It was the apocalypse. A zombie apocalypse. We should've been running for our lives, but my girlfriend, Yvonne Brown, refused to. She wanted to buy as much time as she could for her incompetent childhood friend, Yves Claude, to hop into the last helicopter that would take survivors away.

But the retreat was our group's only way to survive in this apocalypse. Yves was not showing up anytime soon. I had no choice but to knock her out and drag her into the chopper.

And Yves, the one she could never seem to forget, died in the swarm of undead.

I, however, survived thanks to what I did. Yvonne and I lived happily in a safe zone. And then that fateful day came.

I was going to take over the territory and lead humanity on an attack against the zombies. The night before that decisive strike, Yvonne spiked my water with anesthetics. When I was caught helpless, she tossed me into the horde of zombies.

The swarm of undead tore my flesh open, and the pain killed me. Yvonne? She stood on the wall coldly, a sneer decorating her lips.

"Yves could've lived, but you took that chance away from him! You selfish monster, you killed Yves! I will make you suffer what he suffered! You'll pay for it with your life!"

Death took me, but it tossed me all the way back to the day of the retreat. The day Yvonne adamantly insisted on waiting for Yves.

Well, if she was so happy to live through a world like this with her friend, who am I to say no?

I would grant her that wish, even if she would end up as zombie food.

Reborn

Yvonne Brown was blocking our way out. It was our only path to survival. Our teammates roared at her with everything they had, "This is our last chance to retreat! Either we leave, or all of us are going to die here!"

Yvonne was stony and cold. She refused to make way for any of us. "Yves is still on the way. You can spare five minutes. That's no big deal!"

Panic was etching itself across our teammates' faces. "You're going to put our lives at risk just for him? Yvonne, that's ridiculous! That's just selfish!"

Some of the hot-tempered ones would not stand for this. They charged ahead and tried to pull her away.

And then Yvonne fired a shot. The bullet flew past everyone's heads, but only barely. Gasps and sharp inhalations screeched.

"Are you mad?" they demanded.

Yvonne did not flinch in the face of accusations. Instead, she retorted, "You're the selfish ones! You're vile and evil! No one's going on the chopper until Yves is here! You're all cowards who don't deserve to live anyway. People who would abandon their teammates when they need them the most don't."

My deputy turned his attention to me. He was stuck between me and Yvonne. "Sieghart, the military chopper's going to shut its door. If we keep stalling, we might never get out alive."

I gave him a reassuring smile and told everyone to calm down. Then, I approached Yvonne and put my hand on her shoulder. "Yvonne's right. We leave no man behind. That's our code. I know Yves is running late, but we can't just abandon him."

My teammates couldn't believe what they were hearing. They looked at me like I'd grown three heads out of nowhere.

"But that's insane, captain! You can't take her side just because she's your girlfriend! It's an emergency!"

"Shut up!" Yvonne fired off more bullets, but they shot just above the guy's head. "You heard Sieghart! We're not leaving until Yves is here! Stop talking right now!"

With my support and her armed with a gun, Yvonne thought she was on top of the world. She came closer and leaned against my shoulder. Gently, she said, "I knew you were different, Sieghart. You're a friend, through and through."

I put on a smile and patted her head. "Yves is one of my best friends. I can't just leave him for dead, can I?"

What Yvonne did not know was that I didn't even need to fight for a slot on this chopper. I was a virology expert. All I had to do was make a simple call, and the military would send their armed forces and best carriers to pick me up.

Also, my whole team was made up of experts across different fields. Well, almost my whole team, anyway. Yvonne and Yves were the sole exceptions.

I only squeezed onto the chopper in my previous life because I had to drag her along with me. If I'd cut her off, I could've gotten on a better, safer plane and made my way to the base with my teammates.

I would not make the same mistake twice. This time around, Yvonne would pay the price. The ultimate price. That was what her idiocy and selfishness would cost.

She would go straight to hell, along with her childhood friend. The very one she would risk everyone's lives to wait for. The very one who nearly wiped my whole team out more than once because of his incompetence.

The lack of protest only stoked Yvonne's smugness further.

Time was dragging on, and the zombie swarm was encroaching on us. Even now, we could see the sea of darkness making waves as it drew closer to us.

And then, finally, after taking his own sweet time, Yves decided to show up.

The Revenge Begins

"Y-Yvonne, I…" Yves was breathing heavily, and he couldn't even make a complete sentence, but his eyes gleamed with excitement. "I knew… I knew you'd wait for me."

It was a miracle the guy managed to make the journey from eastside to the landing strip. His stamina barely existed.

A long sigh of relief escaped Yvonne's lips, and a smile carved itself on her face.

But then, a deafening explosion thundered in the distance. The zombie swarm broke through the last line of defense.

The chopper closed its door and took off, carrying with it whatever survivors it managed to save.

My teammates did not catch the final flight, and they cursed.

"Yvonne, you madwoman! You just destroyed our only chance at survival! And that idiot! A guitar? You went all the way back right before the retreat just to get a guitar? You think anyone's interested in your performance?"

The curses wouldn't stop coming, and my teammates' fury drained Yves of all color he had. If looks could kill, he'd be more shredded than a pack of shredded cheese.

The guy grabbed his guitar tightly and hid behind Yvonne. "I-I'm sorry. This guitar's the most valuable thing I have. I didn't mean to mess up the retreat."

Besides fury for Yves, my teammates held resentment for me. I noticed the looks of displeasure. They did not care to make them subtle.

"We only made you captain because you led us through impossible situations again and again. We'd probably be dead without you, but I can't believe you'd do something so stupid."

I put on a look of guilt and patted my teammates' shoulders. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me, but it's too late for that now, I guess. It's okay. There's a temporary sanctuary nearby. We can hide there for now."

Yvonne held Yves' arm and let out a derisive scoff.

"Bunch of cowards. Sieghart's still here. He led us through three zombie swarms. It's just one chopper we missed. Big deal. We can wait for the next one to show up."

That almost started an explosion, but we had bigger problems to worry about, so my teammates did not try to argue with Yvonne.

…

Half an hour later, we finally arrived at the temporary sanctuary. We got inside and pushed the safety door shut. As it closed with a loud yawn, the zombies' roars were cut off as well.

My teammates heaved a collective sigh and crumpled into a heap on the ground. "Finally. Some safety."

But then one of them gasped. "Shit, bad news. Today's evacuation choppers are the last of their batch. The military's giving up on this zone!"

Someone asked, "Wait, so the evacuation's over? We're trapped here forever? With those things out there?"

There was a tremble in their voices, and their faces were whiter than tombstones.

Yvonne, however, sneered at the crisis. "You guys are losers. This place has enough food to last us three months. Even if the military's not coming, we have enough resources to move around."

I tapped into my military-grade comms device and unlocked it. "Calm down. I've talked to a top guy in the military. They're sending in special forces in three days. In the meantime, get some rest and stay on top of yourself."

That was good news. Everyone was relieved, and their worries were shaken off their shoulders.

Yvonne grinned. Excited, she grabbed Yves' hands. "Just three days, Yves! Three more days, and we'll be saved!"

The team did not share their happiness. Instead, they were outright stormy.

My deputy took me to a corner and whispered, "Sieghart, did you get enough slots for all of us? There are eight of us, including… those two."

I nodded. "Yeah, I got enough slots for all six of us, and one extra too."

Confusion colored my deputy's face, but then realization struck him. Quietly, he asked, "So that means one of us is getting left behind?"

Yvonne was feeding water to Yves. A sneer curled my lips.

"Like I said, there are enough seats for all six of us. One of them is getting left behind, not us. And she's the one making the choice."

We exchanged knowing looks. Yvonne had no idea that an impossible choice was going to land in her lap soon enough. She wiped Yves' sweaty forehead as gently as she could.

"It's okay, Yves. I'll make sure you get into the safe zone, I promise."

Oh yeah, that was what I wanted to hear. I was looking forward to the rescue. Wonder who she would choose. Her precious childhood friend, or herself?

Promise

Would she keep her promise to Yves, or would she stoop to the lowest and vilest level of humanity when survival was on the line?

…

The rescue squad was coming, and we had more than enough resources to keep us alive until then.

The promise of abundance gave Yvonne confidence. She and Yves started eating through resources like they were nothing.

They did their laundry with clean water from the water purifier, consumed emergency medicine like antibiotics as if they were supplements, and even took out batteries from the sanctuary's electronics just to charge their music player.

And then it was the evening of the third day. Only half an hour left until the rescue squad's arrival.

I was in a meeting with my teammates, but Yvonne barged inside and interrupted us unceremoniously. "Give me the serum, Sieghart!" she ordered imperiously.

A frown creased my forehead, and I raised my gaze to meet hers. "Why? Someone infected?"

The answer that came from Yvonne shocked everyone into disbelief.

"No, but Yves has a fever. It's 102 degrees! I had him take fever pills, but it didn't work! Just stop talking and give me the serum! He needs the injection!"

I slowly stood up from my seat. With icy frigidity in my voice, I said, "Do you have any idea how important this serum is? I spent three years developing it. It can stop the zombie virus from spreading through the body if injected within five minutes after first contact.

"It's still experimental, but this is humanity's last hope, and the one I have is the last dose."

"I know, I know!" Yvonne waved her hand dismissively, impatiently. "But your serum kills viruses, right? Yves is really uncomfortable right now, so give that serum to me already! You're wasting my time!"

And then, a pregnant pause slid into the meeting room. The silence weighed heavily on all of us. My deputy was the first to break. He rocketed up from his seat in fury.

"Is there even a brain in that head of yours, Yvonne? You're going to waste precious serum on a goddamn fever?"

"What do you mean I'm wasting it?" Yvonne shot back. "Yves is weak to begin with. That fever can kill him if left untreated! And serums are meant to save people!"

I refused to hand the serum over. Something cruel within Yvonne pushed her past the edge. She pointed her gun at my head. "Hand it over. Don't make me make you."

One of my teammates tried to stop her. "Are you out of your mind, Yvonne? You can't…"

Yvonne fired at him, and the bullet nearly hit the guy.

I looked at Yvonne. She was the woman I used to love, and I cursed myself for being so blind. In my previous life, I tried to save her time and time again, and every time, I risked my life to do it.

This time, she was going to hold my life hostage to help Yves. Though reluctant, my teammates had to hand the serum to her, and they could only watch as Yvonne injected our precious liquid into Yves.

Minutes later, Yves' fever went down, and color returned to his face. I sneered in silence.

The man feigned weakness and pushed himself up. There was redness in his eyes as he looked at us. "I'm sorry. I know that serum's precious. You shouldn't have used it on me. I… I keep holding you guys back. Makes me feel useless."

My teammates turned their heads away, but not from shame. They did it out of disgust. Yves' act was apparent.

Concerned for Yves, Yvonne held his hand. With tears in her eyes, she said, "Don't say that. Your life is worth more than any serum!"

Lovingly, Yves said, "You've been so kind to me, Yvonne. I swear, I'll protect you forever, even if it is the last thing I do!"

The stench of their affair nearly made me throw up. I risked my life more times than I cared to count in my previous life to save her, but all she said was, "It's your job to protect me."

And now she looked moved beyond anything just because Yves made a promise that hadn't been proven to be good.

This was a joke.

Soon, the roars of rotors approached the sanctuary. The rescue squad was here. We packed up our gear and came out of the sanctuary.

Yvonne grabbed Yves and tried to jump onto the chopper, but her excitement was stopped by a soldier. "Sorry, we need to verify your identities."

My teammates got onto the chopper without any problem, and the smile slowly disappeared from Yvonne's face.

The soldier flipped through the list, but the more he did, the tighter his frown became. "Yvonne Brown… Yves Claude…"

In the end, he said, "Sorry, but you're not on the list."