Swapped for His True Love in the Flaming Apocalypse

The voice on the other end crackled with excitement. "Nora, this is incredible. Level One needs someone like you!"

The underground city was divided into three levels.

Level One was a classified research and technology sector, the beating heart of the entire city, sealed off from the general population without exception.

Level Two was home to those who had earned their place through contributions to the city's founding.

Level Three, as the years wore on, had become something else entirely, the darkest corner of a world that had already lost most of its light.

I had just hung up when Rhett Calloway stepped out of his room. He pressed two fingers to his temple, voice heavy with fatigue. "Anna's condition is serious. She needs medical supplies."

"And what exactly are you planning to do about that?" I asked. I kept my back to him, afraid he might see my face.

Rhett's voice was low and hoarse. "Treat her, obviously. No matter what it costs. I've already sent for a doctor."

Three years into the apocalypse, medical care had become one of the most guarded luxuries left. Every household was allotted a single doctor's visit per year, nothing more.

A month ago, when my fever hit 104 and my vision blurred at the edges, I had bitten down and suffered through it alone, unwilling to waste the one chance we had.

Rhett had just spent that chance on a woman he met last week. He didn't notice what that did to me. His voice stayed flat and even. "Nora, I've made arrangements. Someone will come in three days to take you down to the Level Three slums. You'll go in Anna's place."

I shut my eyes for a moment. When I turned, I dragged my fingertips quickly across the corner of my eye before he could see anything.

"Rhett, did you stop, even once, to think about what you're asking of me?"

He didn't flinch and said, "You know how I am. I can't watch someone die and do nothing. I never could."

I almost laughed. There were thousands of people suffering out there, yet somehow it still came down to her.

He must have read something in my expression, because he kept going. "I was passing through Level Three when I saw her. She was sitting with the slum children, singing to them. Just singing, like the world hadn't ended. Tell me how I'm supposed to walk away from something like that."

I took two steps back and forced my voice to stay steady. "So I'm the one who pays for it? Shipped off to the Level Three slums to live her life for her?"

Level Three was lawless and volatile, the kind of place where survival was never a given. People disappeared there without explanation.

Rhett's expression tightened. "Don't be dramatic, Nora. It's not a sacrifice. It's a temporary arrangement."

Before I could respond, a knock came at the front door. He was already moving toward it.

I found the back of the couch with my hand and held on. Through the gap in the doorway, I could see Anna Archer lying in bed, lips pale, breathing shallow. A cough tore through the quiet.

Rhett rushed the doctor to her side without a backward glance. I stayed exactly where he'd left me. There was no wind underground, yet I had never felt colder.

The doctor didn't leave until well past midnight. Rhett found a moment between everything else to say what amounted to a dismissal.

"You've seen her yourself. She needs complete rest. Three days, Nora, and then you go to Level Three. If you don't, our household won't clear the Level Two headcount inspection."

I looked up at him. I was so tired. There was a dull, spreading ache somewhere behind my ribs that I didn't have a name for yet.

Then my phone buzzed.

"Ms. Nora Vale, in three days, a designated representative from the organization will arrive to escort you to Level One."