Chapter 2

“Astrid! Get in the car!”

“Any later, and the horde will completely surround us!”

I looked into the distance. The energy shield around the perimeter of Zone C was weakening.

Leo was so anxious, he was almost in tears.

“Astrid! You’re the only one with powers in the entire base! Where there’s life, there’s hope! Don’t throw away your life!”

I was about to speak.

The steel door of the safe house was violently kicked open.

Caleb’s personal guard roughly seized my arms, dragging me out without a word.

Leo roared from behind, his voice gut-wrenching.

“Let her go! Astrid’s pregnant, you’ll make her miscarry dragging her like this! You damn lackeys of the base leader!”

They finally pushed me to the base’s central plaza.

A pre-assault rally was being held there.

In the center of the plaza, a dozen people were already kneeling.

These people were all scapegoats, accused of various crimes. Some were charged with hoarding rations, others falsely accused of trying to steal a vehicle to escape.

Then, the enforcement squad stepped out.

They carried a large wooden bucket, walking up to each person, prying open their jaws.

Spoon after spoon of black-green liquid was forcibly poured down their throats.

That water was contaminated from the base’s failed purification system, filled with radiation.

The entire plaza was instantly drowned in screams and sounds of retching.

A man next to me convulsed violently, foaming at the mouth.

“We just wanted to save some extra food for our kids… Why are you doing this to us?!”

I wasn’t spared either.

A full spoon of contaminated water was forced down, and my stomach cramped in excruciating pain.

Blood gushed from between my legs.

I let out a muffled groan of agony, which startled those around me.

“That’s Astrid! The Commander’s wife! They’re pouring it down her too?”

“Isn’t she our hero in Zone C? She led a team to reclaim a batch of medicine yesterday! What in the world is going on?!”

The intense pain made my vision blur, and I crumpled to the ground.

“Medic! Call a medic now! Someone’s going to die!”

Just then, the noisy crowd automatically parted, creating a path.

Celeste, dressed in a brand-new white combat suit, looked impossibly clean for this apocalypse.

She clung intimately to Caleb’s arm, a saintly, yet pitying smile gracing her face.

Caleb’s gaze swept over us, groaning in pain on the ground, his face grim.

Celeste dramatically covered her mouth.

“Oh my, why is everyone collapsed? Who could be so heartless as to shake our morale at such a critical moment, with the zombie horde surrounding us?”

Before she even finished, Caleb’s face was filled with rage, and he violently kicked my stomach.

“You vicious wretch!”

He roared at me, “The moment I step away from the base, you dare to incite people and cause internal strife!”

“You’re so consumed by jealousy that you’d try to steal Celeste’s credit for finding the oasis!”

That kick left me unable to even cry out.

I looked at Celeste’s face behind him, twisted with a triumphant smirk.

I gritted my teeth and squeezed out a few words from my throat.

“I didn’t… It was her…”

“Still trying to lie your way out of it?!”

Caleb bellowed.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve been so unscrupulous for credit! This time, I will not let you off!”