?

With this thought, a wave of intense anxiety surged through Shen Faang. Ignoring the astonished looks from those around him, he quickly instructed,

"Dad, Mom, I called to discuss this very issue. You need to start gathering supplies immediately. Dad, work through the night to weld all the scrap metal in the warehouse onto the doors and windows. It's crucial that you both stay inside and not leave the house for any reason. And no matter who asks, do not open the door! Wait for me to come and get you."

There was a moment of silence, both in the room and on the phone.

Suddenly, everyone sensed something unexplainable about Shen Faang, as if he had transformed into someone else entirely.

"Faang, don't worry about your mom and me. We've already stocked up on plenty of supplies on our way home. I'm going to sort through the warehouse right now. Let's just hope all our worries are for nothing, because if not... what will become of this world..." His father's voice was heavy with concern.