The blood words "SHE WAITS" pulsed under fluorescent light. Chen Mo's palms sweated on the axe grip—his mother was an infectious disease nurse. If she was in the shelter…
"Trap." Lin Wei eyed shattered security cameras. "Fungal zombies can't write. A human did this."
The bomb shelter's lead door stood ajar ahead. The scent of cooked rice and a baby's cry seeped out, cloyingly warm.
"Heaven or hell?" Zhao Qiang licked cracked lips.
Voices argued inside:
"Scarface! Just a fever! Not infected!"
"Rules are rules! Toss 'em!"
A thud. The inner door slammed shut. Through the gap, Chen Mo saw—
A young mother kicked onto concrete, her infant's swaddle loose, face cyanotic. Three tattooed thugs watched coldly. Their leader—Scarface—wiped blood off a wrench.
"Save the baby!" Lin Wei's medical instincts surged.
"Wait!" Chen Mo pulled her back. Near ventilation shafts, two fungal zombies scuttled like spiders, joints inverted.
The mother pounded the door, oblivious. "Just fever meds! Please—"
Zombies accelerated, throats gulping wetly.
"Bait kill." Chen Mo's heart sank. Scarface used cries to lure zombies for cleanup!
"Fucking monsters!" Zhao Qiang smashed a vent grate with his shovel. "Over here!"
Noise diverted zombies. Chen Mo dragged the mother away. The infant gasped weakly. Lin Wei compressed its chest: "Laryngospasm! Needs intubation!"
"Infirmary inside!" The mother pointed. "But they only take strong workers…"
The inner door's view slot opened. Scarface leered: "Want meds? Trade the women." His gaze crawled over Lin Wei and Su Qing.
Zhao Qiang hammered the door: "Open!"
"Knock yourself out." Scarface shrugged. "Door's thick. You'll feed the zoms…"
Zombies tore through the grate, shrieking closer!
"We have vaccines!" Chen Mo raised the empty antivenom vial. "Pandora antivirals from Project Polaris! Three vials if you let us in!"
Scarface's pupils dilated. His neck bore a faded North Star tattoo!
Bolts clanked. "Pass it first!"
Chen Mo slid the vial through. Scarface sniffed residue, then snarled: "Bullshit! Snake antivenom!"
"Slows neural infection!" Chen Mo bared his receding gray tracery. "Your tattoo itches, peels, right? Early symptoms!"
Scarface touched his ulcerated tattoo, hesitating.
The infant stopped breathing! Lin Wei suctioned its mouth, sputum spraying her face. "Active TB! Need streptomycin now!"
A voice shouted inside: "Nurse Lin? Open up! She saved my boy!" The inner door finally rose.
A末世oasis unfolded: generators hummed, families huddled under fluorescent lights. Scarface's gang patrolled with pipes, confiscating all blades.
"Weapons. Now." Scarface reached for the axe.
Chen Mo tightened his grip. "For defense."
"Rules!" Scarface pressed his wrench to Lin Wei's spine. "Or watch her turn first?"
Chen Mo released it. As the axe clattered, he spotted a one-eyed vet polishing a hunting knife, a coughing boy in a cage by his feet.
The infirmary was curtained off. Lin Wei intubated the infant. The mother sobbed: "I'm Zhou Hui… My husband was Polaris crew. Before he vanished, he said… the virus was already…"
Scarface yanked the curtain open, tossing a dusty pillbox. "Charity."
Lin Wei read the label. "Tetracycline? It'll stain the baby's—"
"Take it or die!" Scarface kicked an IV stand. The oxygen tank nearly crushed the infant!
Chen Mo seized his wrist. "Enough."
Scarface wrenched free, upending a tray. A sealed vial rolled to Chen Mo's feet—labeled "Pandora α Strain"!
"You have live samples?!" Chen Mo recoiled.
Scarface snatched it back. "None of your damn business!" He barked orders: "Lock the new meat in cold storage! 24-hour quarantine!"
The freezer door sealed. Zhou Hui wept in darkness: "Scarface was Polaris security chief… stole samples during the leak, took over here…"
Cold bit deep. Zhao Qiang pounded the door: "Freezing us to death?!"
"4°C won't kill ya." Scarface chuckled. He slid a photo inside.
Chen Mo's flashlight revealed—his parents smiling before the shelter! A banner behind: "Welcome Polaris Heroes' Families!"
"Where's my mother?!" Chen Mo roared.
"Quarantine breach yesterday." Scarface's voice dripped cruelty. "Infected broke into B-wing… Your mom led 'em away to save sick kids." He rapped the door. "B-wing's fungus central now."
Hope imploded. Chen Mo staggered, gray tracery writhing up his neck!
"Calm!" Lin Wei injected the last serum. "Stress accelerates toxins!"
Su Qing pointed to the freezer corner: "What's that?"
Amid frozen meat, a severed finger clutched a circuit diagram. Marked: "B-Wing Vent → Waste Plant Exit".
Zhao Qiang pried it free. "Foreman Wang's… vanished after drawing this."
"Exit's behind the nest." Zhou Hui trembled. "But Scarface keeps… 'pets' in the waste plant."
Chen Mo pressed against the icy door. Scarface sharpened a blade outside, singing off-key:
"Mama, keep my bones clean~ Don't let 'em sully the earth~"
Chen Mo picked up a frozen potato, carving an escape map on the wall.
"Trust is a luxury." His arrow pointed straight to B-wing. "We trust this path."
As gray tracery reached his jaw, the ceiling vent slid open a crack.
A bloodshot eye peered down.