Chapter 1

Leora’s pov

“KEN! PLEASE! OPEN THE DOOR!”

I pounded against the metal door, clutching my little daughter tightly around my chest, my palms stung, my throat burned and my tears blurred my vision as the creeping snarls of zombies getting closer grew louder. “Please, Ken! My baby is freezing!”

My daughter whimpered against my neck, her tiny fingers clutching the collar of my bloodstained shirt. “Mummy, I’m scared.” 

My heart shattered. “I know baby, I know.” I kissed her forehead, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Daddy will open the door, he won’t leave us here.” I slammed my fist against the door again. “KEN!”

The door clicked and hope surged through me but when the door opened, Ken didn’t step aside to let us step in. He stood in the narrow gap, dressed in a fresh black jacket, his expression so calm that I forgot the monsters gathering behind me. “Ken?” I stared at him. “Move! Please, there comi my!”

He glanced at our daughter in my arms before looking back at me. “You don’t belong here.”

My blood turned cold. “What?”

“I can’t keep dead weight.”

I couldn't grasp what he meant for a moment. Dead weight?

I was his wife, the mother of his child, the woman who had emptied herself to keep his business thriving when it was on the verge of collapsing.

“Ken, stop joking!” I tried to push past him, but he blocked the entrance with his arm. “Our daughter is right here!”

“I don’t care!” He firmly stated.

“Then let us in, this house belongs to me anyways.” 

He sighed as though I were an irritating employee refusing to understand simple instructions. “Your money is gone Leora, everything you had that was useful to me had already been used.”

I stopped breathing.

Behind him a woman appeared, gently touching his shoulders before circling her hand around his arm.

Isabella, my elder sister?

The same woman who had listened to my marital complaints? The same person who had told me countless times she had got my back… those expensive gifts we had giggled about the mysterious admirer.

The same person whom I had personally travelled to get a custom designer suit she requested as her birthday gift just two months back?

A diamond necklace glittered around her neck.

Ken had gotten that same necklace for me on our last anniversary, claiming he wanted to remind me how much he loved me.

It all made sense now.

“Isabella?”

She tilted her head with a small smile on her lips. “Leora, hello.” Her casual greeting struck me worse than a slap.

My gaze dropped to her hand where a diamond ring sat on her finger. It wasn’t just any ring; it was the same ring Ken had shown me at a jewelry store just last month.

My stomach twisted. “The secret admirer,” I whispered.

Isabella’s smile widened slightly. “What about him?” She nestled her head on his shoulder.

“Those gifts, the trips you kept telling me about.” My voice trembled. “You said he was someone you couldn’t be with.”

“I never said I couldn’t be with him, I said I wanted to keep him a secret.” 

Ken chuckled, the sound made my skin crawl. “How long?” I asked, looking at my husband.

He didn’t answer. “HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING WITH MY ELDER SISTER?”

“Keep your voice down.” Ken snapped. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

I recoiled as if he’d struck me. My arms tightened around my daughter. “After all I’ve done for you?” I whispered. “I gave you money, I trusted you blindly with my father's company!”

“Did I force you his eyes hardened. “You decided to trust me willingly.”

A loud crash sounded behind me. The zombies were close. I turned toward the noise, then faced him again. “Ken, please, whatever I’ve done, punish me, hate me, do whatever you want but don’t do this to our daughter.”

His expression changed, he clenched his fists in annoyance. “She’s your responsibility now.” He began closing the door.

“No!” I lunged forward. “KEN!”

I gripped the edge with my fingers but he pried them away one by one. “Please!” The door slammed shut.

For several seconds I stood frozen, staring at the metal door that separated me from the man I had given everything to.

Then I heard the distant sound of helicopter blades.

I turned toward the sound.

A black helicopter was waiting on the rooftop of the building opposite us. Through the glass entrance of the building, I could see Ken coming out from a side corridor, holding Isabella’s hand as they hurried toward the rooftop access.

My heart stopped… they hadn’t just abandoned us outright, but this was their plan all along.

A moment later,  Ken helped Isabella into the helicopter before climbing in after her. Through the open door, I watched her settle beside him and rest her head against his shoulder.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

The same tender gesture he used to give me whenever he promised that everything would be all right.

I stared at them as the helicopter’s blades spun faster, whipping dust and debris into the air.

My knees weakened.

All those times my aunt had warned me that Ken was stealing from me, I had defended him. All those times Isabella had comforted me about my marriage, I had trusted her.

I had protected the very people who were now leaving me to die.

The helicopter lifted into the air.

I watched it rise farther and farther away until the distance swallowed the faces of the two people who had destroyed my life.

“Mummy…” my daughter's trembling voice pulled me back, I looked down at her shivering violently, her lips turning blue.

“No, baby, stay with me.” I rubbed her arms, trying to share what little warmth I had left. I leaned over her protectively as the first zombie lunged at me, the teeth sank into my shoulder and I screamed. Another grabbed my leg.

I fell hard to the floor, curling around my child as filthy hands clawed at my clothes. “I’m sorry baby.”I sobbed, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and I held her tighter, the stench of blood and rot choking me.

I-I can’t go like this.

Air

I needed air.