Chapter 2

“I was sitting beside him and accidentally caught a glimpse. It looked like an internal layout of our base, especially the core laboratory and the ventilation ducts. Those sections were marked in great detail.”

The air froze.

Margaret’s expression changed completely.

Panic and rage crashed through me. I struggled to stand, but the restraints did not budge.

“That was route information I needed for the mission!”

“Ethan, what the hell are you trying to do?”

Ethan suddenly stumbled half a step back, looking terrified.

“Examiner! He’s losing control! This kind of sudden, irrational rage and aggression really does resemble the psychological symptoms of a mid-stage mutation infection.”

Margaret’s gaze fell on my face, twisted with anger.

Then she nodded, picked up her communicator, and spoke in a firm voice.

“This is Level Three Examiner Margaret Leedon. I am initiating a red-alert review procedure for Falcon Squad Captain Rowan Hale. Reason: high-risk contamination risk, abnormal behavior, and potential loyalty concerns.”

My heart sank into ice.

“No! There’s no time!”

I let out a desperate roar and fell back heavily into the cold metal chair.

Deep scan.

Background review.

That would take at least another forty minutes.

By the time it was over, everything would be too late.

I could not wait.

Absolutely not.

I jerked my head up, my voice hoarse.

“Examiner Leedon! Before you do that, please use an encrypted line and contact High Command directly!”

—

I rasped, “Communication channel: Keystone-Alpha-7!”

“One minute. That’s all I need. High Command can verify whether it’s real or not. If it’s fake, you can arrest me on the spot.”

Margaret’s finger hovered over the red button on the console.

She hesitated.

'Countdown: 10 minutes and 15 seconds.'

Margaret took a deep breath.

Her finger finally began to descend toward the button.

Then Ethan’s voice rang out like a ghost.

“Captain, you really thought this performance through.”

“You’re making it sound real. But who knows who that number will actually connect to?”

He turned toward Margaret, whose face had changed sharply.

“Examiner, think about it. Why is he so determined to contact someone outside using this specific channel? What if we really connect the call, and whoever answers insists he’s the authorized operator and orders us to release him immediately?”

“This could very well be the final step of his plan to break into the core zone.”

Margaret’s finger froze less than an inch from the button.

Cold sweat beaded at her temple.

Ethan had planted the possibility in her mind, and it had taken root.

In the apocalypse, an insider threat was just as terrifying as a zombie.

“Ethan, you son of a—”

The fury in my chest nearly exploded.

Boom!

At that moment, a deafening impact slammed into everyone’s ears and hearts.

The floor of the quarantine room visibly shook.

The overhead lights flickered violently, and the instruments released a shrill buzzing sound.

Then a faster, sharper air-raid alarm roared from somewhere deep inside the base.

Margaret pressed a hand to the communicator in her ear.

A few seconds later, every trace of color drained from her face.

“The second outer blast door of the base laboratory just took an impact exceeding three hundred percent of its design load?”

Her voice cracked.

“The energy readings are still soaring. The life-signature readings are chaotic, but extremely strong.”

I strained against the restraints with everything I had, trying to stand.

“Do you hear that?”

“It’s the zombie king! It’s already attacking the barriers. Its strength is growing fast. The final containment layer won’t hold much longer.”

“Let me in! I know the exact drop point for the inhibitor and the detonation sequence.”

Ethan leapt up as if he had caught me in a fatal mistake, his finger nearly jabbing into my face.

“How do you know all that so clearly? That sounds exactly like someone who was in on it.”

He turned toward Margaret, who was on the verge of breaking down.

“The second something happens inside, he reacts faster than the monitoring system. That’s obviously a prearranged signal.”

Fear and panic twisted across Margaret’s face.

“Cancel the encrypted communication.”

Then she turned to the guards and shouted with everything she had.

“Keep him locked in here. Double the guards. No one opens this door and no one touches him without my direct order or final test results.”

With that, she rushed out of the quarantine room.

“Margaret Leedon, get back here!”

My desperate roar was swallowed by the heavy alloy door, weak and useless.