Chapter 3 – The Reversal System Awakens

Sandra opened her eyes and gasped as a sharp smell of smoke filled her nose. The cold basement floor was gone, and she was lying beneath a broken display shelf inside a shopping mall.

She looked around, but the place seemed to have been destroyed. Shop windows were broken, shelves lay overturned, blood covered parts of the floor, and bodies were scattered between fallen signs and pieces of glass.

“Where am I?” she whispered, pushing herself up with shaking hands. “Wasn't I locked in the basement? Did someone find me and bring me here?”

“Attention, all survivors,” a tired voice announced through a nearby speaker. “A new wave is approaching the city. Find a safe shelter immediately, stay away from infected people, and do not approach anyone showing signs of infection.”

Sandra stared at the speaker, unable to understand what she was hearing. “Infected people? A new wave? What kind of sick joke is this?”

A woman with gray hair suddenly ran past the broken entrance, clutching a shopping bag against her chest. Sandra hurried after her, desperate for an explanation.

“Excuse me! Ma'am, please wait!” Sandra called. “Can you tell me what happened here? Why is everyone running?”

The old woman turned around, her face pale with fear. “The zombies are coming! Run and hide, girl, unless you want them to tear you apart!”

“Z-Zombies?” Sandra repeated, almost laughing. “That isn't funny, ma'am, and this is a terrible time to play a prank.”

The woman grabbed Sandra's arm and pointed toward the street. “Look for yourself! Those things were people yesterday, but now they bite anyone they catch, and the dead are getting back up!”

“This can't be real,” Sandra murmured. “Maybe Vanessa and her friends planned this because they know how much I love zombie stories.”

She remembered the basement, the locked door, and her desperate struggle to breathe. “But how could they build an entire ruined city just to scare me? And why would they leave me here?”

Sandra watched her disappear, then slowly turned toward the ruined shops. Something about the mall felt strangely familiar, from the cracked marble floor to the red sign hanging above a boutique near the escalator.

“Wait,” she whispered, looking at the sign. “I've seen this place before, but where? Why does it feel like I already know every corner?”

Sandra stopped in front of it and stared at the woman reflected in the glass. The stranger had long black hair, smooth pale skin, sharp eyes, and a beautiful face that looked nothing like Sandra's familiar features.

“What the hell?! Who are you?” Sandra whispered, lifting a hand toward the mirror. The woman in the reflection lifted her hand at the same time, and Sandra felt her stomach drop.

“No, no, no!” She touched her cheeks, then her nose and chin, searching for the face she knew. “This isn't my face! Where are my glasses, and why am I suddenly so beautiful?”

“Please tell me I'm dreaming,” she begged, gripping the edge of the mirror. “I was in the basement, I couldn't breathe, and now I'm inside a shopping mall wearing someone else's body?”

Then she remembered the novel she had carried everywhere, the story she had read more than a hundred times. The name of the ruined mall, the red sky, and the emergency broadcast all matched the opening chapters of The Last Dawn: Rise of the Chosen Survivor.

“That's impossible,” Sandra said, shaking her head. “This is the world from my book, but how could I enter it? I only wished I could live here before I passed out.”

Her eyes widened as another memory struck her, and she gripped the mirror so tightly that her fingers hurt. “Wait, this face belongs to Sasha Monroe!”

Sasha Monroe was the cruel villainess who stole supplies, betrayed survivors, and sold humanity's location to the aliens. In the original story, almost everyone hated Sasha, and her own system abandoned her before Francine Lopez defeated her.

“No! Anyone but Sasha!” Sandra cried, slapping her cheeks as if she could wake herself up. “Ow! That hurts! This isn't a dream, is it?”

Sandra grabbed her head and stumbled away from the mirror. “Vanessa locked me in the basement, my asthma attack got worse, and I lost consciousness, so why am I inside my favorite book as the most hated villainess?”

A distant crash interrupted her words, followed by a scream that echoed through the mall. Sandra turned toward the entrance and saw people rushing past the broken windows, their faces twisted with terror.

“Help us! They're inside!” a man shouted from the street. “Keep running! Don't let them surround you!”

Sandra's heart raced as several figures appeared behind the fleeing people. Their clothes were torn, their skin was gray, and dark blood stained their mouths as they stumbled forward with hungry growls.

“Zombies,” Sandra whispered, backing away. “They are really here, and this is really happening.”

“Move!” someone screamed. “They're coming into the mall!”

Sandra tried to run, but her legs felt weak, and fear kept her frozen in place. She knew what happened in the novel, yet knowing the story did not mean she was ready to face real zombies.

Then a transparent blue screen appeared in front of her eyes, shining brightly in the dusty air. Sandra jumped and nearly fell, staring at the strange words that appeared across its surface.

[Reversal System activated.]

[Host identified: Sandra Johnson.]

[Current body: Sasha Monroe.]

[Main objective: Reverse the original story and change the fate of humanity.]

[Reward: New abilities, supplies, and survival points will be granted when the host changes key events.]

Sandra blinked several times and waved her hand through the screen. “What is this? Is this a system?”

The screen remained in place, and a calm voice spoke directly into her mind. [Greetings, Host. The Reversal System has selected you to alter the future and prevent humanity's destruction.]

“But Sasha already had a system!” Sandra whispered urgently. “Her system helped her become powerful, and it abandoned her after she betrayed humanity, so why do I have a different one?”

[Correction: This system is not the original system assigned to Sasha Monroe.] The blue screen flickered, then displayed another message. [Your actions will determine whether the original events remain unchanged.]

Sandra stared at the words, hardly believing them. “So I can change the story? Does that mean I can save people who were supposed to die?”

[Affirmative, Host. However, failure to complete critical objectives may result in severe consequences.]

A scream came from the entrance, and Sandra looked up to see three survivors trapped beside a fallen shelf. A young boy clung to a woman while an injured man tried to push a zombie away with a metal pole.

“Please, somebody help us!” the woman cried. “My son can't run, and my husband is hurt!”

Sandra recognized the scene from the novel, where several unnamed survivors died before Francine arrived. She could escape through a side corridor, but if she did, the boy and his parents would be eaten.

“I can't leave them,” Sandra said, forcing herself to move. “I may be Sasha Monroe now, but I won't let innocent people die in front of me!”

She ran toward the survivors as the zombies closed in. “Get behind me! Take the boy and move toward the service exit!”

“Who are you?” the injured man shouted, raising his pole. “Stay away from us! You're Sasha Monroe, aren't you? Everyone knows you're bad!”

Sandra froze for a moment, shocked that he recognized this face. “I know you don't trust me, but you can hate me later! Right now, you need to run!”

A zombie lunged toward the woman, and Sandra threw up her hands in panic. Before it could reach them, a glowing gun appeared in her right hand, its silver surface marked with bright blue lines.

“What is this?” Sandra gasped, gripping the weapon. The system's voice sounded in her mind as a new message flashed across the screen.

[Emergency weapon generated: Reversal Blaster.]

[Basic instruction: Aim at the infected target and pull the trigger.]

“I've never used a gun before!” Sandra shouted. “How am I supposed to shoot this thing?”

[Host, the target is three meters away. Fire now or the survivor will be bitten.]

Sandra aimed with shaking hands and pulled the trigger. A blue beam burst from the gun and struck the zombie in the chest, throwing it backward before it collapsed motionless on the floor.

The other zombies turned toward her, drawn by the sound and light. Sandra stared at the weapon in disbelief, while the survivors hurried toward the service exit.

“I actually did it!” she exclaimed, though her hands still trembled. “System, tell me how to use this thing before those monsters reach me!”

[First rescue objective completed. One life-saving action recorded; survival points awarded.]

Sandra's relief lasted only a second before a loud growl came from behind her. A huge zombie with torn clothes and glowing red eyes stepped through the broken entrance, far larger than the others.

The blue screen flashed a warning that made Sandra's blood run cold. [Danger alert: Mutated infected detected. Recommended action: Escape immediately.]

Sandra raised the glowing gun as the monster charged toward her. “You have got to be kidding me!”

The mutated zombie leaped, its claws reaching for her face, and the system flashed one final message.

[Host, your first major test begins now.]