The third time my fiancé, Jeffrey Lewis, shoves me into a horde of zombies, I stop struggling as I do for the first two times.

Alison Sheppard leans against his chest with a pale face.

"Jeff, I overused my powers just now. My blood sugar's low, and I'm craving some chocolate. I think the bag we had fell into the zombie horde."

Without even looking back, Jeffrey raises a hand and pushes me forward.

"Go get it, Juliet. Your protective shield ability keeps the zombies from noticing you anyway. You won't get hurt."

My brother, Lucas Cox, looks at me anxiously and urges, "Why are you stalling? Hurry up! Alison is our savior. You should be willing to die for her!"

The other survivors all nod in agreement. "How expected of a piece of trash. This is the only thing she's good for. Go pick it up already. Don't keep Ms. Sheppard waiting for her snack."

As I listen to their cruel words, I feel my blood run cold.

What they don't know is that I'm the one bound to the Savior System.

For the past three years, the protective shield around this base has existed only because I exchange the Fondness points I've earned for it.

And just moments ago, the system tells me something.

[Host's Fondness points have dropped to zero. The protective shield will soon fail. Erasure countdown initiated!]

[Juliet Cox's POV]

Silently, I searched in the sea of zombies. After much effort, I finally snatched the last piece of chocolate from among the swarm of zombies.

However, Alison Sheppard simply took a bite of it and flung it to the ground. She clasped her hands over her mouth and began coughing violently, so much so that she began tearing up.

"Jeff, I'm allergic to anything that contains hazelnut…" she said, grabbing onto Jeffrey Lewis' sleeve, her entire body shivering.

"Did Juliet do it on purpose? She wanted to kill me."

The moment she said that, my brother, Lucas Cox, rushed at me. With a swing of his hand, he gave me a slap on my cheek so hard that I was slammed against the wall.

"You vile woman! Alison's lightning barrier protects the entire base! How could you take something like this back when you know she's allergic to it?

"Are you trying to have tens of thousands of people from the base buried alongside you?" Lucas roared while pointing a finger at me, his eyes filled with nothing but absolute disgust.

Jeffrey lifted a foot and kicked my knee forcefully, forcing me to fall before Alison.

"Juliet, I've warned you not to play games. If you lay another finger on Alison, I will end you and feed you to the zombies immediately."

I could still remember the very first time I was shoved into a swarm of zombies three months ago. Alison said she needed white roses for her late mother's grave. Specifically, she wanted those from the zombie-infested zone.

I gave my all in picking them and bringing them back for her, only for her to throw them into the trash right away, claiming that they stank of zombies and the mere sight of them disgusted her.

The second incident happened a month ago.

She claimed that she dropped the pearl brooch her mother left for her in a mass grave. That was all she had left of her mother.

When I crawled out of the pit, three deep, bone-cutting gashes ran across my arm. But not long after, I learned that she had actually bought the brooch from a flea market for ten dollars.

She simply wanted to play me for a fool because she disliked me.

Suddenly, I was struck in the head by a rock that flew through the air.

"What a useless piece of trash. She can't even get the simplest thing right."

The survivors around me jeered in agreement one after another, casually grabbing anything within their reach and hurling them at me.

"She's just a piece of trash. It's a blessing for her to be of help to Ms. Sheppard."

I parted my lips but ultimately said nothing. No one could see the protective shield I redeemed with my points. No one would believe me anyway.

From the corner of her eye, Alison noticed that I was staring at her. A gleeful smile spread across her face.

"Jeff, you don't have to get chocolates for me anymore. I feel better now."

She tugged Jeffrey's arm gently and added, "I'll reinforce the surrounding walls tonight. Just get Juliet to stay by my side and hand me energy crystals. Consider it her penance."

Jeffrey reached out and stroked her head. "Sure. Whatever you wish."

Then, he turned around and barked the order, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "Juliet, you are not allowed to sleep tonight. You will be of service to Alison through the night.

"I will hold you responsible if even the slightest thing goes wrong."

[Juliet's POV]

Deep into the night, I crouched on the city wall, handing energy crystals over like a machine.

Alison waved her hand impatiently. "Hurry up. Quit dawdling. You're gonna drag everyone in this city down with you if you delay my progress with fortifying the walls."

I remained silent as I handed another crystal to her.

On the faint golden protective shield—visible only to me—the cracks spread wider and wider.

All of a sudden, a ten-foot-tall mutant zombie thrust its arm right through the lightning and protective barrier. With an effortless slash with its sharp nails, it stumbled its way inside.

Alison screamed, unleashing a bolt of lightning. Nonetheless, the lightning that struck the zombie left nothing but a faint mark.

"My power isn't working!" she shrieked, turning around to flee as her face turned white.

When she turned, she bumped right into a guard, Andrew Greene, who had just rushed to the scene. Instinctively, she gave him a hard shove.

"Hold it off for me, Mr. Greene!"

Andrew was caught completely off guard, crashing right into the arms of the zombie.

"Mr. Greene!" I called out, instantly activating my power, and tried to rush forward.

Yet, it was still too late. The zombie's sharp claws had ripped through Andrew's heart.

Alison returned after retrieving a hand grenade from the guardhouse, and she flung it at them. The massive explosion blew both Andrew and the zombie to shreds.

Upon hearing the commotion, Jeffrey and Lucas rushed over with reinforcements. Then, they heard Alison screaming her accusations at me, "Juliet, why didn't you save Mr. Greene sooner?"

She threw herself into Jeffrey's arms immediately, sobbing so hard that her entire body trembled. "It was all my fault. I failed to protect Mr. Greene," she cried.

"If Juliet hadn't just stood there in a daze, he wouldn't have died."

"It wasn't me! She was the one who pushed Mr. Greene out as bait!" I yelled urgently. "The protective shield is broken. I'm not lying. The zombie swarm will be here in six hours!

"We have to evacuate immediately. It will be too late if we delay any further!"

In desperation, I yanked out the safety amulet hanging around my neck. I lifted it, and with a tremor in my voice, I said, "Jeffrey, look at this. You once said you'll believe me as long as I present this. I'm not lying. The base will soon collapse."

This was a gift Jeffrey gave to me for my 18th birthday before the apocalypse. That day, his eyes filled with sincerity as he promised, "Jules, no matter what happens in the future, I will stand by you unconditionally whenever you hold this out."

Jeffrey's eyes looked lost for a moment, but his expression darkened even further right after that. He stepped forward and yanked the safety amulet out of my hands.

"How dare you threaten me with something so worthless, Juliet! I was truly blinded back then to ever give you something like this."

He threw the safety amulet fiercely to the ground, smashing it into bits in an instant. My heart shattered into pieces as the crisp shatter resounded in the air.

Jeffrey stared at me, his face full of disappointment. "Forget about a useless safety amulet. Even if you gave up your life, I will only ever believe Alison."

Lucas stormed over, pointing at the shattered fragments on the ground. "Get a good look! Jeffrey has long fallen out of love with you. Yet, you're still using something like this to irk everyone.

"Alison is our savior. I will purge you from this family myself if you continue to spread rumors!"

Jeffrey turned away and gave a resolute command. "She caused the death of a guard and spread rumors. Lock her up in the disciplinary cell. Do not release her or feed her unless it is by my orders."

I stared at the broken fragments on the ground, not saying another word in defense.

With a loud clank, the door was locked shut. As the darkness consumed me, the system's alarm bells rang out in my head.

[Host's vitality: 18 hours remaining. Protective shield status: 30% damaged.]

[A massive zombie swarm is estimated to arrive in six hours.]

I could hear Alison whining on the other side of the metal door, "Let it go, Jeff. Juliet didn't mean to do it, so don't punish her too harshly.

"I've fortified the lightning barrier, so there's absolutely no way the zombies can get through."

[Juliet's POV]

I curled up in a corner, my infected wound and fever sending shivers throughout my body.

Not long after, the door flung open. Lucas stormed into the cell with Alison tagging along behind him. "Hand over the premium crystals!"

"What crystals?" I asked, looking utterly perplexed.

"Jules, you could have just told me if you wanted to use the crystals. You didn't have to steal them."

As Alison uttered those words, she crouched and leaned toward me all of a sudden, waving a chocolate in her hand. She lowered her voice and added, "Look, Juliet—pure dark chocolate. Jeff put out a bounty across the entire base just to get this for me.

"I lied about losing my crystals, and Lucas practically dragged me here to make your life difficult. They don't love you anymore. You really are so pathetic!"

Once she said that, the expression on her face twisted as she began searching my pockets aggressively.

The moment she laid her fingers on the brown medicine bottle, I tightened my grasp. "Give it back to me!" I shouted.

Alison forcefully pried my fingers off the bottle, grabbing it out of my hand. "She's even hiding drugs, Lou! There's only half a bottle left. She used it, didn't she?"

"No!" I screamed, my voice shaking with desperation as I lunged forward in an attempt to get it back from her.

Lucas grabbed me by my wrists and shoved me away violently.

"Back the hell off!"

I crashed heavily onto the ground, my forehead instantly bruising from the impact. "I am your very own younger sister!"

"I don't have a sister like you!" Lucas roared. "All you ever do is cause trouble for Alison. I've been sick of you for a long time!"

"This is life-saving medication!" I argued, pushing myself up from the ground, my eyes bloodshot.

"When you were scratched by zombies in the west district last month and had a high fever that just wouldn't break, I cured you with this medication. She wasn't the one who healed you!"

Lucas paused momentarily, a flicker of conflict crossing his eyes.

Alison welled up instantly. She grabbed his arm and said, "Lou, since Juliet wishes to claim that she saved your life, I'll let her take credit for it."

Lucas gritted his teeth and snatched the medicine bottle away.

"That's enough."

He raised his hand and flung the medicine bottle straight to the ground. A crisp shatter echoed all around, and the medicated fluid seeped into the soil.

I lunged toward it like I had lost my mind, trying to scoop up the remnants of medication from the ground with my hands.

Nonetheless, Lucas planted his boot on the back of my hand, forcing it down hard. The sound of bones cracking echoed in my ears, and the pain made my vision go black.

He fixed his eyes on me and said in a firm voice, "Of course I knew you were the one who saved me. Even then, so what? Alison is a thousand times more important than you. Even if you saved my life a hundred times over, I will only be on her side."

I studied his face, which I could barely even recognize now, and suddenly burst out laughing. In fact, I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face.

As it turned out, the life-saving medication I spent all my points on meant nothing to him. And as it turned out, even as his biological younger sister, I was nothing compared to an outsider.

Alison linked arms with Lucas smugly as she urged, "Let's go, Lou. Let's not waste our time with this madwoman. The celebration party is about to begin."

When they got to the door, she came to a sudden halt in her steps. In a triumphant tone, she said, "Oh, I forgot to mention—everyone voted on a decision earlier. If anything goes wrong with the surrounding wall next time, you will be the first candidate to be our human shield to block the gap.

"So, you can rest easy now while you wait for the moment you die."

The door locked shut once again. I sprawled on the floor, the pain in the back of my hand feeling like nothing compared to the agony in my heart.

The system's alarm rang out once again.

[Host's vitality: Six hours remaining. Protective shield status: 70% damaged.]

[A massive swarm of zombies is estimated to arrive in one hour.]

Faint sounds of music and laughter drifted from outside. They were throwing a celebration party for Alison, celebrating her success in fortifying the lightning barrier.

As they celebrated the arrival of another peaceful night, none of them was aware that death was already standing right by their doorstep.