Explosions echoed from the checkpoints surrounding the city, and then, a black tide of zombies spread rapidly outwards along the road.
In the distance, planes at the airport took off urgently, one after another, heading for unknown destinations.
Onboard were carriers of the virus.
Xu Ruina stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, took a sip of wine, and said lightly:
"My cards have all been played. Now it's up to how you deal with it."
"Given the current situation, you still have a chance to win. It all depends on how you play your cards!"
After Xu Ruina's video was uploaded online, it immediately sparked heated discussions among people worldwide:
"Is this military footage of suppressing zombies? It seems the rumors of City M being overrun by zombies are true!"
"Wait, those people don't look like zombies. Would zombies wave their arms to greet people?!"
The video was filmed from too far away to hear the voices of the people in the frame, but their actions were clearly captured.
"Not only that, but they're carrying backpacks, and some are pulling others along. Zombies don't hold hands."
"So... isn't this the military shooting at civilians!"
"My God, I can't believe the military is so irresponsible. Without confirming whether they are people or zombies, they just start shooting for no reason? That's too cruel!"
"My heart goes out to those unfortunate survivors."
"The military must explain themselves. They take our taxpayer money and then slaughter us?!"
"Let's all calm down and think. In that kind of situation, it's hard to distinguish between zombies and survivors. Maybe those survivors have already been infected..."
"Curse the upstairs neighbor's whole family to be shot to death!"
"Yeah, you have no sympathy at all. Did you get paid to whitewash this?"
"How much did the military pay you? Let's all make money together?!"
The internet was overwhelmingly condemning the military. Occasionally, there were voices supporting the military's actions, but they were quickly drowned out by the opposition.
Some people even resorted to verbal abuse and doxxing against those who supported the military.
Although the platform quickly banned the video, people had already edited and saved it. Instead of being contained, the situation escalated into a bigger storm.
The general who commanded that battle was doxxed.
Even though he had died in battle, his family was harassed, and someone even smashed their windows in the middle of the night and left dead small animals at their doorstep to intimidate them.
Even the general's guards were doxxed.
His pregnant wife was threatened by the mob, causing her to miscarry.
While a large number of people were expressing their noble moral principles and sympathy for the deceased survivors through violent intimidation, the zombie virus was also rapidly spreading to other cities.
Within days, zombies were discovered in over twenty cities worldwide, and the virus began to spread rapidly.
The topic of zombies quickly dominated the trending searches, and people's focus shifted from the shooting of civilians to the spread of the zombies.
"Many governments have issued martial law. The entire city will be under curfew after sunset. Except for the military and police, no one is allowed on the streets for any reason. Violators will be shot on sight!"
"The Center for Disease Control announced that Renxin Pharmaceutical Company has successfully developed a test strip for the zombie virus. It only takes 5 minutes to test whether a patient is infected or carrying the zombie virus. This is 10 minutes faster than the fastest conversion time to a zombie after infection, which is 15 minutes. This greatly improves the efficiency of distinguishing between infected individuals and survivors!"
"Country Yun Shang announced a nationwide state of emergency, halting all aircraft landings and strictly inspecting all incoming vehicles. This has caused long queues at the entry points. At the same time, this move by Country Yun Shang has also led to huge losses for foreign trade orders in other countries."
"Many countries have publicly voiced their dissatisfaction and mockery of Country Yun Shang's excessive self-protection measures, stating that countries that lose free trade will eventually be trapped by their own wrong actions, even if they are not devoured by zombies!"
"Sky Eagle Nation has implemented a mandatory testing order, requiring all residents to self-quarantine at home until all residents in the region have passed the test before they can go out. However, this strong measure has been met with strong dissatisfaction from all sectors of Sky Eagle Nation."
...
Looking at the dazzling array of news pushed to his phone, Xu Ruina, sitting on the plane, smiled faintly.
She had seen enough of human nature in the apocalypse.
But it was human nature before the crisis arrived that was most important.
The conflicts and checks and balances between their various factors were the key gambles that led to the event's conclusion, either success or failure.
"Madam, your champagne!"
A flight attendant, with a sweet smile, knelt beside Xu Ruina and offered her a glass of champagne.
"Thank you!"
Xu Ruina elegantly took the champagne and took a sip, a look of anticipation on her face.
Two hours later, the plane landed at the airport in the capital of Sky Eagle Nation. Xu Ruina got off the plane and walked out with the flow of passengers.
She was in first class and was among the first to disembark, but she did not leave the airport. Instead, she found a seat under the pretense of looking for one and crossed her long legs, as if waiting for something.
"Oppose restrictions on our personal freedom, oppose mandatory test strip screening!"
"We want freedom of movement, not bureaucrats!"
"For freedom, we would rather die!"
"Long live freedom!"
"No one has the right to restrict our freedom!"
Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, hundreds of people could be seen gathered outside the airport.
The scene was extremely chaotic and noisy, with people holding up signs and shouting for freedom.
Not far in front of them was a biological testing area.
All passengers disembarking had to undergo testing in this area, and then proceed to individual cubicles for observation.
Armed police in large numbers were present, ready to shoot on sight any infected individuals found.
A moment later, a stylishly dressed woman wearing sunglasses walked quickly past Xu Ruina with her luggage.
The latter smiled slightly and quickly stood up, following behind from a distance.
The show was about to begin!
Because Xu Ruina could smell the familiar scent of the zombie virus on this woman.
She was a carrier.
There were two types of virus carriers: infected individuals and carriers.
People bitten were infected individuals, but if someone touched an object contaminated with the zombie virus and didn't disinfect promptly, or drank water contaminated with the zombie virus, they would become carriers.
Carriers appeared exactly like normal people, and only became infected individuals when their bodies weakened or their immunity decreased.
Therefore, carriers posed a danger no less than infected individuals, and sometimes even greater.
The woman reached the testing station and cooperated with the test strip. In just 5 minutes, the results would be revealed.