When Zhan woke up and realized that he had been lying with his head on Wang Yibo's lap the whole time he was sleeping, he felt ashamed. He was embarrassed to have just passed out and fallen asleep like that. But who could blame him? For days he had hardly slept, if at all. While he was used to sleepless nights due to his work, this is now a completely different situation.

Since Yibo and Hai Kuan were still asleep and Zhan didn't want to wake them up, because it would still be a long time before nightfall, he got up quietly and walked a little up and down the long dark corridor. So many things went through his mind that he almost got a headache. He kept thinking about his parents and that he hadn't even had time to mourn them.

He also kept thinking about how he didn't like going to his parents' house lately because his mother kept getting him blind dates that he didn't want and still had to go there. He could understand his mother why she did that, but, still, he hated it.

His parents had been old and wanted a wife for Zhan with whom he could have started a family. They wanted so much to have a grandchild. But as a doctor, Zhan never had time for dating and, he didn't feel like it. Especially because to this day he is not sure if he even really likes women.

Because his father was in the army and they had to move all the time because his father kept getting transferred, he never met any girls. He always went to school on the military base and in those classes there were only boys. And since they were rarely anywhere for more than 6 months, it usually wasn't even enough to make any real friends.

In the beginning, Zhan had always made an effort to make friends. But at some point he just got tired of having to say goodbye to his newly made friends over and over again. So he did without friends for the last few years, until university.

When he went to university and returned to Beijing alone, he felt more alive and free than ever before in his life. He even made male and female friends quickly, even though he didn't have as much time besides his medical studies to meet them often. But with all the people he met, he had never fallen in love with anyone.

He had a girlfriend when he was in his third year of medical school. And they even slept with each other. But, because he just couldn't fall in love with her even after a year, even though she was beautiful and smart, he ended the relationship. He felt bad because he slept with her without having loved her.

His ex-girlfriend told him at the time that it was okay for her. He had not been her first anyway. Shortly after, Zhan also found out why it was Okay for her. Because she started something with his best friend at that time. Although he didn't love her, he still felt betrayed by his best friend and his ex-girlfriend. Because as Zhan also found out, they were already having an affair when Zhan and her were still a couple.

His thoughts of the past and his parents ended abruptly when he noticed something he first thought he was imagining. His flashlight, which didn't rely on batteries thanks to a crank, briefly shone on something peeking out from behind one of the pillars. Shoes?

Not sure if he should wake the other two or not, if the person was friendly or hostile, he just stood there and stared at the shoe tips that the light from his flashlight had spotted.

After half a minute, he asked in a near whisper, "Who are you?"

Instead of answering, the person withdrew his shoe tips. "Don't be afraid, come out of your hiding place. Are you thirsty or hungry?" Asked Zhan nervously.

The person came out slowly, Zhan was so fixated on the hand that suddenly appeared that his heart almost slipped into his pants in shock when Yibo grabbed him and pushed him behind him.

Yibo wanted to reach for his gun, but it was still in his backpack, where he had stowed it after changing his clothes. "Come on out, we won't hurt you." Shouted Zhan.

Inwardly Yibo cursed, for he thought Zhan was careless and wanted most to scold him for it. But then the person came out and it turned out to be a woman.

She looked very scared and there was blood on the sleeve of her white coat. Zhan pushed Yibo aside and went to the woman who could only keep herself on her feet with the last of her strength. Hai Kuan, who had now also appeared by Zhan and Yibo, leapt forward and just barely managed to prevent the woman from hitting the ground headfirst.

Hai Kuan carried her back to the resting place of the three and laid her on the blanket that Yibo had used earlier to cover Zhan with. Zhan immediately began his examination. He mumbled his findings to himself, like she was severely dehydrated. Then he looked at her arm, where there was a large cut.

Thanks to a medical training for the fire department, Hai Kuan was able to help Zhan with everything. Zhan cleaned the wound and stitched it. Then he injected her with an antibiotic because the wound looked infected. Using a syringe that he filled with water, he gradually gave her a small amount of water. Until her throat no longer hurt so much when she swallowed and she could drink on her own.

Yibo watched Zhan and Hai Kuan as they took care of the woman. It annoyed him that he could not help Zhan with this. And it annoyed him even more that Zhan and Hai Kuan seemed to get along so well.

Feeling useless and completely forgotten by Zhan, Yibo sat back down on the floor and watched the doctor work. Why did he suddenly feel so terrible? Why did the blood in his veins feel like it was boiling? Why did he feel like he just wanted to cry?

After a few minutes, Zhan turned to him, Yibo's heart began to beat violently, and he felt his cheeks redden. Then when Zhan came to him and said with a smile, "Let me check your wound on the back of your head. Also, you still need to take your antibiotic." Yibo immediately felt much better.

Zhan checked his wound, cleaned it with a cotton swab, stuck a new band-aid on it, and then gave Yibo the antibiotic. Afterwards, he sat close to Yibo and said, "The woman has fallen asleep again. We will have to wait until she wakes up. Her name is Alina and she is an assistant to a scientist on a research team. I haven't been able to get anything more out of her yet."

"Um, okay." Yibo replied curtly as he watched Hai Kuan sit down close to Zhan. He didn't like it, but he didn't want to show it either.

For some reason, though, Yibo was reassured when Zhan tilted his head toward him and then quietly asked if he could rest his head on his shoulder for a moment. Yibo nodded and his heart did a little skip when Zhan then put his head on his shoulder.

Hai Kuan looked at Yibo with a smile. He had already noticed what Yibo had not noticed or realized until now. Namely, that he is about to develop feelings for the doctor. And Hai Kuan knows this so well because he was once in the same situation.

Back when he first saw his boyfriend Cheng, he immediately felt close to him, but couldn't understand why. Only gradually did he realize that he had fallen in love with Cheng. The two began dating and eventually became a couple. I wonder if Cheng is still alive. The last time he contacted me, was from a village in the mountains. Maybe the creatures haven't shown up there yet? And maybe the village hasn't been destroyed by fighter jets. I hope to see my Cheng again. I miss my hot tempered cute boyfriend so much. Hai Kuan thought as he looked at Yibo and Zhan.

Only slowly the hours passed for the three men. They ate, they drank, they talked about the destruction of the city, wondered how many survivors were still there and waited for Alina to wake up.

Only shortly before 8 pm Alina woke up. She hurriedly drank half a liter of water and ate three energy bars, before Yibo opened a can of baked beans and she ate them hastily. And repeatedly thanked the three of them.

After she had strengthened herself, Yibo asked her as calmly and patiently as he could, "Can you tell us who you are?"

Alina nodded. She gave Yibo her ID card and said, "The research lab where I worked as a scientist's assistant is near here. We've been investigating findings that were found in Antarctica after a mountain range that was hidden under tons of snow and ice was found."

"What exactly have you been exploring?" Asked Zhan.

"Um all kinds of things. No matter what was found, it ended up in our research lab. From snow and ice samples, to fabric and even bones."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling us something important?" Asked Zhan.

"I heard how you arrived and what you told about your survival in the city. And also that there have been reports that these creatures have been popping up everywhere at the same time. But, but that's not true."

"What?" Yibo asked.

"All right, I'll just tell you what I know. After the mountain range in Antarctica was discovered, many explorers went there from all parts of the world. They found many bones, including several skeletons of an unknown species. This is not necessarily unusual, considering that we have only explored 20% of our oceans so far, and new creatures are always being discovered there as well. Well, anyway, after several well-preserved skeletons were found, the researchers also found very well-preserved and complete bodies of these creatures. Several of these creatures were then taken to research labs like mine. The scientists examined the creature after they defrosted them. They were dead, after all, and in order to study them properly, they unfroze the creature. But then something completely unexpected happened. The creature came to life. It seems to have the same ability as the North American forest frogs. They can freeze into ice. They have no brain function, the organs and the heart do not work. I don't want to go into too much detail now, because it would take too long. Well, anyway, the creature woke up and emitted a shrill scream, again and again. Two of the staff even started bleeding from their ears. The other research labs reported similar things. They tried to sedate the creature, but it didn't work. It killed a few men in the attempt. One guard fired his entire magazine at this creature, but it didn't seem to bother it. And finally one of the scientists doused it with nitrogen. The creature sank to the ground and they cut this thing's head off. That happened a week ago. And we realized that when these creatures come to life, when the temperatures rise, then the whole world is in danger. Because in several caves in this mountain range of Antarctica, hundreds if not thousands more of these creatures were found. We alerted the military, they bombarded the mountain range. Which was the biggest mistake they could have made. Because the heat generated by the explosions caused the creatures to awaken. They left the caves and scattered in all directions."

Horrified, the three men stared at her. "Why wasn't anyone warned if it was known that they were on their way here?"

Alina smiled bitterly, "To avoid panic. Or maybe they all thought they were smarter and stronger than the creatures. I don't know. All I know is they attacked our research lab. I just don't know if it was a missile from a fighter jet that hit us first, or if it was one of the creatures. I just know there was a loud bang, then there was an alarm, and I just ran away. I hurt my arm somewhere in my escape and ended up hiding here until you guys got here."

Affected, Zhan and Yibo looked at each other while Hai Kuan cursed because he was so angry that the government didn't even give the people in the city a chance to escape, out of fear of creating panic. Hundreds, thousands of people died just because the government wanted to avoid panic. For Zhan and Yibo, but also for Hai Kuan and Alina, this was just unbelievable and cruel.