Chapter 2

Ten minutes.

I clenched the satellite phone tightly. The guard thought I was scared silly and didn't bother to grab it.

The elevator to the surface was at the far north end of the base. On the way there, everyone stared at me. Some had pity in their eyes, some were just numb. Some looked like they were enjoying the show.

Zoe walked beside Evan, pitching her voice just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Daph, don't blame Evan. He's the commander. He can't just think about you."

I stopped walking. The guard shoved me in the back. "Move."

I stayed where I was and just looked at Evan. "Do you agree with what she said?"

He clenched his jaw. "I'm trying to save more people."

"Save people?" I let out a laugh. "You're saving people by trading my life for your true love's climate-controlled room?"

Zoe's face instantly turned pale. "Daph, how could you say that about me?"

Evan whipped around and crossed the distance to me in a few strides. He lowered his voice and growled, "Daphne, stop letting me down."

That line was painfully familiar. Back when my parents were against us getting married, he'd said, "Daph, don't let me down. We'll fight for this together."

I'd fought back against my family for him, moved out of our villa for him, and suffered through cheap meals with him.

I'd thought that was what love was about—two people standing side by side against the whole world. However, now, when the world was pretending to have fallen apart, he was the first to give up.

I looked at Evan and suddenly asked, "If it were Zoe going today, would you still be talking about saving more people?"

He went quiet. Zoe clutched his sleeve. "Evan, I'm scared."

His eyes changed instantly. He pulled her behind him, shielding her. "There's no such 'what if.'"

I nodded. "Got it."

The elevator arrived. The iron doors slid open, revealing a modified vehicle inside.

In the distance, the infected howled. It was all very realistic. If I hadn't gotten Dominic's message, my legs probably would've gone weak with fear. However, now, all I wanted to do was laugh. These actors were way too dedicated.

I was shoved into the vehicle. Three other people were already sitting inside—a man with a scar across his face, a short-haired woman holding a gun, and a middle-aged doctor in a white lab coat.

They all gave me complicated looks.

The man with the scar cleared his throat. "Ms. Sadler…"

The short-haired woman immediately stomped on his foot. He hurriedly corrected himself. "Daphne Sadler, fasten your straps."

I glanced at him, and he twitched nervously. I didn't call him out. It wasn't time yet.

Evan stood outside the vehicle. Zoe leaned against his shoulder. "Evan, the contamination zone is so dangerous. What if Daph doesn't make it back?"

That was a great question.

Evan didn't answer right away. After a few seconds, he said, "This was her own choice."

I actually laughed in anger. "You'd better remember what you just said, Evan."

He frowned. "What are you getting at now?"

The car doors started to close. I looked straight at him and enunciated each word carefully. "Everything that happens from this second on is a result of your choice, too."

The doors shut, cutting off the noise outside. The engine started.

The short-haired woman immediately dropped her gun and lowered her voice. "Ms. Sadler, are you okay?"

I rubbed my wrist. "You're all in on this, too?"

The man with the scar bobbed his head so fast it was a blur. "The production team—uh, I mean, your brother's side just notified us. We wrap in ten minutes."

The doctor pulled off his surgical mask. "Thank goodness. Playing apocalypse doctor every day sure gets tiring. I even had to pour my food into nutrition-gel pouches to eat."

The woman cursed under her breath. "That Evan Ziegler really is something else. The day before yesterday, he even wanted to have me play as an infected and bite you. If not for the script stopping me, I would've bitten his head off."

I looked up at the camera mounted on the ceiling of the car. The red light was still on.

"Can he see this right now?" I asked.

The man with the scar answered, "Only the main control room can see. Evan doesn't have access. He doesn't have that level of clearance."

I lowered my head and checked my phone. Dominic had sent me another message.

"Daphne, don't cry. I've put together an end-of-the-world level comeuppance package for you. The first light's about to turn on."