chapter 5

The pounding against my door grew louder.

I stood several feet away, staring at the desk that was supposed to keep me safe. Each impact pushed it farther across the floor.

"Elena..."

The voice came again.

It sounded almost human.

That was what frightened me most.

I had heard the infected in my previous life. Their groans, screams, and strange noises had haunted my nightmares long after I learned to sleep through the sounds of people dying outside.

But I had never heard one whisper my name.

I forced myself to move.

My phone was on the kitchen counter. I grabbed it and called emergency services, but the line wouldn't connect. I tried again, receiving the same automated message.

The network was failing.

Another crash shook the door.

A crack appeared in the wooden frame.

I couldn't stay here.

I had spent the evening securing the apartment, believing the locked doors and windows would give me enough protection until morning. Now I was trapped inside a room with an entrance that might not hold for another five minutes.

I needed an alternative exit.

My bedroom window opened onto a narrow balcony. From there, I could reach the adjoining building through a low dividing wall, but the drop to the ground was too dangerous.

I had never been particularly athletic. Even before the apocalypse, climbing over that wall would have terrified me.

But staying meant risking an encounter with the infected.

I hurried to the bedroom and opened my wardrobe. I pulled out a backpack and filled it with bottled water, canned food, a flashlight, my first-aid kit, and a power bank. I added a change of clothes and my identification documents.

I wanted to take everything.

I couldn't.

A violent crash came from the living room.

The desk scraped across the tiles.

I zipped the backpack and hurried toward the balcony.

The door shuddered behind me.

Then I heard something I never expected.

"Elena! Move away from the window!"

Adrian's voice.

I looked down.

A black SUV was parked near the building's entrance. Adrian stood beside it, looking up at my balcony.

"How did you know I was here?" I shouted.

"That doesn't matter! Get away from the window!"

The front door of my apartment split with a loud crack.

I didn't need another warning.

I climbed onto the balcony railing, gripping it with both hands. My legs trembled as I looked at the narrow dividing wall.

It was farther away than I had remembered.

"You're going to fall!" Adrian shouted.

"Then tell me what to do!"

"Step onto the ledge to your left. There's a maintenance platform beneath it."

I looked down.

He was right.

A narrow concrete platform extended beneath the balcony, partially hidden by the building's exterior structure. It was barely wide enough for my feet, but it led toward the staircase at the rear of the building.

I lowered myself carefully.

My shoe slipped.

I gasped and caught the railing before I could fall.

"Slowly!" Adrian called. "Don't look down. Keep your weight against the wall."

I followed his instructions, moving one foot at a time.

Behind me, glass shattered.

I glanced toward my apartment.

A figure had appeared at the broken doorway.

It was my neighbor's husband.

His face was streaked with blood. His eyes looked strangely unfocused, and his mouth hung open as he stared at me.

For a moment, he seemed almost confused.

Then he lunged toward the balcony.

I scrambled along the platform.

My backpack caught against a metal bracket, pulling me backward. I twisted to free it, but the strap tightened around my shoulder.

The infected man slammed into the railing.

It shook violently.

"Leave the bag!" Adrian shouted.

I pulled again.

The strap tore.

I stumbled forward, caught myself against the wall, and continued toward the staircase.

A moment later, I reached the rear landing.

Adrian was already there.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the balcony just as the infected man struck the railing again.

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, struggling to catch my breath.

"Good. We need to leave."

He started toward the stairs.

I pulled my arm free.

"Wait."

He turned.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safer."

"That isn't an answer."

His jaw tightened.

"Elena, there are infected people in your building, the roads are becoming dangerous, and emergency services aren't responding. We can argue about my intentions after we get you out of here."

I stared at him.

I hated that he was right.

But I wasn't going to follow another man blindly, no matter how helpful he seemed.

"Do you have a weapon?"

He glanced at the compact flashlight in my hand.

"I have something."

"That's not reassuring."

For the first time, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"You're not as helpless as you look."

"And you're not as trustworthy as you think."

His expression changed.

"Good. Keep thinking that way."

He led me down the stairs and out through a rear exit. We moved quickly toward the SUV, keeping our distance from the main road.

The city was in chaos.

A bus stood abandoned across an intersection. Several people were trying to force their way into a pharmacy, while a police siren sounded somewhere in the distance.

Adrian unlocked the vehicle.

I stopped before getting inside.

"Tell me why you came for me."

He looked at me over the roof.

"Because I knew this building would become unsafe."

"How?"

"I've been monitoring the incidents."

"That doesn't explain how you knew an infected person was inside my apartment building."

He hesitated.

Then he reached into his pocket and showed me his phone.

A map filled the screen. Several locations were marked in red, including the hospital from the first news report and the shopping center where the motorcycle accident had occurred.

My neighborhood was marked in yellow.

"What is this?"

"Reports of violent incidents. I'm collecting information from people who are still communicating."

"Why?"

"Because the official response is failing, and someone needs to understand how quickly this is spreading."

I looked at the map again.

"Who told you about my building?"

"A neighbor called me. He saw the attack and recognized your apartment."

I remembered the man who had been standing outside the property that afternoon.

"You were watching me before the outbreak."

"I was inspecting the house you wanted to rent."

"Then why did you warn me about the infection?"

"Because I suspected something was wrong."

"Based on what?"

Adrian looked toward the street.

"Three weeks ago, I received reports of unusual incidents at a research facility outside the city. The details were incomplete, but several people developed aggressive behavior after becoming seriously ill. The incidents were quietly investigated, and the facility restricted access."

My pulse quickened.

"The military research facility?"

He looked at me sharply.

"Who told you about that?"

I realized my mistake too late.

I had never mentioned the facility.

Adrian stepped closer.

"Elena, how do you know about it?"

I looked away.

"I saw it online."

"Where?"

"I don't remember."

He studied me for several seconds.

I could tell he didn't believe me.

But he didn't press the question.

Instead, he opened the passenger door.

"Get in. We need to leave before the main roads become impassable."

I hesitated, then climbed inside.

As Adrian drove away, I watched the city disappear behind us.

I had survived the first night of the apocalypse.

But I had lost most of my supplies, my apartment was no longer safe, and the man sitting beside me knew more about the outbreak than he was willing to admit.

I didn't know whether trusting him would save my life or put me in greater danger.

For now, I had no better option.

I looked down at the backpack on my lap.

My remaining supplies were limited.

My savings were still in the bank, but money would become less useful as the economy collapsed.

I needed a secure place to stay, a reliable source of food and water, and a plan that didn't depend on Adrian remaining alive.

Above all, I needed to understand why the future had changed.

The first infection had appeared earlier than I remembered.

The attacks were spreading faster.

And someone had warned Adrian about the research facility weeks before the outbreak became public.

I turned toward him.

"One question."

"Go ahead."

"If you suspected this was coming, why didn't you warn everyone?"

His hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"Because suspicion isn't proof."

"And now?"

He glanced at me.

"Now I have proof that something is terribly wrong. But I still don't know what caused it, how far it has spread, or whether anyone can stop it."

I looked through the windshield.

The road ahead was almost empty.

For the first time since waking up, I felt the full weight of my situation.

I had returned to the past believing I could use my memories to control my future.

But the apocalypse wasn't following the same rules anymore.

And if I wanted to survive, I would have to learn them all over again.

Adrian turned onto a quieter road.

Then his phone rang.

He answered through the vehicle's hands-free system.

"Blackwell."

A frightened voice came through the speakers.

"Sir, we have a problem."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"What happened?"

"The facility has been evacuated."

"Evacuated? When?"

"About an hour ago. The staff are missing, and security has been compromised."

Silence filled the car.

Then the caller added, "There's something else. We recovered footage from the main entrance."

Adrian slowed the vehicle.

"What does it show?"

"The first patient."

"And?"

The caller hesitated.

"Sir, the patient was admitted three weeks ago."

Adrian's eyes met mine.

The voice continued.

"According to the medical records, he died two days before the incident."

My blood ran cold.

Adrian ended the call without saying another word.

Neither of us spoke for several seconds.

Outside, the last traces of daylight disappeared behind the buildings.

I had thought I understood the apocalypse because I had lived through it once.

Now I was beginning to suspect that my first life had revealed only a fraction of the truth.

And somewhere beyond the city, a dead man had apparently become the beginning of everything.