I Kindly Took In My Childhood Friend and His True Love

: Rebirth

The apocalypse came, and I was kind enough to take in my childhood friend and his one true love.

But his love was infected with the zombie virus, and he insisted on keeping her in The Bastion.

For the safety of everyone else, I refused his request.

Later, his love turned into a zombie and was shot dead.

My childhood friend was despondent for a few days but eventually chose to survive by scavenging for supplies with the rest of us.

But when the zombies besieged our city, he stared at me with venom in his eyes.

"If you hadn't pointed out that she was turning, they never would have killed her!"

He pushed me off The Rampart, and I was torn to shreds by the zombies.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment my childhood friend came knocking, his one true love in tow.

1

"Sasha, can you let us in?"

Outside the door, Gareth Valerius supported Elara Aveline, both of them shivering in the frigid wind.

The moment I saw them through the peephole, the memory of being torn apart alive in my last life washed over me.

I took an involuntary step back, pausing for a moment before answering, "Alright."

As Elara Aveline walked past me, she instinctively clutched her collar.

Even so, I still noticed the fresh, red wound on her neck.

It was still weeping blood. A fresh wound.

"Sasha, who are they?"

The noise at the main gate attracted a lot of attention. My colleagues, who had been busy with their own tasks inside The Bastion, started to gather around.

Everyone was wary of the two sudden, unidentified newcomers, their gazes filled with suspicion and annoyance.

"It's alright," I said with a smile. "Gareth Valerius is a childhood friend, and the woman with him is..."

Before I could finish, Elara Aveline quickly interjected, "I'm Gareth's girlfriend, Elara Aveline."

Her eyes welled with tears. She was clearly terrified by the despair she'd witnessed outside.

Between Elara Aveline's fragile appearance and my assurances, my colleagues in The Bastion finally let their guard down.

The zombie horde was due in a week. This was the most critical moment.

No one could guarantee that if a carrier managed to infiltrate the Safe Zone now, our city—or even the world—would have any future at all.

Watching Gareth Valerius and Elara Aveline huddled in a corner, whispering about who knows what, my gaze darkened.

"Sasha, thank you for taking me in," Elara Aveline said, her right hand clinging tightly to Gareth Valerius's arm.

"I was worried that because of my relationship with Gareth, you wouldn't let me stay."

I smiled.

'I wouldn't care if she were Gareth Valerius's stepmother, let alone his girlfriend.'

"You've misunderstood," I explained coolly. "I've just known him since we were children. That's all there is to it."

As we made small talk, Elara Aveline kept subconsciously touching her neck.

'How interesting.'

'The more you try to hide something, the more obvious it becomes.'

I took the scarf from my neck and offered it to her. "It's cold. Wear this."

After I spoke, my gaze fell directly on the wound on Elara Aveline's neck. "If anyone else saw that," I added, "who knows what kind of trouble it might cause."