1 001: Darkness strikes

December 20th, 2016.

"Would you take me seriously if I suddenly told you that tomorrow will be the end of the world? That zombies will overrun the streets and drive humanity to extinction?" Xia Junhuang asked her good friend beside her as she drove.

Dong Yun shook her head in amusement. "It seems that those novels have really harmed your mental health. I did tell you to read less of those unhealthy things, but evidently you didn't listen."

"I had no choice." Xia Junhuang curled her lips unconcernedly.

This was not the first time such a situation had happened. Every time she brought up this sensitive topic in front of Dong Yun, she would always receive a lecture.

"Recently, I've felt the urge to write a post-apocalyptic novel. This warning of mine, wouldn't you believe it if I, your best friend, was the one telling you? This is a very important point for the opening of my book, so you have to consider it carefully."

Junhuang practically ordered Dong Yun, giving her no time to change the subject. However, though she was asking for Dong Yun's opinion, Junhuang had already drafted the entire outline of her novel and was ready to begin writing. This inevitably affected her judgement about her novel's opening.

Dong Yun saw that Junhuang really wanted to know, so she no longer discouraged her. She thought seriously for a while before sincerely responding, "No, I would probably just think that you were under the influence."

"Is that so..." Junhuang was not willing to give up and continued to ask, "then what if I told you the entire process in detail?"

Dong Yun was silent for a while before saying, "I would feel a sense of crisis from the bottom of my heart, but I still would not take any action."

Hearing this, Junhuang had no choice but to give up. It seemed like she could only change the plot of her novel.

After returning home, Xia Junhuang slept until she woke up naturally. Because it was Saturday, she didn't have to go to work. However, what surprised and shocked her was that it was pitch black outside.

Xia Junhuang wondered if she had underestimated the passage of time. She picked up her phone in confusion and looked at the display: 2016, 12/21. 12:30 p.m.

That's right, it was noon. Why was it still completely dark outside?

Xia Junhuang was beginning to feel afraid. She shouted loudly, "Mom... did you realize that dawn hasn't come yet?" As she said that, she hurriedly put on her clothes and ran to her parents' bedroom...

Duan Yunyun laughed and said, "Are you sleepwalking?" However, when she turned around, she also found that it was pitch black outside the window. Nevertheless, she still picked up her phone in disbelief. When she looked, it was approaching one o'clock in the afternoon.

Xia Junhuang pursed her lips. "See, I'm not lying to you. Your daughter is not that 'humorous.' "

Duan Yunyun rolled her eyes speechlessly and got up. "Hurry up and call the others to ask what's going on."

Xia Junhuang nodded and picked up the phone to make a call. Colleagues, friends, family, she ended up calling all of them. The result was the same: no one knew what was going on. The sky still hadn't brightened.

A few colleagues who often went online even joked that tens of thousands of comments had been posted online in the morning. They all said that since the end of the world did not happen in 2012, could it instead be occurring in 2016? The original prediction was that beginning December 22, 2012, the world would enter an era of darkness lasting three days; however, such an event did not occur. Could it be that there was a mistake in the calculations and the prediction was actually for 2016?

After hearing this, Xia Junhuang could not understand why, but she was suddenly gripped by a bad premonition. She tried hard to suppress the sudden panic in her heart. Walking to the living room, she turned on the television. Sure enough, there was news explaining what was going on today.

"After investigation, it has been discovered that an unknown presence has blocked the orbit of the solar system, causing the day to be unable to break. This situation is expected to last for about three days."

Upon hearing this, the panic in Xia Junhuang's heart larger and larger. After all, when she had nothing to do, she often spent her time reading online novels, especially apocalyptic stories about the end of the world.

Just like that, she spent the rest of the day in a state of unrest. Nothing strange happened, but she could not bring herself to completely relax. A sense of unease lingered in her heart.

At noon the next day, while Xia Junhuang was still feeling uneasy, Duan Yunyun had already washed up, changed her clothes, and was ready to leave.

"Mom, it's so dark outside and you still want to go out?" Xia Junhuang called out to her mother before she left. Whenever she felt uneasy, she would not want her parents to leave her sight. Even if she happened to be at work, she would still immediately call to greet them.

It did not matter if they said that she was being paranoid or that she was too nervous. Her parents were her weakness. She could lose everything but she could not lose her parents. This mindset was also why she was destined to not fly far.

Duan Yunyun seemed to have noticed that Xia Junhuang's expression was not too good. There was even a hint of unease and nervousness. She comforted her daughter in a humorous manner. "You child, it's just nighttime. What's there to be afraid of? It's not like your mother has never gone out at night. You've already locked her up at home for all of yesterday. I'm just going out to see if there's anyone playing Mahjong at night. I'll come back after a while to join in the fun."

In the end, Xia Junhuang could only watch as her mother left the house. She knew that she was unnaturally nervous. However, this time, the unease in her heart did not dissipate but instead grew stronger.

Junhuang was born into an ordinary family with sufficient capital. Though they were not rich, they had enough money to eat, wear, and play. Her mother's health was not good, so she retired early to manage the family business. Her father was a staff member of a state-owned enterprise, so he did not have any ambitions; he only wanted to enjoy a quiet, peaceful life.

As for herself, she had just celebrated her 25th birthday. She was doing a tour in another city, Mingli City, which was closer to her. The treatment was good, and the salary was also decent. Because Mingli City was very close to her home in the city, it only took an hour to drive there by herself. Every time she took a break, she would go home to visit her parents.

She was very glad that she was born into such a warm and harmonious family. Her parents were conservative but still very open-minded. She lived with them on an equal basis; mother and daughter were like friends.

Because she was young, mature, and sensible, this led to her being an optimistic and easy-going person. After all, she had never envied the lives of the rich. Compared to those people, she preferred to live a free life, doing whatever she wanted without restrictions.

Because of this, her parents became the most important thing in her heart. That was why when she saw the car accident, the first thing she thought of was her parents. She had to call them to hear their loud voices before she could rest assured. Additionally, she didn't forget to remind them to pay attention to their safety when crossing the road.

Her mother loved to play Mahjong. Every time her father worked the night shift, she would always turn on her cell phone or call her mother to ask her not to go out. After all, all the members of their family were night owls. It was normal for them to stay up late. She was also used to it. If she went to bed early, she would not be able to sleep comfortably.

Therefore, after Duan Yunyun left, Xia Junhuang had become restless. She was absent-minded in everything she did. She had no choice but to turn on her computer and watch a new comedy movie to distract herself.

Time slowly passed. Just as Xia Junhuang was about to call her mother to come back as soon as possible, her phone rang. The caller ID was "Mommy."

Xia Junhuang pressed the answer button and hurriedly asked, "When are you-"

Before she could say "coming back," she was interrupted by the frightened, trembling voice on the other end of the phone.

"Close the door and don't come out... here... there... will eat people... ah..."

A painful scream made Xia Junhuang jump up from her chair. Her face was pale as she shouted, "Mom? Mom!"

Endless fear filled her heart. She listened to the terrible roar and strange chewing sounds from the phone in a daze. Her mind was blank. The only feeling she felt was coldness—endless, bone-chilling coldness—and a piercing pain in her heart. A terrible scene flashed through her mind, making it difficult for her to even breathe. Her whole body trembled.

Things that can eat people, strange, horrifying screams, and...... the chewing sound that she did not want to recall or think about. She was very familiar with the scene in her mind. She did not expect that the entertainment that she used to enjoy would one day become a reality that made her feel a twisted combination of pain, fear, and shock...

At this moment, her mind was a mess. She wanted to rush out to save her mother, but she could not forget the exhortations that echoed in her ears. She wanted to rush out to see that everything was normal on the street, to confirm that she was overthinking. However, the faint screams outside were conveying to her that it was not a dream. She was not overthinking. The world outside was changing, sinking, and being destroyed...

Trembling, she reached for her phone on the table and dialed a number with blurred vision.

"Hello, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. "

The professional female voice had never given her such a bone-chilling and despondent feeling. Her father's call could not be connected. She did not dare to imagine it anymore. She knew that her father was about to get off work at this time...

When she thought of this, Xia Junhuang almost collapsed to the ground. That kind of desperate struggle in the darkness, that kind of silent cry of unwillingness in despair, that kind of cold and piercing pain in fear. Today, at this moment.. She finally completely and truly experienced it.

The original her was so powerless and laughable, saying that if the end of the world came, she would definitely spend the her last moments with her family and then slowly end her life, because she was not a strong person. She was just a civilian. She only had the courage to commit suicide and did not have the ability to rise up.

Now that she thought about it, how laughable and ignorant were her thoughts? In the sudden disaster, everything was insignificant; all the thoughts were like bubbles.

Suicide meant ending her own life. Could she do it at this moment?

No. From the moment she received her mother's call, she had lost the chance to commit suicide and give up her life. She knew that if it were her mother and father, they would not force her to live, because they knew that miracles only existed in movies. For an ordinary girl like her, who had no strength at all, there were only two options for her. She could stay at home and starve to death, or she could go out and be eaten alive by zombies. The last option was definitely not what they wanted to see.

However, despite her easy-going appearance and good temper, deep down, she was a stubborn person. She was also extremely tenacious.

Her mother had sent her a warning in the end. How could she be willing to die trapped here? She wanted to go out, and even if she died, she wanted to see the corpse. If not, then she wanted to see the person alive. As long as she did not see it with her own eyes, she would not give up any trace of hope!

However, though she wished for the ideal outcome, the reality was cruel. Looking outside the window, she could see the zombies violently chasing the living and cruelly snatching the corpses, and she understood that she was still too naive. She saw zombies running on the ground while in various stages of rot. Nonetheless, she didn't feel weak from fear, despite the fact that she did not have the ability to kill zombies that even ordinary men couldn't escape from, let alone the zombies that were running around in groups.

There was still a day and night tomorrow, so she could afford to wait until daylight arrived. Although she desperately wanted to rush out, she knew that she would definitely become zombie food if she couldn't leave the neighborhood. If that happened, how could she possibly find her mother and father again? Thus, she could only wait, hoping that a miracle would occur during the day...