Chapter 1

The heavy door of the cryopod slammed shut right in front of my face. Freezing mist instantly enveloped me, blurring everything outside into a hazy smear.

I pounded on the reinforced door with all my might until my palms turned bright red from the impact.

"Dad! Mom! I didn't mean to! I'll never do it again!" I screamed. "Please, let me out!"

Mom's voice cut through the thick walls of the pod.

"Oh, now you're sorry? Too late!" she snapped. "Beckett has a fragile constitution. His immune system is much weaker than yours. You stole his high-energy nutrient meals. Were you trying to kill him? You're going to stay in there and think about what you've done!"

I shook my head frantically, even though I knew they couldn't see me. Tears mixed with the icy condensation, blurring my vision.

"I didn't! I just grabbed the wrong one!"

Then came Dad's voice, cold and completely devoid of emotion, "24 hours of confinement."

He turned to the medical staff standing nearby and barked an order, "Cut off all supply systems to the pod. Keep only basic life support running."

A doctor in a white lab coat hesitated. "Commander Walker… Doing that under these low-temperature conditions could cause irreversible damage to the child's body."

Dad's tone left absolutely no room for argument. "Execute the order."

Then, he spoke to me again through the pod door, "Brielle, the door will unlock automatically when your time is up. Use this time to properly reflect on your actions."

The biting cold began to creep up from the soles of my feet.

I pulled my knees to my chest, my teeth chattering violently as uncontrollable tremors wracked my entire body. Before long, I felt my hands grow so numb that I could barely move them.

I was so cold.

I knew I had messed up.

I would never dare covet my younger brother Beckett Walker's food again—not even a whiff of it.

Suddenly, the piercing wail of a red alert echoed through the entire base. It was a Code Red—the highest-level zombie horde invasion!

I could hear panicked screams, frantic footsteps, and the deafening roar of heavy gunfire.

I summoned every ounce of strength I had left to shout, my voice trembling and stuttering from the cold. "Dad! Mom! Let me out! The zombies are here!"

Through the tiny observation window, I caught glimpses of the chaos outside.

Dad swept a terrified Beckett up into his arms, shielding him tightly against his chest, while Mom clutched a briefcase packed with core data files.

Their eyes swept over the cryopod I was trapped in, but their gazes slid right past me without pausing for even a fraction of a second, as if I were nothing more than a piece of junk.

No, wait—Dad turned back. He shot a glance in my direction.

But there was no worry in his eyes, only annoyance and disgust, as if he were thinking that even at a time like this, I was still acting out and throwing a tantrum.

The lights in the base began to flicker violently.

With a sharp beep, the cryopod's backup power indicator flashed to life, glowing a menacing red.

The piercing cold invaded my body from all sides, seeping into my bones like jagged shards of ice. Slowly, my consciousness began to slip away, swallowed by the creeping darkness.