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."