succeed, he’ll reward you with your own research team and laboratory.”
“Why did the head of medical division recommend you? Are you close with Jamil? Why does he think you’re qualified for this?”
He barely paid attention to me. He didn’t even know what I’d been working on all this time.
I couldn’t be bothered to answer his questions. I simply said, “Tell the base leader–I accept.”
This mission was life or death, and many people were watching.
In my past life, I missed this opportunity. Back then, Lina’s death had devastated me, leaving me unable to focus on my work.
Oliver ended up taking over the mission. I loved him then, and I didn’t want to compete with him.
But he didn’t know much about the zombie virus. Progress stalled. People questioned whether he was capable of completing the
task.
That was one of the reasons he had been so desperate to marry me.
In the end, I had no choice but to step in and secretly help him solve the problem.
That mission had cemented Oliver’s reputation in the apocalypse. Many survivors had flocked to his side because of it.
But this time, I wouldn’t let my efforts become someone else’s stepping stone. I wouldn’t marry Oliver. I’d complete the mission
myself.
Then Lina showed up at my door.
“Zayla, I don’t want your broken engagement to be because of me. Oliver and I were never together. If my existence bothers you so much, I’ll leave the base and never appear before you again.”
She took a deep breath. “In exchange, can you not take Oliver’s mission?”
2/3
Chapter 7
“No. This mission is mine.”
I refused, leaving no room for negotiation.
+15 Bonus
Even if Lina swore she and Oliver were innocent, no one had more right to distrust her than me who had been tortured to death by
Oliver in my past life.
I still remembered that day vividly.
I had held a blade to my throat, forcing Oliver to drive me to file for divorce.
On the surface, he agreed. He got in the car and took me on the road.
Then, as we drove, his face darkened.
“What are you so dissatisfied with?” he had asked coldly. “You’re only alive because Lina died for you. Everything I do is to punish you on her behalf. But all you care about is your own comfort. Zayla, you don’t deserve happiness.”
His twisted logic enraged me.
“Who gave you the right to punish me?” I shot back. “You were the one who told me to get in that truck. If you really loved Lina so much, why didn’t you give her your evacuation slot? Or better yet, why didn’t you stay behind to protect her? If I have to bear responsibility for her death, then so do you!”
Oliver snapped. His hands clenched the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. Then, suddenly, he veered off course -driving straight toward the base’s outer gates, where the zombie horde lay beyond.
“You’re right,” he muttered. “We all owe Lina her life. We should both atone. No one gets to escape.”
Ignoring the guards‘ desperate shouts, he rammed the car through the gates.
A sea of zombies surged toward us.
As the alarm blared and terrified screams filled the air, Oliver yanked open the car door, grabbed me by the throat, and dragged
me into the horde.
He had lost his mind.
