Chapter 1: The Day I Died

Alice's POV

I woke up to excruciating pain.

It was the first thing I felt when my eyes opened. Something heavy was crushing down my left leg. When I tried to move, a scream tore out of my throat. Blood filled my mouth. I could taste it together with the dust that was now thick in the air.

I coughed and more blood came out. The smell of burned metal and fresh blood was so strong it made me want to throw up.

My hands went straight to my stomach.

The baby.

I was six months pregnant. I could still feel the small round shape under my shirt. For one short second I thought maybe we were both okay. Then a sharp pain hit low in my belly and warm wetness spread between my legs. Too much blood. I knew it was too much.

“Luke!” I screamed. “Luke, help me!”

Footsteps came closer, they were slow and didn't sound like steps of someone running to help.

I forced my eyes open.

Luke stood a few meters away. Caroline was next to him. She was putting the energy core into a black case like it was just another day at work. That core was the reason we came here. I almost died getting it out of the lab. It was supposed to power the medical systems in our shelter and many other groups sort for it but I got to it first. Now she was packing it up like it belonged to her.

Luke looked at me. His face was looked calm but dangerously cold. There was no love left in his eyes.

“Oh. You’re still alive,” he said. “That’s a problem.”

I stared at him. My brain could not understand the words.

“I'm hurt. My leg is crushed,” I said. My voice was shaking hard. “And i'm bleeding. The baby must be in trouble. Please help me.”

Caroline closed the case with a loud click. She wiped dust from her hands and looked down at me like I was something dirty on the floor.

“We don’t have time for this,” she said. “This building is coming down. We need to leave now.”

“Then take me with you!” I screamed. “Just help me up!”

Luke stepped closer. He looked at my stomach. For one second I thought he would change his mind. Then he opened his mouth and every good memory I had of him died.

“You were never going to survive, Alice. You’re like a liability to us. Too weak. That baby is only going to slow us down. We both knew it from the start.”

Something inside my chest broke.

“It’s your baby Luke,” I whispered. “Our baby.”

He shrugged. He actually shrugged while I was bleeding on the ground.

“Doesn’t matter. Caroline and I already talked about it. We’re taking the core and getting out. You’re not coming with us.”

Caroline smiled. It was the same mean smile she used when we were younger and she wanted to hurt someone.

“You always acted like you were better than everyone,” she said. “Smarter. Kinder. Look at you now. Crying in the dirt while the world is practically ending. You’re pathetic.”

I tried to crawl toward them. My broken leg dragged behind me. I could see white bone sticking out through the skin. Blood was pouring around it. Every movement made me scream, but I kept going. I had to reach them.

“Please,” I begged. “Please don’t leave me. I’ll do anything. Just take me with you. The baby is still alive. I can feel it moving. Please.”

Luke watched me crawl. His face did not change.

“You should have died when the ceiling fell the first time,” he said. “It would’ve been cleaner for everyone.”

Caroline laughed. The sound was short and ugly.

“She’s still trying. Look at her. Dragging herself like a dying animal.”

I reached for Luke’s shoe. My bloody fingers touched the leather. He stepped back like I was poisoned.

“Don’t touch me!” he growled. “You’re already dead. Just accept it.”

Tears mixed with the blood and dust on my face. I could not stop shaking.

“I loved you,” I said. My voice was small and broken. “I loved both of you. I trusted you with everything. With my life. With my baby.”

Luke’s mouth twisted into something cruel.

“That was your biggest mistake. Love means nothing when the world ends. Only useful people survive. You’re not useful anymore. You’re just a drag.”

Caroline lifted the black case and held it against her chest.

“We’re done here. Let’s go before the rest of the building collapses.”

Luke turned away. Then he stopped and looked back one last time.

“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I did care about you once. But not enough to die with you. And definitely not enough to raise a kid with a dead woman. Goodbye, Alice.”

They started walking.

I screamed their names until my throat tore open. I screamed for help. I screamed for my baby. No one came back.

A big piece of the ceiling fell. It smashed into my back and pinned me completely to the floor. I could not move my legs anymore. I could not even feel them. Blood was pouring out of me from everywhere. My leg. Between my thighs. A deep cut on my head. A sharp piece of metal had gone into my side and I could feel hot blood soaking my clothes.

I put both hands on my stomach. The baby kicked once. Weak. Scared.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to it. “Mommy is so sorry. I chose the wrong people. I trusted the wrong people. I’m so sorry, baby.”

Another kick. Even weaker than the first.

I started crying harder. Ugly, loud sobs that hurt my whole chest.

“Please,” I said to the empty air. To anything that might be listening. “If there is anything out there… any power… any god… please don’t let my baby die with me. Don’t let them win. Give me another chance. I don’t care what happens to me. Just let me protect my child. Let me make them pay for this. Please. I’ll do anything. Just don’t let my baby die.”

The building shook hard again. More concrete fell. The metal in my side went deeper. My vision started turning black at the edges.

I kept my hands on my stomach even as my arms got heavy.

“I love you,” I told my baby. My voice was almost gone. “Mommy loves you so much. I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger.”

The last thing I heard was Caroline’s voice far away, laughing about how weak I was.

Then everything went dark.

I died with my hands still on my stomach and hate burning in my chest like fire.

Hate for Luke.

Hate for Caroline.

Hate for every soft part of me that ever trusted them.

In the complete dark, something cold woke up.

A voice that was not human spoke inside my head.

And far away, thirty days earlier, my eyes snapped open.

~