Chapter1

"Open the door! I know you're in there! Don't you know the water and electricity are cut off?!"

Chloe's shrill shouts were accompanied by deafeningly heavy banging on the door. I ignored her and continued to hold the trigger of the welding gun, welding the third angle iron firmly to the frame of the apartment's heavy-duty security door.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy!" Chloe 's voice sounded distorted through the security door. "Three days! We've been without food for three days! I know you've emptied the Walmart in the neighborhood of canned goods and bottled water. How dare you hoard so much stuff all by yourself?"

I pressed the button on the intercom by the door: "Because I maxed out three credit cards to buy this. Three days ago, I texted you to warn you that the rainwater contained high concentrations of corrosive acid and unknown filamentous parasites, telling you not to go to the fraternity party and to stock up. What did you reply to me then? 'You paranoid freak'?"

Just a week ago , I witnessed a few drops of rain fall on a plastic flowerpot on the balcony, instantly burning through the bottom of the pot, and several translucent, thread-like worms wriggling wildly in that acidic liquid.

"I...I was just joking!" Chloe's voice immediately softened, becoming as sweet and tearful as ever. "Please, it's too scary outside. Just open the door and share some food with us, even just a few cans...I'll do anything. Didn't you always want to go on dates with me?"

I glanced at the monitor screen. Behind Chloe stood two burly men wearing college football jackets.

"Stop your lame excuses and get the hell out of here with your two idiots' meal tickets," I said coldly.

"You son of a bitch!" one of the players immediately flew into a rage and slammed a stick into my door.

"Enough! Get out of the way!" The apartment manager, David , had a menacing expression . "Listen, kid! According to the tenancy law, in an emergency, the apartment management has the right to force entry! I'll count to three, and if you don't open the door yourself, I'll use this master key to go in and throw you out the window!"

I grabbed the thick steel awl from the workbench, aimed it at the cross lock cylinder inside the security door, and smashed it down hard with a claw hammer!

"Bang!"

With a deafening crash, the internal mechanical structure of the lock cylinder shattered instantly. I struck it three more times until the entire inner lock was completely deformed and collapsed. The crisp sound of the key breaking came from outside the door.

"Damn it! What have you done, you madman!" David roared hysterically outside the door, accompanied by frantic stomping on the door.

I personally cut off my escape route. Here, isolation is the only rule for survival.

I couldn't be bothered to listen to their powerless, furious curses, so I turned and walked towards the living room's French windows. Visibility outside was extremely low; the torrential rains that had lasted for half a month had turned this neighborhood into a vast expanse of water.

The floodwaters, carrying a strong, pungent acid odor, had reached the second floor of the fire escape staircase outside the apartment building. Countless pieces of debris floated on the surface, but among a pile of broken planks and vehicle roofs, a shredded human torso bobbed with the current. The edges of the wound showed no signs of acid corrosion; it had been severed by something with immense biting force.

Just then, a figure appeared in the fire escape on the second floor. It was a boy from the next building, leaning out and trying to use a golf club to hook a large waterproof backpack floating on the water.

He was completely unaware that, deep within the murky water beneath his feet, an enormous black shadow was rising rapidly upwards at an alarming speed.

"Splash—!"

The water burst open without warning. A huge, dark head covered in barbs burst from the water. Sharp, guillotine-like fangs instantly pierced the boy's chest.

There were no screams, only the sickening sound of bones cracking.

The giant beast swung its head violently, tearing the boy in two. Then, its massive body rolled over, spraying blood and entrails everywhere, before crashing back into the deep water.

The water surface closed up again, leaving only a huge whirlpool churning wildly with crimson bubbles.

my back.