Chapter 3 Someone Else Remembers

I stared at the black screen.My reflection stared back at me.

For several seconds, I couldn't move.Someone who remembers what happened.The words kept repeating inside my head.

Someone else knew.That shouldn't have been possible.

I had died.Then I had woken up sixty days in the past.Nobody else should remember the future.

Nobody.

I checked the phone again.Nothing.

No message.No number.

No call history.

It was as if the conversation had never happened.My fingers tightened around the phone.

"Who are you?"

I whispered the question even though there was nobody around to answer.I looked through the windshield.

The parking lot was crowded.

People were carrying shopping bags.

A woman was arguing with her child.

Two men were laughing beside a parked car.Everything looked normal.Too normal.

I suddenly felt exposed.

I started the engine and drove away.I didn't go home.

Instead, I drove to the nearest café and parked at the back.

I needed to think.I ordered coffee I didn't want and sat in the corner with my back against the wall.

I kept checking my phone.Nothing.

Maybe it was a prank.

Maybe someone had somehow learned about my plans.Maybe someone had access to my accounts.

But there was something that bothered me more.

The photograph.The pharmaceutical company.The date.Three days ago.

In my previous life, I didn't discover anything about that company until the outbreak had already begun.Why were they preparing now?

I opened my laptop.I searched for the company name.

Nothing unusual.Public reports described it as a successful biotechnology company specializing in regenerative medicine.There were interviews with executives.

Charity events.Research announcements.

Nothing about infected patients.Nothing about secret facilities.Nothing about the apocalypse.

I opened another page.Then another.

Still nothing.I leaned back.

Maybe I was overthinking it.

After all, I had just died and come back to life.My mind wasn't exactly stable.I closed the laptop.Then my phone vibrated.I nearly dropped it.

A message.

Unknown number.I opened it.

You remember the hospital.My stomach dropped.Another message appeared.

You remember what happened on the third floor.

I stared at the screen.I did remember.

The third floor of that hospital had been one of the first places to fall.I'd been there during the beginning of the outbreak.

I'd watched a doctor lock himself inside a treatment room after one of his patients attacked him.

I heard screaming.I'd smelled blood.But nobody outside that hospital knew what happened.At least, they shouldn't.

I typed:

Who are you?The response came quickly.

You shouldn't be investigating the company.My heart pounded.

I typed again.

Why?No answer.I waited.One minute.Two.Five.Nothing.

Then another message appeared.

Because they are already watching you.

I looked up.Someone was standing outside the café.A man in a dark jacket.He was staring directly at me.My blood ran cold.

I immediately lowered my head.

When I looked again, he was gone.

I stood.I grabbed my bag and left through the back entrance.

I didn't know whether the man had been connected to the messages.I didn't intend to find out.I drove straight to the property Richard had secured for me.

The road became quieter as I moved farther from the city.I checked my mirrors constantly.Nobody followed me.At least, nobody obvious.

When I finally reached the property, I got out of the car.

It was larger than I remembered.A neglected house stood at the end of a long driveway.

Trees surrounded the land.Behind the house was a rocky hill.And beneath that hill was the underground storage area I remembered.

I walked toward the entrance.The old metal door was covered in rust.I pulled it open.

Cold air hit my face.I turned on my flashlight.The tunnel stretched into darkness.

I remembered the first time I had seen this place in my previous life. Survivors had turned it into a fortress.They had lasted almost two years.Then they made one mistake.They trusted the wrong person.I wouldn't repeat that mistake.I spent the next few hours inspecting the property.

The water source was still there.The electrical system was outdated, but repairable.There was enough land for farming.The underground rooms could be reinforced.

It wasn't perfect.But it could become home.

My phone rang.I looked at the screen.

Richard.

"Hello?""Miss Vale, the documents are ready."

"Good."

"There is one issue."I frowned.

"What issue?""The property has an existing security contract."

I stopped walking."What?"

"It appears the previous owner hired a private security company several years ago. The contract is still active.""Cancel it.""I tried."

"And?"

"They refused."My stomach tightened.

"Why?"

"They claim the contract cannot be terminated until the end of the month."I looked toward the road.

Something felt wrong."Send me the company name."

"I already did."I checked my phone.

An email was waiting.

I opened it.The name of the security company appeared.I recognized it.

My blood ran cold.

They had provided security around several government facilities during the apocalypse.In my previous life, their trucks were everywhere during the first week.I had assumed they were military contractors.

I hadn't known anything else."Richard."

"Yes?"

"Who owns the company?"There was silence.

"Why?""Just tell me."

He sighed."I'll investigate."

"No."

I looked toward the entrance."Don't investigate."My voice became quiet."Just send me everything you already have."

"I'll do that."

I ended the call.Something was happening.

I could feel it.

The more I changed the future, the more the future seemed to push back.I walked into the house.The rooms were empty.

Dust covered the floors.I stood in the middle of the living room and imagined what it would look like after the renovations.Shelves filled with food.

Water tanks.Medical supplies.

Generators.Weapons.People sleeping upstairs.Security cameras.A safe room.Everything I needed.

I smiled.For the first time since waking up, I felt slightly safer.

Then I heard something outside.A metallic sound.I froze.

Clang.

I slowly reached for the kitchen knife I had bought earlier.Another sound.

This time closer.I moved toward the window.

A black SUV was parked near the gate.My heart slammed against my ribs.

I hadn't heard it arrive.

Two men stepped out.Both wore dark clothing.One of them looked toward the house.

Then he pointed directly at the window.

At me.I stepped away from the glass.

My breathing became shallow.

My phone vibrated.I looked down.Another message.

Don't let them inside.

I stared at it.Then another message arrived.

They aren't here for the property.My eyes moved toward the men outside.A final message appeared.

They're here because of you.I tightened my grip on the knife.Someone had been watching me.

Someone knew I remembered the future.And now they had found me.I backed away from the window.The front door suddenly shook.

Once.

Twice.

Then someone knocked.Three slow knocks.

I didn't answer.The knocking stopped.

For a few seconds, there was silence.Then a man's voice came through the door.

"Miss Vale?"

I froze.I knew that voice.

Not from my previous life.

From today.It was the same voice that had spoken to me at the bank.

The same voice from the unknown caller.The man who had been watching me.

He spoke again."Open the door, Scarlett."

My blood ran cold.

I had never told him my name.