Chapter Six: Ellie!

A guttural, rattling sound echoed through the air. The zombies had spotted Fan Li, and the first to lunge was the woman in the apron. She roared, her bulging eyes bloodshot and wild, teeth grinding with a chilling clatter, like some ravenous wraith crawling from the depths of hell. Just one glance was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

But Fan Li knew this was no time to flee.

If he wanted to survive, he needed food. To get food, the only way was to snatch it from the jaws of death—a vicious cycle. Even if he escaped this time, hunger would eventually drive him out again in search of sustenance.

Rather than drag his weary, starving body out later, it was better to deal with these two now, while he was still in his prime. After all, his chances of victory were greater at this moment.

Fan Li did have a few aces up his sleeve. Compared to those first moments of terror and confusion, the music box from Ellie had granted him a newfound resistance to fear.

“They’re close!”

Fan Li’s focus sharpened to a razor’s edge. Of the two, the woman in the apron posed the greater threat—she was his main target.

“She’s not Aunt Mei anymore. She’s a zombie. A mindless, soulless zombie!”

Fan Li reminded himself, now was no time for mercy. The figure before him was no longer a neighbor who’d once been kind, but a monster who had bitten her own husband to death.

His grip on the hammer tightened. As his senses honed in, his terror at the sight of the zombies faded, replaced by a fierce determination to survive.

The apron-clad zombie drew near; Fan Li could smell the foul stench wafting from her mouth. Without hesitation, he raised the hammer and brought it down on her head.

A crisp crack. Fan Li’s arm went numb from the impact, and the zombie woman crumpled to the floor, her body limp. She seemed to lose all strength to attack, her bloodshot eyes rolling back, limbs shuddering before freezing in a grotesque, rigid spasm.

Congratulations, Host. Title Unlocked: “First Blood.” Without a doubt, you have taken your first step on the path of survival.

The cold, mechanical voice echoed in Fan Li’s mind just as he finished the attack. He barely had time to process it—he’d earned another title, proof that he’d truly killed a zombie with his own hands.

“The TV was right. A zombie’s weakness really is the head!”

Delight surged through him; food felt closer than ever. But before the feeling could settle, a sharp pain shot through his chest, and his body was thrown backward. Before him loomed the zombie teacher, who had been slouched on the sofa. Its head hung low, crashing into Fan Li’s chest.

“I forgot about you!”

Fan Li had been so caught up in the thrill of “First Blood” that he’d neglected the teacher zombie, who’d sat motionless on the sofa. Its disguise had been too perfect—he’d never expected it to attack so suddenly.

Thud! Fan Li crashed hard against the stairwell at the doorway. He tried to retaliate, but the zombie was already upon him.

From this angle, the horror was palpable: the teacher’s neck, previously bitten through by the apron zombie, hung loosely, lacking the support of tendons. Now, as Fan Li looked up, the teacher’s face pressed close—crimson eyes meeting his own. The over-chewed, ruptured cheek oozed putrid blood.

The stench was indescribable, like a basin of rotten fish and shrimp left to ferment for weeks. It was enough to make someone gag from a distance, let alone up close.

Because they were so near, flecks of that foul blood spattered onto Fan Li’s scarf, sending a wave of goosebumps across his skin. He was certain now: once bitten by a zombie, there was no miracle—only a fate worse than a beast.

Terrified of infection, Fan Li mustered all his strength and kicked the teacher away. He snatched up the hammer, ready to finish the job, but his kick had barely moved the zombie—it only staggered back two steps before straightening itself and lunging again.

The hammer slipped from his grip, glancing off the zombie’s shoulder.

“Missed the head!”

Fan Li’s heart dropped. Zombies were far stronger than in life; it swung wildly, a stray blow knocking the hammer from his hand and sending it clattering to the next floor below.

“Damn! I’ve lost my weapon!”

Panicked, Fan Li turned to retrieve it, but the teacher gave him no chance. With a predator’s pounce, it tackled him to the ground, biting frantically. Luckily, Fan Li’s thick down jacket absorbed the first bite—only fabric was torn.

“Get off me!”

This was no longer the teacher he once knew, but a remorseless monster. Fan Li didn’t hold back, swinging his arms and kicking fiercely at the zombie’s chest, desperate to push it away.

A sudden creak of footsteps echoed from the bedroom. Fan Li glanced over and felt as if he’d plunged into an icy abyss, his heart nearly stopping.

Before his eyes stood a girl of sixteen or seventeen, her hair in twin ponytails. But gone was the beauty and innocence that had once been every boy’s first crush. Now, her face was twisted with rage, her body streaked with gore. Even her swaying ponytails were soaked in blood. As Fan Li stared at her, the girl’s crazed gaze locked onto his.

This was the teacher’s daughter.

The whole family—father, mother, and daughter—had been turned.

With the hammer lost downstairs, his bare hands were no match for two zombies.

“I still have the music box!”

Though his resistance to fear kept him from despair, Fan Li knew he was out of options. If the girl got close, she and her father would tear him to pieces.

The girl stepped forward, her ponytails swaying like twin scythes. In Fan Li’s eyes, their innocence had become a death sentence.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures!”

In a surge of adrenaline, Fan Li exploded with strength, kicking the teacher back into the room. Instead of running or rising, he thrust his right hand into his coat and pulled out an ornate music box.

It was a bizarre scene—faced by two hideous zombies, Fan Li lay sprawled on the floor, weaponless, clutching nothing but a girlish music box. Anyone watching would have thought him paralyzed by fear, his mind lost to madness.

But Fan Li had never been more lucid. From the moment he drew the music box, he was gambling with his life.

Click…click…

The sound of the music box winding filled the air. As the two zombies lunged for him, Fan Li’s face flushed red; from deep in his throat, he forced out two words:

“Ellie!”