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Chapter 3

Author: Teddy Vale
'Countdown: 5 minutes and 55 seconds.'

Ethan did not leave.

He walked up to the observation window and looked at me in silence.

The fake fear and concern on his face faded away like the tide.

All that remained was a look of smug satisfaction.

“Why?”

My voice was hoarse and dry, yet it sounded unusually clear inside the quarantine room.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and stepped closer.

“Why? Captain Hale, you’re actually asking me why?”

He gave a mocking laugh, his voice coming clearly through the speaker vent.

“From the first day I joined Falcon Squad, you looked down on me. You thought I only got in because my father is Deputy Minister Cross. You thought I was useless. A burden.”

“Was I wrong?” I said coldly.

Ethan Cross.

The precious son of the military district’s deputy minister.

That connection was how he had gotten into Falcon Squad.

His arrogance.

His laziness during training.

The way he instinctively hid behind others during missions.

I had tolerated all of it.

As long as he did not drag the team down or get anyone killed, I could pretend he did not exist.

For Operation Dawn, I had never planned to bring him at all.

But he had gone to his deputy minister father and insisted on coming no matter what.

“That’s right!” Ethan snapped. “A top-secret mission this important means a massive achievement if it succeeds. Why should you be the only one who gets the glory, Rowan Hale?

“You’ve been sitting in the captain’s seat long enough.”

He paused, his eyes turning openly venomous.

“I knew this mission was dangerous. I knew it was urgent. And I knew that even the smallest delay could make you fail.

“When that happened, my father could make a few arrangements, and I’d take over Falcon Squad. Wouldn’t that be perfectly reasonable?”

A chill shot up my spine.

It was colder than any zombie’s roar.

'Countdown: 55 seconds.'

“Just because of your pathetic jealousy and hunger for power, you stopped me from going in?”

My voice shook with rage.

“Do you have any idea how many people will die if that thing gets out?”

Ethan spread his hands exaggeratedly, as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

“Captain, don’t make it sound so serious.

“Even if something does happen, with my father’s position, as long as it doesn’t involve the supreme commander directly, he can smooth it over for me.

“But your future?”

He smiled.

“Your life?

“That’ll be over.”

He leaned slightly closer to the glass and mouthed silently at me.

'That’s what I want.'

“You bastard!”

My last thread of reason snapped under the weight of my fury.

I lunged forward with everything I had.

The restraints groaned under the strain.

Ethan straightened and adjusted the crisp collar of his uniform, calm and unhurried.

“Once you’re convicted, we can—”

The door slammed open.

His words cut off.

Then his brows drew together, and he snapped in irritation.

“Captain Ward! What are you doing? Who gave you permission to barge in here? His review isn’t—”

The guard captain ignored him completely.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on me as he rushed to the control panel and slammed his fingers across the keys.

Beep.

Click.

The electromagnetic restraints around my wrists and ankles sprang open.

“Are you insane?” Ethan shouted. “Who authorized you to release him?”

He stepped forward, trying to stop him.

“We can’t hold it back anymore…”

Captain Ward’s voice was hoarse.

“The final door to the core laboratory… was torn open from the inside…”

He looked at me, his eyes full of despair and terror.

“The zombie king… is out.

“Our people can’t hold it.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice grew even rougher.

“The key researcher in charge of close-range monitoring and data collection… didn’t make it out.

“She’s dead.”

I had just risen to my feet when my vision went black.

The key researcher.

I had just regained my freedom and was trying to move my stiff arms and legs.

But when I heard those words, darkness crashed over my eyes, and my ears rang violently.

Ethan gave a faint, scornful laugh and spread his hands.

“I thought it was something serious. It’s just one researcher. If she’s dead, hire another—”

“Shut up!”

I shoved Captain Ward aside, grabbed Ethan by the collar, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him hard against the observation window.

Bang!

Spiderweb cracks exploded across the glass.

“Do you know who that researcher was?”

My roar carried the taste of blood.

Ethan’s face turned purple from my grip, his eyes bulging.

“Her name was Serena Vale.”

I stared into his fear-widened pupils and spoke each word clearly.

“She was the supreme commander’s only daughter.”

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    “She…”“She was my daughter,” he cut me off. “But she never allowed me to interfere with her work. Entering the core laboratory was her choice. Staying behind to collect data was her choice too.”At last, his voice trembled.“The last time she contacted me, she said… she said she liked someone. She said once this mission was over, she was going to tell him.”He lifted his head and looked at me.“Do you know who she meant?”I tightened my grip around the badge and did not answer.He looked at me for a long time.Then he stood and patted my shoulder.“Recover well,” he said. “The base still needs you.”He walked to the door, then stopped without turning back.“Serena… she was stubborn from the time she was little. Once she set her mind on something, nothing could pull her back.“I suppose the person she chose was the same.”The door closed.I sat alone in the reception room, holding the badge and the note.There was another line written on the back of the note.I had only

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    “You’re lying!” Ethan screamed hysterically. “You just want to kill her. You want the credit. You want to be the hero. Serena is dead, and that makes you the prime suspect. You’re trying to destroy the evidence!”I could hardly believe what I was hearing.At a time like this, that was still what he cared about?Behind me, it moved.This time, it was even faster.So fast I only had time to turn sideways.Its claws stabbed into my left shoulder, piercing through muscle and bursting out through my back.Agony swallowed me whole.I let out a muffled groan, my right hand still gripping my gun. I aimed at its head, but I could not pull the trigger.It leaned close to my face, its nostrils flaring as if it were sniffing something.Those gold-red eyes were less than four inches from mine.Then it stopped.It blinked.In that instant, I saw Serena.It really was Serena.Tears welled in her eyes, mixing with the blood and grime as they fell onto my face.Her lips trembled, and a

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