Chapter 3

I begged Lucian.

“It doesn’t matter if we break off the engagement! Just send someone immediately to save June and Poppy, and I’ll do anything you ask!”

When he heard that, Lucian froze. He knew how much I cared about him.

Back when he was bitten by a zombie, I risked my life to find him the antibody.

If I were thinking about abandoning him, it must mean things were really that bad.

After hesitating, Lucian finally agreed to send help.

I quickly recorded footage of our surroundings to send to him to prove that we were really in danger.

Just then, Lucian received a voice note from Castiel.

“Eira is pretending. Don’t believe a word she says.”

Soon enough, I heard Castiel’s voice on the other end of the line.

In that instant, it felt as if I had been plunged into ice water.

Did Castiel truly wish for us to die?

Lucian’s face darkened the moment he heard it.

“Effective immediately, Northern Base is forbidden from answering Eira’s calls. No one is to leave the base! Eira, I want to see if you and June really get torn apart by zombies!”

He hung up. The zombies outside seemed to be triggered by something. They attacked the air-raid shelter with even greater fury.

The chandelier above swayed precariously before crashing down.

I lunged forward to shield June and Poppy but was struck by it.

Shards of the broken chandelier sliced my back, and I bled freely.

Because of the strong scent of blood, the zombies outside grew even more frenzied.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I crawled to my feet. Only after confirming that June and Poppy were unharmed did I breathe a sigh of relief.

I knew the three of us could not just sit here waiting to die. We had to find a way to escape.

“June, I’ll charge and draw the zombies away. You take Poppy and get out of here! Head for the Northern Base! No… go to the Southern Base and find my uncle and the others!”

Castiel refused to look out for us, and Lucian was unreliable. Only my uncle, currently at the Southern Base, might be able to save us.

But June refused to budge.

“No, Eira, I’ll distract the zombies. You take Poppy and run! I’m heavily pregnant. I won’t get far…”

Just then, a zombie smashed through the air-raid shelter door and let out a bloodcurdling growl.

More zombies poured in immediately after.

Seeing the dire situation, June stepped forward and used her body to carve a path for us.

In the split second before the zombies pounced, she uttered her final words, “Eira, run! Go find your uncle!”

Clutching Poppy, I gritted my teeth and ran.

Along the way, I saw the entire Central Base in utter ruin.

Bodies lay scattered everywhere.

I dared not look closely. I was afraid of spotting a familiar face and just kept running forward with my head down.

I finally found a car and drove for what felt like an eternity before finally reaching the outskirts of the Southern Base.

I frantically shouted for help.

“Help! Send reinforcements to the Central Base!”

The guard recognized me and rushed to alert my uncle.

But my uncle never appeared. Instead, an unexpected group arrived.

“Eira, you made it here after all!”

The speaker was Castiel’s right-hand man, Conrad Woods. Behind him stood the base’s young and strong men.

“What are you doing here?”

My face lit up. With them here, the base could be saved!

But Conrad showed no trace of joy. Instead, he only laughed coldly.

A wave of unease washed over me.

“The base was breached by zombies! Conrad, you’re coming with me to save them! June…”