Because they had early classes on Friday, Room 618 washed up and turned off the lights before midnight.
Before going to sleep, Chen Jianwei was still scrolling through posts about the “Lake Island Murder Case,” trying to learn more information.
However, the student from Haiqing Normal University who had made the post did not respond to any of the comments.
Most netizens believed it was just a rumor exaggerated through word of mouth. Some even thought the poster was playing a truth-or-dare game, leaving comments saying that spreading rumors and causing public panic would result in legal consequences.
The original poster still did not reappear.
As for what had actually happened in the “Lake Island Murder Case,” the police had not released any further reports.
Thinking about having to wake up early the next day, Chen Jianwei browsed her phone for a while with lingering worry, then placed it in the basket by her bed to charge before lying down to sleep.
That night, Chen Jianwei had another nightmare.
In the dream, she was running frantically for her life. The air was filled with the stench of rotting flesh and blood, making her nauseous to the point of wanting to vomit.
Countless people were also running, as if ferocious beasts were chasing them.
Chen Jianwei ran all night in her dream, until Ying Ran’s alarm rang, pulling her out of the nightmare and jolting her awake.
When she pulled open her bed curtain, she saw that the sky outside was still a murky gray.
It was raining again.
Chen Jianwei got dressed while still on the bed and heard her roommates also getting up with rustling sounds.
The first to climb down from the bed was Ying Ran, who shuffled into the bathroom in her slippers to wash up.
After getting dressed, Chen Jianwei reached for her phone in the basket and turned it on to check the time.
Their usual morning class started at 8:20, so their dorm alarm was set for 7:50. At most, they could linger in bed for five more minutes before having to get up.
But as soon as the phone screen lit up, the first thing she saw was another message in the class group tagging everyone.
Before Chen Jianwei even opened it, Duan Minmin let out a scream like a squeaky toy.
“What is it, what is it?” Luo Mushi sprang up from her bed, only to hear Duan Minmin read out the counselor’s message from the class group. “All students currently on campus, please check in by counting off in the group…”
Chen Jianwei also opened the class group.
[@All Members Students currently on campus, please check in by counting off in the group. Morning classes are temporarily suspended. Students are not allowed to leave their dormitories without reason. Please remain in your dorms and await further notice from the school.]
What was going on?
Students had already started responding in sequence, while in the separate casual group chat without the counselor, messages had already exceeded 99+, all discussing what was happening.
The class suspension the afternoon before yesterday had been due to heavy rain, but this time no reason was given, and students were explicitly told not to leave their dorms.
Because the situation lacked any explanation, it made everyone feel uneasy.
[Xin Xin: What’s going on in the announcement group?]
[Qiu Xiaolin: I saw online that zombies have appeared in Haishi! Does anyone know what’s going on?]
[Ruan Li replied to Qiu Xiaolin: Don’t scare me! What zombies?]
[Qiu Xiaolin: [link]]
[Qiu Xiaolin: I saw it online. They say a student at Haiqing Normal University was killed on the lake island yesterday, bitten to death by zombies.]
The discussion quickly centered around the topic of a zombie outbreak.
They were second-year students from Class 1 of the psychology major, with twenty-two girls and thirteen boys in total.
Aside from classes and group assignments, most of their communication happened in the class group chat.
Although no one clearly knew what had happened, everyone still followed the counselor’s instructions and checked in using the required format.
The check-in format was “Name + phone number + dorm number.”
Chen Jianwei also opened the check-in app and submitted her information.
[9. Chen Jianwei + 1563498XXXXX + Lanzhou Garden Building 2 Room 618]
When she returned to the casual chat group, she saw a message from Cai Lan.
[Cai Lan: If it really is zombies… we reported our dorm numbers in the announcement group. If the counselor turns into a zombie, will they come find us by dorm and eat us?]
Heavens, why would she say something so terrifying?
The class group instantly fell silent.
“The counselor… would they really come bite us based on dorm numbers?” Luo Mushi asked worriedly, standing by her bed while looking at the group messages.
Ying Ran, who had just walked in with a toothbrush in hand, replied, “Zombies don’t have intelligence.”
Chen Jianwei had already started searching online for information about zombies and saw that many people on the Haishi University Plaza were also posting questions.
Primary and secondary schools in Haitong District and Yaobei District, the two districts closest to the sea, had already suspended classes. Universities had also temporarily suspended classes.
Rumors were rampant on the university forum, some claimed zombies, others said it was a psychopathic killer, while some suggested a highly infectious and deadly disease.
The most outrageous claim was that a human trafficking ring had arrived in Haishi, targeting students.
The class group was also in heated discussion, and the most widely accepted theory was a zombie siege.
Class monitor Qu Miao said that information circulating among student leaders in the faculty suggested there had indeed been reports of citizens being attacked by unidentified creatures. Therefore, everyone must stay in their dorms and absolutely not go out.
If it really was zombies, the dormitory was at least temporarily safe.
But only temporarily.
Even if the school could arrange meals during this period when students stayed inside, how long could such stability last?
According to zombie infection theories, those bitten by zombies would also turn into zombies.
In the end, there would be more and more zombies, fewer and fewer people resisting them, and eventually human living areas would fall.
Luo Mushi walked to the balcony and glanced outside. A girl from the neighboring dorm Room 617 also leaned out. Seeing Luo Mushi, she waved and called out, “Hey, do you know what’s going on? I saw people talking about zombies in the group. What’s happening?”
“We’re not really sure either,” Luo Mushi could only reply.
The class group was conducting check-ins, and the Lanzhou Garden Building 2 dorm group was also tagging everyone, issuing a dorm check-in notice.
[@All Members Students currently in the dorms, please check in by dorm unit through the mini program. Dorm leaders must confirm the number of roommates and post the number on the dorm door. At 9:00 a.m., the dorm manager will come upstairs to verify the number of occupants and record those absent.]
The messages from both the class group and the dorm group made students even more anxious.
The four girls in Room 618 all glanced toward the iron door.
If a zombie outbreak occurred, could that door really protect them?
Twenty-seven people in the class group had already completed check-in, and the counselor was tagging the remaining eight students who had not yet responded.
Then Cai Lan posted again, saying that two of her roommates had gone out to watch a movie the previous night. Because they had not returned before curfew, they had stayed outside overnight.
But now neither of them had checked in. Cai Lan and her roommate Qiu Xiaolin had tried calling them, but their phones were unreachable.
Seeing this message, everyone became even more uneasy.
The disappearance of classmates, combined with the constant urging messages in the group, made people increasingly anxious, fearing that the rumors of a zombie outbreak were true.
Standing on the balcony, Luo Mushi could hear crying from the neighboring Room 617. It was likely the girl who had just spoken to her, crying to her roommates, “Why are we so unlucky? Why do we have to run into something like zombies of all things?”
Luo Mushi leaned against the balcony, staring blankly at the green hills and waters beyond the dorm.
Under the constant barrage of messages from the class and dorm groups, some students cautiously stepped out of their dorms into the corridor to look around.
Chen Jianwei and Duan Minmin also quietly pushed their door open a crack and saw other students peering out into the hallway.
Beyond the corridor railing, the campus was eerily quiet. Students had been strictly ordered to stay inside, and with the rumors of zombies, even those who valued their lives were not daring to act rashly.
The autumn wind outside continued to howl. Chen Jianwei closed the iron door again.
Earlier, Ying Ran had also searched for news about zombies, but official reports were vague, and the university forum was flooded with all kinds of strange information.
Soon after, Ying Ran received a call from her parents. They had heard about the situation in Haishi and called to check on her.
Ying Ran calmly reassured them that she was safe in the dorm and that there was nothing serious at the moment. She told them not to worry, saying it would likely be resolved soon and was not as terrifying as the rumors online.
Chen Jianwei, Duan Minmin, and Luo Mushi also called their families one after another.
After hanging up, Duan Minmin looked like she was about to cry. “My dad said he wants to drive over to pick me up. These are zombies! I told him the school is safe and that he doesn’t need to worry.”
Her home was in a nearby city. If zombies had appeared in Haishi, they might spread to other cities soon. Duan Minmin also told her family to stock up on food just in case.
Chen Jianwei and Luo Mushi, whose homes were farther away, also reassured their families not to worry.
Since the disaster had been confirmed, they also advised their families to stock up on food.
No one knew how long the zombie outbreak would last, or whether humans would eliminate the zombies or the zombies would completely take over the world. But for now, they were still alive, so there was no need to be overly pessimistic.
After speaking with their families, they finally calmed down and focused on the problem in front of them.
How could they survive longer when the zombies arrived?
Fortunately, they had already bought a lot of food yesterday, although they still felt it was far from enough if zombies truly appeared.
Yesterday, they had hesitated, worried about what to do with so much food if the disaster did not come. Now, they only regretted not buying more.
The constant notifications from the class and dorm groups made them even more restless.
The entire morning passed as they refreshed messages. It was almost noon when the dorm group finally announced that school staff would deliver lunch and check dorm occupancy.
However, even by one in the afternoon, no staff had arrived with lunch. Instead, someone posted a video in the dorm group.
In the video, three people were pushing a cart loaded with boxed meals out of the cafeteria. After walking for a short while, they suddenly screamed and scattered in panic.
Then two blood-soaked creatures rushed into the frame, knocking them down, tearing at their throats, and devouring them.
The dorm group fell into complete silence. The students who watched the video were too frightened to say anything.
They had thought that even if zombies existed, they were still far away.
But the location in the video was the back entrance of the Lanzhou Garden cafeteria, less than two hundred meters from them.