Chapter 6: Thorne in my side.

I stared at Kael Thorne.

For three seconds, I genuinely forgot that the world had ended.

The man had been unconscious when I put him inside my storage space. I had checked his injuries, confirmed that he was still breathing, and left him there while I dealt with the woman who had turned into a zombie outside my gate.

There was absolutely no reason for him to be standing in my hallway.

Except, apparently, the universe had decided that ruining my life twice wasn't enough.

My hand instinctively went to my gun "You're supposed to be unconscious."

Kael glanced down at his bloodstained tactical uniform before looking back at me.

"And you're supposed to explain why I woke up in a room with no doors, no windows, and no apparent exit."

My stomach tightened.

He woke up inside the space?

That was impossible.

The system had explicitly described it as a storage dimension where time stood still. Anything I placed inside remained untouched until I retrieved it.

Yet Kael was standing in front of me, looking mildly irritated rather than remotely concerned about the fact that he had apparently escaped a dimension that shouldn't have allowed him to move in the first place.

"Maybe you were dreaming, how else would you have escaped if there was no exit?" I said.

His gray eyes narrowed, "Do I look like a man who confuses dreams with reality?"

"Ever heard of a concussion? And honestly? You look like a man who should be lying down before he bleeds all over my floor." I replied. My reasoning on his escape seemed to be convincing enough that he dropped it.

The frightened girl behind me made a small noise, I had completely forgotten that she was there.

She stood clutching the collar of her German Shepherd, her muddy clothes sticking to her body. Her eyes moved between Kael and me, clearly trying to decide which of us was more dangerous.

Considering the circumstances, I couldn't blame her, I was armed with a gun and he was a menacing looking man.

"Who is he?" she whispered.

"An expensive mistake." I said.

Kael raised an eyebrow, "Expensive?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm referring to the damage your vehicle caused to my perimeter."

His expression didn't change, but his gaze moved towards the window, looking at the damage he had done.

"How long was I unconscious?" He asked.

"Long enough, I had other problems, I can't say I was counting down the hours for you” 

In my previous life, I had learned that Kael Thorne was not a man who wasted words. He watched, listened, and remembered. When he finally acted, people usually regretted giving him a reason.

I had no intention of becoming one of those people again, especially because I already had a taste of Kael Thorne’s medicine.

He had been the leader of a survivors refugee camp in my previous life, while I was one of the scavengers who went out in search of food and supplies. At that time, I had wholeheartedly believed that Amy and Leo were ‘too weak’ to join me, they never lacked excuses. Suffice to say, we were thrown out of the camp and a series of events followed which led to my death.

A translucent blue screen flashed in front of my eyes.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

[Subject Zero: Active.]

[Suppression Deadline: 13 Days, 23 Hours, 41 Minutes Remaining.]

[Warning: Host must maintain control over the emergency target.]

My jaw tightened, maintain control?

The man had just escaped from my supposedly inescapable storage dimension. What exactly did the system expect me to do? Put a collar around his neck?

I dismissed the notification before Kael could notice my distraction.

"Sit down," I ordered.

He looked at me, then shook his head, "Why?"

"Because you're injured." I said.

"I've had worse."

"And yet you still managed to collapse on my driveway, also, your face shows you're in a lot of pain, quit being so annoying and just sit” I glared at him.

Something flickered in his eyes, annoyance probably, but he made no move to listen.

I was getting irritated,"Sit down, Kael."

This time, he obeyed.

He lowered himself onto the nearest chair with controlled movements, but I noticed the way his left hand pressed against his side. Blood had soaked through the fabric around his wound, and his skin looked unnaturally pale.

He was in worse condition than he wanted me to believe.

I retrieved a medical kit from the cabinet and placed it on the table.

"Take off your jacket."

He stared at me.

"You're remarkably comfortable giving orders to an armed stranger, and asking them to reveal their nakedness"

"You're remarkably comfortable bleeding on someone else's furniture, and for the nakedness, I've seen better"

A choked chuckle escaped his lips, and his mouth twisted into a shrewd smile

I immediately disliked it.

"Do you always talk this much?" he asked.

I ignored the question, motioning to his clothes “Your jacket, get on with it” 

He removed his jacket.

The wound beneath it was ugly. A deep gash ran along his side, surrounded by bruised skin and dried blood. It looked like the result of a violent impact rather than a clean gunshot.

I leaned closer, examining it without touching him, "How did you get this?"

He sucked in air through his teeth as he shifted his body on the chair, "An accident."

"Your military vehicle crashed through my security wall. That's not an accident, more like an expensive demonstration of incompetence."

He glared at me, "Would you prefer the truth?"

"I would prefer you to stop bleeding on my floor."

That shut him up, he studied me for a moment before looking away.

"Something attacked our convoy. We were transporting biological samples when the containment vehicle was compromised. The others didn't make it." His voice remained steady, but some emotion flicked on his face as he said the final sentence.

Not exactly grief, but grief mixed with a whole lot of guilt.

I pushed the thought aside.

Sympathy was a dangerous habit. I had nearly died from having too much of it in my previous life.

"Biological samples?" I asked.

He nodded, "Research material connected to the outbreak."

I stopped moving, suddenly the room was a few degrees colder.

"You're telling me you knew about the virus before it spread?" I gasped

He grunted, "I knew about a biological agent. I didn't know it would spread this quickly."

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"No." His gaze met mine. "I expect you to decide whether knowing the truth is more useful than believing a comfortable lie."

Before I could respond, a sharp vibration rattled through the building.

The lights flickered, the girl gasped, and the German Shepherd immediately raised its head.

I turned toward the nearest security monitor.

The damaged section of my outer perimeter appeared on the screen. Rainwater streamed down the cracked concrete, pooling around the base of the wall.

Nothing moved beyond it.

Then the camera image trembled just as a second vibration followed.

"Was that thunder?" the girl asked.

 I enlarged the image, "No."

Something was moving beyond the gate, but the rain obscured the details.

Then came another sound, like metal banging on metal.

Clang!

The German Shepherd began growling, even Kael straightened despite his injury.

"Turn off the lights," he said.

I glanced at him, "Excuse me?"

"Your exterior lights. Turn them off." He repeated, this time his voice sharp.

I shook my head, "Why?"

"Because if the infected are following the noise, you don't want to advertise that someone is home."

I stared at the monitor, he was right. That was common sense.

The lights illuminating the driveway had been installed to improve visibility around the perimeter. They were useful during ordinary emergencies.

Unfortunately, this was no longer an ordinary emergency so I switched them off.

The compound sank into darkness, leaving only the dim glow of the security monitors.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the system chimed.

[SYSTEM TASK UPDATED]

[Objective: Secure the compound against the approaching infected.]

[Bonus Condition: Identify the primary stimulus attracting the infected.]

[Reward: One System Upgrade Component.]

[Failure Penalty: Temporary restriction of spatial retrieval functions.]

I swallowed my irritation.

Of freaking course.

The world was ending, my new guest was hiding something, and the system had thought to make my life even harder by assigning me homework. Just delightful.

"How many infected are out there?" Kael asked.

"I don't know." I said

"Then we should find out." He said

I turned toward him, "You're not going anywhere."

"You can't keep me here against my will." His expression hardened.

I almost laughed, "You're welcome to leave. The gate is outside, and the zombies are apparently holding a reception in your honor."

He said nothing.

"Besides," I continued, "you can barely sit upright. If you insist on wandering outside, I'll save myself the trouble of dragging you back in."

The girl looked horrified. Kael on the other hand, looked amused.

Then the security monitor chimed again. A figure had appeared beside the damaged wall, it stood motionless in the rain, its head tilted toward the compound.

Another emerged behind it, then more.

They weren't wandering aimlessly through the street. They were gathering near the same section of the perimeter, their bodies angled toward the compound like they had detected something inside.

I watched the nearest infected lift its head, opening its mouth, a wet groan drifted through the external microphone.

The others followed suit.

My fingers tightened around the edge of the console.

"Why are they gathering here?" I whispered.

Kael's expression had lost every trace of amusement, he leaned forward, studying the screen.

"How long has that generator been running?"

I looked at him sharply, "What?"

"The generator. How long has it been running?"

"Since the power went out." I replied 

"Turn it off.

The generator powered several of my essential systems. Cutting it would leave portions of the compound without electricity, including some of the equipment I needed to monitor the perimeter, b the infected were multiplying outside and Kael looked far too serious for me to dismiss his warning.

I reached for the controls but before I could touch them, the German Shepherd barked.

The infected on the screen moved simultaneously, every single one of them turned toward the sound.

My blood ran cold.

Then the nearest zombie slammed into the damaged wall. On the third impact, a crack spread across the concrete.

Kael rose unsteadily from his chair.

"Jade," he said, his voice suddenly sharp.

I stared at the screen.

Something was climbing over the infected at the base of the wall.

A zombie that had learned to use the others as a ladder.

And it was almost over the top.