1 Prologue

"AHHH! HELP!"

"HEL-pu..."

"AHHHH!"

Screams sounded from every corner of the streets.

'I thought it would be safe in this city. Why did they not check the survivors properly?!'

A young lady ran up the stairs to go get her supplies and child.

Kwang!

The door was bashed open with a kick. The woman didn't have time to get her keys out.

"M-mommy? Why are they here?"

"Cinna, everything's ok, let's get out of here first. Pack everything you need and don't forget your bunny."

"Un." The boy. Cinnamon, packed his sleeping bag, snacks, and books into a suitcase. He picked up a peculiar looking rabbit that was red and grabbed his mother's hand.

"Cinna, the elevator's not working. I have to use my ability, are you ok with that?"

"Mommy, I'm not that afraid of heights," the child said while trembling slightly.

"Ok, but still, close your eyes, we are on the 17th floor after all."

Opening a wide window, the woman grabbed her son tightly and jumped.

The space around her shifted and stairs appeared. They were formed from the rubbish and rocks that were on the ground.

This supernatural ability meant that she was a SEM, superiorly evolved mutants.

After the virus broke out due to excessive global warming, which had caused the radiation to become stronger, people gained supernatural powers.

At first, people used them to gain authority and money. They didn't realize that those things would be useless soon.

Zombies and mutated beasts started appearing 8 months later. At first, everyone thought they were just rumors and nonsense.

It was only after the full-blown apocalypse that they realized that they were real. Real and dangerous. Much more than they imagined.

SEMs who had the backing of the government created safe cities where survivors could stay in. It worked quite well but they didn't carefully check the survivors and more than half the population of China. People couldn't even bother to contact other countries with their situations being so dire.

SEMs were in charge of fighting the zombies and beasts and if they didn't they would be banned from safe cities.

But, some SEMs would fake their identities and go past the security. This woman, Zhang Yuqi, was one of them. She couldn't leave her son alone in a dangerous place like this. Even if it was called a "safe city", there were crimes occurring everywhere for power. Kidnappings and slave trades occurred every day and only parents paid attention.

At the start of the apocalypse, Zhang Yuqi was just a regular high school student. She realized that she was a SEM, but didn't care much for it. If she had known earlier of what horrible things were to happen, she would have honed her skills.

She was raped before the virus spread and that was what caused her to have Cinnamon. It was a classmate who took a liking to her pretty face. At first, he tried to be a gentleman and go after her nicely but realizing that she didn't like him at all, he gave up on his act and raped her.

Zhang Yuqi ran away from the city. She didn't have any family members anyways. She had worked as a mathematics and computer science tutor as well as a piano and violin teacher, so she had enough money saved up to rent an apartment.

Zhang Yuqi was known as the genius of the city. She was adopted by many but was kicked out in the end always. Zhang Yuqi had liked one household, when she was little, where there was a pair of twins the same age as her. They were very nice and caring but she never got to know why they didn't want her in the end.

Zhang Yuqi ran away to a nearby city. She quit school since she already knew all the lessons and started working as a tutor again.

At first, she only felt dizzy and tired often. Her students would worry about her and cut the lessons short. Soon it became the point where she couldn't control her physical or mental self properly. Zhang Yuqi went to the hospital to find out in surprise that she was pregnant.

Her landlady, an elderly woman who was very nice, took care of her meticulously, saying that a pregnant woman should be resting, not working.

Zhang Yuqi was 8 months pregnant when the full-blown apocalypse happened.

She almost died when she had to give birth out in the wilds in an area surrounded by mutant beasts. The landlady had protected her until the end and yelled at her to escape with her newborn son.

With a rush of adrenaline, Zhang Yuqi didn't have the chance to feel pain after giving birth. The baby's umbilical cord hadn't been properly removed either, it was still in its long original form, just cut away from its mother haphazardly.

Zhang Yuqi ran with all her might and tried not to cry as she vowed to remember the good landlady's deeds.

She collapsed and was found a few hours later by other SEMs who were out on a mission.

Zhang Yuqi and the baby were brought to a safe city and cared for.

She named her son Cinnamon by the tea that the landlady favored the most. She had always brought it and drank the tea with her to soothe her.

Zhang Yuqi soon realized that she had a very powerful ability and was scared that she would have to leave her son all alone.

Zhang Yuqi acquired a fake identity by trading her kidney for it.

She escaped into another safe city and was able to live quietly for six years. Her son knew about her ability but also knew that it would endanger the family if he told anyone about it. Cinnamon was pretty mature for a kid at 6. The bunny was bought when Cinnamon was 3. It was a mutant rabbit and didn't seem to have any special skills.

Anyways, Zhang Yuqi was running for her life now. By using her power to the full extent, she was nearing the city gate where SEMs were.

Suddenly, a roar burst out from behind her.

'A level 2 zombie! Shit! They already evolved?! At least it's not a level 3 or 4...'

Zhang Yuqi thought through and sighed. She would not be able to survive.

"Cinna, I'll clear the area, don't worry about me. See there? SEMs are at the gate and trying to save people. Go straight towards them, got it?"

Cinnamon nodded frightfully and hurried towards the SEMs that were grabbing up the survivors and checking them. The survivors that passed the check-up were placed in armored buses and were driven away to another safe city. The survivors who didn't pass and had signs of scratches and bites were all killed immediately.

Cinnamon looked back frequently but seeing his mother's stern look as she fought against the evolved zombie, he ran towards the SEMs.

There was still quite a distance between Cinna and the SEMs who were helping the survivors out.

Cinna had tried to avoid several zombies coming his way since they were only at the speed of jogging but tripped and fell over.

"CINNA!"

Zhang Yuqi paused her fight with the level 2 zombie. She had gained many injuries while the other party didn't seem affected at all.

She ran over as the level 2 zombie chased.

"Mommy!"

The zombies were about to get to him as Zhang Yuqi scooped him up and threw him into the air.

With her power, she roughly constructed a slide with all the dirt lying around. Cinna swooped through and landed near a SEM.

He was checked and put on a bus.

"Mommy!" The SEM who checked him turned to the direction the child was looking at.

"Boss, it's a SEM. She seems to have a pretty good power. It's construction," the SEM who checked Cinna commented.

"So what? We don't need to save her, she obviously faked her ID. She should have been banned already. It's a pity. She's only level 1 and with a powerful talent. Alright, the survivors aren't going to come anymore, let's leave," the boss scoffed and went on the bus and ordered the driver.

Cinna looked at the boss in horror. He quickly turned to watch his mother fight bravely.

"Mommy! Mommy! NO! Mommy!" Cinna broke down when he saw the fate of his mother.

Zhang Yuqi looked to see the bus slowly but steadily rolling away.

'As I thought. They're not waiting for me. At least Cinna survived...'

Feeling numb to the pain that should have been felt when zombies began gnawing at her, Zhang Yuqi accepted her fate and closed her eyes.

Within moments, she would become a zombie. But Zhang Yuqi didn't allow that to happen.

SEM zombies would be stronger and still have the power that they had before death.

She didn't want to become a zombie. She was bound to die anyway, why not control how she died?

Zhang Yuqi pulled out a pistol and counted to three.

3...

2...

1...

Bang!