​​Chapter 1

I worked at a small local accounting firm. The pay was decent, but overtime and business trips were the norm. I lived alone in a loft apartment and had a silver shaded British Shorthair cat.

I received that text message that looked like a blatant prank on Tuesday at noon. I’d just finished a long field assignment, and my boss, in his infinite mercy, had given me a week off.

I parked my SUV in the garage – yeah, I’d bought an SUV back in the day.

​​"Weather shift. 5 days. Zombies."​​

I frowned, swiping open the message. "How ridiculous."

It was still hot in the city at noon in September. After a quick bite outside, I planned to go home, shower, and sleep my fill.

​​"Weather shift. 4.5 days. Zombies."​​

The text came again, this time with a short VCR attached. I clicked it open and felt a wave of nausea. The video was surveillance footage from an office building in the neighboring city. Several "people," with bones visible and flesh hanging loosely, were shuffling at an incredibly unnatural, slow pace.

I spent three minutes thinking.

Then decided to believe it.

It was 3 PM. The sun was blazing, one of those rare days after a torrential downpour the night before. The air felt strange.

First, I went home and took inventory of my food and supplies.

I lived on the 25th floor, the top floor. It was a duplex with no security bars on the windows.

I immediately called a renovation company. Workers came to install security bars on all windows and replace all the glass with bulletproof tempered glass. I also had a fireproof door installed outside my original security door.

Because I paid extra, everything was done by around 5 PM that afternoon.

At home, I had half a bucket of oil, a small bag of rice, and almost no stored food. I had plenty of cat food, though. My water dispenser was almost empty. I chuckled wryly, "No surprise. Without warning, I'd be completely helpless."

The cleaning lady I hired had the whole place spotless in an hour.

At 6 PM, I took the cat to the vet for vaccinations and a bath. While it was being bathed, I bought cat food, canned food, treats, litter, you name it. Enough to last the little master quite a while. It filled the SUV, seats included. I even made two trips.

After dropping off the cat and supplies at home, I headed to Walmart.

It was evening, and Walmart was low on stock, so I just bought out everything they had left: sanitary pads, instant noodles, compressed biscuits, toilet paper, laundry detergent, rice, oil, salt, etc.

The supermarket staff were delighted, all smiles as they delivered a whole truckload of goods right to my door.

But it wasn't enough.

Being a girl, I couldn't just go out like guys could. Staying home was the best protection for me.

At 9 PM, I placed a huge order on JD.com for dozens of barrels of drinking water. They’d arrive tomorrow morning without a hitch.

Water. It was crucial.

At 9:30 PM, I went to the pharmacy and bought out all the essential medicines: anti-inflammatories, alcohol, masks, etc. Some prescription meds the pharmacist was reluctant to sell, but after I slipped them two hundred yuan, they stopped protesting.

At 10 PM, I stood in my living room. Still not enough.

I showered, ready to collapse into exhausted sleep, when my phone buzzed. ​​"Weather shift. 4 days. Zombies."​​

I checked my phone. 00:00. Wednesday.

After double-checking all doors and windows were securely locked, I fell into a deep sleep.

The JD water delivery guy woke me up with a call around 10 AM the next morning.

I jumped out of bed and had the driver stack the water barrels neatly in the guest room, which it almost completely filled. I ignored the driver’s bewildered expression.

I went out again, back to the supermarket. Bought lots of preserved foods and a pile of other edibles: rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, instant noodles, self-heating hotpots... enough to last me a year without leaving the house.

Right. Electricity and water.

I bought out all the power banks at the electronics mall next to the supermarket and had them fully charged before taking them.

I bought thick, heavy blackout curtains and several large household fire extinguishers; bought thermal imaging-blocking wallpaper and pasted it on all the walls; bought several large, deep buckets and filled them with tap water; bought several sets of full-body protective suits with gas masks.

Contacted a friend to help me buy a few prohibited knives, climbing ropes, and harnesses from a black-market shop.

Thinking further, I also bought the most advanced water filter available and installed it in the bathroom.

After all this, a text informed me I had 2.5 days left.

I was eating noodles at the beef noodle shop downstairs, browsing Bilibili on how to tie secure knots and slip knots.

At 8 PM, I went to the bookstore and bought a stack of books I’d always wanted to read but never had time for.

The world might be ending, but I didn’t want to hide at home and become a useless remnant of it.

Since my loft apartment building had one elevator per unit, going straight to my private parking space, and no one could get to my floor without a keycard, I thought it was fairly secure. Still, I bought some extra medicine, food, water, and protective gear to leave in the car. I took the SUV to get the tires reinflated and serviced, filled the tank, and secretly gave the staff two hundred yuan to fill several large bottles with gasoline for me, even throwing in a portable fuel transfer pump.