In order to find clean water for his beloved Liana Hughes to bathe, Castiel Fenton, my brother, left the base with all the able-bodied men.

But among the zombies, a sentient Zombie King emerged and took it as an opportunity to invade the base.

June Morgan, my pregnant sister-in-law, was torn in half by zombies while protecting me, and Poppy, my little niece was devoured down to the bone trying to help me escape.

To save the base, I called Castiel for help. Upon hearing the news, he had no choice but to abandon Liana and rush back with his men.

Eventually, the zombies were driven out of the base, but Liana was eaten by a passing zombie.

Castiel said nothing and only collected Liana’s remains expressionlessly.

On the day of Liana’s funeral, Castiel deliberately pushed me into a horde of zombies and let them feast on my body.

“If you hadn’t called me back, Liana wouldn’t have died! You must pay for her life!”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the zombies invaded the base.

The sound of zombies gnawing on flesh echoed from outside the base, together with the constant thud of their bodies slamming against the gates.

My eyes snapped open. I had somehow returned to the day the zombies had besieged the city.

I rushed straight to the command center and sounded the alarm.

June Morgan, my sister-in-law, grabbed my arm in confusion.

“Eira, why did you suddenly sound the alarm? Zombies are everywhere outside the base. Some noise is normal.”

I had no time to explain. I grabbed her and Poppy’s hands and rushed toward the air-raid shelter.

“The zombies are about to invade the base! You two get into the air-raid shelter now!”

Hearing this, June’s face instantly turned serious.

“Eira, are you serious? This isn’t something to joke about. Where’s Castiel? Get him to organize defenses immediately.”

But she did not know that because Liana Hughes wanted to bathe, Castiel had taken every able-bodied man in the base out to find clean water for her.

With not a single able-bodied man left, the Zombie King targeted the base.

I frowned and told June the truth.

“June, Castiel took all the able-bodied men away. The base is in serious trouble. Those zombies could break in at any moment!”

“How could that be? That’s not possible.”

June’s first reaction was to deny it.

In her eyes, Castiel was never the type to neglect his duties. But that was the old him.

Faced with her skepticism, I struggled to explain things to her. “It’s because of Liana…”

Hearing this, June’s face drained of color instantly, and she immediately understood what I was implying.

Ever since Castiel brought Liana back to the base three months ago, he seemed to have lost all sense of reason.

He became completely docile toward her. He was willing to do anything she asked.

“What should we do? Eira, can you call Castiel and tell him to come back?”

No sooner had the words left her mouth that a bone-chilling zombie roar echoed from outside.

“Zombies have breached the base!”

June slid down in terror and clutched Poppy tightly as her face drained of color.

Holding June and Poppy, a flicker of hesitation crossed my face.

The painful lessons from my past life made me wary of trusting Castiel to come save us.

Besides, the last time he returned, it was already too late.

I pulled the gun tucked behind my back and handed it to June.

It was our only means of defense.

The gun offered a small measure of consolation at least.

June understood my intent but refused to take it.

Just as we fought over who should have the gun, the zombies tried to breach the air-raid shelter’s door with a loud crash.

I forced myself to stand in front of June and Poppy and stared intently at the entrance.

The room temperature seemed to drop instantly. An invisible fear enveloped us.

Just then, Poppy’s smartwatch, which she had been fiddling with, finally connected to Castiel’s phone.

“Daddy, hurry home! Zombies are in the base!”

Hearing his daughter’s words, Castiel grew impatient.

“Stop spouting nonsense! How could zombies suddenly get into the base? Daddy is busy. Can you please stop bothering me?”

June urgently shouted into the phone, “Castiel, we’re not spouting nonsense! Zombies are already inside the base! Hurry back with reinforcements and save us!”

Hearing her voice, Castiel’s tone grew even colder.

“June, I’ve told you countless times! I know you’re jealous of Liana. But let me make this clear, your petty tricks won’t sway me one bit.

“We’ve found a freshwater source, and I need to protect Liana while she bathes. Stop bothering me with these baseless accusations.”

Hearing this, I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave.

As expected, just as in my previous life, Castiel stubbornly refused to return. He chose instead to believe that June and I were conspiring to deceive him.

What could I do? Was I destined to repeat the mistakes of my past life?

Should I threaten to die to force him back?

Just as I hesitated, Castiel hung up.

Zombies kept pounding on the door, and the bullets in my pistol kept dwindling.

I knew that once the bullets ran out, it would be the end for us.

In my panic, I thought of my fiance, Lucian Jay.

He was the commander of the Northern Base. He could definitely bring people along to rescue us.

With that, I quickly called him for help.

“Lucian, hurry to the Central Base! Zombies have breached the perimeter, and Castiel took all the able-bodied men with him!”

But when Lucian heard my plea, he only scoffed.

“Hah, Eira, you’ll tell any lie to lure Castiel back! You know full well the zombie outbreak puts the Northern Base in danger too, yet you still pull this stunt. Do you really think the lives of the Northern Base’s people don’t matter?”

I tried to explain, but he hung up on me.

I could not give up. After countless failed attempts, Lucian finally answered, but he still did not believe me.

“Castiel called me earlier. He said you and June are jealous that he took Liana to find fresh water, so you’d definitely make up a story about zombies invading the base. Women like you are always scheming and using lies like these to deceive me!”

I was so distraught that I burst into tears.

“Lucian, don’t believe Castiel! Zombies really did invade the Central Base. A Zombie King emerged from among them and led the invasion while the base’s able-bodied men were away!”

Lucian was half-convinced, but the moment he heard the words “Zombie King,” he burst out laughing.

“Eira, do you take me for a fool? A Zombie King? I’d sooner believe Castiel deliberately opened the gates to lure them in!”

I switched my phone to speaker mode, hoping Lucian would hear the zombies’ growls outside.

Lucian not only ignored it, but his voice also turned cold.

“Eira, if you keep acting this way, we should call off the engagement.”

Hearing this, a chill ran through my body.

We had been childhood sweethearts, but after Liana appeared, not only Castiel, but even Lucian changed.

Just because Liana wanted to bathe, Castiel and Lucian led a group on an expedition to find clean water.

But in the apocalypse, water was the most precious resource.

Their expedition provoked the horde of zombies and shattered the fragile peace we had built. The zombies were relentlessly hunting us down.

I begged Lucian.

“It doesn’t matter if we break off the engagement! Just send someone immediately to save June and Poppy, and I’ll do anything you ask!”

When he heard that, Lucian froze. He knew how much I cared about him.

Back when he was bitten by a zombie, I risked my life to find him the antibody.

If I were thinking about abandoning him, it must mean things were really that bad.

After hesitating, Lucian finally agreed to send help.

I quickly recorded footage of our surroundings to send to him to prove that we were really in danger.

Just then, Lucian received a voice note from Castiel.

“Eira is pretending. Don’t believe a word she says.”

Soon enough, I heard Castiel’s voice on the other end of the line.

In that instant, it felt as if I had been plunged into ice water.

Did Castiel truly wish for us to die?

Lucian’s face darkened the moment he heard it.

“Effective immediately, Northern Base is forbidden from answering Eira’s calls. No one is to leave the base! Eira, I want to see if you and June really get torn apart by zombies!”

He hung up. The zombies outside seemed to be triggered by something. They attacked the air-raid shelter with even greater fury.

The chandelier above swayed precariously before crashing down.

I lunged forward to shield June and Poppy but was struck by it.

Shards of the broken chandelier sliced my back, and I bled freely.

Because of the strong scent of blood, the zombies outside grew even more frenzied.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I crawled to my feet. Only after confirming that June and Poppy were unharmed did I breathe a sigh of relief.

I knew the three of us could not just sit here waiting to die. We had to find a way to escape.

“June, I’ll charge and draw the zombies away. You take Poppy and get out of here! Head for the Northern Base! No… go to the Southern Base and find my uncle and the others!”

Castiel refused to look out for us, and Lucian was unreliable. Only my uncle, currently at the Southern Base, might be able to save us.

But June refused to budge.

“No, Eira, I’ll distract the zombies. You take Poppy and run! I’m heavily pregnant. I won’t get far…”

Just then, a zombie smashed through the air-raid shelter door and let out a bloodcurdling growl.

More zombies poured in immediately after.

Seeing the dire situation, June stepped forward and used her body to carve a path for us.

In the split second before the zombies pounced, she uttered her final words, “Eira, run! Go find your uncle!”

Clutching Poppy, I gritted my teeth and ran.

Along the way, I saw the entire Central Base in utter ruin.

Bodies lay scattered everywhere.

I dared not look closely. I was afraid of spotting a familiar face and just kept running forward with my head down.

I finally found a car and drove for what felt like an eternity before finally reaching the outskirts of the Southern Base.

I frantically shouted for help.

“Help! Send reinforcements to the Central Base!”

The guard recognized me and rushed to alert my uncle.

But my uncle never appeared. Instead, an unexpected group arrived.

“Eira, you made it here after all!”

The speaker was Castiel’s right-hand man, Conrad Woods. Behind him stood the base’s young and strong men.

“What are you doing here?”

My face lit up. With them here, the base could be saved!

But Conrad showed no trace of joy. Instead, he only laughed coldly.

A wave of unease washed over me.

“The base was breached by zombies! Conrad, you’re coming with me to save them! June…”