[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.

[Juliet's POV]

The music at the celebration party continued. Surrounded by a crowd, Alison basked in the crowd's repetitive praises.

Suddenly, a deafening boom came from the city walls. Overlapping growls and roars of zombies tore through the atmosphere.

Terror erupted instantaneously. People in the crowd screamed, "It's a swarm of zombies! A massive swarm of zombies!"

A guard ran over, staggering along the way. "The lightning barrier on the right of the base has been breached. There's a massive gap. Zombies are coming through soon!"

Jeffrey's face fell. He leapt to his feet while Lucas tightened his grasp on his weapon, wearing a tense expression.

Alison went pale with fright. She hid behind both men immediately, frantically explaining, "How could this be when I've clearly reinforced it? I… I've exhausted my powers for today. You guys have to figure something else out!"

Someone called out, "Quick! Get Juliet out here!"

The guards rushed toward the dark cells immediately and dragged me to the center of the square, though I was barely clinging onto life.

Immediately, everyone's attention was on me.

"Have her block the gap!"

"She has protective shielding powers. She won't die!"

"Just sacrifice her to save everyone else in this city!"

Jeffrey shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, only iciness remained in his gaze. "Go block the breach, Juliet," he ordered.

Lucas opened his mouth to speak, but he only managed to say one thing—"Quit wasting time!"

As I stared at them, I felt unusually calm. "Alright. I'll go," I said.

Step by step, I headed toward the gap in the city wall. I neither struggled nor bawled my eyes out.

[Host's vitality: Two hours remaining. Protective shield status: 90% damaged.]

I looked at the system notification before my eyes. For the very first time, time felt exceptionally long. While everyone watched on in relief, I deactivated my protective shield powers, throwing myself straight into the sea of zombies.

"Juliet!"

Jeffrey's eyes went wide with horror, and his instincts pushed him to rush forward. Meanwhile, Lucas turned as white as a ghost as he took a step forward.

The moment they both sprang into action, Alison grabbed onto them, holding them back with all her might.

"Don't go. It's too dangerous! She will be fine. She has powers. Let's stand guard here for now!"

Held back forcefully, Jeffrey and Lucas had no choice but to watch as I became buried in the swarm of zombies.

In the next moment, the system's voice reverberated through everyone's minds.

[The host, Juliet Cox, is dead. Execution protocol is complete. The savior's mission status: Failed. The protective barrier is no longer in effect.]

Everyone in the square fell into a dead silence.

Then, someone asked in a trembling voice, "Where did the system come from? Isn't… Isn't Alison our savior?"

Waves of questions poured in, and Alison turned deathly pale. She feigned composure as she yelled, "Don't be afraid, everyone. I'm doing my best to mend the walls!"

She gathered her lightning powers in an attempt to cover the entire base with it once again.

However, in the next second, the lightning barrier that had previously surrounded the entire city with ease stretched less than 20 feet before it began flickering violently.

With a loud rumble, the flickering sparks, along with the lightning barrier that was previously there, vanished into nothingness.

The true apocalypse was finally here.