Chapter 5 :SEVEN DAYS

Sharon eyed the message again.

DAY ZERO BEGINS IN SEVEN DAYS.

She couldn't understand how that could be it.

Seven days.

She had been preparing for thirty.

For thirty days of shopping, thirty days of reinforcing the resort walls.

Thirty days before the world went down the toilet.

But if the bastard's message was true, then everything was different.

Sharon turned to Alex.

"Who told you about the infected case?"

"My security team."

"How reliable are they?"

Alex's expression darkened

"Very"

Sharon turned away from him.

In her previous life, the reports of the first infection had come slow.

A weird sickness, with high fevers and aggression, followed by death.

And then the bodies began to move.

But the government covered it up.

Hospitals were overcrowded, news networks reported a virus, and by the time people realized what was happening, it was too late.

Sharon had been caught completely off guard.

This time, she wanted to make sure that she wouldn't be.

If Day Zero was truly seven days away, she had to make the most of the time she had left.

Sharon turned to the resort.

"I need more supplies."

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"More?"

"Yes."

"You already bought enough food to last us for a month."

"I'm not preparing for a month."

She turned to him, "I'm preparing for the end of the world."

For the first time, Alex was silently contemplating.

Then a soft smile played on his lips.

"At least you're honest with me."

"I haven't been honest with you."

"No?"

"No."

A frown marred Alex's features as Sharon stepped past him.

She didn't want to tell him about the Spatial Storage System.

That was her trump card, her best-kept secret weapon.

The fact that she had one was already a miracle in and of itself.

"Where are you going?" Alex inquired.

"Inside."

"I need to talk to you."

"I don't."

Alex followed her in.

Sharon had stopped dead still, causing Alex to walk into her.

She turned to look at him.

They were practically nose to nose.

Alex looked down at her and then Sharon looked up.

For the first time since the whole "apocalypse is coming" incident began, the thought of it slipping away from her mind.

Sharon took a step back.

"Stay away from me."

His mouth twitched into a smirk.

"You say that a lot."

"Because you follow me everywhere."

"Maybe that's because you give me reason to."

"I don't like you."

"I never asked you to," His answer was smooth, calm, and cool.

It irritated Sharon more than it should have.

She turned away from him.

"Go home, Alex."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because if the infection has spread, then the city isn't safe anymore."

She stopped.

Alex continued.

"I came to this resort because I want you to come with me."

Sharon turned around.

"Absolutely not."

"Think it through."

"I did."

"My underground facility has reinforced walls, independent power, water purification, medical rooms, food storage, and armed security."

Sharon almost laughed at the thought.

While he had a lot, she had something better.

Her storage system.

"No."

Alex stared at Sharon.

"You trust this place more than yours?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's mine."

Alex studied her.

There was something different about Sharon.

Ever since he had met her, it was like she had seen the end of the world already.

Like she had been expecting it all along.

Now, for the first time, he could see something else in her eyes.

Knowledge beyond her years.

Experience that no twenty-seven-year-old should have.

His eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

Sharon's heart missed a beat.

"What?"

"You've changed overnight."

"People change."

"Not like this."

Alex took a step closer.

"You suddenly start buying survival supplies. You get divorced. You buy this resort, and you install security systems on it."

He paused.

"And now you act like you already know what's coming."

Sharon's knuckles whitened.

Alex was too perceptive.

"I don't owe you an answer on that."

"No,"

His voice dropped, "but you owe yourself one."

Sharon looked at him.

Before she could say anything, Alex's phone went off again.

This time, he didn't smile.

He picked it up.

"What happened?"

His face paled.

"Say that again."

A pause.

"How many?"

His expression darkened.

"Lock down the facility."

He ended the call.

Sharon was already asking, "What happened?"

Alex looked at her.

"The hospital isn't the only one."

Her stomach twisted.

"Where else?"

"Three hospitals."

Sharon's expression changed.

It wasn't like this in her previous life.

It had only begun at one hospital.

Something was different this time.

Or someone.

Alex pulled out his phone and showed her a picture.

A hospital hallway, strewn with blood, and a corpse laying against the wall.

Sharon's eyes widened.

Then she saw a date stamp at the bottom of the photo.

Her breath hitched.

"That's not possible."

"What?"

Sharon pointed at the screen.

"Look at the clock."

Alex frowned.

The photo was taken at 3:17 AM.

But it was still early in the evening.

Sharon turned to Alex.

"Who took this photo?"

"My security team."

"Where are they now?"

Alex didn't answer for a long time.

Sharon's heart pounded.

"Alex."

"Three of them stopped responding."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then-BOOM!

A loud explosion rocked the resort.

Another boom followed it.

Then another.

Alex turned to his phone.

His face was grim.

"That's not the hospital."

Sharon looked at the smoke rising from the far end of the city.

"What is it?"

Alex looked at her.

"The military district."

Sharon's blood ran cold.

In her previous life, the soldiers had been active for almost two weeks after the outbreak had begun.

If the military district was already in ruins, then seven days no longer seemed like much time at all.

Her phone buzzed again.

Sharon slowly looked down.

The next message appeared on the screen.

You believed the countdown. That was your first mistake.

Her fingers went numb.

Another message appeared.

The apocalypse doesn't begin in seven days.

She held her breath.

A third message appeared on the screen.

It has already begun.

Sharon looked at the message.

Just then, the final message appeared.

And Alex Knight knows why.

Slowly, Sharon looked up at Alex.

He was already watching her.

For the first time, Sharon had seen a glimpse of something else in his eyes.

Something that wasn't distrust or surprise.

It was fear.

Dread. And, most disturbingly, something else.

Sharon knew in that instant that it wasn't because he didn't want to tell her the truth.

It was because he was afraid that she would know what it was.

The lights went out all at once.

The resort was plunged into darkness.

And somewhere out in the distance, something let out a horrifying screech.

Not human. Not anymore.