LOGINEveryone was still staring at me as though I had risen from the dead, and honestly, I couldn't blame them. Seven hours earlier, I had been bitten by an infected man, my veins had turned black, and Ryan had practically prepared himself to watch me transform into a monster. Yet here I was, sitting on the couch with a normal heartbeat and a wound that looked as though it had already begun healing.Alex was still unconscious on the floor.“Is he going to wake up, or should we pour water on him?” I asked, glancing at Ryan.Ryan barely heard me. He was too busy examining my hand for the third time, his eyebrows drawn together in deep concentration.“Selena, this doesn't make sense,” he murmured. “Your blood tested positive for the pathogen, and you were bitten directly by someone in the advanced stage of infection. You should be showing serious symptoms by now, but your temperature is normal, your pulse is steady, and the dark veins have completely disappeared.”“Then perhaps you should sto
“Ryan, you cannot bring that man inside!” I said, standing in front of the entrance with my arms spread.Alex stared at me as if I had lost my mind. Two men stood behind him, supporting an injured security officer whose face was pale and whose breathing came in painful gasps. Dark veins spread from a wound on his neck, disappearing beneath his collar.“Please, listen to me,” Alex pleaded. “His name is Daniel, and he worked at the research facility. He helped us escape when everything went wrong. If we leave him outside, he will die.”“And if he turns into one of those monsters inside my shelter, all of us could die with him!” I snapped. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to prepare this place? I'm not going to risk everyone's life because you feel guilty about leaving your friend behind.”“He is not just my friend. He saved my life!” Alex shouted.“Then you should have thought about that before bringing him here!”“Selena, enough,” Ryan interrupted, stepping between us. “Nobody
I was still laughing when Alex’s frustrated voice came through Ryan’s phone again.“Ryan, are you sure you gave us the correct location? Because we are in the middle of an actual nowhere! There is no house here, no building, not even a proper road. Are you trying to get us killed?” Alex complained.Ryan glanced at me, amusement spreading across his face. “You're in the middle of an actual nowhere?” he repeated.“Stop laughing at me and tell me where you are!” Alex snapped.“Don't worry, I'm coming out now,” Ryan replied.“Okay, come out fast. There are a lot of us here,” Alex said.My smile disappeared.“A lot?” I repeated, turning toward Ryan. “What does he mean by a lot? How many people did you invite here?”“Probably four or five,” Ryan answered as he headed toward the entrance.“Probably?” I exclaimed. “You invited strangers into my shelter without even knowing how many are coming?”Ryan stopped and faced me. “Selena, calm down. We are all trying to help, okay? These people are my
“Doctor Ryan, we have a serious problem at the research facility!”The voice coming through the car speakers was so frantic that Ryan immediately straightened in his seat.“Alex, slow down and tell me what happened,” he said.“Someone broke into the research factory, sir. Several contaminated people have entered the facility, and the security team is losing control. We've already had two explosions, and I don't think we can hold them back much longer,” Alex replied.Ryan tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Have you contacted the emergency response team?” he asked.“Yes, but the lines are overwhelmed. We need to get everyone out before the entire facility becomes a death trap,” Alex answered.Ryan glanced at me before returning his attention to the road.“Do you have somewhere safe to go?” he asked. There was a brief silence before Alex responded.“That is why I'm calling you, sir. Do you know anywhere we can regroup? Somewhere we can examine the infected patients without being
The infected man lunged at Ryan so suddenly that I barely had time to scream.“Ryan, behind you!” I shouted.He ducked just as the creature's fingers clawed through the air above his head. Ryan grabbed its arm, twisted sharply, and slammed it against the stairwell railing. The infected man shrieked, snapping his teeth at Ryan's face.“Get back!” Ryan yelled at me.I stumbled backward, nearly losing my footing on the stairs. The infected man was stronger than he looked, and Ryan was struggling to hold him back.Then I noticed the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.I snatched it off its bracket and swung it with all my strength. The metal cylinder struck the infected man's head with a sickening thud. He staggered, releasing Ryan, who immediately shoved him down the stairs.The body tumbled several steps before crashing against the wall. For a moment, I stared at the extinguisher in my hands. Ryan looked at me in disbelief.“You just hit an infected patient with a fire extinguish
Selena's povI stared at the television, my fingers tightening around the remote as the news anchor announced the first cases of the mysterious infection.“Authorities are urging residents to remain indoors. Several patients have displayed extreme aggression following exposure to an unknown pathogen. The source is believed to be an explosion at a pharmaceutical research facility.”I slowly lowered the remote, wait a second, The apocalypse was two weeks early.“This is impossible or did it change because of me.”I had remembered the date. I had planned everything around it, from the supplies in my underground shelter to the moment I would finally be safe from the people who had destroyed my previous life.But something had changed.And I had no idea what it was.I stood up and checked the security cameras. The road outside was far from quiet, although people had begun gathering around the nearby shops. My shelter was secure, and I had enough food to survive for months, but I had forgot







