"Zhang Yuman! What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"
The girl standing by the lower bunk ladder screamed in terror.
"Stay away from her!" I shouted.
Zhang Yuman's body twisted backward at an extreme angle, her spine making a "crack, crack" sound, like someone forcefully breaking dry chopsticks.
Her once fair skin turned a ghastly gray, and beneath that thin layer of skin, it seemed as if countless purple-black worms were writhing madly, crawling up her neck and quickly covering her once delicate face.
"Cough... roar..."
A guttural growl emerged from Zhang Yuman's throat, and yellow-green mucus began to uncontrollably flow from the corners of her mouth, dripping onto the pink floral sheets.
"You idiot! What are you staring at? Waiting for her to come down and kiss you?!"
Li Wenli suddenly slapped my shoulder.
Her shout snapped me back to reality, and I immediately raised the compound bow in my hand.
A red dot of light shot out, wildly dancing across Zhang Yuman's face, which was covered in purple pustules.
My hands were shaking so badly that the red dot jumped from her forehead to her shoulder, unable to lock on.
Although I was usually quite accurate in archery club, even placing in school competitions, I had never aimed a bow at a living person. The instinctive fear of killing made it impossible for me to release my fingers.
"Hurry up, Zhou Peiyu!" Li Wenli urged me anxiously.
By now, Zhang Yuman had almost completed her "transformation." She turned her head, her pupil-less eyes locking onto Zhao Qian, the closest person to her, and let out a piercing roar.
"Die!"
I screamed internally.
The vibration of the bowstring rebounded through my arm and into my body. The seven-millimeter diameter, high-carbon steel ball erupted with astonishing kinetic energy at such close range, whistling through the air.
"Thud!"
The steel ball hit the center of Zhang Yuman's forehead with precision. Under the impact of that powerful kinetic energy, her head exploded like a watermelon struck by a heavy hammer.
Her entire frontal bone was blown away, red blood, brain matter, and shattered skull fragments splattering across the wall by her bed, with a few nauseating strips of flesh hanging from the ceiling.
"Bang!"
Zhang Yuman's uncontrolled body slammed heavily against the bed railing, then limply slid down, hanging by the ladder of the upper bunk.
Zhao Qian and another girl named Wang Yanli were stunned for about two seconds.
Then, the intense visual impact and the sudden spread of the bloody smell in the air completely shattered their psychological defenses.
"Ugh—!"
Both of them covered their mouths and began to vomit violently.
I also felt a wave of nausea, my stomach churning, but I forced myself not to throw up.
Witnessing a head explode at such close range was far more real and disgusting than any artistically processed movie scene.
Li Wenli turned to the other side of the balcony, covering her face, her shoulders trembling slightly as she struggled to control her physical reaction.
I took deep breaths, thinking it was all over, and was about to lower the compound bow.
She slid down the bed edge and fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Then, under everyone's horrified gaze, she convulsed violently twice on the floor and staggered back to her feet!
"Fuck!" I exclaimed, "How the fing hell is she still moving with half her head gone?!"
This completely overturned my understanding of zombie movies. Didn't they always die from a headshot?
Zhang Yuman's one remaining eyeball dangled out of its socket, her remaining eye fixating on Wang Yanli, who stood nearby, and she lunged at her, face covered in brain matter and blood.
"Help! Save me!"
Wang Yanli pressed her hands against Zhang Yuman's foul-smelling mouth.
At this moment, Zhang Yuman's strength was overwhelming, and Wang Yanli's meager strength couldn't hold her back. That gaping maw was about to bite into her face.
"Zhao Qian! Help me! Hurry, pull her away!"
But Zhao Qian was already scared out of her wits, a large wet patch spreading in her pants as she sat on the floor, scrambling backward with her hands and feet, "Don't come near! Don't come near!" She dared not approach, wishing she could be as far from Wang Yanli as possible.
Li Wenli bit her lip, grabbing a mop handle from the balcony, intending to rush over and help, but I stopped her.
"Don't go! It's dangerous!" I shouted at her, my trembling fingers reaching into the quiver to pull out a carbon arrow with black fletching.
The steel ball didn't work, so I had to use an arrow to completely destroy her central nervous system.
I quickly nocked the arrow and drew the bowstring tight, the bow creaking under the tension.
At this moment, Zhang Yuman was pressing down on Wang Yanli, leaving me with a very narrow shooting angle.
"Don't move! Wang Yanli, don't move!"
This time, I wasn't as nervous as before because if I hesitated again, someone would die right in front of me.
"I'm sorry!" I released the arrow, the carbon shaft slicing through the air, crossing the short three-meter distance in an instant.
"Thwack!"
The arrow pierced through Zhang Yuman's left eye socket, the massive impact jerking her head back, the arrowhead emerging at an angle from the back of her head, pinning her skull to the cabinet door behind her.
Zhang Yuman's body stiffened violently, her limbs spasming for a few seconds before finally collapsing, motionless.
Zhao Qian sat trembling on the floor, tears carving paths through the blood on her face.
A bright puddle of liquid marked where she had sat, trailing a long streak as she scooted backward, clearly having wet herself in fear.
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, thinking with lingering fear: This time, with the brainstem penetrated, she should be dead for good, right?
But just as I released my grip, the corpse moved again!
It suddenly broke free from the arrow's hold, pouncing on the unsuspecting Zhao Qian, biting mercilessly into her slender, pale neck.
"Zzz—!"
A jet of bright red blood sprayed from Zhao Qian's neck, splattering everywhere.
I was completely dumbfounded, my mind blank, "Is this fing thing really unkillable?!"
This time, I aimed at the remaining part of her cerebellum, the central nervous system near the spinal connection.
"Bang!"
With another shot, the steel ball hit Zhang Yuman's occipital bone at close range.
This time, it blew apart the remaining half of her brain along with the brainstem, spraying red and white chunks over the pinned Zhao Qian.
Zhang Yuman's body finally stopped moving, collapsing like a heap of rotten flesh on top of Zhao Qian.
Zhao Qian pushed the corpse away with all her might, rolling on the floor in agony, clutching her neck, which now had a massive gash, blood gushing uncontrollably, a hissing sound escaping from her windpipe.
She reached out with bloodied hands toward Wang Yanli, who stood trembling nearby.
"Wang Yanli... save me... please..."
Zhao Qian's voice was garbled, blood bubbles forming with every word.
Wang Yanli backed away repeatedly, retreating to the balcony edge.
"Shoot her already!" she screamed at me hysterically, pointing at the convulsing Zhao Qian on the floor, "She got bitten! Didn't you see? She got bitten by that monster! She'll turn into a zombie any second! Shoot her dead! Or we'll all die!"
Li Wenli stood coldly watching Wang Yanli, her eyes filled with disgust.
I drew the bowstring taut but couldn't release it.
Even though Zhao Qian's neck was severely injured and bleeding profusely, she hadn't transformed yet; she was still conscious.
"Please... don't kill me..." Zhao Qian pleaded indistinctly, her hand reaching out weakly, "Wang Yanli... we're good friends..."
"Good friends? My ass!"
Wang Yanli cursed at her friend on the floor, her once beautiful face twisted into a grotesque snarl.
"Zhao Qian, you're fing turning into a zombie and still want to drag us down with you? You selfish bitch! Don't think I don't know about the shit you've done behind my back!"
"Senior Dongsheng was supposed to confess to me! I was ready! But you, you slut, dressed so provocatively that day, pretending to be drunk and clinging to him! He should have been my boyfriend! You bitch! I've fucking wanted to kill you for so long! Now you're getting what you deserve! This is karma!"
Li Wenli and I exchanged glances, neither of us speaking.
In this blood-soaked dormitory, listening to such a personal vendetta amid life and death felt chillingly real.
In the face of death, the darkness of human nature was magnified infinitely.
But reality was harsh.
Zhao Qian's pale skin was turning a visible shade of blue, the veins in her neck rapidly darkening to a purplish-black, like a black web devouring her life.
Her pupils began to dilate, her convulsions growing more violent, the familiar "gurgle" sound emanating from her throat once more.
In less than a minute, she would become the next Zhang Yuman.
If we didn't kill her, once she transformed, we'd all die.
I trembled as I drew the compound bow again, aiming at Zhao Qian's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Zhao Qian."
I closed my eyes, unable to bear looking into those despairing eyes.
"Zhao Qian, this is your fate! Go to hell!" Wang Yanli screamed madly from behind, "Die, you bitch!"
I gritted my teeth, my fingers loosening.