Chapter 1

In my previous life, my scientist husband, Ryan Costa, had taken his secretary, Clara Gibson, deep into a high-risk zone to fetch a reagent. I had led an elite squad to escort and protect him the whole way.

When a horde of zombies closed in on us, he refused to leave and insisted on waiting for Clara to bring back the reagent.

However, Ryan had never successfully developed anything in the past five years. To ensure my squad's and my survival, I knocked him out and hauled him away. When he woke up, he accused me of running away like a coward and had me sent to the stake to be burned.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw him standing in front of the helicopter and refusing to let us leave.

I was about to say something when I suddenly heard his inner thought, "Clara should have grabbed her makeup bag by now. I hope she brings something back with her. If not, I won't be able to explain things to Alice."

It was as if a grenade went off in my head. I stared at him in dumbfounded shock. He smiled at me just like he had in the last life.

"Darling, don't you think we should wait?" he asked.

My second-in-command, Matt Lance, voiced his objection immediately. "Colonel Ashford, the barrier can only hold the horde for ten minutes! The rescue team has already urged us to leave seven times. We have to leave immediately!"

My other squad members shouted hoarsely for Ryan to cooperate. A few even tried to cover his mouth to stop him from protesting.

"Dr. Costa, we understand your passion for research! But we can't just die here like sitting ducks!"

Ryan struggled against my men with all his might. But how could a man who had lived comfortably in a lab for years match the strength of trained soldiers? All he could manage were a few angry, muffled whimpers.

Yet, I heard his thoughts once again. "Damn it! How can Alice let these brutes handle me with force? When I develop the serum that will save all of humanity, I'll kill every one of them!"

A chill ran down my spine when I heard that. If it weren't for me leading my squad into battle on zombie-infested lands and returning home to work on weapons in exchange for military merits with my blood and sweat, how could he have gotten the resources to fritter away on experiments?

Every person in the squad could be counted as his benefactor. Ryan bit down hard on one of my squad members' hands.

When he loosened his grip, Ryan cried out, "As long as I get the reagent Clara brings back, I can develop the core serum!

"Humanity will never have to fear the zombie infection again! If you want to leave, go! I will never abandon my companion and my work out of cowardice!"

For five years, he had repeatedly used "I was this close to developing a serum" as an excuse to get us to do his bidding countless times. By now, many of my squad members no longer believed him. But out of respect for me, they merely exchanged grim looks with each other and didn't argue.

My silence caused Matt to shoot me an anxious look. "What do you think, Colonel Ashford? Please say something! The rescue team is about to leave. If we delay any longer, none of us will get out of here alive!"

Ryan looked to me with hopeful eyes, but his thoughts took on a completely different tone.

He cursed inwardly, "Why has the brute of a woman who's only good at fighting gone mute? Is she really going to leave me behind?"

I smiled, but the smile didn't reach my eyes. I raised a hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Everyone, since we escorted Ryan and Clara here, we have a responsibility to get them back safely," I said evenly.

Ryan's eyes lit up upon hearing that.

I walked over and patted his shoulder. "Besides, you're my husband, and Clara is like a sister to me. Even if you insisted on coming into the danger zone, and even if she didn't come back on time and put all of us in danger, I can't just abandon you, can I?"

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over everyone. My squad members exchanged glances. They all knew my character better than anyone. I hated favoritism and injustice above all. Something about my words sounded off to them.

The youngest member in my team went pale and asked shakily, "Colonel Ashford, how can you risk all our lives just because Ryan is your husband?"

Ryan turned around and snapped, "Shut up! Your leader has given an order. How dare you question her? You don't seem to know your place!"

He smirked smugly as he watched my squad bristle but remain silent helplessly. He felt deeply satisfied.

"Alice, your squad is getting out of hand. When we get back, I'll help you whip them into shape and teach them some much-needed manners," Ryan huffed.

I smiled and didn't say anything. He took that as approval and babbled on.

Ryan was such an idiot. When the apocalypse broke out, I had fought through zombies and negotiated with the upper ranks so he could have a comfortable life and a lab. When he lived off what I provided, why didn't he talk about manners then?

In our past life and until now, he had rarely had to face zombies himself because of me. Now that I clearly saw him for who he was, I finally realized what a selfish fool he truly was.

When Ryan received no response after rambling on for some time, he glanced at me. He said nothing, but his gaze and his thoughts revealed everything.

I heard him say inwardly, "Right, what would Alice know about manners? Please come back soon, my dear Clara. Who knows how much longer the helicopter will wait?"

In my previous life, I had held out until the last minute before I knocked Ryan out and got him onto the helicopter. But in truth, the military could have sent a special aircraft at any time to take me and my squad away if I wanted to leave.

I had shouldered enormous pressure just to protect Ryan and get him out alive. But the first thing he did when he woke up was to send me to my death. I never wanted to feel the pain of being burned alive again.

In this life, I decided that I would push Ryan and Clara into taking the path to hell.

We waited in suffocating silence as the zombie horde drew nearer. Clara finally came running, clutching a leopard-print bag. Her shiny blonde hair billowed behind her, and she wore a face full of makeup.

She flung herself into Ryan's arms excitedly while pouting her freshly painted lips. "I knew I could rely on you, Dr. Costa. I knew you'd wait for me!"

Ryan pretended to be indifferent, but he quickly looped an arm around her waist and headed for the helicopter. "Of course."

Just as the helicopter prepared to descend and pick us up, a deafening crash was heard! A dark mass of zombies broke through the barricade and surged toward us.