DEAD ZONE: I Built A Fortress With My Ex's Billions

Flora

We were one year into this hellish outbreak, and every single day outside was a desperate battle for survival. 

My hands trembled, raw and covered in dirt, but relief washed over me as I stacked the food. I had survived another brutal run. Outside, the world belonged to the dead, but inside this fortified villa, my family would live another month.

My father in law was bedridden with a severe fever, and my husband, Holland, had been working himself to the bone caring for him alongside his secretary who was present, Lena. she had been living with us since the fall of the city to help manage our dwindling supplies. I had voluntarily taken on all the outdoor risks, fighting off hordes and bearing the scars, as I was the only one in position to go out there. 

As I reached the bedroom door, I noticed it was sitting half ajar. Soft, muffled gasps drifted through the opening, mixed with low moans that made my feet freeze in place.

My breath hitched in my throat.

Through the narrow crack in the door, two figures were tangled together on the bed. Lena was sitting on Holland’s Cock, her arms draped over his shoulders, her head tilted back as she jerked aggressively on top him. Holland held her hips tightly, his face buried in the crook of her neck, groaning and moaning out dirty words, completely lost in their ecstasy. 

"Holland..." My voice was a hollow whisper, but it sliced cleanly through the quiet room.

Both of them turned slowly. Holland did not scramble to pull away or hide himself. He simply sat up, drawing a light robe over his shoulders, his eyes completely flat and devoid of guilt. Lena did not flinch either. She rested her cheek against Holland's chest, casting a small, triumphant smile directly at me.

"You are back early," Holland said calmly, stepping off the mattress.

My knees buckled under my weight, and I had to grab the wooden doorframe to keep from collapsing. "How could you? While I am out there bleeding, risking my life fighting off those dead things for food... you two are in here?"

"Risking your life?" Lena chuckled softly, her voice smooth and mocking. "You were just doing what you are good at, Flora. Being stupid and playing the hero."

"Shut up," I snapped, turning my gaze to my husband. "Holland, say something to me. Is this real? How long has this been going on?"

Holland adjusted his sleeves and sighed, as though my tears were nothing more than a minor annoyance on a busy day. "It started months before the world fell apart, Flora. There is no point in continuing this act."

"Why?" Fresh tears cut through the grime on my face. "I gave you everything. My family’s power, my resources, my entire life..."

"Your family's money saved my company from bankruptcy," Holland interrupted, his tone chillingly detached as he took a step toward me. "That was the sole reason I married you. I never loved you, not for a single second. Every touch, every gentle word was just a performance."

A suffocating weight pressed down on my chest. I opened my mouth, desperate to shout at him, but…BOOM!

A violent crack of thunder exploded directly overhead, shattering the silence with deafening force. The entire villa rattled to its foundation. Lightning flashed across the room in a stark, blinding sheet of white light, startling all of us into dead silence.

Before anyone could speak, the bedroom door burst open. My father in law stumbled in, clutching his chest, his eyes wide with sheer panic.

"Holland, look out the window," the old man shouted, pointing a shaky finger toward the floor to ceiling glass wall at the far end of the room. "The thunder... it agitated the horde outside. They are swarming the front gates."

Holland hurried to the glass wall and looked down into the dark yard. Below us, hundreds of decayed, gray bodies were surging against the iron bars, their guttural growls echoing through the storm. The heavy metal structure was already bending under the massive weight of the dead.

"There are too many of them," Lena whimpered, rushing to Holland’s side and gripping his arm tightly. "The gates will not hold. We need to reach the armored SUV in the garage."

"We will never make it to the vehicle," Holland said, his face draining of color as he watched the perimeter buckle. "The moment we open the garage door, the engine noise will draw every monster near the driveway. We need something to distract them."

Lena looked over at me, her eyes narrowing into a sharp, cruel glare. "We have enough food stored in the cellar now, thanks to her runs. She is completely useless to us now, Holland. Throw her down to them."

My stomach turned. I looked at Holland, waiting for him to snap at her, waiting for him to defend the woman who had bled for his survival. But he remained silent. He slowly turned his eyes toward me, a dark, calculating coldness filling his expression.

He was actually considering her words.

Panic surged through my veins. Ignoring the sharp pain in my ribs, I spun around to run for the corridor.

But…Click.

My father in law slammed the heavy oak door shut and locked it from the outside hall, blocking the handle with his weight.

"I am sorry, Flora," the old man said, his voice steady despite his trembling hands. "You have been a dutiful daughter in law, and we appreciate everything you brought to this house. But this is your final contribution. It is better for one person to die than for all of us to perish. I will not risk my son's life, my own, or the life of my future grandchild."

Grandchild? My heart stopped beating. I stared at Lena's stomach, then at Holland, the reality of their hidden pregnancy striking me like a physical blow. She was carrying his child, and they had kept it from me the entire time? 

"Father, please," I begged, beating my bloodstained fists against his chest. "Please don’t do this."

Strong hands locked around my arms from behind. Holland pinned my wrists, dragging my battered body back toward the glass wall.

"Holland, no, please, I love you, do not do this," I cried out, kicking and thrashing with every remaining ounce of strength in my tired limbs.

"Save your breath, Flora," Holland whispered coldly into my ear.

He picked up a heavy bronze statue from the side table and smashed it violently against the glass wall. The pane shattered into thousands of sharp fragments, opening the room to the howling wind, freezing rain, and the deafening roars of the dead below.

"Holland, please," I sobbed as he pushed me toward the ledge.

With a final, merciless shove, he threw me into the open air.

The wind roared in my ears as I plunged into the darkness. A second later, my body slammed hard into the muddy ground right in the center of the swarm.

Before the pain of my broken bones could fully register, cold, rotting hands tore into my flesh. Teeth sank deep into my neck, my shoulders, my stomach. The agony was immediate and blinding. Flesh was ripped from my frame as the monsters tore me apart while I remained conscious.

Blood pooled in my throat. Through the haze of my fading vision, I forced my eyes upward toward the shattered window. Holland and Lena were standing together at the edge, watching my slaughter without a single trace of emotion.

If there is a next life, I swore inside my dying mind as the darkness swallowed me whole, I pray to whatever power exists... let me return. Let me make better choices... and I will tear every single one of you down to the bone.