Chapter 1

If you knew someone was going to die, are you obligated to save them?

Well, for Christiana Knox, she tried to save everyone, and look where it got her.

Six feet underground, her throat was filled with sand and the dead, metallic taste of blood, and she was in the middle of swarms of burrowers feeding on humans and infecting what was left over. She couldn't run, because her feet had been ripped away, along with her left hand, and probably half of her torso was gone.

Christy couldn't recall how long she had stayed there—two hours? Three? Or maybe a day. Time no longer held meaning after she watched those creatures rip her poor babies apart. Christy had fought them off, but what could a woman do against swarms of hungry, monster burrowers?

She watched, one by one, as they infected the bodies and threw them aside. There were piles and piles of bodies, and she was next in line. Christy tried to move, run, or hide—the way a body tries everything it can to escape danger. Her eyes stared straight ahead, her voice caught in her throat. It happened in a flash: a burrower struck its sucker into her neck, just below the jaw. Christy watched as what looked like a white fluid moved into her body. Her remaining body parts went numb as she slowly lost consciousness, hot tears dripping down her face.

It didn't have to end this way. No, it shouldn't have ended like this.

******

"Hey, mommy, wake up." Christy heard the warm, familiar voice of Taby. She shook her head; her vision blurred at first.

"Where am I?" Christy asked in a low voice.

Christy heard a playful giggle, small hands nudging her shoulders. "Don't be silly, mommy. You're in our house."

Christy jolted off the bed, her eyes wide open as she glanced around the room, her body shaking so much. She touched her face, her legs, and her neck. They felt as if nothing had happened.

Had she been dreaming? But it felt so fucking real. Her body was covered in sweat, but deep down she felt those chills in her bones, those round black eyes that had stared right into hers before striking her. She desperately hoped it was a dream, and just like that, her eyes found Taby sitting on the bed. Sam had his hand in his sister's, his small eyes blinking nonstop as they stared innocently at her.

"Taby, Sam?" Christy said, unable to contain her emotions. Tears flowed freely as she pulled her babies into a tight hug.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Sam asked.

Christy pulled them tighter. How could she explain to a five-year-old that she'd had a nightmare where monsters lived underground, poisoning the and killing humans, and that everyone eventually died? Maybe Judas, her ex-husband, was right. She was really losing her mind.

"Stay like this for mommy," Christy released them from her hug just to draw them back into another one.

"Your phone is ringing, mommy," Taby said.

"I know, Taby, I know," Christy answered, her voice coming out in a soft rumble. She had thought she would never get to hold her darling kids again—that they would not grow up as normal children, go on dates, and get married. She had thought she'd lost the only gift life gave her, and now she'd just discovered maybe it was all in her head.

After what felt like forever, Christy pecked her two babies, her body still shaken from what she referred to as a nightmare.

"Taby, can you do mommy a big favor and play with your brother in the playroom for a while?"

Taby nodded, delighted to play. She yelled after them.

"Don't go downstairs unless I ask you to."

"Okay, mommy," Sam's little voice reached her as they disappeared through the corner of the door.

She rushed to pick up her phone and dialed the callback; her mother had left her a series of missed calls.

"Hello, Mom," she said as soon as the line connected.

"Christiana, how could you have missed your sister's college graduation?" her mom's voice rang out angrily.

"C'mon, Mom, we've talked about this already," she said, dragging her hand through her hair in frustration.

"What do you mean we've talked about it?" she asked. "Your sister's graduation was yesterday, and I never called you," she added.

Christy wondered if her mom had suddenly developed amnesia. Her sister's college graduation had been three months ago, which she had forgotten, and when her mom called, scolding her for missing it—just as she was doing now—she had pleaded with her and promised to make it up to her. So Christy was beyond shocked that her mother was scolding her for the same reason.

"That was February 14th, Mom. Three months back," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"Have you finally lost it? Yesterday was February 14th. Today is the 15th, Christiana!" her mom raged, her voice sounding like someone who had finally lost her patience.

"What?" Christy brought down her phone from her ears. She covered her mouth in shock. Written boldly on her phone calendar was February 15th, which meant that it wasn't a dream. She had really died, and somehow she had woken up in the past. How?

"Hello? Hello?" she heard her mom say, but she was far away in thought. Cold fear gripped her as she quickly disconnected the call.

Reality dawned on her: the apocalypse had happened, she had died, she had lost her babies, and someone or something had brought her back in time. "How did this happen?" Christy muttered under her breath.

Suddenly a transparent floating board appeared in front of her eyes.

Written boldly was:

[SECOND CHANCE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]

[Host identified: Christiana Knox.]

[Previous life terminated.]

[Temporal reversal successful.]

[Survival System initializing…]

[Apocalypse Countdown: 57 Days.]

[Would you like to begin?]

[YES] [NO]

"What is this?" Christy asked. With shaky hands, she clicked Yes.

[System successfully bound to Host.]

[Known Threats: 17]

[Survival Preparation: 8%]

[People Saved: 0]

[Warning Credibility: 12%]