Chapter 1

"Daphne, if you sign the form for this voluntary field assignment, you can still leave with some dignity."

Evan Ziegler, my fiance, tossed a pen in front of me. The tip smacked against the metal table with a sharp, crisp sound.

I looked down at the document. It clearly stated that this field assignment was a bait mission in the contaminated zone. I was the assigned operative, and the survival rate was 3%.

I lifted my head to look at him. Just 30 days ago, he'd still been holding me in his arms, telling me that he would protect me even if the world ended.

Now, the world as we knew it really had ended, and he was shoving me to the front lines.

"Evan." My voice came out hoarse. "The infected ones out there literally eat people."

He frowned. "I know."

"And you're still sending me there?"

"The base isn't a charity." Evan sat at the far end of the conference table. His black tactical uniform made him look much colder and harsher than before. "You don't have combat training or medical abilities, and you don't control any resources. Keeping you here just burns through our rations."

I stared at him, then suddenly let out a short laugh. "Then, why does Zoe get to stay?"

The woman standing behind him, Zoe Lodge, visibly paled. She was wearing a clean white dress and had Evan's jacket draped over her shoulders.

The apocalypse had started a month ago. Most people in the base looked grimy and exhausted, yet Zoe was still soft and delicate, like she'd stepped out of a different world.

Evan's gaze darkened. "She's a doctor."

"She's a pet groomer."

"She's trained in first aid."

"So am I."

"Daphne Sadler!" He finally lost his patience and rapped his knuckles on the table. "Do you have to make this so ugly?"

I didn't expect to hear that. I was making this ugly? He was sending me out as bait, and I'd asked why. He thought this meant I was causing a scene and making things ugly?

Zoe bit her lip and said in a small voice, "Evan, maybe I should go instead. Daph grew up pampered. There's no way she can handle the contaminated zone."

She started to step forward, but Evan grabbed her arm at once. He said sternly, "Don't be ridiculous. You're frail."

Her eyes reddened. "But I don't want you to be caught in the middle because of me."

His voice softened. "Nothing's going to happen to you."

I sat across from them, feeling like I was some kind of joke.

There were over a dozen squad leaders in the command room. They all kept their heads down and their mouths shut.

Evan stood and walked over to me. "Daphne, I gave you a chance. If you'd been willing to share the medicine from your private storage, the base wouldn't be in this state."

I stared at him in disbelief. "That's the medicine my parents left me to save my life."

"Everyone's life matters."

"Then why don't you tell Zoe to give up her climate-controlled room? Why don't you have her skip a nutrient pack once in a while?" I retorted.

Zoe immediately burst into tears. "Daphne, I didn't know you hated me so much. If my being here makes you uncomfortable, I can leave."

Evan turned toward her. "No one is asking you to leave."

When he looked back at me, there was only disgust left on his face. "Look at yourself, Daphne. You're selfish, mean, and you have zero sense of the bigger picture."

I felt like something was lodged in my throat.

The doomsday broadcast had sounded 30 days earlier. We'd all woken up in this underground shelter. Everyone told us the surface had fallen, the city was gone, and order had collapsed.

Initially, Evan had also been scared. The first time he'd faced a mock-up of an infected, his hands had shaken so badly that he could barely hold a gun.

I was the one who'd trained with him. I was the one who'd given him the key to my storage. I was the one who'd steadied the residents of the base for him.

At the time, he'd said to me, "I'm so glad I have you, Daph."

After that?

After that, he realized everyone had started calling him the commander. He discovered that with a single word, he could decide who got the good and bad meals, who slept in the climate-controlled pods, and who was sent to clear corpse piles.

He started to enjoy wielding power.

Then, Zoe had shown up. She was his first love and the woman who'd dumped him five years ago to move abroad with some rich kid.

She'd cried for Evan over the broadcast, begging him to save her. He'd led a squad into an abandoned mall and carried her back to the base.

That was the day my nightmare began. Half of my stash of medicine was taken, and my room was given to Zoe. I got sent on more and more missions outside the base, and now, Evan was even sending me to my death.

I grabbed the assignment form and tore it in half. Paper scraps scattered across the floor.

The command room went so quiet it was terrifying, and Evan's face instantly turned to ice. He hissed, "Do you really have to push me like this?"

I looked him in the eye. "You're the one pushing me."

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his voice held no warmth at all. "Guards."

The door swung open. Two guards in full hazmat gear walked in.

Evan pointed at me. "Daphne Sadler has disrupted base operations by refusing to follow orders. Immediately escort her to the contaminated zone. Mission level upgraded to Red."

I locked my gaze on him. "What does a Red mission mean?"

No one answered. Zoe lowered her head, but she couldn't quite hide the smile playing on her lips. Meanwhile, Evan avoided my eyes.

One of the guards muttered, "For Red missions… there's no return transport."

My ears buzzed. So, Evan wasn't even giving me the chance to gamble on that 3% survival rate. He was handing me a death sentence.

Evan turned away, not sparing me another glance. "Take her away."

When I was hauled to my feet, the satellite phone strapped to my chest buzzed. For the first time in a month, the screen lit up.

I looked down to see that I'd received a new message. The sender was my brother, Dominic Sadler.

"Daph, don't be scared. I see what's going on. Just hold on for ten more minutes. Every light in this place is about to come on."