Chapter 11: Chapter 11 - In the end a monster

Zixin gripped the bone saw tightly, his palms sweaty as the monstrous baby-shaped creature squeezed through the doorway. Its grotesque head tilted unnervingly to the side, half its face melted from the acid but still very much alive, glaring at him with milky, swollen eyes. Its baby-like wails filled the room, echoing off the sterile walls, sending shivers down his spine.

The creature moved closer, its hulking form dragging its body forward with heavy, sickening thuds. Zixin swallowed hard. The bone saw buzzed in his hand, but it felt pitifully small compared to the mass of flesh towering over him. His heart pounded in his chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he prepared for what might be his final stand.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered, crouching low.

The creature lunged, massive hands outstretched, but Zixin dodged, narrowly avoiding its swipe. He swung the bone saw wildly, aiming for its neck. The blade caught the creature's flesh, biting into it with a loud whir. Blood splattered across Zixin's face as the saw dug deeper, cutting through thick muscle and sinew.

The creature let out an ear-piercing scream, thrashing violently. Zixin gritted his teeth, forcing the saw down harder. The blade jammed for a moment, catching on bone, and for a terrifying second, he thought it might stop completely. But then it broke through with a sickening crunch, severing the creature's throat.

The baby-monster collapsed, its huge body convulsing on the ground in a grotesque dance of death. Zixin backed away, panting, watching it twitch and finally go still. His hands shook uncontrollably as he turned off the saw.

"Fuck… finally," he breathed, wiping the blood and sweat from his forehead.

But he couldn't relax yet. The building groaned around him, and he knew more monsters were lurking. He had to keep moving. Without wasting another second, Zixin bolted out of the room, his feet pounding against the tiled floor as he made his way down the dimly lit corridor.

As he reached the stairwell, the fire escape sign glowing faintly. "oh thank god," he ran down in a hurry. He had to get out of this fucking place.

Zixin skidded to a halt, his breath catching in his throat as he reached the fire escape landing. The dim emergency lights flickered, casting erratic shadows across the stairwell, but that wasn't what froze him in place.

There she was.

The woman he had come with lay sprawled on the cold, blood-streaked floor. Her body convulsed weakly, barely clinging to life, as a middle-aged man in ragged clothes knelt over her. His crutches were discarded at his side, and his gnarled hands dug into her flesh, ripping away chunks with sickening, wet sounds.

Zixin's stomach churned. The man's face was smeared with her blood, his eyes glassy and hollow as he chewed with slow, deliberate bites. Her arm—her once-lively arm—hung limp in his grasp as he gnawed through muscle, down to bone.

Zixin felt bile rising in his throat, the world tilting dangerously around him. This wasn't just some nameless victim. This was her, the woman who had fought beside him, who had laughed nervously at his stupid jokes when the world hadn't yet collapsed. Now, she was barely recognizable under the blood and gore, her skin pale and clammy, her chest heaving with shallow breaths.

She was dying, and she knew it.

And yet, she reached out for him. Her hand, trembling and slick with blood, stretched toward him as tears poured from her wide, terrified eyes. "Dad… please," she sobbed, her voice broken, raw, desperate.

Dad. The word hit him like a knife to the chest. He wasn't her father—he was just someone who had tried to keep her alive in this hell. But in her last moments, in her agony and terror, she called to him as if he were. As if he could save her.

Zixin stepped back, his legs weak beneath him, the weight of her words suffocating him. "I—" His voice cracked. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He could only watch.

The man—her father, her real father—didn't stop. He didn't even acknowledge her cries. His head dipped lower, teeth gnashing against her ribs, the sound of flesh tearing filling the air. Zixin's heart pounded in his ears, his vision blurring with hot tears he refused to let fall.

"Please!" Her voice cut through the haze, the desperation in it more than he could bear. She was crying, clinging to the last bit of humanity she had left, and all Zixin could do was stand there, useless, watching her slip away.

Her hand reached for him again, fingers curling weakly. Blood smeared her face as her tears mixed with the crimson pool beneath her. Her grip tightened, just for a moment, as if she could hold on to him, to life, just a little longer. "Don't leave me… please, Dad…"

Then her fingers slackened. Her arm fell limp.

Zixin's breath hitched. The light in her eyes flickered, dimming, as her body grew still. For a long, agonizing moment, everything seemed to stop. The man kept eating, lost to the madness, but Zixin couldn't tear his gaze away from her face.

She was gone.

He staggered back, his legs shaky, his mind screaming at him to do something—anything. But there was nothing left to do. She was already changing, her chest beginning to rise and fall with erratic, unnatural jerks. Her lips twitched, and a low, guttural sound escaped her throat.

She wasn't the woman he knew anymore.

She was a monster.

Zixin bit down hard on his lip, the taste of copper filling his mouth as he forced himself to move. He backed up slowly, his eyes still locked on her lifeless, twitching body.

She moaned softly, her dead eyes fluttering open, and for a split second, he thought he saw a spark of the woman she had been. But it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by the vacant, soulless stare of a zombie.

Zixin turned and ran.

Behind him, he could hear her dragging herself across the floor, her once-familiar voice now a garbled mess of growls. Her father had long since stopped, his own body slumping as the infection took hold. The woman he had tried to protect, the woman who had clung to him in her final moments, was gone.

All that remained were monsters.