Zombie Virus Outbreak

Ye Zhao snapped back to reality from that profound scene. A virus carrier? Zombies? They were going to seal off City X?

This was truly dire.

Ye Zhao took out her wallet, which contained a bank card, an ID, and over two hundred yuan in cash. Her X-Messenger account had one thousand yuan. After asking a classmate for directions, she headed straight for the school exit, put on a mask, and used her phone to hail a taxi.

She intended to leave City X before the virus fully broke out.

The suburbs were safer than the city center.

As she ran toward the school gate, she saw several security guards in uniform rushing into the campus. A few steps later, she saw several police cars driving in. Ye Zhao could clearly feel the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere in the air, and she managed to slip out of the school gate just before it was sealed!

Sure enough, the security guards received orders to lock the gate, allowing entry but no exit.

News of a person capable of shooting fireballs appearing on the X University campus had also gone viral. Although several videos were uploaded to the internet and sparked much discussion, they were quickly suppressed. The official X University website soon issued a debunking statement, and the incident ultimately became nothing more than a "clickbait stunt."

When Ye Zhao reached the gate, the taxi hadn't arrived yet. Conveniently, there was a supermarket and a pharmacy outside. Just in case, she went into the supermarket and scanned everything in sight—bread, beef jerky, canned goods, biscuits, alcohol, oil, and grain were all scanned. She also picked up a few bags of biscuits, bread, and bottles of cola to avoid suspicion, and luckily, she managed to buy a city map.

Just as she was checking out, she unexpectedly ran into two other Players.

At this moment, in her eyes, Players were nothing but fat sheep carrying massive treasures!

"So annoying. If only I'd drawn a Storage Space; how am I supposed to carry all this stuff?" a girl's complaining voice drifted over. Ye Zhao didn't turn her head, instead moving silently toward the girl.

The man said, "Stop complaining and hurry up and buy food that can be eaten directly! Grab more canned goods and water!"

The woman pouted and grabbed a few bags of biscuits. The man added, "I checked online just now. A new type of flu is spreading globally. Most people who get infected have persistent high fevers, so I suspect it's a pandemic virus. Hurry, let's go buy some medicine next door!"

Ye Zhao also noticed that most people passing by were wearing masks and coughing incessantly. She adjusted the mask on her face and moved closer to the pair.

The woman said, "Fine... Wow, this world actually has Dove chocolate, too. Let's take a few boxes. I wonder if it tastes the same?"

"Everything in this world feels so real, like it's actually happening..."

What a pity; Ye Zhao didn't scan any game items on them.

After checking out, she quickly grabbed her shopping bags and left the supermarket, rushing to the pharmacy next door. She walked around the shelves, scanning, scanning, and scanning everything. Once finished, she still bought some trauma medicine, fever reducers, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics. As she left the pharmacy, she bumped into the two Players again. Facing their suspicious and probing gazes, Ye Zhao walked past without looking aside.

Just then, the taxi driver called. She quickly got into the car and scanned the taxi while she was at it.

Scan successful: Create Taxi*1, Creation Points required: 1.

"Driver, I'm in a rush, please hurry! I'll pay extra!"

Because she hadn't bought much—the total cost was under five hundred yuan—she tucked some of it into her Storage Space after putting the bags on the back seat, then made a show of stuffing the rest into her backpack, leaving only a bottle of mineral water out to avoid suspicion.

Who would have thought that not long after the car pulled away, an SUV in the right lane suddenly swerved and slammed into the car in front. The two vehicles collided with a deafening crash. "Damn it!" the taxi driver's face changed drastically as he cursed. His emergency braking was useless, and with a loud bang, they slammed into the wreckage too!

Ye Zhao had been fully focused on searching for news about the virus online, and she was left dizzy and disoriented by the impact. Before she could recover, their taxi was struck again—the car behind them had rear-ended them!

Ye Zhao: ...

Lord Ghost Messenger, save me!

The airbag deployed. The taxi driver clutched his aching chest and head, asking, "Little sister, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." The accident wasn't too severe. Ye Zhao held her head and got out of the car, terrified that another hit would send her to the afterlife.

"Good if you're fine. Get out first and hide on the side of the road." The taxi driver stepped out and walked toward the two cars ahead, cursing as he went.

The taxi driver kept knocking on the window of the swerving SUV, but no one opened it. Someone tried to force the window to check the situation, but just then, the door was pushed open. A man with a twisted expression tumbled out, lunged at the taxi driver nearest to him, and bit down. A scream rang out as a large chunk of flesh was torn from the taxi driver's face!

Ye Zhao shuddered, her groggy head instantly clearing!

"Ah! What's wrong with you?"

"Damn, is that rabies?"

"This is terrifying, call the police!"

"Where are the police!"

Following that first scream, as if it were a signal, several more loud booms, explosions, and cries of agony erupted. The once orderly road instantly descended into chaos. Vehicles crashed into each other at random, traffic was completely paralyzed, and people ran from their cars in a panic. "Help!"

"People are being eaten!"

"Zombies, it's zombies!"

"My son is being eaten, save my child—"

"Help, someone save me!!"

Seeing the chaos erupting all around, Ye Zhao snapped out of her shock. The virus had broken out so quickly! She didn't dare hesitate, shouldering her backpack and sprinting away.

Everything was in turmoil now. Pedestrians on the road were either suddenly going mad and eating people, screaming as they fled, or collapsing on the ground in tears. Everywhere Ye Zhao looked was chaos and blood, her ears filled with screams and pleas for help.

She forced herself to run despite the terror, even managing to save a random passerby who was being pinned to the ground by a zombie and crying in despair. She kicked the zombie away, but she didn't have the luxury of caring whether the person on the ground could stand up. She scanned a shared bike parked on the side of the road and pedaled frantically toward the outskirts of the city.

She didn't dare look back, nor could she afford too much sympathy. Right now, she just wanted to leave City X as soon as possible.

However, the chaos was severe. Even the bicycle couldn't keep her path clear, and she occasionally encountered zombies that lunged at her regardless of the obstacles. Eventually, she had to abandon the bike and run on foot.

The zombies chased her, but she quickly shook them off, causing them to lose their target and wander off toward other sounds.

Human stamina is limited, after all. Ye Zhao was soon panting heavily, her clothes soaked with sweat. The situation around her grew increasingly chaotic. Several times, she saw police officers trying to maintain order only to be tackled by zombies; the scene was incredibly gruesome, and the terrified, agonizing screams around her pushed her nerves to the breaking point.

She looked around; there was chaos everywhere. There was almost nowhere left that was safe...