Chapter 2

Back home, I put the freshly acquired vegetables into the fridge, then took out the meat and vegetable stew I'd made days ago.

Caleb, smelling the meat, wobbled out of the bedroom.

His eyes were vacant. He pointed at the stew, then at his open mouth.

Seeing him, the gloom in my heart vanished. "My little hungry guts, did you forget what Mommy told you?"

Caleb stared blankly for a long moment before it clicked.

He slowly walked to the calendar on the wall, picked up a pen, and painstakingly drew an X on today's date.

Watching his slow, delayed movements, my heart gave a painful lurch.

Before the apocalypse hit, my husband had answered the call to duty, rushing to the front lines to clear out the infected and buy humanity time to establish safe zones.

The day he left, he held Caleb and me, kissing us repeatedly:

"Hope, wait for me one year. In one year, I'll be back to take you both to a better sanctuary."

Though my heart ached with reluctance, I knew the country needed every soldier, and my husband felt it was his absolute duty.

I secretly vowed to myself that while Ryder was away, I would take good care of our son, and in a year, our family of three would continue to live happily together.

However, Caleb was infected and turned into a zombie due to an accident.

Now, the one-year mark was almost here, and I still hadn't figured out how to explain this to Ryder…

I took a shaky breath, forcing the memories away, and smiled, calling Caleb over to eat.

We hadn't even finished half the meal when a violent banging erupted on the door.

My heart clenched. I quickly motioned for Caleb to hide in the room, then, regaining my composure, went to open the door.

"Who…"

I'd only managed one word when the man outside lunged in, catching me off guard and tackling me to the floor. A sharp pain shot through my back.

Without a word, he raised a hand and started slapping me, back and forth across my face, cursing as he hit me. "You filthy bitch, you think I'm easy? You dared to hit my wife? I'm going to beat you to death today!"

My head spun, but I pushed him away with all the strength I had left.

"Dave, can you be rational for a second? Your wife stole my food, and *you* think *she's* the victim?"

Dave laughed scornfully. "My wife is the director, she calls the shots around here. If you don't like it, you won't even get scraps!"

I choked back the bile rising in my throat from the blows, pointing at the door. "Fine, I'll listen to her from now on. You've had your fun. Now get out of my apartment, right now."

I didn't want to argue with him, because Caleb was in the bedroom. If they found out about him, it would definitely cause trouble.

But Dave showed no sign of leaving. Instead, he moved closer.

"Hope, I'm here for something else today."

His small, beady eyes raked over my body, a lecherous smirk on his face. "Your husband's gone, your kid's gone. You're all alone, easy prey."

Dave reached out, his hand sneaking around my waist. "You know, my family controls all the rations. Just keep me happy every day, and I'll make sure you get meat at every meal. Deal?"

"Get lost!"

My rage flared. I tried to struggle free, but Dave grabbed my hand, forcefully pinning me to the floor.

"You ungrateful bitch! I'm telling you, I didn't plan on leaving empty-handed today! Seeing you, you loose woman, strutting around, I'm going crazy!"

As he spoke, his ugly face loomed closer. Agony consumed me. I couldn't break free, and I was terrified to scream, knowing Caleb was in the bedroom.

*Caleb, whatever you do, don't help Mommy. You have to stay hidden. Don't come out…*

But of course, fate had other plans. In my panic, I heard a slow, agonizing creak from the bedroom door.