Yan Shi walked down the deserted street, holding a brightly packaged bag of instant noodles in one hand. The cars that used to line the road and compete for space were all gone. Eight or ten grocery stores and supermarkets in the vicinity had been robbed clean.

Crows and vultures circled over the city, and occasionally cats and dogs could be seen, but they dared not come out during the day. Even if they managed to snatch some meat and bones from the zombies, they could not escape the pursuit of humans, since in the eyes of humans, they were also food.

It's been a month. No one's coming in or out. Once the food runs out, not only humans, but even zombies won't survive. Being left to fend for themselves is the outcome arranged for the survivors of Huai City.

As Yan Shi reached the corner, a zombie ran into view, probably drawn by the scent of humans, baring its teeth and claws as it charged straight at Yan Shi.

Even though Yan Shi often saw zombies, he couldn't help but take a step back in fright. The instant noodles in his arms fell to the ground, and one of the bags was stepped on by this guy. Several white worms fell from the exposed flesh and bones on his leg, which made Yan Shi shudder. It was too disgusting.

Even if she wasn't the one who ate that bag of instant noodles, she didn't have the courage to pick it up again.

Enraged, Yan Shi stretched out his left hand, removed his glove, spread his fingers to reveal a black hole the size of a fingernail in his palm, and shoved it in front of the zombie's face. A gust of wind swept by, and the zombie was gone. A crystal-clear pebble fell to the ground, and at the same time, the smell of rotting corpses filled the air.

Yan Shi bent down to pick up the pebbles and put them in her bag. Two crows cawed not far away, as if accusing her of ruining their food.

Yan Shi shook her hands, put on her gloves, and the smell in the air immediately lessened considerably. She couldn't stand this smell the most; her original hunger vanished, and she had no appetite, even though her stomach felt empty.

"Why did it take so long today? Ugh, it smells awful! Did you eat zombies again?" The girl complained, covering her mouth and nose as she reached out to take the food from Yan Shi's arms.

"Stop talking. You're beholden to someone who feeds you. How can you be so shameless?" someone retorted.

"That's true, and besides, she's not hungry. Why don't we go stand outside and let the smell dissipate? We can't eat here either." The girl who spoke first gave a sharp look at Yan Shi.

After hearing this, Yan Shi looked around at the people in the room, then let go of his arm, and the things in his arms fell to the ground with a clatter. He then turned and left.

"What kind of attitude is that?!" The girl who had spoken earlier raised her voice.

"You could shut up a bit. What good does it do you to keep bashing her? What if she kicks you the bucket one day and you have nothing to eat?"

"I... I just can't stand her being so arrogant all day long."

"Then don't look anymore. Once she's gone, you go out and find food."

The girl chickened out and fell silent.

Soon, the smell of instant noodles wafted from the room. Yan Shi sat by the roadside, listening to the voices coming from inside the room, feeling out of place.

After an unknown amount of time, Yan Shi noticed a crow perched on a pillar beside him.

"Did you find us by following the scent?"

The crow tilted its head and looked at her.

"Want to come with me? You'll always have something to eat."

The crow spread its wings, then folded them back and began preening its feathers.

Whether the crow understood or not, it flew in the air and followed Yan Shi when he was running, and it would perch on a telephone pole when Yan Shi stopped. For a moment, Yan Shi had the illusion that it was accompanying him.

That night, Yan Shi had another dream, but it wasn't too scary. Having survived a zombie's close-up attack, she usually didn't even blink at minor incidents. It just reminded her of the day she turned into this ghostly figure.

On July 15, Yan Shi entered the store just in time as usual. She had just changed her clothes when she saw the cleaning lady suddenly collapse on the ground and convulse. The young woman in her twenties had never seen anything like this before and was flustered and at a loss.

She had just taken out her phone and hadn't even dialed 120 yet when the aunt stopped moving. She stood on tiptoe and looked for a long time but couldn't tell if she was alright or if she was dying.

Yan Shi wasn't one to meddle; he lacked first-aid knowledge and savings, so getting involved would only be a hindrance. However, out of humanitarian concern, he felt it wouldn't be right to do nothing.

She didn't dare get too close, but unexpectedly, the aunt suddenly sat up, her mouth twitching as she stood up and headed straight for Yan Shi.

Yan Shi knew immediately that this was not a good thing, so she ran towards the store. The more anxious she was, the more trouble she caused. She slipped and fell, and before she could get up, her aunt was already in front of her.

She tried to block with her arm, but the aunt bit her left forearm, and the pain brought tears to her eyes immediately.

The security guards came over when they heard the noise, first pulling the woman away and then asking her what happened after they had her under control.

Yan Shi gave a brief explanation, and then called his boss to repeat it.

Whether I go to the hospital or not is another matter, but I definitely can't go to work, so the boss has to arrange for someone to cover my shift.

The wound was burning and painful. It was summer, and everyone was wearing short sleeves. There was no resistance at all, and the wound bit down hard. I have to say, the aunt has really good teeth. I don't know how deep the wound is, but blood was gushing out of the four dents where the canine tooth was, and it hadn't clotted for a while.

On the way to the hospital by taxi, she was involved in a chain-reaction rear-end collision. She witnessed the driver being bitten on the neck as soon as he got out of the car, with blood splattering everywhere. If it weren't for the glass, she would definitely have turned into a "strawberry-flavored" mess.

For a moment, Yan Shi didn't know what to do. She opened her phone and found that similar situations were trending on social media. But she calmed down. The worst that could happen was death. She just hoped that her older brother and sister would bite her accurately, preferably right on her artery, instead of biting her bit by bit. That would hurt her to death.

After a moment of random thoughts, I heard my phone beep. It was a text message asking citizens to take refuge nearby and listing several refuge points, one of which was only a few hundred meters away from where I was.

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