Rose of the Doomsday

"The world doesn't exist when I close my eyes!" Betty woke up with a burning feeling in her stomach. She sat up, holding her stomach, half-closed her eyes and was dazed. She couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality. The strong hunger made her intestines twitch, and all kinds of senses returned to her body. The stench of dead rats in the house, the dark and low sky outside the window, and the creaking sound of zombies of various shapes stepping on broken glass downstairs made people feel cold to the bone. I picked up the half-full bag of instant noodles from the bedside desk, opened the bag and took a deep breath. The aroma of the food made my saliva secrete quickly, as if I couldn't even smell the stink in the air. I crushed the noodles, put them into my mouth bit by bit and tasted them slowly with the tip of my tongue. Before I knew it, the last noodle stalk disappeared in my mouth. I found a pair of scissors and carefully cut the instant noodle bag open. I licked every bit of the broken noodles with my tongue, rinsed my mouth with mineral water and swallowed it with the residue in my mouth. After drinking the rest of the water, I got out of bed and stood behind the window, watching the zombies wandering around unconsciously on the street. I calculated how many days the remaining food could last, and I couldn't help but think of half a month ago. Betty is an older homebody. Her parents died of cancer one after another, and her younger sister married and moved to another place. She was the only one left at home. She had a quarrel with her boss and resigned to go home. She opened a small restaurant in a city with her friends, but lost money. She was too lazy to go out to find a job. She hung out on novel websites every day with a computer. Her parents left her a storefront to collect rent and she didn't have to worry about food and drink. She lived a comfortable life. She went out once a month to collect rent and buy a month's worth of living supplies. Her weight gradually increased to about 170 pounds, and she lived a simple and low-key life. This year 2012, she turned 34. She didn't take it seriously because there were apocalyptic words everywhere on the Internet. It didn't say that the world would be destroyed in 1999, but she didn't see anything like that! In March, Mount Fuji in Japan erupted in fire, and in the following months, there were fires all over the world, which even caused panic among the people and all kinds of rumors. Then the national leaders issued a televised speech to dispel the rumors, and many experts also tried their best to prove that everything was a natural phenomenon. Since June, the earth has begun to calm down, earthquakes have stopped, volcanoes have subsided, the economy has begun to recover, pork prices have begun to fall, some doomsday websites have been closed, and life has begun to be better, but she is still just eating and waiting to die. December 21, 2012 has passed, and nothing has happened. Those doomsday forums have also been silent. Only some newbies are complaining that they can't finish the rice and cabbage they bought at home. The least they bought was several thousand kilograms, and the compressed biscuits on the market have also increased in price. On December 24, 2012, the news reported that a small-scale meteorite group fell in the Pacific Ocean, causing no economic losses. Until 9 am on December 31, 2012, the world changed. Betty was getting ready to go to bed after staying up all night. She felt an indescribable strange smell in the air, so she closed all the doors and windows, took a hot bath, sprayed her sister's expired perfume as air freshener, and slept soundly with the quilt. She got up at 9 o'clock in the evening, ate something, turned on the computer and browsed the novel website. She found that most novels had not been updated. She cursed the author while looking for old books to read. After more than an hour, she found something wrong. Her house was on the main road of the hydropower capital. Although it was far from the city center, cars were always coming and going. The usual roar of cars was endless. She hadn't heard any cars passing by since she got up. Could it be that they were repairing the road? Betty muttered to herself. Suddenly, a scream sounded outside. She was so scared that she shivered and stood barefoot by the window without even wearing shoes and looked outside. Three or four people were squatting together under the streetlight, not knowing what they were doing. Betty took off her glasses and wiped them with her clothes before putting them back on. She looked carefully at those people who seemed to be eating something. The coldness of her feet reminded her that she was still barefoot. She put on her slippers and found a rag to clean the windows that she had been too lazy to clean before. She looked outside and found two legs twitching among the people. Then the person with his back to her sat on the ground. The light from the streetlight shone into the middle of the crowd. A man was lying on his back on the ground with his head tilted to one side. His chest was opened. Two people squatting on the ground were fighting for liver and lungs while feeding them into their mouths. The person sitting on the ground with his back to him was chewing a heart with both hands. Betty's legs went limp and she knelt on the floor tiles. She felt nauseous and her throat itched. She quickly got up from the ground and rushed to the toilet to vomit until her mouth was bitter and she could no longer vomit. After a while, she stood up with the help of the wall, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and rinsed her mouth with a glass of water from the water dispenser. She sat on the ground, and her mind was full of horror movies she had watched before, such as Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead, Cannibal Horror, and Human Meat and Steamed Buns. After sitting for half an hour, she felt better and walked to the window to observe again. The cannibals changed from three to a group, and there were figures walking slowly outside the street lamps. This was so strange under the dim light that he trembled all over, got goose bumps, and felt hairy. Suddenly she thought of the police, and hurriedly found her cell phone to dial. She couldn't remember the number in a panic and was sweating! Betty took a long breath and told herself to stay calm. After a few seconds of calmness, she dialed 911. It was as if God was playing a trick on her, and the line was always busy. Then she called 911 again but still couldn't get through. She called several relatives and friends, but either no one answered or the line was busy. She was so anxious that she wanted to flush the phone into the toilet.