Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 100:

Chapter 100: 100:

Screams.

The sickening crunch of bodies torn apart.

Smoke, thick and black, and the scent of iron, choked the red air.

Blood pooling on the cracked pavement.

Something—something worse than zombies—tearing through the camp, devouring, destroying.

Cold eyes stared right through her soul and something cold wrapped around her.

Zara jolted awake, a strangled gasp caught in her throat. Her hands trembled violently as she shoved the blankets off, cold sweat drenching her skin.

Soft knocking.

She barely registered it at first, heart hammering, lungs heaving for breath. The nightmare clung to her like tar, her mind still there, trapped in the horror of what she had seen.

"Zara?"

Winter’s voice.

The world realigned itself. She scrambled to her feet, crossing the room in a daze. She yanked the door open, and Winter barely had time to frown before she grabbed his wrist and dragged him inside.

"Shit, Zara, what—?"

She slammed the door shut and turned to him, her breath still uneven.

"Hey, look at me. What is it? What’s wrong?" Winter asked, grabbing her face gently.

"We’re not safe here." The words tumbled out, raw, desperate. "I saw it, Winter. The walls falling. The whole camp was overrun. People screaming, running—" She swallowed hard. "Dying."

Winter’s entire body went still. His gaze, sharp and wary, locked onto hers. "You saw it?" His voice was lower now, edged with something unreadable.

Zara nodded, forcing herself to breathe, to steady her thoughts. "Winter, I need you to listen to me. I— I haven’t been honest with you. I know how that sounds but stay with me on this."

A pause. The silence between them stretched tight.

Then Winter pulled back slightly, his expression shifting—not to confusion, but a realization.

Zara pressed on before he could speak. "Those times I knew where to go? The things I warned you about?" Her throat tightened. "They weren’t guesses."

Winter exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "You’re telling me you—" He cut himself off, his jaw locking. When he looked at her again, his eyes had gone cold. "You want me to believe that you can see the future?"

The words felt heavier when he said them out loud. Zara braced herself for the doubt. The disbelief. But the look on his face—

She had expected wariness and scepticism. What she hadn’t expected was the slow, creeping betrayal in his expression.

"I don’t control it," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "It just... happens. Like flashes. Warnings. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why—but when it does, it’s real."

Winter shook his head, stepping away further, as if distance might help him process. "So all this time," he muttered, "you’ve been hiding this?"

Her stomach twisted. "Winter—"

"Is this going to be a constant between us?" His voice was hushed but sharp, barely containing the tension threading through him. "You keeping things from me? Because I thought—I thought we’d moved past that."

She opened her mouth, scrambling for the right words. To make him understand. But the look in his eyes made her chest tighten. He wasn’t finished.

"How long have you known?" he demanded. The question was clipped, almost too calm.

"I—I just saw it this morning," she said quickly. "I was waiting for you to get back so I could tell you."

Winter let out a harsh breath, shaking his head again. "I don’t believe you."

The words hit like a slap. Zara recoiled, her fingers twitching at her sides. "Winter, I—"

"You hid this from me," he said, voice sharp, controlled. "For how long? Weeks? Since the start? How the hell am I supposed to believe that this—" he gestured between them "—was the first time?"

She swallowed the lump rising in her throat. "I don’t blame you for feeling that way."

Winter let out a rough exhale, raking his hand through his hair—then winced, sucking in a sharp breath.

Zara noticed instantly. "You’re hurt," she said, her concern breaking through the tension. She reached for his arm, but he pulled away quickly and jerkily.

"Forget about that," he muttered. "Tell me more about the vision."

Something in her chest ached at the way he brushed her off. But she forced herself to push it aside. Focus. Think rationally. This was a life-and-death situation.

She straightened, pushing down the emotions clawing their way up her throat. "It was an attack. A full-scale breach. The walls came down first—something big, unnatural hit them. People were running, screaming. There was blood everywhere. Not just the infected—something worse was in the camp, cutting people down."

Winter’s expression remained unreadable as he listened, his jaw tight, eyes distant. "So maybe some sort of power?" He mumbled. His mind was already moving, calculating. Good. That meant he wasn’t shutting her out completely.

She took a deep breath. "I think it’s going to happen soon."

"You think?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The visions don’t come with timestamps, Winter," she said, forcing herself to stay calm. "But I know it’s real. I know it’s coming." Zara sighed shakily.

His gaze flickered. "And I don’t know if I can believe you. Or this, whatever this is."

Zara bit her lip, she had been naive to think he would have just accepted all she had to say. As calm and quiet as he was sometimes, Winter did have a temper. "Winter—"

"You spent months lying to me. And now I’m supposed to just accept this? That this time, you’re telling me everything?"

The sharp rise in his voice cut through the night’s stillness. A soft whimper came from the other room.

Leo.

They both froze.

Zara’s heart pounded as she turned toward the bedroom. The baby stirred but didn’t wake fully.

Winter didn’t respond immediately. He stared past her, lost in thought, before letting out a slow, measured breath.

When he finally spoke, his voice was calm—too calm.

"I need to think this through," he said flatly, already moving toward the door.

Zara’s heart pounded as she stepped forward. "Winter, don’t—don’t shut me out again. You promised."

His hand was already on the doorknob, he paused just long enough to glance over his shoulder. "You promised you wouldn’t hide things from me again." His voice was quieter now, but the weight of those words crushed her.

And then he stepped out, closing the door behind him. Leaving her alone in the dark.

*****

Winter’s boots scraped against the worn floorboards as he stormed down the narrow hallway, his breath shallow and his mind spinning.

Why hadn’t she told me? His fingers twitched at his side, wanting to strike something, anything, to feel like he could release the tension building up inside. But there was no one to hit. Just the quiet, the darkness, and the distant hum of the camp generators.

When he reached their room, he hesitated at the door, the cool metal under his fingers grounding him for a moment. Pull it together. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm the storm inside, but nothing was working. He was still pissed. Still betrayed. Still—he didn’t even know anymore.

He knocked, wincing at how harsh it sounded. They might have already been asleep.

Winter paused, his gaze flickering toward the two of them. Their faces were filled with worry as they waited for him to talk.

He sank into a chair, dragging a hand through his hair. "Say... you know someone," Winter began, his voice thick with frustration, "someone who’s got these... abilities, right? Can see the future. You don’t know the full extent, just that they’ve got these flashes. And they tell you about it sometimes, maybe not everything, but—"

Mike raised an eyebrow, confused, his fingers drumming absently on the edge of his glass. "What about this person?"

Winter’s jaw clenched, and his hands flexed. Focus, Winter. Don’t let them see how fucking rattled you are. "They’ve been keeping things from you. Big things. And you find out—maybe because you catch them in a lie, or maybe they just tell you—but it’s like... they’ve known all along and never said anything."

Sam, sitting cross-legged on the floor, shifted slightly, his eyes narrowing with interest. "So, what? You’re saying someone’s been hiding the truth from you about something important?"

Winter sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. "Yeah. Something big. And I don’t know if it’s me overreacting, or if... if I can even trust them anymore."

Mike leaned forward, the concern in his eyes shifting to something deeper, something more calculating. "Trust who? You’re talking about Zara, right?"

Winter flinched. Fuck. He hadn’t wanted to reveal that yet. Sure he was pissed, but the thought of her getting into trouble wasn’t something he wanted. Just like Leo, Zara’s ability was one of the strong ones that could be utilized and exploited in their current predicament.

He looked at Mike and Sam doubtfully. Weighing his options.

"Why are you looking at us like that? You dont think we’ll turn zara in right?" Sam asked arching an eyebrow.

"I dont know what to think anymore,’ Winter’s chest tightened, and he looked away, his mind whirling. "I can’t say if it’s Zara. But... yeah. Someone who’s been hiding things. And now, there’s supposedly an attack coming. A big one. They saw it. They didn’t tell me." His voice grew colder with every word. "And that’s the part I can’t get over. Why the hell wouldn’t she tell me?"

Sam’s eyes sharpened, and he opened his mouth, but Mike cut him off. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Winter paused. The room was suddenly too small, the air thick and suffocating. His fingers twitched again, the urge to throw something rising inside him. "I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do." His voice was rough now, strained. "She said we’re all in danger, but how do I even... how do I trust her again? She’s kept all this from me, and now—now there’s a fucking attack coming, and I didn’t even know about it until she finally decided to open her mouth."

Mike and Sam exchanged glances, silent for a beat. Then, Sam spoke, his voice low but thoughtful. "Look, man. I get it. I do. But you’re not gonna throw her away just because she kept one thing from you. She’s had your back this whole time. All of us. You really think she’s out to get you?"

Winter’s heart stuttered at the question, the anger inside him swelling again. "No, I don’t think she’s trying to screw me over. But how do I know? How do I know anything anymore? Everything’s messed up."

Mike leaned back, his voice calm but firm.

"You don’t know, Winter. But don’t let your anger cloud your judgment. If you’ve trusted her this far, maybe you owe it to her to at least figure out why she kept this from you. There’s gotta be a reason."

Winter’s mind spun. He didn’t know if he could trust his feelings anymore, let alone Zara’s. But Mike was right. He was angry, hurt, confused—but that didn’t mean he should make a rash decision.

He looked out the window, the night dark and silent, the camp’s dim lights flickering in the distance.