9-9-6: Part One
It's a late summer night, in an office in the Fengze District of Quanzhou, Nong Na sits by a laptop. He stares at the screen as he slowly clicks around on a design of a shoe. On it we see a name, Lolamone. A man yawns besides him.
"Hey Nong Na, how's it going on your end?"
Nong Na looks over from his laptop at Li Min, who's in his mid 30s, who sits beside him in a weird cubicle-like open office environment. He's slightly overweight.
"Just finishing up the touch ups on the design."
"Oh? Well, hurry up. It's already getting late, we still have a few more designs we have to finish by the end of tonight."
Suddenly, a printer starts to run as we see the shoe design prop out. Nong Na looks around at empty seats with their screens up and running.
Seeing this, Li Min sighs.
"Lazy bastards. Hey, Nong Na. Go look for Team Leader Chen Wei will you? His meeting should have ended an hour ago. He should be on the third floor."
Li Min plays around with his face as if trying to cover it.
Nong Na nods as he walks away.
"Yes."
Li Min sighs as he walks towards the elevator.
"We're all going to get let go at this rate."
As Nong Na enters the elevator, Li Min stands up.
"Oh! And if you see the others, tell them to hurry back."
"Yeah, yeah."
__
Walking out of the elevator, Nong Na is greeted to a new environment. It's a weird mixture of a break room with a few private rooms attached to it and a self serve kitchen area. He can hear faint whispering coming from the area as he walks just past it.
Walking down a narrow corridor, Nong Na looks into the private rooms, Some are occupied as the occupants with lights inside as others are pitch black, as he walks by them, only faint conversations can be heard.
Coming up to one he recognizes, Nong Na stops in front of the door. He looks over at an electric panel and taps on it, the name Wu Yong appears. Inside we can hear a conversation where multiple voices are speaking. Hesitating for a brief moment, Nong Na lifts up his fist about to knock.
"Wait." A voice whispers.
Nong Na looks over, it's Lin Feng. She's in her mid 40s. As he looks down at her small hand that is holding touching his shoulder. She begins to walk away without saying a word as she waves for him to follow.
"That could have been bad. The department head hates being interrupted."
"Department head?" Nong Na asks, confused.
"Yeah, it's an all-hands meeting. Li Min must have forgot with the quota and everything."
Nong Na anxiously touches his elbows as he looks around entering the dining area. Standing around a table we see his coworkers having a potluck.
Zheng Li, a man in his early to mid 20s, waves him over.
"Hey! Finally taking your break?" Zheng Li jokes.
Yang Li, also similarly aged to him and Nong, lightly shakes his shoulder.
"Zhengiee, don't say that."
"Hey, Li wanted me to tell you guys to stop messing around before we all get fired."
As Yang Li and Zheng Li open up their mouths in shock. The older ones in the group look over at them and begin to laugh.
Tan Gang, a man in his mid 30s, overweight, turns around and tries to reassure him.
"Don't listen to Li Min, he's just trying to get promoted. All they care about around here is that we stay here till midnight. Sure boss Wu would be happy if we worked hard every night but he knows we can't. "
Lin Feng sits down next to Wong Yan, a pregnant woman in her mid 30s.
"Sit down, sit down." Lin Feng calls Nong Na who's still apprehensive about the situation.
"Come on" Tan Gang makes space next to him.
Contemplating for a second, Nong Na relents sitting beside him.
"That's the spirit." He laughs.
"By the way, who taught you to speak like that to your elders huh?" Tan Gang jokingly gestures.
"It's probably just a farmer thing." Zheng Li comments.
The group laughs.
"Well you fisherman always do put out a wide net before making a catch."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zheng Li says as the other women begin to laugh.
Yang Li gives Zheng Li a look as he tries to look innocent.
His face is red with embarrassment.
Tan Gong nudges Nong Na. In the background, Yang Li and Zheng Li get into a couples argument, as he tries to plead they weren't together at the time.
"Good one. But how'd you know?"
"On my way home, I'd see him try to talk to other women, while Yang Li stalked him."
Tan Gong raises his eyebrows.
"You military type do seem to know a lot about these things."
Yang Li runs off.
Zheng Li groans, as he looks over at Nong Na.
"Why did you have to do that?"
Nong Na shrugs.
"No reason, it's just what we farmers do."
The group begins to laugh again as Zheng Li runs after Yang Li.
"Yang Li! Yang Li! I'm sorry!"
Wong Yan looks around at the others. She looks over at Nong Na.
"Nong Na, have you heard about the virus?"
"Virus? What virus?" Nong Na asks her.
"Apparently they've been locking down districts in the south part of the prefecture. A few people got out and started to talk about it. They say it came from a boat. A farmer said something about another Guangxi."
"Guangxi?" Nong Na asks, confused.
Wong Yan looks over at Feng Li who nods.
"We were wondering if you heard anything about a food shortage in your home district?"
Nong Na scoffs.
"You guys know I'm from Jiangxi, right?"
They nod. Staring at him as if waiting for an answer.
"No, nothing." He responds.
"Well, that's good. It's probably nothing too serious." Feng Li mutters.
"What happened at Guangxi?" Nong Na asks.
"Not much." Feng Li replies.
Suddenly, Wu Yong walks into the area, he's in his mid 50s and obese. Holding a cup of tea, he smiles at them as he enters.
"Ah, there you all are. Well I'm done with my meeting and heading home. Care to join me out?"
The others get up as Tan Gong groans.
"Took you long enough, they say anything important?"
Tan Gong walks up to Wu Yong patting him on his shoulder.
"No, just the same as always. Overly optimistic deadlines and goals."
Tan Gong looks over at Nong Na who's behind them.
"Think we'll finally be fired?"
Wu Yong laughs.
"You know they can't do that."
Tan Gong gives Nong Na a wink as if asking him to keep it a secret.
"Anyways, don't say that in public, don't want our credit scores dropping do we?" Wu Yong jokes.
They laugh as they all head inside of an elevator.
Wu Yong thinks to himself as he looks at the elevator control panel.
"Ah, right. We should grab Li Min and the others."
Wu Yong sighs.
"Is he still aiming for the promotion?" Wu Yong asks.
Tan Gong looks over at Nong Na.
"Yeah, he's still trying to meet the quota." Nong Na replies.
To Wu Yong's surprise he looks over.
"Don't be like Li Min, the department head is looking to promote his friend's nephew this time."
Nong Na nods as he looks down.
The elevator doors open.
We see Li Min, Zheng Li, and Yang Li all working on designs at their desks as Wu Yong looks over at them in feigned shock.
"Wow! Look at how hard everyone's working. Li Min you shouldn't have!"
"Oh it was nothing."
"No Li, you shouldn't have."
"Oh Wu, you're being an asshole in front of the kids."
Li Min looks over at Wu Yong who's standing over him as Nong Na and the others watch as they walk inside looking helpless.
Li Min sighs.
"Who's being promoted this time?"
"It's not like it matters, it's not going to be you. You're stuck with me until eternity."
Li Min groans.
"Awful isn't it? Company policy. What can you do? Just wait until I'm retired, then maybe if you're lucky, you'll have a chance." Wu Yong sighs.
Grabbing his things, Wu Yong begins to walk away.
"Come on everyone, let's call it for the night."
__
Walking out of a small skyscraper, the group begins to part ways. They start to say their goodbyes as they head in separate directions.
"Team Lead, we'll be going now." Zheng Li waves goodbye as Yang Li looks over, still upset at the previous incident as she glares over at Nong Na who pretends to not notice.
"Yeah, yeah. What am I your father?" Wu Yong jokingly replies.
Wong Yan approaches a man waiting for her in the distance as Lin Feng is on her phone texting with somebody, Li Min and Tan Gang walk beside each other as they talk about the workday. Seeing this, Nong Na also takes out his phone, three missed calls from his parents.
Li Min and Tan Gang walk off together as quickly as Wu Yong and Nong Na are the only ones still heading in the same direction together.
Wu Yong groans.
"Ah, I really hate when they leave without saying goodbye."
Nong Na looks over from his phone.
"At least you aren't going to leave without saying goodbye right, Nong Na."
Nong Na quickly walks away in another direction realizing he's going the wrong way.
"Hey! That's not funny!" Wu Yong shouts.
"I don't know what you're talking about mister, I was going the wrong way." Nong Na replies.
"Don't call me mister! The train stations this way! We still have a bit to go, together!"
The others look over and laugh.
"I found a new route to the station. It's faster."
Wu Yong groans.
"You've got to be kidding me! At least say goodbye!"
"Bye!!!", "Bye.", "Good night, Mr.Wu."
Wu Yong sighs as he watches Nong Na wave as he walks away.
___
Walking down the stairs, Nong Na stares at his phone, scrolling through various group chat messages as he silently reads them to himself. Like a social butterfly he looks through various chats but doesn't seem to engage with any of them, just reading.
He passes by the gate as he swipes his phone as it lets him through.
Nong Na watches as a mother passes by with her adolescent children as he thinks to himself. The mother seems flustered about something as she quickly drags her children along.
Getting to a platformed area, he takes out his phone and stares at it. Then he scrolls through his contacts stopping at his father's number. He pauses for a bit before calling.
The phone rings.
"Nong Na? Is that you?" A voice asks.
"Hey, Dad." Nong Na subconsciously smiles.
"How have you been doing?- Is that Nong Na?"
"Hi, Mom."
"Have you been eating well?"
"I'm fine. Did you get the money I sent you two?"
"Yes, we bought your nephews some nice toys but you should really be saving it for yourself, you're in the big city now. It isn't the same as it was in the military."
Nong Na clicks his tongue.
"But Cousin Chao needs help with his kids. It's the least I could do."
"What about you? When are you going to bring home a girl?"
Nong Na chuckles.
"Now's not a good time. I'm busy. Maybe in a few years once I've settled down."
"Don't let those few years turn into ten."
"I know. I know."
"Nong Na, I'm fine. Take care of yourself." Cousin Chao's voice interrupts.
"It's late, so get some rest, Nong Na." His father says.
"We love you, but don't work too hard." His mother replies.
A tear falls on his cheeks as Nong Na smiles.
"Yeah, see you."
"Bye--" A little girl and a few boys say.
Nong Na looks at his phone as he puts it down as tears fall from his face.
He quickly wipes them as he recomposes himself.
Nong Na looks around on the platform, it's modern, well lit, with a marble surface, it's well maintained. The small number of individuals waiting to head home seemingly unaware of each other's presence as they stare off at their bright phones, endlessly scrolling.
An announcement plays over the intercom.
"The train headed southbound to Hanjiangzhen from Baozhou will arrive shortly."
From the corner of his eyes, Nong Na spots a man from the top of the station, he seems to be resting his head on a wall as he leans on it with his body. Nong Na glances over inconspicuously as he stares at a screen waiting for the train to arrive.
The man groans to himself as he mutters something to himself, it slowly turns into weeping as something seems to be dripping from his side, he's too far away to tell.
Suddenly, he turns towards Nong Na, feeling him stare at him, Nong Na tries to not look at him. The man is slouched as he begins to slowly walk towards Nong Na. He can finally hear it.
"Help me… Please, help me…" The man mutters.
Nong Na looks down at the ground as if pretending not to hear anything.
Out of balance, the man falls down head first onto the stairs, everyone seems to ignore his existence as the intercom plays a cheerful tone. The train arrives at the platform as people begin to walk towards it.
Nong Na walks into the train, standing next to the doorway, he looks towards the staircase.
The man is gone, faint black stains can be seen as if dragged across the stairway.
As the doors to the train close, the man can suddenly appears in front of them.
His eyes are diluted with a gray-like consistency. As he eerily looks over at Nong Na he stares directly back at him. The man puts his body against the door as if trying to get a good look at Nong Na. As Nong Na moves to the side away from him, the man begins to violently smack his head against the door as the train begins to leave the platform.
A business man in the same cart as Nong Na scoffs.
"Parasites."
___
Nong Na sits alone in a seat on the train, he browses content on the Red Book almost endlessly as videos and pictures play on and off as he mindlessly scrolls through them without any real thought. A drunk man walks into the cart as he looks back at another cart. He's about the same age as Nong Na, though looks much older with a full mustache and beard.
"None of you have any pride! None of you!" The drunk man incoherently yells.
"People these days have no manners." The drunk man clicks his tongue.
Looking around at the cart, the drunk man looks over at the people who pretend to not notice him. A woman takes out her phone as she opens it up.
"I'm not too ugly, right sister?" The drunk man says to no response.
He continues to walk along until he sees Nong Na. His eyes shoot up as he smiles.
"Nong Na?"
"Nong Na! Is that you!? It's me Nong Jie." Nong Jie calls out.
Nong Na pretends to not hear him, as Nong Jie walks towards him.
Walking towards Nong Na's seat, we can see his smile as he seems genuinely happy to see Nong Na, who does not seem to even acknowledge his presence. Nong Jie sits down next to him regardless. Nong Jie is wearing a workman with the words Lolamone on them.
"Ah, I haven't seen you since highschool after you joined the military." Nong Jie sighs.
"We Nongs need to stick together." He burps out as he elbows Nong Na.
Nong Na looks over at Nong Jie.
"Who are you?"
For a moment, Nong Jie is shocked as he opens his mouth with his eyes wide open, he begins to laugh as he looks at Nong Na.
"Good one, Nong Na. I was at your cousin's wedding, don't pretend you don't recognize me."
He tries to pat Nong Na's shoulder as he grabs his arm.
Nong Jie sighs as he takes back his arm.
"Who would've thought, two brothers together in the city."
He looks over at Nong Na with interest.
"So, where do you work? You know, I got myself a good job at a factory for Lolamone. Ah, I hate the name though, no Chinese pride."
People in the cart slowly get up as they begin to walk into the next cart over as only Nong Na and Nong Jie are left in the cart. Nong Na looks over at a woman who walks away as he sighs.
"You really have a way with words." Nong Na says.
Nong Jie scoffs.
"Oh, so he does talk."
"Lulamone, I work at Lulamone too."
"Well, this is all we Nong's can really hope for. Maybe if we were born into a Zhang or Wang family we'd have a chance, but a Nong is a Nong."
Nong Jie stares off at the floor below him as Nong Na finally looks over at him.
"Say, Nong Na. Can you keep a secret?"
Nong Na looks away as he looks out the window.
From the reflection, we can see Nong Jie look over. The train comes to a stop as the doors begin to open, it's silent as the beeping continues inside. Nobody enters their cart as the doors close again. Nong Jie looks around the cart.
Nong Jie looks back at Nong Na who continues to stare blankly outside.
He looks at the ground as Nong Na briefly glances over.
"Nong Fang died yesterday."
Nong Na glances downward at the window as Nong Jie now sitting straight in his seat, stares at the seat in front of him.
"How did it happen?" Nong Na asks.
"They called it an accident on the line, but he jumped off the dormitory ledge."
Nong Jie begins to weep.
"I watched him as he did it. The nets snapped his neck on the way down."
Nong Na looks over at Nong Jie.
"I'm sorry, Nong Jie."
"They have us work 12 hour shifts, no rest, no breaks, no future. Nong Na, you were lucky to join the military. But go home. Quanzhou isn't a place for Nongs."
Nong Na smirks as he puts his hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about me, Nong Jie."
"After I spoke up about it, they had me sent home. Bastards. When I tried to talk to an official they all said it never happened, that it was just another accident. They even tried to increase my quota."
Nong Jie sighs.
"These officials are no good, Nong Na."
Nong Na removes his hand from his shoulder as he looks away.
"You should watch what you say, Nong Jie."
Nong Jie scoffs again.
"Why? What else can they do to me that they haven't already tried? For every good official there are ten bad ones of which ten more are born from. What else is there to say?"
Nong Na tries to get up as Nong Jie blocks his exit.
"Nong Jie."
"Answer me. Why should these thugs be able to do this? Why should their children be able to get everything while we-!"
The train comes to a stop.
"This is my stop."
The intercom plays overhead.
"Now arriving at Shuanglong Lu."
Nong Na pats on Nong Jie's shoulder.
"It was good seeing you."
Nong Jie looks over at the map then back at him in disbelief. He begins to start laughing to himself as Nong Na begins to walk out from the seat.
"You crazy bastard." Nong Jie says while laughing.
Nong Na waits at the door as the train begins to slow down.
As it slowly comes to a stop, we see them waiting at the other side of the door. The doors open as they approach Nong Jie who doesn't take his eyes off of Nong Na.
"Nong Na! You selfish bastard! Traitor!" Nong Jie shouts as they begin to carry him away.
Nong Na doesn't look back as he walks away from the metro.
___
We're greeted to a computer screen, on it is a video messaging application, on it names but no real faces instead boxes of black silhouettes of varying genders almost staring back at you. Then flicker on, one by one as they join into the meeting.
The screen suddenly switches to show a single frame, on it the title Paramount Leader.
"Is that everyone?- This emergency council meeting will now begin."
The frame switches to another title, Ministry of State Security.
"Over the last week there have been unconfirmed reports of a virus making its way into the prefecture of Quangzhou, it is believed to have come from the Taiwan strait making contact from a fisherman in the Shishi county. At the time, it was believed that the virus would be contained to the port side area of Xiangzhi and no further actions were required at the time. Unfortunately, there have been several confirmed reports of breaches in the quarantine at this time. I will now hand it over to the Minister of Public Health for more details."
A female frame appears on the screen with the Ministry of Public Health beneath it. Beside it a outline of a map of the Xiangzhi area, like a slum we see several small scale buildings built directly next to each other. It's packed along the peninsula like shape. Where hundreds of fishing trawlers lay beside it.
"Hello everyone, I will be starting off by going through a timeline of the events that have led up to this point in time in order for everyone to better grasp the situation."
On the map, a single red dot appears in the region next to the fishing port in the slum-like area.
"From what we have been able to gather so far, patient zero seems to have originated from the fishing port of Xiangzhi, reports of attacks in the region shortly followed as statements of enraged individuals quickly began to spread. Due to the nature of the area, we were unable to respond in a timely manner until it spread from the coast."
The map updates as we see more and more red dots appear on the screen.
"We were able to learn more about it as it quickly spread south almost all the way towards Hongshan. From here, we moved to send in a biohazard team only to come across the problem. Many of you may have already seen videos of the matter that were released by citizens online."
We see a short video clip of what seems to be a body cam. On it, a group of what are presumably scientists in hazmat suits carrying standard disinfectant gear on them begin to walk around in the slum-like area, almost empty and devoid of life.
"I don't like this." Scientist 1 mutters.
"Has anybody seen anyone?" Scientist 2 who looks around asks the others.
The scene cuts to a corridor where what looks to be dead corpses lying around as a few people can be seen eating what seems to be best described as a pile of flesh. The scientists who walk inside shout out at them.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Scientist 1 shouts.
The scientists look over at each other in confusion as Scientist 2 looks over at the corpses.
"Wait." Scientist 2 tries to stop Scientist 1 as Scientist 3 looks over.
"What's the matter?" Scientist 3 asks.
Suddenly the people begin to stand up.
Scientist 2 freezes as she looks at the pile.
"We need to run." Scientist 2 whispers as she looks over at the others.
The few people begin to turn around as they look over.
Scientist 1 raises up his hand.
"Hey!"
A person in front begins to hyperventilate as Scientist 2 grabs Scientist 3 and tries to run.
"Where are you going!?" Scientist 1 asks.
Behind him, the people begin to run towards him in an unnatural way, their limbs and arms flailing around as foam comes from their mouths. We see it all as scientist 3 is being dragged, up until Scientist 1 is tackled as his suit is ripped apart. Scientist 1 screams out as it cuts off.
"Fortunately two of the three scientists involved were able to escape."
The map updates showing what looks to be a blockade.
"Afterwards with the help of the Ministry of Public Security to set up a perimeter around the area, sending in scientists and special police units into the area. We were able to effectively quarantine the area. After rescuing survivors and securing samples of the virus we were able to determine what exactly we were dealing with, a strain of ABLV. The Australian Bat Lyssavirus."
Shock and murmurs erupt in the crowd.
"We believe the virus to have originated from the region of Australia, while the fishermen were uncooperative; genetic matching helped provide the answer we needed. But was futile, there is no known cure for ABLV, our attempts to use rabies vaccines on citizens has proven ineffective. And has begun to raise concerns from the Australian health officials."
A CT scan appears on the screen.
"What makes this version of ABLV especially worse is the short time frame required for individuals to begin to show symptoms. Autopsy reports show that unlike in conventional cases of lyssavirus, Encephalitis or the swelling in the brain is non-fatal. While swelling does occur instead causing what you have just witnessed."
The screen changes back to the map, this time updated with several dots in farmland regions surrounding the area.
The Minister of Public Health feigns a cough.
"Unfortunately, while preparing this report for the general assembly of the UN, an outbreak occurred in an area originally believed to have been cleaned, an outbreak likely occurred due to possible survivors escaping through the farmland areas. At this time the case fatality rate of the disease is 100% due to there being no cure for the disease."
The map is updated showing the deaths of tens of thousands of people, possibly hundreds.
"As we speak, the strain of ABLV has likely entered the local municipalities of Chendai and Dongshi as of now it is unknown how far it has progressed but expect the situation to worsen as it reaches critical mass. With cooperation of the Ministries of Transportation and Water Resources all non-local routes from and to Quanzhou have been sealed off to prevent any possibilities of outbreaks in other regions and the port closed due to environmental concerns. At this time, we expect a possible outbreak into the regions of Xiamen and Zhangzhou. In the worst case scenario reaching Fuzhou and Jieyeng breaking containment."
The group begins to talk to each other as the map updates again showing the possible paths of infection. They seem to deliberate on small issues but are all in agreement as the frames of pictures turn mostly green.
"This is outrageous! Are we to believe that ABLV coincidentally arrived at our shores? This must be an attack from an external source!" A State Councilor shouts.
Many others join in with the State Councilor on their thoughts of a man made virus.
"It must be the Taiwanese!" The Minister of Foreign Affairs accuses.
The Ministry of National Defense intervenes. "It could be many possible parties with an interest in deteriorating relationships, I have a list of several possible terrorist and black cell organizations."
"I just got off the line with the Americans, they are completely unaware of the situation." The Secretary General states.
The Paramount Leader can be heard in contemplation.
"Are there any reports off the mainland?"
"At this time, we believe this to be an isolated incident. The port of origin has a history of being used for solely fishing purposes, while the reports state groups from the region stayed within Chinese waters, GPS data shows that the majority of ships leaving the port turn off their transponders." The Minister of Public Health states.
"Furthermore, we believe that based on the types of fish sold in markets local to the area, that fisherman from this region frequented the Northern Australian Coastline." The Minister of Water Resources adds.
"If I may take the floor, right now is not the time to talk about who or where it came from. But rather the very serious issue of this virus spreading out from the Fujian province." The Minister of Public Health adds on.
"She's right, what the Minister of Public Health says is true. We need to act now, before the situation worsens. As of now, this is the best measure we can take to prevent a total collapse of the Chinese government." The Minister of State Security says.
"You can't be serious? What you are suggesting means the death of millions." A Primeir states in objection to his suggestion.
"Are you suggesting that millions are worth more than the lives of every other citizen in this country?" The Minister of State Security asks to which it becomes silent.
"Let us begin the vote." A voice asks.
The sound of votes being tallied can be heard as boxes on the screen light up as they vote.
On the screen it updates, 28 Yes, 0 No. 6 Abstain.
"With an overwhelming vote of 28 votes in favor, the proposed plan will proceed. This emergency council meeting will come to an end, for all non-essential personnel proceed to designated safe zones in case of failure."
"For the hope of the countrymen you have condemned to die, I hope you can all sleep comfortably at night knowing this, as I know that I cannot." A Primeir states as his block disappears as others follow him.
___
In a high rise apartment, we're greeted to Nong Na who's in his bedroom. It's your typical bedroom, nothing too special about it, plain colors and decent bed. On the floor, Nong Na does several repeated crunches. On his face we can see dark spots under his eyes as they stare up at a ceiling fan above him.
Coming to a halt, he stands up checking the time on an alarm clock, it's currently 07:00. He walks out of his room into the living room which is your standard modern apartment. Nothing special, a couch, television, and kitchen and living room combo. Walking across we can see earbuds in his ears as he walks along.
Grabbing a towel, he heads into a doorway. The door shuts on his way out. We're greeted to the sound of water falling down from a shower as we hear another door close. Screams start to come from the entryway of the apartment, then the cries for help. Another door shuts this time loudly as what follows is the repeated grunts and groans as the sound of a body slamming onto a door can be heard.
The sound of a breaking doorway can be heard.
"Stay back!" A man shouts out.
"Hey! Keep it down over there!" Another man shouts.
"This isn't funny you crazy bastard!"
The man screams out in pain as what follows is silence.
The sound of the shower stops as a door suddenly opens, Nong Na comes out dressed casual wear it looks as if he's going out for a jog. Carrying a backpack, Nong Na is checking his phone. Taking out his earbuds as he does.
Nong Na clicks his tongue. He reads the message that appears on his phone, interaction and association with disorderly individuals.
"Ah, my credit score went down. I knew I shouldn't have talked to him. Oh well, I guess I'll have to give my family some more money." Nong Na shrugs.
Heading towards the door, Nong Na hears something fall over on the other side.
Surprised, Nong Na stops just before opening the door. He peers through the peephole.
"What?"
His eyes open wide in shock as he sees his next door neighbor laying dead on the floor. His neck slit open as blood continues to gush out of it forming a pool around him.
Suddenly, he sees it move by near the entrance to the doorway.
Nong Na falls to the ground.
He stares frozen at the doorway. As footsteps make their way towards the entryway.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
It's slow but consistent as something connects with the door. It's not too loud but it's noticeable.
Quietly, Nong Na gets back on his feet as he looks over at the door. Hesitant to approach, he slowly does so anyway. He closes his eyes as he gets the courage to look through the peephole again. This time, on the other end, a man stares back.
His head collides back and forth with the door almost mindlessly.
Suddenly, loud banging against his walls erupts as the man looks over at the direction.
"Hey! Knock it off! I'm warning you! I'll call the office!" An upset man cries out.
The man in front of him begins to hyperventilate as he slowly makes his way across the hall.
Nong Na tries to move his body to an angle where he can see more but is unable.
From his phone, it begins to ring out loudly as the man makes his way back, this time sprinting over, as he hyperventilates, slamming his head even more violently against the door. Nong Na checks his phone to see a call from Wu Yong as he desperately tries to hold the door as it shakes immensely.
Suddenly, he hears the door beside him open up.
"HEY! YOU ASSHOLE!-"
The slamming on the door stops as Nong Na almost falls down. He looks through the peephole as the man now is staring at the man. Then he sprints off.
"What!?"
The other man begins to scream out as Nong Na begins to contemplate to himself before opening up the door. He peeks out to see the man on top of the other man. Suddenly from the other room the sound of more clankling erupts as Nong Na looks over to see the man with the slit neck standing up, looking over at him.
"I'm going to be late for work." Nong Na says as he sprints towards an emergency exit doorway.
Following behind him, the slit neck man tries to run after him but quickly falls over just as he leaves his apartment.
___
Walking down the stairs of the subway station, Nong Na cautiously looks around at the crowded station beneath him as people mindlessly move in and out of trains, while others wait.
Reaching the platform he begins to overhear the conversations of others who talk to loved ones on their phones.
"I can't make it Ma Jun, they canceled all trips out of the city. I'll look for another way."
"Huh, that's strange, I can't post anything on Wobo" Another person comments.
Looking over at the person, Nong Na takes out his phone and checks it. It seems to be working fine as he continues to look around for anyone suspicious. A train arrives at the platform.
"The train headed northbound to Quanzhou Railway Station has arrived."
Putting his phone away, he joins the queue they head into the relatively busy train.
___
The cart is packed as Nong Na looks for a place to stand in, he sees an open spot in the distance, walking towards it, he puts his hand up onto the railing as the train starts off. Nong Na sticks to himself as he continues browsing on his phone.
He hears another comment from another person.
"Ah, piece of trash, why won't you work?" An old lady comments.
Looking over, Nong Na thinks to himself as he stares at her trying to upload something.
Going back to his phone, he clicks on a video in an article and tries to share it. It fails. Then he posts something else and it works fine. Not thinking too much about it, he puts his phone away as the train enters another station.
A few more people enter as they pack in.
Shortly after, the train leaves the station as it speeds away again.
In the cart behind them, a man begins to drag his feet on the ground as he awkwardly walks around looking at the other passengers who nervously try to avoid looking at him. It's hard to tell what's going on through a glass doorway but things are visible, he approaches a woman who seems terrified as the man gawks.
Shortly following, another man walks up to him, grabbing his shoulder to look at him. He's suddenly bitten as blood begins to spurt through the cart. Meanwhile, Nong Na gets bored again and stares at his phone, he opens up a todo list and stares at a list of groceries. Maybe he'll try to make something new, opening up a video player he begins to watch instructional cooking videos.
"Ah, I wish I knew how to cook." He mutters to himself.
As in the cart behind him, we can longer see through it as a blanket of blood covers the doorway, following violent knocking on the doorway as it is forcefully opened.
People near the doorway, look over as they see the scene. A man lays on the ground as another one begins to ravenously consume his flesh, he violently beats the man on the ground as he does. They stare in horror as the hungry man looks up at them as blood falls from his mouth. He begins to growl as he lunges towards them.
Screams erupt in the cart as Nong Na who's now listening to music stares off in front of him. People begin to push and shove as they try to run away, others fall and trip as more hungry people begin to rush into the cart. They go for the easy ones first, the old and elderly others target families, the slow movers.
Suddenly, someone slams into Nong Na's shoulders as he looks as he passes by, he sees the terror in the man's eyes as he see's him looking back. He glances backwards seeing a stampede running towards him, Nong Na runs.
Following closely behind the person ahead of him, he screams as he looks behind. The door to the next cart opens as people begin to scream and shout.
"RUN!" The person ahead of him shouts into the cart!
The people on the other end look at him in confusion, some laugh and scoff as he runs away, following Nong Na enters as he looks around at the people still standing in disbelief, terror in his eyes. Then trailing behind the crowd now thinned out. The few hungry people stop chasing the herd seeing new prey turn towards the crowd as the exact situation earlier repeats itself.
By the next cart, nobody says anything as they all silently run towards the entrance.
The train stops at another station, this time nobody enters as then suddenly they begin to swarm in, attacking the passengers. Preoccupied by easy prey, Nong Na easily avoids them while the others aren't so lucky.
Making it towards the front, Nong Na sees people begin to barricade themselves from the other carts, they see Nong Na and the person ahead of him running towards them.
"Hurry up!" A woman shouts.
Nong Na kicks it into full gear as some of the infected people begin to turn their attention towards them, giving pursuit in the distance. As the first in front makes it in they begin to close the door, Nong Na slides in.
Two men behind Nong Na hold the door as people begin to hand items to barricade the door. The infected on the other side begin to bash their heads and ligaments onto the door to try to force it open as blood splatters onto the glass doorway. In the background we can see a mess as groups of infected tear apart the others and begin to eat them.
Nong Na tries to catch his breath as he tries to understand the situation around them, we now see clearly the person in front of him is a woman as she seems to point towards the front of the train.
"We need to tell him to stop the train!"
She tries to run over as we see clearly a special forces team wearing military gear inside heavily armed. They stop her.
"Are you two bitten?" A man in a full body bite resistant suit asks. As the others point their guns at Nong Na and her. Nong Na casually raises his hands to surrender.
"No." Nong Na says.
A female scientist tries to get the men to lower their guns. On her shoulder we can see an IR armband as Nong Na looks over at it.
"Is this how to treat people in need?" The scientist sighs.
She smiles at the women.
"What's wrong?" The scientist asks.
"We need to get the conductor to stop the train!". The woman seems adamant on the matter.
The scientist smiles patting her.
"There is no conductor for this train. You should get home safely, it isn't safe." She replies back.
On the intercom, it plays a beep.
"Now arriving at Baozhao Street."
The train comes to a slow stop as we can see non-infected people waiting about out the platform, as suddenly several hundred infected people begin to swarm out. Nong Na gulps as he looks outside, the female scientist looks over with a smile.
"Is this your stop, friend?"
Nong Na looks over and nods.
"Yeah." He nervously replies.
"What a coincidence, we're not from here. Maybe we can help each other out? Do you by chance know how to get to Baoshan Village? I'm late to a meeting." The scientist pretends to be embarrassed.
"As soon as you exit, follow the Jinjang River. It should get you to Liming University. From there, just head north." Nong Na thinks to himself as he says.
"Let's go." Someone who seems to be the captain says as he heads out with the others.
The platform erupts in loud gunfire, as they begin to shoot indiscriminately as they exit. Nong Na and the women follow behind the scientist and others. In the scientists hands we notice a metallic briefcase as they quickly begin to walk towards the entrance.
"We need to hurry up." The captain tells the scientist.
"I know. I know." She replies.
Looking back at Nong Na and the women, she smiles.
"It was good meeting you two, well I never got a name. Not like it matters." She shrugs as they head upstairs with the two.
___
The combat teams split ways as Nong Na looks around on the ground level to the chaos above. He freezes for a moment as the woman next to him begins to run away, realizing what's going on he looks back at the stairway where several infected individuals begin to run up the stairs. People stuck on escalators becoming prey, Nong Na runs.
Police sirens roar as firefighters run towards a scene beside him as a car is lodged into a tall building, the building is on fire as people rush to try to save the occupant. Nong Na watches as he runs away, the firefighter carrying the body is then suddenly bitten.
There's smoke everywhere as bystanders are completely lost and confused in the horror, begin to see people emerge from the train station.
Some begin to run as others scream, the sound of gunfire begins to erupt.
In the distance we can see it, the small skyscraper with the metallic label on it saying Lolamone. Nong Na continues to rush forward as inside he can see people grouped up on the first floor staring out towards the chaos.
Running to the entryway, Nong Na scans his card as he enters the building.
___
Inside, Nong Na catches his breath as a few people look over at him. He walks into the area as he looks around at people who are all staring outside.
"Can anyone see what's going on out there?" Someone asks.
"I think the fire's spreading."
"Ugh. Why isn't the internet working?"
"They probably just hit a cable somewhere."
Nong Na looks back at the door and then at the others. From the windows he can see large plumes of smoke from down the hill. Several buildings are now on fire. People are seemingly running from building to building as others run on the streets.
"Look! It's the police!" A bystander says.
More and more police officers begin to arrive as they start to shoot wildly around. It's hard to make anything out as the cruisers begin to block the viewpoint.
Some screams in shock.
"Look at the buildings over there." A woman says in shock.
As one of the buildings nearby but not too close begins to be engulfed in flames, people begin to shatter and open windows as people around them seem to latch onto them engulfing them in flames. They quickly fall out from the sky onto the floor.
The crowd gasps as they watch on in horror as more and more bodies begin to fall from the small skyscrapers. Then they begin to slowly crawl back up.
Some of the people seem to be unable to continue watching, they head towards the doorway.
Nong Na blocks them.
"Wait. Wait." Nong Na tries to plead.
"They're- they're sick. Don't go outside."
One of them moves forward.
"Of course they're sick you asshole, look at them."
He tries to reach for a door, Nong Na grabs his hand.
"Don't."
One of the people looks at Nong Na and raises his eyebrows.
"Ah, I remember you from the orientation. You're a Nong. Ahh. You Nongs are all the same. Come on Zhang Wei, let's go." One of the people says.
Zhang Wei pulls Nong Na off him who tries to not let him go as they head out.
Nong Na takes his phone out as he tries to call someone.
"All lines are currently busy, please try again later."
He sighs.
This time Nong Na checks the internet to find he's unable to connect to anything. Putting his phone away he leans on the glass door. Looking over, Nong Na watches as the group begins to head down. Suddenly, they stop as they seem to stare at something in the distance. Nong Na raises his eyebrows as he stands up straight. The group suddenly turns around and begins to run back.
Confirming his suspicions, Nonga immediately heads towards the elevator. He presses on the button to call it as he waits, behind him through the doors we can see the group rush back towards the entryway. Then in a distance away from them a few people can be seen chasing after them.
The elevator doors begin to open, as the bystanders continue to stare from the windows.
Nong Na gives them a last look as he presses a button on the elevator.
As the elevator begins to close, the bystanders begin to realize something is up, they immediately try to run towards the elevator, Nong Na shuts it. Quickly holds to shut it.
As people desperately click on the call elevator button, they look over at the glass door where we can see it. Several dozen people chasing after the group as they run back to the building who are now at the entrance now, with only a few of them remaining as the others are tackled as they try desperately to open the door.
___
Ding.
The elevator doors open as Nong Na, traumatized, walks out of them into his office space. He looks around at his coworkers who look over at him in surprise.
"Wow, you look like shit." Tan Gang comments.
Wu Yong stands up and approaches him. He looks at his sweatshirt.
"Is that blood?" Wu Yong asks.
Nong Na doesn't respond. Wu Yong pats him on the shoulder.
"Haha, we thought you were in the ICU because you didn't show up today."
Nong Na looks around at everyone in confusion.
"Come on, let's get to work, Nong Na. We have to at least look busy, eh?" Wu Yong tries to get him to move as he moves to sit back down.
"Do none of you know what's going on outside?" Nong Na frantically looks around.
Walking around, Nong Na searches around.
"Ah, he's completely lost it." Lin Feng looks over and sighs.
Wong Yan tries to smile.
"Don't say that Lin Feng, we all experience episodes eventually."
Putting some paperwork down, Li Min busily works around.
"Don't worry, Nong Na. We won't tell anyone. Just as long as you know who's boss. Alright?"
Zheng Li and Yang Li look over in disgust.
"Really, Li Min?" Zheng Li says.
"Ah, Nong Na help me out will ya? The internet is out and we need to send these papers over before the end of tonight. Something happened to that friend's son last night and I could really use-"
Dragging a desk along, Nong Na begins to barricade the emergency exit doorway.
They all look at him in confusion.
"Nong Na, knock it off will ya, you're starting to make me worry." Tan Gang says.
"At least he isn't hurting anybody." Wong Yan mentions.
"That's a good point." Yang Li states.
Nong Na looks over at an emergency fire alarm, he walks over and pulls it down.
"Nong Na! Are you insane! How am I going to get promoted if you do this!?" Li Min shouts as he walks over confused.
Wu Yong and the others follow suit.
"Mind tell us what's going on Nong Na?" Wu Yan asks.
Nong Na looks at them then quickly looks around the room. His eyes stop at the windows which are blinded up. Nong Na facepalms to himself as he looks at the others.
"Look outside." Nong Na hurriedly replies.
"No, it's too bright out. Just tell us what's wrong." Lin Feng says plainly.
"Please, just look outside. It'll make a lot more sense. If you just look outside." Nong Na pleads as he continues to stand beside the makeshift barricade he formed.
Wong Yun stares at him as he gives in.
"Zheng Li, Yang Li open the blinds please."
Yang Li walks over to the blinds as Zheng Li doesn't budge.
"But. He's clearly lost it." Zheng Li seems to protest.
"Just do it." Wong Yun sighs.
Zheng Li begins to walk over as he sees Yang Li with her eyes open wide, frozen in front of one of the blind. He walks towards her. Looking over he also freezes.
Something begins to attempt to bash its way through the emergency doorway, the others look over in surprise as Nong Na's eyes open wide.
"Looks like someone's trying to get in." Tan Gang says.
From the emergency exit we can hear the sound of several footsteps moving through it.
"They probably think it's an actual emergency." Wong Yan says.
"Ah, don't worry! It was an accident!" Lin Feng yells out. Nong Na begins to panic as he looks over at her as she looks confused.
"What?" Lin Feng replies.
The attempts get more and more violent as Nong Na begins to look over at more desks, he presses against the one next to the emergency exit.
"Ah, looks like they're trying even harder to get in. Hey Nong Na, maybe don't be an asshole and let them in alright? It'll go by faster if you do." Wong Yun says.
Nong Na looks over at them as his face becomes red from exertion.
"Help me, you idiots."
Li Min crosses his arms as the others look away.
"Now you're going too far, Nong Na." Li Min mutters at him.
Zheng Li and Yang Li begin to carry over another desk towards Nong Na as the others watch in stupor.
"Yeah, Nong Na is right." Zheng Li says.
"Alright, this isn't funny anymore, Zheng Li, Yang Li knock it off you two."
Yang Li looks over at the window, she points to it.
"Take a look outside." She says.
The group looks over at the window to see several buildings at different stages on fire.
Nong Na and the others continue to hold out as the force from the other side begins to fade and gradually weaken as it stops. They all fall forward but catch themselves as they look at each other, Zheng Li and Yang Li stare at Nong Na.
"Is that-?" Zheng Li is about to ask.
"Yeah, I think so." Nong Na quickly replies before he can finish.
The others have made their way to the window as they silently stare at the situation occurring, people like ants on the street wildly running around as occasionally things would fall out from the buildings, they open up a window and start to hear loud sirens and vehicles as people desperately attempt to escape the situation as they are swarmed.
"When did it happen?" Yang Li asks.
"I saw them on my train." Nong Na replies.
"An actual zombie apocalypse, huh. That's so cool!" Yang Li says excitedly.
"Hey I think you guys should come check this out." Wong Yan calls them over.