Chapter 16: The Lost Memory

~ Brown~

I sank into a deep, heavy sleep the moment my head hit the mattress. The frantic packing, the endless driving, and the brutal fight in the red drizzle had drained every single drop of energy from my body.

When I finally opened my eyes, the bunker room was quiet except for the hum of the generator. My muscles still felt sore. I looked down at the floor beside the wooden bed where I had been sleeping and noticed heavy dirt marks and red mud tracks dried on the concrete floor from my tactical boots.

The moment I sat up, Rex lifted his big head from his paws and woke up right away, his ears perking up to watch me.

"Good boy, Rex," I muttered softly, rubbing my tired eyes.

I stood up and walked into the bathroom to take a quick, hot shower and wash off the grime. Standing in front of the mirror, I reached out to unclip my shirt collar, and my hand automatically went to my collarbone.

My fingers touched bare skin.

My heart instantly stopped. My eyes went wide in the mirror as panic shot through my chest.

The silver necklace—the delicate chain with the small crystal pendant—was gone.

"No, no, no..." I whispered, frantically feeling around my neck and collarbone.

That necklace was the only thing I had left of my parents. It was the single item in the entire world that connected me to their memory, the one thing I kept close to my heart through everything.

My mind raced in total panic. Where did I drop it? Did it fall off during the fight out in the mud?

Then, a sudden memory flashed in my head. The penthouse drawer.

Before I started this whole survival prep and rushed out of the city, I had taken the necklace off and placed it inside the top drawer of my nightstand in my city penthouse. I hadn't wanted to risk losing it or snapping the chain while hauling heavy gear and fighting infected monsters.

I leaned against the sink, breathing hard as anger and fear washed over me. I had left it behind in the city. The city was falling apart, and my home was sitting right in the middle of a expanding war zone.

"I am not losing it," I said aloud, my voice trembling with fierce determination. "I don't care how bad it is out there. I'm going back for it."

I turned on the shower, took a super fast bath to wash away the sweat, and dried off quickly. Instead of standard clothes, I went to my locker and pulled out my thickest, high-grade protective riding suit—the heavy armor-lined gear I had bought specifically to resist bites and scratches. I pulled the heavy jacket over my shoulders and zipped it tight.

Before heading to the garage bay, I tapped into my System interface. I took a few fresh pre-filled blood syringes and loaded them into Chamber 1 of my dimensional storage. Then, I grabbed my tactical handgun, loaded a full magazine, and tucked it securely into my belt holster.

Rex trotted closely behind me as I walked out into the bunker's inner garage bay where my reinforced truck was parked.

I opened the driver's door and looked back down at Rex. "Rex, stay here. Guard the bunker. I'll be back in no time."

Rex looked up at me with his intelligent dark eyes and gave a small, firm nod of his head, sitting back on his haunches.

I got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and hit the control switch to open the thick blast gate. The garage doors slid open into the cool, damp air. Out in the sky, the red drizzle was still lightly pattering down, but the clouds overhead looked darker and heavier by the minute.

I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped out of Mount Ironwood, breaking through the quiet gravel path and roaring down toward the city roads.

As I drove deeper into the urban sectors, the streets were a nightmare. Abandoned cars blocked several lanes, and I saw dozens of infected subjects stumbling aimlessly through the red mist. The moment my engine roared past them, several zombies turned and began sprinting after the vehicle, shrieking wildly. But my heavy truck was way faster, easily tearing down the open roads and leaving the screaming monsters far behind in the rearview mirror.

I navigated through the back routes and pulled into the underground garage of my penthouse apartment complex. The heavy concrete space was dark, silent, and creepy.

I killed the engine, grabbed my handgun, and stepped out of the truck into the quiet darkness.

RUSTLE.

A sudden movement echoed from behind a concrete pillar.

Before I could turn completely, a twitching female infected lunged out of the shadows, her pale eyes wide and dark veins popping along her face as she snarled at me.

⁠[WARNING: INFECTED HOST DETECTED AT CLOSE RANGE.]⁠

⁠[INITIATING COMBAT ANALYSIS: TARGET IS FEMALE INFECTED — LOWER PHYSICAL POWER PROFILE.]⁠

The woman wasn't nearly as fast or strong as a male zombie. As she lunged forward to scratch at my throat, I ducked beneath her swinging arms. Using my heavy frame, I slammed my shoulder full force into her torso, knocking her off balance.

She hit the concrete floor hard. Before she could push herself back up, I stepped forward, drew a blood syringe from Chamber 1 with a quick thought, and jammed the needle straight into her neck muscle. I slammed the plunger down, injecting my blood straight into her system.

The female zombie froze instantly. Her wild shrieking stopped, her milky eyes rolled back, and she went completely limp on the floor, groaning softly as the cure began to take effect.

"Contain target," I commanded, focusing on Chamber 2.

A flash of blue light wrapped around her, and she vanished into thin air.

⁠[TARGET STORED IN CHAMBER 2. ANTIDOTE TRANSFORMATION INITIALIZED.]⁠

I didn't waste another second. I hurried out of the dark garage and slipped up the emergency stairwell to the penthouse floor.

As I walked down the quiet hallway toward my apartment door, I heard faint, terrified crying and whispered prayers coming from behind the sealed doors of my neighbors' units. They had locked themselves inside, scared to death. I felt a cold knot in my stomach thinking about them. They had no idea how fast the world was changing. Soon, their food and water would run out, and they would have no choice but to venture out into the streets—where most of them would end up turned into monsters.

I unlocked my penthouse door, hurried into the master bedroom, and opened the top drawer of the nightstand.

There it was. The silver chain glittered softly against the dark wood.

I snatched the necklace up, clasped it tightly around my neck, and tucked the pendant safely beneath my heavy protective jacket. Relief washed over me like a warm wave.

I ran back out of the apartment, hurried down the stairs to my car, and slammed the door shut. I backed out of the parking complex and drove at full speed away from the crumbling city, heading straight back to the safety of Mount Ironwood.

Twenty minutes later, the high concrete perimeter walls of Mount Ironwood came into view through the light red mist. I slowed the truck down as I approached the massive outer security gates, reaching for the remote opener tucked at my belt.

Suddenly, a loud, sharp chime rang inside my head as a bright red warning screen flashed across my vision:

⁠[CRITICAL ALERT: UNSANCTIONED HUMAN SIGNATURES DETECTED NEAR PERIMETER GATE.]⁠

⁠[TARGET IDENTIFICATION: MAVEL AND GINGER ARE CURRENTLY LURKING OUTSIDE MOUNT IRONWOOD.]⁠

⁠[WARNING: DO NOT OPEN THE SECURITY GATES JUST YET.]⁠

My breathe locked.