Early the next morning, Savannah came home glowing.

I couldn't help looking forward to her reaction when she saw my corpse. Would she show even a shred of regret?

But the moment she pushed the door open, I saw that my corpse was gone. Sean had probably taken it away after discovering my death.

Savannah frowned and called out my name. When no answer came, she clicked her tongue in irritation. "He's so petty. What kind of grown man acts like this and runs away from home? I just need to crook my finger for him to come crawling back."

With that, she turned around and left to go to Edmund again, humming cheerfully.

She'd probably forgotten something. Ever since the apocalypse started, I'd constantly been out on missions. I worried that I wasn't spending enough time with her, so on the rare days I had off, I never stepped outside the house. I just wanted to be with her a little longer.

In hindsight, every single day I stayed home, she'd probably wished I'd hurry up and leave so she could run to Edmund. To her, I was nothing but an inconvenience.

Savannah took Edmund with her to the hall where all ability wielders assembled. They strutted in arrogantly.

Edmund slapped his ID down on the registration counter, a smug look spreading across his face. "I've awakened a special ability now—it's the strongest lightning-based ability there is. Register me now so I can go on missions."

He was so drunk on his own ego that he didn't notice the skeptical looks people shot his way.

"A lightning-based ability? If I remember correctly, you're an ordinary civilian. How did you suddenly awaken a special ability? You're not trying to pull a fast one, are you?" the clerk asked.

Edmund bristled as if he were a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "How dare you doubt me! Come on, then! Someone come up here and spar with me! I've got lightning-based ability now, so who would dare take me on? Just wait till we're out in the field. You'll all be begging me for help! Let's see who dares look down on me now!"

Savannah gazed at him with starry eyes as if he were some kind of legendary hero.

Seeing how confident he was, the crowd muttered, but no one dared speak up.

Edmund swept a triumphant glance around the room. "Since you're all so skeptical, let me show you what the strongest special ability looks like."

With that, he threw his shoulders back and summoned his lightning with confidence. To his surprise, the lightning bolt this time was far from what it had been when he'd tested it the first time. There was only a pathetic spark before it vanished completely.

Edmund had no idea that stolen special abilities would automatically scale to match the new host's capacity—and he had zero.

Dead silence blanketed the hall. Then, the entire place erupted in thunderous laughter.

"That's the so-called strongest ability?"

"That wouldn't even tickle a zombie!"

"Captain Gray's lightning is the truly powerful one. This guy's nothing but a joke!"

Edmund's face went from crimson with humiliation to dark with anger. He grabbed Savannah's wrist and stormed out of the assembly hall. Even after they'd left, the jeers and laughter still chased them down the street.

Once they reached a deserted corner, Edmund flung Savannah's hand away. His expression twisted into something feral as he roared, "Why was the ability so weak? Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? Did you lie to me? This isn't Chase's power at all, is it? Where the hell did you get this from?"

Savannah had no idea what had gone wrong. She rubbed her aching wrist, looking wronged and confused. "Ed, I swear I didn't lie to you—I took the ability straight from Chase's body. I… I don't know why it turned out like this…"

Edmund breathed hard and forced himself to calm down. He knew how Savannah felt about him. She wouldn't deceive him.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pleaded, "Can you get me another one of Chase's abilities? You saw how weak the lightning-based one was in my hands. It obviously doesn't suit me. Pick a different one, and I'll definitely be able to handle it."

I couldn't believe his greed. He actually wanted a second one.

Unfortunately, I was already dead. He was doomed to be disappointed.

Savannah instantly agreed. "Don't worry, Ed. I'll make sure you get a strong special ability. Chase has plenty. He won't miss just two of them. I'll go find him right now."

Even after seeing just how heartless she could be toward me, I still felt like I'd been stabbed when I saw her agree without a second's hesitation.

She was so confident that she could harm me over and over again without any consequence. What was I to her? A walking blood bank? A tool to curry favor with Edmund?

In that moment, every last trace of love I'd ever felt for her vanished completely. All that remained was regret over my failure to see her for who she really was.

Now, my biggest worry was the safe zone's future. The next zombie wave was less than a month away, but the antidote to cure this zombie virus had yet to be developed. Ability wielders were all we could depend on to keep the zombies away.

Without me, guarding the safe zone would be almost impossible. If the walls fell, mankind would face total annihilation.

…

True to her word, Savannah rushed home to look for me. When she found the place still empty, she went straight to the training camp where my team was stationed and tracked down Sean.

Because she was my wife, all my team members treated her with respect. So, the moment she spotted Sean, she started barking orders like a queen. "Tell Chase to get here. I need to see him right now."

She didn't notice Sean's bloodshot eyes or the dark circles carved beneath them.

He let out a cold, humorless laugh. "You'll have to kill yourself if you want to see him."

Savannah thought Sean was stopping her from seeing me and flew off the handle. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm Chase's wife! Do I need your permission to see my own husband? Keep this up, and I'll have him kick you off the team!"

The mention of her being my wife made something snap in Sean. He lunged forward, grabbed her wrist, and roared, "His wife? I'm surprised you still remember that! You murdered him with your own hands, yet you dare call yourself his wife! Fine. You want to see him, right? I'll take you to him right now!"

He hauled her deeper into the camp. She stumbled after him, trying and failing to break free.

Finally, Sean stopped in front of a closed door. He shoved it open and said icily, "Chase is right inside."

Savannah opened her mouth to complain, but she froze when she looked up and saw what was inside the room. "C-Chase?"