Episode 6
1019 Words
A prison overrun by zombies
A few hours ago...
When Adam emerged from the darkness of the prison and climbed to the observation tower, gazing at the scene outside, he was utterly frozen in disbelief.
What he beheld caused his mind to spiral into chaos. For a fleeting minute or two, he stood on the watchtower, staring blankly at the world before him.
He could not comprehend why, after merely falling asleep, as if recovering from a fever, he awoke to find everything in disarray. Everything had undergone a bizarre transformation.
Where had all the inmates gone? Adam puzzled over the mystery of their disappearance—why was there not a single soul left? Not even the criminals or the guards could be found!?
Even if some tragic incident had befallen the prison, the chaotic state of affairs suggested that something significant had compelled a hasty exodus of numerous individuals.
Yet, if that were the case, why had they not taken him along? Even if he had fallen ill and lost consciousness, it was inconceivable that they would abandon him. He was indeed a convict, but convicts still possess human rights; under normal circumstances, the prison authorities would never forsake him.
But why had they left him behind during the complete evacuation?
However, all his confusion began to crystallize as he surveyed the devastation outside; he couldn't quite articulate it, but somehow, he sensed an understanding dawning within him.
He grasped why the prison was suddenly deserted, why he had been cast aside, and why such monumental changes had unfolded.
In that moment, standing on the observation platform, gazing upon the city, he comprehended...
The entire city was shrouded in thick, black smoke, flames flickered in various locations, and sporadic explosions echoed through the air. It resembled a scene plucked from the last ten minutes of the nightly news broadcast from war-torn Middle Eastern nations, which used to air at seven o'clock sharp on AV TV.
The city appeared as if it had just endured a bombardment, now reduced to ruins...
Adam could scarcely believe his eyes. Though his homeland was rife with various forms of injustice and darkness, how could such a sight manifest before him?
"Has America attacked?" was his immediate thought.
Yet, he quickly dismissed the notion. The President and Congress would never be foolish enough to initiate such an act. Engaging in war with his homeland would yield them no benefits. Moreover, unlike his country, the American populace would vehemently oppose any military action.
So then, what on earth was happening...?
Suddenly, a sound akin to a beast tearing into its prey reached Adam's ears. The noise was alarmingly close and crystal clear.
"Is that a tiger? Or perhaps a lion?" The sound was unmistakably that of a carnivore feasting.
But this was a city! How could wild beasts be present? Even the animals from the nearby zoo were deprived of their teeth, and the closest zoo was quite a distance away.
Instinctively, Adam's eyes followed the direction of the sound, and his pupils widened in horror, then shrank in shock...
In the prison yard, once a recreation area for inmates, a man in a police uniform lay sprawled on the ground. Before him, a woman in a police uniform, drenched in blood, lay lifeless on the ground. Furthermore, across the expansive yard, numerous bodies lay strewn about, all covered in blood...
If it were only this, Adam would not have been so frightened; the true terror gripped him when he realized he was witnessing the aftermath of something far worse. Had he not instinctively grasped the wall beside him, he might have collapsed in fear...
For someone who had grown up in a peaceful environment, the sight of so many corpses was a staggering blow. It was evident that the deceased were inmates and guards alike.
Yet, it was not merely the bodies that horrified him; it was the sight of the man in the police uniform, who was...
"Ugh..." Adam could not suppress a wave of nausea. However, his stomach was empty save for acid.
He had never anticipated that the male officer would be kneeling on the ground, bloodied hands tearing at the flesh of the fallen female officer, shoving the pieces into his mouth!
While the notion of beasts devouring humans was frightening, it paled in comparison to the grotesque spectacle before him...
"What... what has happened?" Adam covered his mouth, instinctively sensing something was amiss. A primal fear gripped him, rendering him mute.
The male officer continued his gruesome feast, and Adam recognized the lifeless female officer, once a celebrated beauty among the prison guards, now reduced to nothing but fodder...
Adam was bewildered; what had transpired? How had cannibalism become a reality? Were the other mangled corpses strewn about victims of the same fate?
Despite his fear, Adam cautiously leaned forward to peer at the gruesome scene, struggling to suppress his revulsion.
To his horror, he noticed that the corpses lying nearby began to stir! One by one, they reanimated, like zombies, slowly advancing towards the feasting officer.
"What is happening? Weren't they dead?!" Many bore fatal wounds, impossible to survive! And yet their appearance was disturbingly unnatural!
Suddenly, Adam's pupils constricted once more...
He beheld a corpse that was missing its lower half moving forward...
"What on earth is happening? What is going on?!" Tears of terror threatened to spill from his eyes.
The moving corpses began to claw at the flesh of the deceased female officer, ravenously stuffing it into their mouths! Even the half-body corpse was doing the same!
Corpses can move? They can eat people? Adam realized with chilling certainty that the male officer had also been among those corpses! But what had occurred? What had transpired?
A familiar sensation reverberated in Adam's mind, as though memories long buried were resurfacing. Moving corpses, corpses that could devour the living...
"Zombies!?" Adam recalled a film from a few years ago, which had depicted precisely...
Just as disbelief washed over him at the surreal events unfolding before his eyes, the male officer suddenly turned to face him...
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