Helen
In 2300, a virus swept across North America, turning huge numbers of people into zombies and giving a few survivors special abilities.
I stayed behind to cover the retreat of my fiancé, Adrian Walker, and the Federal Defense Force from Old Saint Clair. During the fight, a high-tier Mutant bit through my neck.
Everyone believed I had died in the Surge.
But I hadn't. I had become the Zombie Queen and somehow kept my human mind. I could control nearby low-tier zombies, but my face was ruined, and I could no longer speak.
I'd always cared about my appearance, so I couldn't bring myself to return to the human fortress. I hid in the basement of an abandoned lakeside villa, cleaning the engagement ring on my left hand every day with my still-intact right hand.
Adrian had put the ring on my finger himself just before the evacuation.
Two weeks later, he finally came looking for me.
I was so excited that I almost forgot what I looked like now. I was about to step out of the shadows when I saw him by the shattered fountain, placing his black combat jacket around another girl's shoulders.
Her name was Erin Bell, an Awakened healer who had recently joined his team.
She pointed at the zombies behind me, her eyes lighting up. "Adrian, that high-tier zombie's energy core is so pretty. Can you get it for me? I could make it into a necklace. Everyone at the fortress would be jealous."
Adrian adjusted her collar, as if he was worried the cold wind would hurt her. But when he looked at me, his eyes were filled with disgust.
To make Erin happy, he ordered his team to search the entire ruined city for the high-tier zombie.
He had no idea the monster he was hunting was the fiancée he'd been searching for these past two weeks.
I slowly backed into the shadows behind a crumbling wall.
Adrian gripped his thunderblade, its blade glowing white in the darkness.
I tried to call his name, but only foul black blood came out of my mouth.
"A... Adr..."