Chapter 3: First Mission

Alice's POV

The phone kept ringing.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the screen. Luke’s name flashed over and over. My heart was beating hard. Part of me still wanted to answer the way I used to. Soft. Happy. Trusting. That part of me was stupid. That part of me had died under the concrete with a broken leg and blood pouring out of my body.

I let it ring until it stopped.

A few seconds later it started ringing again.

I hated how my hand still moved toward the phone on its own. I forced it back down. I pressed both hands over my stomach instead. The baby gave a small push, like it could feel how angry I was.

“It’s okay,” I whispered to it. “Mommy’s not going to let him near us this time.”

The phone went silent again. Then a text came in.

Luke: Morning, babe. You up? I was thinking we could get breakfast together before you head to the lab.

Babe.

He called me babe like he hadn’t left me to die. Like he hadn’t watched me bleed while he walked away with Caroline. Like our baby hadn’t been dying with me.

Hate burned so hot in my chest that my hands started shaking.

I opened the message and stared at it for a long time. In the old timeline I would have smiled. I would have typed something sweet back. I would have felt lucky that he wanted to see me.

Now the words made me sick.

I deleted the message without answering.

The blue screen from the system was still floating in front of my eyes. It had gone quiet after giving me the main mission, but I could still feel it there, waiting.

“Show me more,” I said out loud.

New words appeared.

[Host status: Stable]

[Pregnancy status: Healthy – 24 weeks]

[Special Lifeform: Confirmed]

[Survival Points: 0]

[Current missions: 1]

[Main Mission: Survive the first wave of the apocalypse]

[Time remaining: 29 days, 17 hours, 42 minutes]

Twenty-nine days.

I had lost some hours already just sitting here shaking and crying.

I needed to move.

I stood up and walked to the bathroom. I turned on the light and looked at myself in the mirror. Same face. Same hair. Same dark eyes. But something was different. The soft look I used to have was gone. My eyes looked harder. Colder. Like someone who had already died once.

I lifted my shirt and looked at my stomach. The small round bump was still there. I placed both hands on it and felt the baby move again.

“I’m going to keep you safe,” I told it. “Even if I have to become someone else. Even if I have to hurt people. I don’t care. You’re the only thing that matters now.”

My phone started ringing again.

Luke.

I stared at it for three full rings. Then I answered.

“What?” My voice came out flat and cold.

There was a short silence on the other end. He wasn’t used to me sounding like that.

“Wow,” Luke said with a small laugh. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You okay, Alice?”

The sound of his voice made my skin crawl. I could still hear the way he had spoken to me while I was dying.

“I’m fine,” I said. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to see you. It’s been a few days. I miss you.”

Lies. All of it lies. In thirty days he would leave me under a pile of concrete without looking back.

“I’m busy,” I said.

“Busy with what? It’s early. Come on, let me take you out for food. You need to eat for the baby.”

The baby.

He said it so easily. Like he cared. Like he wasn’t the same man who had looked at my stomach and decided it was better if we both died.

“I said I’m busy, Luke.”

Another silence. When he spoke again, his voice had a small edge to it.

“You’re acting weird. Did I do something wrong?”

Yes. You left me to die. You chose Caroline. You let our child bleed out with me.

But I couldn’t say that. Not yet. If I told him the truth he would think I was crazy. Or worse, he would start watching me too closely.

“I just need space,” I said. “Don’t call me for a while.”

“Alice—”

I hung up.

My hands were shaking again. I put the phone down on the sink and held the edge of the counter until the shaking slowed. My chest hurt from how hard I was breathing.

The system screen flashed once.

[Emotional spike detected.]

[Mental Resistance: Slightly increased.]

[Survival Points +1]

I stared at the words.

So the system gave points when I got stronger. Even if that strength came from hate.

Good.

I needed every point I could get.

I walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed. I needed a plan. A real plan. In the first timeline I had trusted Luke and Caroline to prepare with me. That had been my biggest mistake. This time I would do everything alone.

First, money. I had some savings, but not enough for what I needed. I would have to move things around. Sell what I could. Use every resource I had before the world fell apart.

Second, supplies. Food. Water. Medicine. Generators. Fuel. Weapons. Building materials. Baby supplies. Everything. I needed a list. A long list.

Third, a safe place. This loft was not safe enough. Too many windows. Too easy to break into. I needed something stronger. Something I could turn into a real shelter.

I stood up and walked to my desk. I pulled out a notebook and a pen. My hands were still not fully steady, but I started writing anyway.

Food.

Water.

Medicine.

Generator.

Fuel.

Weapons.

Building tools.

Baby formula.

Diapers.

Clothes.

Blankets.

First aid.

The list grew longer and longer. Every item I wrote down made the reality of what was coming feel heavier. In twenty-nine days the sky would change. People would start dying. The world I could see outside my window would turn into a nightmare.

But this time I would be ready.

My phone buzzed again. A new message.

Caroline: Hey girl. Luke said you’re acting weird. Everything okay? Want to talk?

I stared at her name until my vision went red.

Caroline. My best friend. The same woman who had laughed while I begged for my life. The same woman who had walked away with the energy core and left me to die with my child.

I deleted the message without answering.

Then I blocked her number.

And Luke’s.

It felt small. It felt like nothing compared to what they had done to me. But it was a start.

I sat back down on the bed and put both hands on my stomach. The baby moved under my palms, stronger this time.

For a moment I just stayed there, feeling the small life inside me. In the first timeline I never got the chance to buy anything for the baby. No tiny clothes. No soft blankets. No little socks. Everything had been about surviving the next day.

This time would be different.

I opened the notebook again and added more lines under the baby section. Formula. Bottles. Tiny clothes. Soft blankets. Socks. I stared at the word “socks” for a few seconds. Something in my chest tightened, but it wasn’t hate this time. It was quieter than that.

I didn’t just want to survive.

I wanted my child to have a real chance. A place that wasn’t full of fear and blood and people who would sell each other for a can of food. I wanted to build something better than what I had lived through before.

The thought surprised me a little. Until now all I had felt was anger. Now there was something else mixed with it.

The system screen glowed softly in front of me.

[Host determination confirmed.]

[New hidden objective unlocked.]

[Information restricted until further progress is made.]

I frowned at the words.

Hidden objective.

The system was still keeping secrets from me. It had brought me back. It had told me my baby was special. But it would not tell me why. It would not tell me what the Special Lifeform really meant. It would not tell me what had gone wrong in the first timeline beyond the word “Failure.”

I hated not knowing.

But I could hate it later. Right now I had work to do.

I stood up and walked to the closet. I pulled out real clothes and started getting dressed. Jeans. A plain shirt. Sneakers. My hair went up in a messy knot. No makeup. No soft looks. That version of me was dead.

When I was ready, I picked up my phone, my wallet, and my keys.

I had twenty-nine days.

I was not going to waste another minute.

I opened the front door of my loft and stepped into the hallway.

That was when I saw it.

A small white envelope on the floor right outside my door. No stamp. No address. Just my name written on the front in clean black handwriting.

Alice Quinn.

I had not heard anyone in the hallway. The building was quiet.

I bent down slowly and picked it up.

There was something hard inside.

My heart started beating faster as I opened the envelope.

Inside was a single black key and a small folded piece of paper.

I opened the paper.

Four words were written on it.

You are not alone.