Mutation

I trembled as I carefully carried the bowl of bitter Chinese medicine to my mother-in-law, a mix of apprehension and duty swirling within me. As she took a sip, her face contorted into a grimace of disgust. With a loud crash, the bowl flew from her hands, the scalding liquid splattering across my face like a hot slap. I recoiled, instinctively shielding my eyes from the pain and humiliation. “Are you hiding now?” she screeched, her voice sharp enough to cut through my shame. “Didn’t I tell you to let it cool before serving?” “Mom, you specifically said to bring it right after I finished brewing…” I attempted to defend myself, but my words were lost in her tirade. “Still have the nerve to talk back, do you?” she barked. “Get back in there and brew another batch. I swear you’re trying to poison me.” As I bent down to pick up the shattered pieces of the bowl, her voice followed me like a dark cloud. “You useless hen that hasn’t laid an egg in ten years.” Once outside, I couldn’t help but laugh—a bitter, hollow sound that echoed in the empty hallway. Because this scene? It was a memory of a life I had already left behind. Yes, I had died once. In that past life, after enduring her harsh words and scalding failures, I had returned to brew more medicine and then rushed to the hospital for fertility shots. The pressure to conceive weighed heavily on me. My husband, Liang Zhiyong, had quietly warned me that if I couldn’t bear a child soon, the Liang family line would come to an end. He was the last male heir in a family with a legacy of three generations. Days later, while driving back from the supermarket after stocking up on supplies, I stepped outside to find the streets teeming with blood-soaked creatures, gnawing at anything that moved. Panic gripped my heart as I rushed home to warn my family. They were just as frantic, urging me to venture out once more to gather supplies. Their reasoning? I was accustomed to shopping and could do it faster. Reluctantly, I complied, hoarding everything I could find. Then, to my surprise, Zhiyong suggested we let a mother and daughter living downstairs stay with us for a while. “They need a place to stay,” he explained. “Their landlord is kicking them out. It’s tough for a widow and her child. We should help them until things settle down.” Soft-hearted as always, I agreed, unaware of the chaos that would soon unfold. But then I caught them—two women sneaking into the bathroom, their hushed whispers dripping with intimacy. I was paralyzed with shock and betrayal. Later, the younger woman turned to Zhiyong and asked coyly, “How long have we been married?” “Don’t worry, I’ve spoken to Dr. Zhu,” he assured her. “In a few days, her surgery will fail…” “What does that mean for us?” she pressed. “Sweetheart, when the surgery fails, she’ll feel guilty and ask for a divorce. Then the house and car will be ours—everything will belong to the Liang family,” he explained with a sinister calm. “Why would Dr. Zhu help you?” she asked, brow furrowed. “Ha! He’s my cousin. The eggs harvested from her? Already sold on the black market,” he laughed, a glint of cruelty in his eyes. The woman giggled, “Zhiyong, you’re so clever!” “Of course, it’s all for you and our child,” he replied, his words laced with deception. My heart sank, realization crashing over me like a tidal wave. The three-year-old boy I had loved was not just my husband’s son—he was his illegitimate child! For three long years, I had been living a lie. Rage boiled within me, and I grabbed a kitchen knife, pounding on the bathroom door, my mind consumed with thoughts of vengeance. I just wanted to end them both. But as a frail woman, weakened and swollen from the hormone injections, I couldn’t break through. Zhiyong easily overpowered me. My mother-in-law rushed in, her mocking voice like poison. “What gives you the right to kill my son, you barren hen?” The younger woman added, her tone dripping with disdain, “You’re lucky Zhiyong hasn’t kicked you out yet.” I felt like an animal as they bound me and tossed me into the storage room, their laughter echoing in my ears. Then, the world changed in an instant. A widespread outbreak of a zombie virus began to spread, and the undead soon invaded our home. The once safe halls of the Liang household filled with their howls, each sound a reminder of my impending doom. In the midst of chaos, the mistress proposed a grotesque idea: to throw me outside to feed the zombies, a plan to save food for themselves. Without hesitation, my mother-in-law and Zhiyong agreed. As I was bound and thrown outside, I felt my heart plunge into despair. The sight of the ravenous zombies surging toward me was the last thing I saw before the darkness enveloped me, their claws reaching out to tear me apart.