The Insect Tide

Tiny black insects squeezed in through every gap, several of them skittering quickly toward the bed. Flashlight beams swept back and forth outside, and in the shifting light Song Weishi caught a glimpse of what they looked like—the same small flying bugs she'd often seen clustered by the roadside.

They were thrips, the kind that proliferated in spring. Ride a bike down the road for a while and you'd be covered in them before you knew it.

They didn't bite or sting, just felt disgusting. Some people were allergic, of course, but those were isolated cases—hardly worth mentioning.

Chaos reigned outside. Song Weishi jumped off the bed, surprised to find her body feeling light and loose, all traces of her earlier exhaustion wiped clean.

She caught sight of her arm and stared in astonishment. It had healed.

The wound had closed completely, leaving only the suture threads still dangling from her skin and a faint redness around where the injury had been.

She felt no lingering discomfort either—only a surge of strength and vigor throughout her body.

The floor squelched unpleasantly under her bare feet. Song Weishi immediately sat back down on the bed, clicked on her flashlight, and swept the beam around. A dense carpet of insects surrounded the bed, scattering instinctively as the light hit them.

The power was out in the room. She had no idea whether the Research Institute had backup generators. She brushed the bugs off her body, pulled her protective suit from her space, and climbed into it. It was stiflingly hot, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about insects flying into her face or crawling inside her clothes.

Earlier, while she'd been lying in the healing pod, the researchers had dressed her in a protective suit too, so wearing one now didn't look out of place.

The flashlight beam swept across a roiling black cloud of insects. She tried to open the door of the healing pod. With the power out, it slid open easily.

But the outer door was still locked. The iron chains around her wrists and ankles clanked as she moved—she'd managed to snap them with a tool while putting on the protective suit, and the remnants were still tucked inside her clothes.

She walked to the door. The group outside had descended into pandemonium, all of them frantically slapping at the bugs crawling over their bodies.

Squashed insect carcasses littered the floor, sticky and smeared like spilled black sesame paste.

A shadow appeared against the glass and startled everyone for a moment before they recognized her as Song Weishi.

Xie Yi grabbed the door handle and shook it—it wouldn't budge. "Are you okay?"

Her voice came through muffled from behind the door, but Song Weishi still caught it. She nodded, gazing at the door before her.

Kicking it open was out of the question—it was far too thick. But if this continued, she'd soon be buried under the insects.

The bugs outside were multiplying by the second, landing on her protective suit with a dry rustling sound. They showed no aggression yet, but who knew what would happen once their numbers grew overwhelming.

The aunties didn't dare open their mouths now, frantically beating the bugs off themselves. The moment their lips parted, insects would fly straight in.

The sensation was vile—it reminded them of being swarmed by cockroaches back on the highway.

They'd thought they'd left that nightmare behind, yet here it was again.

Xie Huiying and Xie Yi, seeing that Song Weishi was safe, didn't just stand around. They raced off to find Dr. Wang, who had the keys.

The two of them were eerily calm—probably a family trait. Everyone from the Xie family was both capable and quick on their feet.

"Xiao Song! Hang in there! They'll be right back!" Sister Chen shouted encouragement while slapping bugs off herself.

Watching the others get slowly swallowed by the insect tide outside, Song Weishi grew frantic.

She turned her flashlight beam onto her own body. "You guys go! Get out! I've got a protective suit on!"

The group halted in place, mouths clamped shut, and spotted the suit. Yet even with all these bugs, they refused to leave her behind, hovering by her side.

At first, the thrips would scatter in clouds when shooed, but now they'd grown used to being swatted. They clung in thick clumps to the aunties' clothes, faces, and bare skin.

Red welts were already blooming across their bodies—allergic reactions that worsened the longer they stayed. They absolutely couldn't remain here.

Song Weishi shouted at the top of her lungs: "Go! I'm fine! Get out of here!"

The aunties frantically slapped and swatted at each other, trying to knock the bugs off one another.

But the insects came in endless waves, impossible to kill. Once they confirmed Song Weishi was really unharmed, the women stopped hesitating and started heading out.

"Guo Li, you're taking out your grudge on me! Why so heavy-handed?!"

"Don't talk! Xiao Nian even hit me in the face!"

"Old Yuan, don't think I didn't notice you staying quiet while hitting the hardest. Let me get you back with a couple of swats!"

The women bantered as they stumbled outside, not even caring how many bugs they'd swallowed.

Song Weishi only breathed a sigh of relief once their figures faded into the darkness.

Insects kept streaming in through the gaps under the door, the room pitch black except for the chaotic flurry illuminated by her flashlight.

The whole Research Institute seemed to have been overrun, yet no lights came back on. Before long, Xie Huiying and Xie Yi returned with the keys. The outer door was still electric and running on backup power, but the lights hadn't come back—the institute's electricity reserves must have been running low.

When the outer door opened, a wave of heat rolled over her. It had been a long time since she'd felt air this hot—she rarely spent time outdoors, always traveling by car.

And now she was wearing a full protective suit. It was like wearing a down jacket in summer, scorching and suffocating, each breath coming harder than the last.

The two women had gone through the decontamination chamber with Dr. Wang, killed the bugs on themselves, and put on protective suits as well. Now they grabbed Song Weishi and charged outside.

She wasn't a quarantine case anymore—the Research Institute had bigger problems to deal with.

Song Weishi sprinted between the two of them, through the layers of isolation doors, and out to the front of the institute.

There were quite a few people on the empty street outside. A thick black tide of insects filled the air, though it was somewhat thinner here than inside.

Still, plenty of bugs were pouring into the institute. The aunties who'd just come out rushed over to meet them. Their faces were swollen—whether from allergic reactions or from being hit too hard by each other, it was hard to say.

Song Weishi scanned her surroundings warily, remembering what the System had said. She didn't dare rest now.

"Let's find somewhere to hide," she said.

Xie Huiying replied, "Alright. I'll call Huiqing."

"And find a place where you can put on those protective suits."

Song Weishi's gaze swept the area. Xie Huiying and Xie Yi each carried a can of disinfectant spray. There was no going back to the Research Institute—they'd have to find shelter elsewhere.

The road was clogged with thrips, and the thickets nearby were absolutely crawling with them. Great clouds of bugs hurled themselves at anyone in sight.

The three of them in protective suits fared fine, but the aunties suffered. Even with insects flying into their mouths, their shrieks never stopped.

The flying thrips coiled into a massive swirling column and slammed toward them. Listening to the relentless patter against her suit, Song Weishi felt her stomach churn.

This was absurdly excessive. She wondered if all of Huihai City was like this, or if there were other insect disasters too. Might as well rename the city Bugville.

The streetlights that had illuminated the road now went dark. The group pressed tightly together, terrified of being separated and swallowed by the insect sea.

Chu Miaoxuan had only stepped out to use the restroom. When she came back, she found the hallway swarming with bugs—and Song Weishi's quarantine room empty, along with the group outside.

She immediately called Xie Huiqing, but there was no answer. Who knew what was going on.

Song Weishi didn't even think about Captain Chu. She was too distracted by the suffocating swarm before her.

This disaster was the insect plague, then. Song Weishi kept running, unable to question the System further.

The aunties were pelted so hard they could barely open their eyes. Finally, dragged and hauled along by the three women, they reached a villa on the outskirts of the city. It sat beside a fish pond, where the bugs seemed slightly less dense.

Song Weishi stepped forward and spotted a garage beneath the villa—they could get in from there. The villa had almost no windows and was essentially a bare shell under construction.

All the building materials inside were covered with tarps. The group found a small room and shoved the aunties inside, then tore down the tarps and sealed the room completely—windows and door alike.

They collapsed onto the floor, panting. The frantic run had been a blur; they'd stumbled and fallen more than once, relying entirely on the three women to pull them through.

Now they spat and coughed, ejecting the bugs from their mouths.

Xie Yi fetched a spray bottle and thoroughly doused the room. Soon, a thick pile of carcasses covered the ground.

Then the aunties stood up and took turns going through the decontamination process.

After enduring the scorching heat earlier, they all wore their hair tied tightly. They stripped off their clothes, sprayed everything down, and by the end, virtually no insects remained.

Xie Huiying distributed the protective suits she'd scavenged from the Research Institute. Only after putting them on did the women finally feel some relief.

Guo Li rubbed her swollen face, rolled her eyes, and fished a few bugs out from under her eyelids. Aunt Huang stuck a finger down her throat, gagging on whatever she'd swallowed.

Every time something awful happened, they seemed to get a taste of it firsthand.

The pile of bug carcasses grew on the floor. Only after the room was fully decontaminated did the group dare relax. The space was small, so they all huddled together.

"Sister Xie, did you get through to Xiao Qing? What did she say?"

Xie Huiying shook her head with a helpless sigh. "No answer. She's probably too busy to respond."

The insect plague certainly wasn't a localized event. Xie Huiqing wouldn't have time to deal with them right now.

With no more thrips to worry about, Song Weishi pulled her hand away from the tarpaulin covering the window. Huihai City, once a blaze of bright lights, was now pitch black, swallowed entirely by the endless night.

Outside the window, endless streams of insects descended upon every corner of the city. The disaster had finally begun to devour the last patch of sanctuary, and the true end of this world had arrived.