Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]-Chapter 236 – The man in the hallway

Qiu Yue walked down the corridor, quiet and half-distracted, the faint buzz of conversation still lingering in his ears from the room he’d left behind.

He adjusted the strap on his bag, already thinking about rest and maybe reviewing some notes—anything to clear his head. But just as he turned a corner, something made him stop.

A faint noise ahead. A scuffle. Something dragging. A low thud against the floor.

At first, he meant to ignore it. This place was tense already, and people were always pacing around, moving supplies, arguing. It wasn’t his business. But then— he heard it.

A soft whimper.

Qiu Yue froze.

His steps hesitated, then cautiously moved forward, his brows drawing together with worry. As he got closer, the sound sharpened into sniffling.

Around the bend in the hallway, he finally saw them.

A man was crouched over a woman who lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving. At first glance, it looked like maybe he was helping her, shielding her.

But no—something was wrong.

His arms were twitching.

His shoulders jolted.

The woman’s limp hand flinched once, the child clutched in her arms crying quietly into her chest.

Qiu Yue’s stomach dropped. "Hey!" he shouted, rushing forward. "What are you doing?!"

He grabbed the man’s shoulder to pull him off, but the moment he tugged, the man tumbled backward unnaturally—his weight folding, limp, like a ragdoll.

The back of his head cracked hard against the wall.

Qiu Yue stumbled back in shock.

There was blood—too much blood. The man’s throat was torn open, the skin jagged, chewed through. A grotesque bite mark oozed crimson down his chest.

He wasn’t moving.

Qiu Yue’s breath hitched. "Wha..."

He turned toward the woman and she was already rising.

Only she wasn’t right.

Her head rolled at a strange angle as she stood, arms cradling the small child still pressed to her chest. Her lips peeled back slowly into a distorted grin. No, not a grin—

A snarl.

Her mouth widened, impossibly wide, revealing a maw full of jagged, razor-sharp teeth.

It looked like something pulled straight from a horror film. Inhuman. Twisted. Monstrous.

Qiu Yue stumbled back, his heel catching on the wall, breath caught in his throat. "What... what the hell—?!"

But she didn’t look at him.

Not even once.

She turned, hunched low, and walked forward with slow, purposeful steps—straight toward the man on the floor.

And without hesitation, she sank her teeth into his body.

The sound of flesh tearing filled the hallway.

Qiu Yue stared, frozen. His heart thundered against his ribs, nausea rising in his throat. His brain screamed at him to run, but his legs wouldn’t move. He just kept staring at the creature that had once been a mother—gnawing on the man she had just killed.

And the child... the child didn’t even cry anymore.

Only stared over her shoulder at him in eerie silence.

Qiu Yue ran.

His footsteps echoed sharply against the narrow corridor walls as he bolted back toward the others, heart pounding, lungs burning. His mind reeled, trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed—the woman, the child, the blood, the sound of flesh tearing. He hadn’t even checked if they were following him.

He just ran.

He slammed open the door to Shao’s room, chest heaving. "There’s a zombie—!" he choked out. "There’s a goddamn zombie in the hallway!"

Everyone jerked upright.

Yunfeng was the first to react, reaching instinctively for the closest weapon—an iron rod they’d been using to jam the door shut at night.

Shao stood, his expression still and unreadable, but his knuckles went white around the edge of the bunk bed.

Qiu Yue pressed his back to the door, panting hard. "I saw her. I thought she was just hurt—but she had a kid in her arms and—and she just bit him! She bit him like—like a fucking animal! She wasn’t human anymore! Her teeth—she had teeth like—like knives!"

His voice cracked, hands trembling as he looked at them desperately. "What the hell is happening in this place?!"

No one answered for a moment. They didn’t need to.

The truth had arrived. It was already here—inside the compound.

"We need to leave," Shao said simply, grabbing his bag. His voice was too calm, but his shoulders were tense. "This place is compromised."

"I—I think the others know too," Qiu Yue said breathlessly, glancing toward the window. "I heard more footsteps—people running around."

They all moved toward the window.

The dormitory overlooked part of the inner courtyard. Through the grimy glass, they could see figures darting about—residents shouting, scattering in panic. The news must’ve spread already. Chaos was erupting.

But what froze them all in place was what happened next.

Someone reached the main gate—an older man in a stained apron. He was waving his arms, trying to climb through the narrow exit, yelling something they couldn’t hear.

And then—crack.

A silent flash. A muffled thud.

He dropped.

Then another.

A young woman followed behind him, crying, clutching a toddler to her chest. She didn’t even get to the gate. A second flash. She crumpled to the ground.

Qiu Yue’s breath caught in his throat. His knees nearly gave out. "No... oh my god—what... what is going on? Why are they shooting them?" His voice trembled, rising with disbelief. "They’re not even infected! They were just trying to get out!"

"They don’t care," Yunfeng said grimly, not looking away from the window. "To them, anyone who tries to leave is a threat. Infected or not, they’ll shoot first and never ask."

Shao’s jaw clenched.

Qiu Yue shook his head slowly, his face pale. "This isn’t quarantine... it’s a slaughter."

Yunfeng turned, locking eyes with Jai. "Looks like we already have our distraction," he said darkly, voice low. "But we’ll need your skill if we’re going to get through this alive."

Jai didn’t speak—but his jaw was tight, eyes already flicking toward the hallway.

Yunfeng faced the group and took a breath.

"This is our only chance. They’re occupied with the outbreak and panicked civilians. If we’re careful, if we split attention long enough, we might be able to slip through their blind spots. We don’t get another shot like this."