Just before the end of the workday, a message suddenly came through in the group chat:

[There are mutated zombies in the building, everyone should definitely not go outside.]

One colleague dismissed it and left for home.

Half an hour later, the colleague hurried back and quickly locked the company door behind him.

“Don’t go out, there are zombies outside.”

But it looked like his hand was injured.

He hid his hand behind his back, and blood was dripping steadily onto the floor.

01

The message was sent by a different colleague.

He had taken leave and left for home an hour ago.

“Steve, how do you know there are zombies in the building after being home for so long?”

“Are you trying to keep us from getting off work anymore?”

“Yeah, who’s afraid of zombies now? If one shows up, I’ll take out two; if two show up, I’ll fight my way through the building.”

It’s been a year since the biohazard crisis broke out.

Unlike ordinary zombies, these mutated zombies can disguise themselves as humans and have extremely high intelligence.

These mutated zombies are like cockroaches, sneaking around in human society, impossible to get rid of.

But thankfully, humans have learned how to tell these mutated zombies apart.

If you shine a strong light on their pupils and they don’t change, then you’ve got a mutated zombie.

We call them “aberrant.” Three months ago, the authorities rolled out a new kind of spray.

If aberrant get sprayed, they’ll lose their mobility for a while.

That’s the best time to either take out the aberrant or make a run for it.

Every colleague in the company has a bottle of spray.

So when they saw Steve’s message, no one really took it seriously.

As quitting time drew near, everyone started packing up.

But not one person left.

Everyone was just regular folks without any weapons.

There was no need to take risks.

In the quiet, Tom finally spoke up: “Do you really believe what Steve said? Even if there are zombies, what’s there to be afraid of?” He waved the bright flashlight and spray bottle around.

“I’ll go first and help you scout the way.” “Anyone want to join?” Tom usually enjoys working out and looks very reliable.

Colleague Lily raised her hand: “I’ll go with you.” Another colleague, Paul, also expressed that he would go along.

Tom looked around again and asked: “Is anyone else coming?” I shook my head.

“I’m not in a hurry; I’ll wait for the rescue team.”

Tom picked up the baseball bat next to his desk.

“You guys are really scared stiff by these aberrant.”

The three of them left together.

I picked up my phone and sent a message to the small team group.

“I’ll be a bit late; I heard there are aberrant in the building again.”

Scott: “Be careful! Don’t run around, wait for the rescue team.”

Justin: “Let me know if you need help.” “OK.” Scott and Justin are my teammates.

If it weren’t for them during the early outbreak, I should be one year old by now.

Today is Scott’s birthday, and we had agreed to celebrate together.

02

A few minutes later, Steve replied in the group.

“Haha! You guys aren’t still at work, are you?!”

“I’m just kidding, hee hee!”

The colleagues who were pranked were furious, bombarding Steve with messages in the group.

“What the heck! Are you just sitting around all day with nothing to do?! “

“I can’t even, I’ve already called the rescue team.”

“You little rascal, if you’re messing with us, you have to treat us to a meal tomorrow!”

Steve: “OK! Let’s meet tomorrow!”

The mood in the office lifted instantly.

Everyone started packing up to leave work.

Colleague Julia spoke up.

“Don’t you find it a bit weird? Steve rarely uses exclamation marks.”

“All these messages have exclamation marks at the end…”

Julia hesitated for a moment and continued, “Could it be that Steve’s already been infected?”

Hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks.

I scrolled back through the group chat to check Steve’s messages.

Yeah, Steve hardly ever uses exclamation marks.

Even when it’s urgent, he sticks to periods.

An antsy colleague tagged Steve in the chat.

“Are you really Steve?”

“You’ve got ten minutes to send a video proving you’re not one of those things, or I’ll report to the rescue team.”

I rubbed my hands together.

Steve’s usually pretty serious at work.

He rarely jokes around, let alone make such a big joke.

I started to have a hunch.

I wasn’t the only one; it looked like everyone was thinking the same thing.

Their expressions turned grave.

Just then, Tom came back with a baseball bat.

He looked panicked and quickly locked the door behind him.

He leaned against the door, catching his breath.

“Guys, don’t go out! There are definitely abnormalities in the building!” I asked, “What happened to Lily and Paul?” Tom hung his head and slid down the door to the floor.

“Lily was bitten, and Paul ran away.”

Just then, Steve sent a message—a video.

03

He pointed a flashlight at his pupils, and it was clear to see his pupils constricting.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief; Steve was okay.

Steve: “So, can you confirm I’m all good now?”

“Actually, I came back to work overtime; I just wanted you all to keep me company.

It’s my fault; I’ll treat you to dinner tomorrow.” Colleagues hurriedly tagged Steve in the group.

“Don’t come! There really are abnormalities in the building; Tom just went to check!” Steve didn’t reply.

Julia directly called Steve.

On the other end of the line, Steve’s panicked shout came through.

“What?! I’m already at the company!”

I took a deep breath and headed to the water cooler.

Suddenly, I noticed something off.

Why was Tom hiding his right hand? It looked injured…

Blood was dripping from his fingertips onto the floor.

I jumped and yelled to a nearby colleague, “Get away from Tom! He’s hurt!”

“Tom! You were bitten by an aberrant, right?! Why is your hand bleeding?”

The few people in the office immediately stepped back and hurriedly pointed the spray at Tom.

“Damn it, Tom! Are you trying to kill us?! You came back after getting bitten.” If you get bitten by an anomaly, you’ll mutate within thirty minutes.

It’s been exactly thirty minutes since Tom left.

Tom sighed and raised his right hand.

There was a deep cut on it.

“Sorry everyone, I really wasn’t bitten; I got cut by a wire while running.”

“You know that wire in the stairwell on the third floor? It’s been left unattended.” We didn’t respond.

Noticing we still weren’t convinced, Tom continued, “If you don’t believe me, you can check my pupils with a flashlight.” That made sense.

I took out the flashlight from my bag and shone it on Tom’s pupils.

They constricted; there was no issue.

“Now you can believe me, right? I hid my right hand because I was afraid you’d worry.”

Logically, there shouldn’t be any issue.

But for some reason, I felt an uneasy knot in my stomach.

I always felt that something bad was about to happen.

This building might not be safe at all…

I was starting to think about leaving.

Suddenly, everyone got another message from the authorities at the same time.

04

“An anomaly has been discovered in XX Building, which is now sealed off.

Please stay where you are and await rescue!” XX Building is our building! Everyone’s gaze fell back on Tom.

Sweat trickled down Tom’s back.

“Hey, everyone, you’ve already checked my pupils.”

“If I were an anomaly, why would I come to notify you not to go out?”

“I could just lie and say everything’s fine and go out to die.” Colleague Tomas walked over to Tom.

“I trust him; his pupils are fine.

Besides, if he really became an anomaly, his arm injury would have healed by now.” He made a good point; injuries would heal after complete mutation.

I looked at Tom’s arm, which was still bleeding profusely.

Tomas pulled him back into the office and found a first aid kit to bandage him.

“If you don’t get this bandaged, you’re going to bleed to death.”

But everyone was in no mood for jokes.

The building being sealed off meant there must be at least two anomalies; otherwise, they wouldn’t seal the building.

We had no idea how long the rescue team would take to arrive.

Plus, colleague Lily had also been bitten.

A heavy atmosphere filled the air.

Just as I was getting comfortable, my phone got another message.

It was from Lily.

“Don’t stay with Tom; he has already been bitten!”

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

I swallowed hard and glanced at Julia next to me.

She had the same terrified look on her face.

Clearly, she also received Lily’s message.

Lily then said, “It’s very dangerous to be with him.

I’m hiding on the 6th floor, so you all come down quickly.” Julia quietly leaned closer to me.

“Sarah, what do you think? Should we go?”

Before I could think through her words, there was a sudden knock on the office door.

“Hey, hurry and open the door! It’s Steve! I received a message, so hurry and open the door!”

Tomas cracked the door open and quickly pulled Steve inside.

Steve was sweating profusely, slumped against the wall.

“After Julia let me know, I was about to leave, but then the building was sealed, and I couldn’t get out.”

Another colleague shone a flashlight at Steve’s pupils, and his pupils were normal.

I glanced at the expressions of the others; it seemed that only Julia and I had gotten Lily’s message.

Lily sent another message: “Have you all come up? I’m really not lying to you.”

“When we went out today, the elevator stopped, and the three of us took the stairs together.”

“When we reached the third floor, we encountered an aberrant, and we scattered.

I was hiding on the fifth floor and clearly saw Tom get bitten!”

I pondered for a moment and replied, “What happened to Paul?”

“I don’t know, he ran the fastest and has long since disappeared.” Julia couldn’t sit still after reading that and stood up, eager to leave.

Just then, Paul sent a message: “Everyone be careful of Tom and Lily! They’ve both been bitten!” It was a group message; everyone except Tom got it.

A few colleagues close to Tom subtly backed away.

Paul continued to send messages: “I’m on the 8th floor, temporarily safe.

Everyone find a reason to come over quickly!”

“Did you see the wound on Tom’s arm? That was from being bitten by an abnormal creature!”

Lily and Tom were accusing each other of being bitten, but both said Paul ran away.

Paul, however, said they were all bitten…

Julia looked anxious, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

“Sarah, who should we believe?”

Two colleagues picked up sticks, saying they wanted to go out and take a look.

05

They prepared to open the door.

Tom rushed forward and pressed down on the doorknob.

“We can’t go out! It’s dangerous.” “The building is sealed; there must be more than one abnormal creature!” An impatient colleague slapped his hand away and questioned him.

“What’s it to you if we go out or not?! Were you bitten, and are you deliberately locking us inside to use us as your food?”

Tom was taken aback, anger rising to his face.

“I’m trying to help you! We’ve all checked our pupils, what more do you want?!” He pulled open the door.

“If you want to walk to your doom, then go ahead.

I won’t stop you!” The two colleagues shared a look and hurried out.

Watching them leave, the other colleagues were also itching to give it a shot.

Lily sent another message: “Aren’t you coming over? If you don’t hurry, it’ll be too late!” She sent a video.

It seemed to be shot from around a corner.

The footage shook violently, showing her fear.

Tom was running wildly in the hallway, and the mutated beings behind him pounced on him like wild animals.

He screamed and fell to the ground.

A wire sliced his right hand, leaving a long gash.

The footage ended there.

After filming this, Lily must have run away.

At that moment, a chill crawled under my skin like a bug, making me shiver all over.

I stiffly turned my head, only to find Tom standing right behind me, staring directly at me.

“Sarah, you look terrible. Did you see something?”

I jumped up, putting some space between us, tightly gripping the spray bottle in my hand.

“Tom, I need to check your pupils again.” Tom frowned, looking annoyed.

“I just checked them.” I scoffed, reaching for the crowbar I had stashed under the table.

“Tom, are you afraid? Or do you have a guilty conscience?”

“Everyone knows mutations take time; just because I didn’t mutate earlier doesn’t mean I won’t now.”

Julia chimed in, “Yeah, I support Sarah checking again.

Don’t forget, Tom is injured.” Tom’s friend Tomas stood up to oppose.

“You two women just don’t know when to quit. Weren’t you the one who suspected Steve of mutating?”

“Women really have a lot of issues; anyway, I trust my friend.”

The situation was at a stalemate; some agreed to check again, while others thought we were overreacting and didn’t need to.

If Tom really was a mutated being, he’d have attacked us by now.

Tom raised his hand in mock surrender.

“Alright, alright, I give in. Let’s check again. If I haven’t mutated, you two must apologize to me.”

I took out the flashlight and carefully shone it in his eyes.

No problem; I checked both eyes thoroughly.

No issues.

My palms were starting to sweat.

A strong sense of discomfort surged in my heart.

I noticed bloodstains under Tom’s collar! He had flipped his collar down on purpose, making it hard to see unless you looked closely.

Tomas gave us a half-smile.

“Apologize!”

“Women are really troublesome.”

We bowed our heads and apologized to Tom.

The tension in the room eased.

Just then, Lily sent another message urging us.

“Hurry up!”

“Seriously, don’t stick with Tom anymore!”

06

The small team’s message came through.

Justin: “What’s going on with the lockdown over there?”

“Something feels off; even the hot pot restaurant is clearing out, telling everyone to get home quickly.”

Scott: “Yes, they’re telling people outside to hurry home and not linger; it’s very strange.”

“I headed home with Justin first; if you need anything, be sure to tell us.”

I put down my phone, nudged Julia, and lowered my voice.

“We’re going to find Lily.”

We made up an excuse to go to the restroom and slipped out of the office.

Tomas teased us as we left.

“Hey, don’t fall into a pit or run into a aberrant in the bathroom!”

Julia followed behind me and asked, “Why are we still leaving?”
I shook my head.

“I just feel off; everything today is way too strange.”

When we reached the seventh floor, I suddenly heard a noise behind me.

Peeking around the stairwell corner, I saw someone following us.

It was Steve.

I turned to face him with a blank expression.

“What? Are you going to the women’s restroom with us?”

Steve rubbed his hands together.

“You guys are going to the restroom and going downstairs?”

“What’s it to you, anyway?” he replied with a grin.

“Sarah, Julia, don’t look at me like that; I actually feel something’s off too.”

“So I came out to find a place to hide.”

“Um, can I follow you guys?”

I squinted at Steve.

His fearful expression looked genuine.

“Didn’t you receive the message from Paul?”

He seemed a bit awkward.

“Yeah, I did, but I’m scared of Paul too.

I don’t want to go.”

Julia let out a scoff.

“Then we’re going to Lily’s place; aren’t you scared?”

Steve looked taken aback, clearly not expecting us to go find Lily.

He stood there, scratching his head, unsure of what to do.

“Forget it! I’ll follow you guys; I just don’t want to be with Tom anymore!”

We let Steve walk in front as we went down to the sixth floor together.

The sixth floor housed a dance class for elementary school kids.

Classes only happened on weekends and evenings.

Now it was quiet, with no one around.

But the lock had been forced open, probably by Lily.

We walked in.

Lily waved at us.

“Sarah, Julia, over here!”

07

Lily was hiding in another classroom.

As soon as we stepped in, she locked the door behind us.

I noticed her forehead was slick with sweat.

She was shaking a little.

I gave her shoulder a reassuring pat and told her not to worry.

Steve let out a sigh of relief and rushed to the water cooler for a big drink.

Lily’s lips were slightly pale.

“You finally came; I was really scared that Tom would kill you all.” Just then, another message from Paul came in.

“Why are only two colleagues here? Don’t stick around Tom and Lily!”

“I won’t hurt you; just wait for the rescue team to arrive!”

Julia, feeling a bit anxious, pulled out a flashlight from her bag and checked Lily’s pupils.

No problem.

I asked Lily what was going on with Paul.

She shook her head.

“When we discovered the mutated creatures, we ran away, and Paul vanished in an instant; we have no idea where he went.”

“Tom got caught by the mutated creatures because he tripped.”

I found it a bit strange.

“Aren’t you all carrying the spray? Did it not work?”

Lily suddenly slammed her fist down, realizing something.

“Oh right! I almost forgot!” Lily said that when they left, Paul asked them to give him the spray.

He was leading the way, with Tom following behind with a baseball bat.

When they encountered the mutated creatures, he sprayed it first while it was unable to move.

Then Tom would go up and kill the mutated creatures.

Lily followed behind them to deliver the finishing blow.

As she spoke, Lily’s eyes filled with resentment: “But when we encountered the mutated creatures, he didn’t say a word; he just turned and ran.”

“By the time we reacted, the mutated creatures were already almost upon us.”

“And he took all the spray with him.”

“That bastard, he must have wanted to kill us on purpose!” Paul was an ordinary employee in the company.

He rarely spoke and just focused on his work.

He wasn’t the type to take the initiative.

So why did he take the spray and claim to be leading the charge? A thought surfaced in my mind.

This thought sent a chill down my spine.

A cold shiver ran down my back.

Paul wanted to kill them, but there was no grudge, and there was no conflict in the company.

There was only one reason—Paul was a mutated creature; he had already been infected! I exchanged glances with Julia, and it was clear she had thought of this possibility too.

So the colleagues who went to Paul’s place were likely in serious danger.

Steve patted his chest.

“Thank goodness I came down with you; I didn’t go to Paul’s place.” Lily, her eyes still wide, asked us what was happening.

I shared my suspicion with Lily.

She shrank back in fear.

“Thank goodness…

I’m lucky; I wasn’t killed by him.” We leaned back in our chairs, falling into silence.