"Bang! Bang!!"
Two consecutive gunshots rang out as two 12-gauge shotguns sprayed a barrage of 28 tungsten alloy pellets, smashing the hideous, half-rotted heads of two walkers like watermelons. Thick, yellowish-white pulp splattered out, and their shoulders were torn off halfway. The walkers which had been ferociously attacking just a second ago now collapsed to the ground like mud.
Due to the close range, the shotgun's tremendous kinetic energy was not spent. It passed through the corpses and viciously tore into the vitals of the walkers behind, turning them into pulp. Just two shots took down several walkers, instantly easing the pressure on the front of the team.
Several walkers from the left and right charged toward the sound, but they were immediately blocked by SWAT officers holding riot shields. Working together, they pushed the walkers toward the front of the formation. Immediately, three young militiamen holding steel riot batons angled them forward, pinning the walkers at a safe distance. This continued until the soldiers beside them, armed with shotguns, were ready to step forward and finish them off.
An Tianhe, gripping his steel fork with both hands, stood in the back row. His heart hammered against his ribs like a drum. He stared intently at the movements of the walkers ahead, ready to fill any gap and prevent any from breaking through the defensive line to threaten the safety of the front-row members.
This search team of over twenty people had a complex composition. It included professional soldiers, armed SWAT officers, firefighters, as well as militiamen and ordinary civilians. They were currently clearing out scattered groups of walkers along a fork in a street.
This area was part of the outer ring of Qinghe City, located in the northeast part of the development zone. Even in normal times, foot traffic was sparse. Construction sites, private farmhouses, and small shops were scattered about, creating a unique environment that existed before the development zone was fully built.
It was for this very reason that Brigade Commander Chen of the Airborne Brigade had chosen this location as a breakthrough point. He had dispatched multiple teams to collect scarce supplies, search for survivors, and to train the teams, improving their combat capabilities.
From morning until after two in the afternoon, the eight teams had finally managed to jointly clear a safe zone. The scavenged supplies were gathered in a central pile for transport trucks to gradually take back to the temporary camp in Longtan Town, located to the rear.
His stomach rumbling with hunger, An Tianhe plopped down on the ground as soon as the order to rest was given. He fished out a half-crumpled cigarette from the inner pocket of his thin jacket, borrowed a light from an officer beside him, and took two long drags. Only in the swirling smoke did his tightly wound nerves begin to relax slightly.
He wasn't a smoker. Growing up, he'd only secretly smoked a few cigarettes with classmates in junior high, which had made him cough for half a month before he recovered. Ever since, he'd detested the stuff and never touched it again. He would always say, "If you've that kind of spare money, wouldn't it be better to buy a game skin or some better gear? Isn't that more awesome?!"
Even now, An Tianhe didn't inhale the smoke into his lungs. He just watched the tobacco burn, then exhaled a plume of smoke. It seemed to ease his anxiety, if only by a tiny fraction.
Through the haze of smoke, his gaze swept over the street houses not far away and the mutated corpses littered on the ground. Most of them had been torn apart by the shotguns. Their entrails and yellow pus and blood were splattered all over the walls and pavement. It looked like an ultra-high-definition graphic rendered in real-time on an 8K display. Brutal and cruel. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder if this was an illusory scene enhanced with ray-tracing effects.
But soon, the stench of decay mixed with the rusty, iron-like smell of blood filled the surrounding air, shooting straight into his nostrils. Mixed with the tobacco, it was pungent enough to bring tears to his eyes, dragging him back to the grim reality. An Tianhe remembered how just a few days ago, when he and the other civilians who had been urgently conscripted first came to the front lines, the smell had almost made them vomit their guts out! It had taken them several days to adapt just enough to keep down the little food they had.
He got up and moved to sit upright, but it wasn't much better. It was purely a psychological comfort. Five days ago, the military had still made an effort to gather and burn some of the infected corpses. Back then, they even had the luxury to worry about secondary outbreaks from rotting bodies. Now? They were satisfied just to clear a path wide enough for a car to pass through.
Nine days ago, on April 11, 2028, the Lyrid meteor shower, one of the seven major meteor showers in the world, appeared on its predicted orbit a full eight days earlier than any recorded in astronomical history. It was set to narrowly miss Earth. As a rare event in astronomical history, it quickly captured the global spotlight.
In the days leading up to it, many astronomers had speculated about the reason for the Lyrids' early appearance, but most were merely curious and watchful, waiting to observe the astronomical phenomenon without sensing anything unusual.
Only a very small number of astronomers had issued warnings expressing unease. Some astronomy enthusiasts quickly spread these messages online, but very few people believed them. After all, the 2012 prophecy had been proven false, and this was just a meteor shower. They had no solid evidence. It was nothing more than fear-mongering to grab attention.
The Lyrid meteor shower typically lasts for about four or five days, with the best viewing time being before dawn on the second day. But with this early appearance, the peak had shifted to two or three in the morning. That day happened to be a Saturday. As a typical 28-year-old single corporate drone, An Tianhe had no girlfriend to create a romantic moment for, so he obviously wasn't interested. No matter how spectacular the meteor shower was, it couldn't compare to the importance of sleeping in on the weekend.
On the morning of April 12th, the weather was clear. An Tianhe was watching walkthrough videos for Ass***** C****: The Song of the Great Wind online when he suddenly felt the sunlight coming through his window growing brighter and brighter, so intense it was almost blinding. Even his computer monitor turned so white he could barely see it. Immediately after, he heard panicked screams from outside.
An intense sense of unease instantly washed over his entire body. He shot to his feet, turned, and pulled open the screen of his bedroom window to look outside. Before he could see anything, he felt an invisible shockwave. All the windows of the nearby houses shook violently, and a series of cracking and shattering sounds rang out. Luckily, the windows in his own apartment didn't break; he seemed to be relatively far from the epicenter.
An earthquake?!
The thought had just crossed his mind when a streak of light, trailing red flames and thick smoke, carved a clear trajectory across the sky to his left. It then crashed two blocks away from him. A moment later, the entire apartment building he was in shook as if experiencing a magnitude 4 earthquake.
An Tianhe's mind went blank. On instinct, he shut down his computer, grabbed his phone and charger, slung on his usual small shoulder bag, and ran out without even having time to change his clothes. He shoved his feet into the sneakers by the door and fled. In his panic, he thought he had locked the door but he wasn't sure. He dashed down the stairs with other residents and out onto the street.
Once he squeezed in the panicked crowd, An Tianhe began to calm down and started worrying about whether he had turned off the water and electricity in his apartment. He hopped on one foot, pulling up the heel of his sneaker, while stuffing his phone and charger into his bag. Like everyone else, he kept looking toward the source of the loud crash, occasionally glancing back at the windows of his rented apartment.
He could never have imagined that by the time he returned here, the entire world would have undergone a drastic change.
An Tianhe was among those who reacted quickly when the disaster struck. Before the Qinghe City government could even implement its emergency disaster relief and evacuation plan, he had already left the area at the center of the meteorite impact. Those who were a bit slower or driven by curiosity to go and watch became the first "Patient Zeros" infected by an unknown alien virus. In a very short time, they turned into walkers, becoming brainless beasts that tore and attacked their own kind, spreading the virus to every living thing they encountered.
After leaving his rented apartment, An Tianhe rode his electric scooter, which was parked downstairs, and headed straight to his parents' house. He had originally rented the small single room to have his own independent living space and for the convenience of commuting to work in the city. His family home was in the old town district, and it took him over forty minutes to get there. Along the way, he noticed that there was more than one place where crowds had gathered to watch. The plumes of smoke rising in the distance suggested that several things had fallen from the sky, but none of the ensuing chaos was as great as the first one.
Back home, his parents' warm words made An Tianhe feel at ease. Soon, from real-time news on his phone and TV, he learned that this Lyrid meteor shower had caused meteorite impacts of varying degrees all over the world. Some places were hit hard, with buildings destroyed and mass casualties. But in other places, the meteorites landed directly in the suburbs and weren't very large, amounting to nothing more than a free aerial fireworks show for passersby.
"All that fuss, and it was just meteorites. I thought it was something serious." An Tianhe leaned back on the sofa and started scrolling through funny videos again, waiting for lunch.
But less than an hour later, the TV first interrupted its broadcast with an emergency notice for the entire city, followed by the blaring sound of sirens in the residential area. The main message was only one. Evacuate. Now. Immediately!!!
This was a situation that had never occurred in the history of Qinghe City. But since 2020, it felt like the entire world was stuck in a crisis mode, with disasters, epidemics, and accidents happening every few days. So, everyone was very cooperative with this government directive and did as they were told.
His mother was still busy in the kitchen and probably hadn't heard. An Tianhe rushed in to get her. Ignoring the vegetables she had just cut on the counter and the beef stewing in the pot, he turned off the stove. The family hastily packed their valuables and rushed downstairs. The old residential building had no elevator, and by the time they got down, the street outside was already in chaos.
An Tianhe would later learn that they were lucky the old town was in the process of being gradually demolished, and the population had decreased by more than two-thirds compared to before. On top of that, they were all relatively far from the meteorite impact sites. Otherwise, a successful evacuation would have been impossible, especially considering the high proportion of elderly residents.
Following the lead vehicles from the Qinghe City Emergency Management Bureau, the family of three joined the masses heading to a temporary assembly point. After three o'clock in the afternoon, the continuous roar of large aircraft came from the sky. Several large transport planes flew over Qinghe City one after another, followed by white parachutes blooming high in the air and drifting down. Judging by the direction, they seemed to be heading toward the city stadium.
"Wow! Such huge planes!!" "Those are awesome!!"
"Look!! So many parachutes!!"
"It's the paratroopers!! Our boys are here!! Now we can rest easy!!"
The people at the assembly point erupted in excited chatter, their faces beaming with relief.
The large transport planes didn't stop for a moment. An Tianhe silently counted; they had already dropped paratroopers almost twenty times. He had searched on his phone and learned that a Y-20 aircraft could airdrop up to 225 fully armed soldiers over a target area at once. Factoring in the capacity of the other transport planes, that meant nearly four thousand soldiers had been parachuted into Qinghe City.
He was lost in thought when the sound of rotors vibrated in his ears, growing from a distant hum to a deafening roar. Six camouflaged helicopters screamed overhead, followed shortly by another six. An Tianhe didn't recognize them; he was simply in awe. He had never seen so many military aircraft in his hometown in his entire life. This was truly a rare sight.
With so many aircraft for support and so many soldiers air-dropped, the disaster situation should be brought under control soon, he thought-
"An Tianhe~!"
A shout, both strange and familiar, interrupted his reverie.
"Stop standing around! Get over here and assemble. We're preparing to return to camp."