Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 105

Chapter 105: 105

It had been a week since she last saw Winter. A week since their fight.

Since then, Zara hadn’t heard from him, hadn’t seen him—not even in passing.

She had spent the past week trying—and failing—to find Winter.

She tried asking Mike and Sam, but both had shrugged.

"I haven’t seen him," Mike had said, running a hand through his hair. "He hasn’t been over here, and we figured he was on some mission. You know how he is."

Sam had nodded. "Or he’s holed up somewhere brooding like an idiot."

That had been yesterday.

Which left Richard.

She found him outside the barracks, rolling his shoulders after what looked like a sparring session.

She had gone to him, casually slipping Winter’s name into the conversation, but Richard had just sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Winter?" he repeated when she asked. His expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his gaze.

Zara’s stomach clenched. He was hiding something.

"Winter’s busy with some things in the base."

That was it. No elaboration. No details.

Just a vague statement that left a sour taste in her mouth.

Busy.

Busy with what?

Zara’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t push. If Richard didn’t want to tell her, he wouldn’t. That much she knew.

The cold distance between them was unbearable. And worse—she wasn’t sure he’d want to talk to her even if they met.

So she left, feeling just as empty as when she came.

Unfortunately, she had to leave for the farms. She sighed as she pulled Leo up and made her way to the terminal.

*****

This part of the farm was quiet, just the way she usually liked it. The crops swayed gently in the breeze, and the air smelled of fresh earth and green things—one of the few places in this ruined world that still felt untouched.

But today, the solitude did nothing to soothe her.

Zara knelt in the dirt, pulling at stubborn weeds, lost in her thoughts. Leo sat nearby, playing with a stick, dragging it through the soil to create little pictures.

It was only when Leo suddenly froze that she felt it.

The air shifted. That uneasy, crawling feeling along her spine.

A shadow loomed.

Zara looked up—

And there he was. That man.

Tall. Gaunt. Wearing that same faded grey coat. His hands, too thin and long, were folded neatly in front of him.

Zara’s fingers tightened around the weeds she had just pulled.

"You again."

The man’s smile stretched slightly. "You remember me. That’s good."

She straightened, wiping her hands on her pants. Hard to forget someone who stares at me like I’m a puzzle to solve. She thought, forcing a polite look.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked instead, watching Leo inch closer to her side.

The man said nothing, simply staring intently at her.

Zara ignored the shiver that ran down her spine.

Leo, now by her side, pressed his face into her leg. His little hands curled into the fabric of her trousers.

Zara adjusted her stance, subtly shifting to shield him.

The man’s gaze flicked toward Leo. His smile widened. "Your boy doesn’t seem to like me."

Good.

Zara forced herself to keep her expression neutral. "He doesn’t like strangers."

The man hummed. "Smart boy."

There was a pause. Then, his eyes drifted back to her. "I’ve been wondering, Miss Zara... Where did you live before all of this?"

Her stomach tightened. How did he know her name?

Zara didn’t blink. "Different places."

"And before that?"

"More places."

His smile didn’t falter. "And before that?" He was persistent.

She folded her arms. "Why are you so interested in my past?"

The man tilted his head. "Everyone came from somewhere. It is in our nature to ask questions."

She clenched her jaw.

The wind rustled the crops, a soft whispering sound that somehow made the silence worse.

Then, his tone shifted. "Tell me, what do you think caused all this?"

Zara’s shoulders stiffened.

The man gestured upward. Toward the orb. Unmoving. Pulsing with some unknowable energy.

The thing that had ended the world.

"Do you think it’s alive?" he asked softly. "Do you think it’s... watching us?"

What? Zara frowned, alive? She found herself looking up at the orb.

The orb had been there since the beginning of the end, yes. They had all called it a planet—an unknown body that had appeared overnight. Theories had been tossed around: a rogue planet caught in Earth’s gravitational pull, an asteroid with an unknown energy signature, an artificial satellite gone wrong.

But...sentient?

She had never considered that. The idea of a living celestial body wasn’t impossible. There were organisms on Earth—bacteria, and fungi—that functioned like massive colonies, spreading across entire ecosystems as a single entity. Some researchers had even speculated that life could exist in non-carbon-based forms, perhaps even on a planetary scale.

But if the orb was truly alive, then that changed everything.

What if it wasn’t just some random anomaly? What if it hadn’t accidentally appeared?

What if it had come here on purpose?

Her stomach twisted at the sheer magnitude of that thought.

That would mean they had been looking at things all wrong. But this was still all—

"Speculation?"

Zara froze, her heart skipping a beat. How had he known what was on her mind?

"Yes, it is speculation, but think bout it." He smiled as if sensing her discomfort. "That would change things, wouldn’t it?"

Zara swallowed, pushing down the uneasy feeling clawing at her gut. This is a coincidence. There was no way he could—

"If it’s alive," he continued, his tone almost hypnotic, "then the question isn’t why it’s here, but what it wants."

Zara’s pulse thundered in her ears.

That was exactly the question she had just been forming.

The possibility was... staggering. Mindbreaking.

She looked at the man as he stood there with his too-wide smile on stretched skin. Why was he telling her this? What did he want from her?

She felt Leo tremble against her.

Zara snapped out of her thoughts just in time to realize—

The man had gotten closer.

Far too close.

His body was angled toward them, his head slightly tilted as if listening for something only he could hear.

Zara instinctively shifted back, her grip on Leo tightening.

The man smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "There are always patterns if you want to look for it. It’s terrifying yet exciting to think about, isn’t it?"

"I—"

"There you are!" A new voice called out.

Clara.

Zara exhaled.

Clara strolled up, her expression casual, but there was a sharpness in her eyes as she glanced between Zara and the man.

"Come on," she said, looping an arm around Zara’s shoulders. "You promised to help me with something."

She forced a smile at the man and dragged Zara off. Zara quickly scopped up Leo and followed with relief, she could kiss Clara right now. She let Clara steer her away, forcing herself not to look back.

*****

As they walked, Clara sighed.

"Why do you keep getting in trouble with that guy?" she muttered.

Zara shook her head, still unsettled by the possible intel she just learnt. "I don’t know."

But the words sounded hollow even as she said them. Because she did know, didn’t she?

That man—whoever he was—wasn’t just randomly interested in her. He wasn’t just asking strange questions for the sake of it. There was a purpose behind his words, but why her and not the proper authorities?

She glanced over her shoulder, half-expecting to see him still watching. But he was gone.

The unease in her chest didn’t fade.

She barely registered Clara talking beside her, the sounds of the farm, the crunch of gravel underfoot. Her mind was elsewhere, stuck in the spiral of what had just happened.

Later, when she was alone with Leo, she replayed the conversation over and over.

His words. His questions. It wasn’t random.

"There was a pattern." He had said.

Zara frowned. What the hell was he getting at?

Leo, oblivious to her thoughts, had pulled out toys.

From his space.

She snapped out of it, eyes widening as she realized what he was doing. They were alone, but there could be cameras. "Leo."

He looked up at her, blinking. "Hm?"

She lowered her voice. "Remember what I told you about using your space in public?"

Leo pouted. "But we’re alone."

She glanced around, still uneasy. "Maybe. But there could be people watching."

He frowned, small fingers fiddling with one of his toy cars. "Why would they care?"

"Because it’s supposed to be our secret, remember? People don’t have spaces like yours. If the wrong person finds out..." She hesitated, then softened her voice. "They could try to take you away from me."

Leo’s face scrunched up. "No! I don’t want that!"

"Then you have to be careful," she said gently. "Only use it when we’re completely alone. Understand?"

Leo hesitated, then nodded slowly. "...Okay."

But then he pouted again. "I’m bored. I wanna play with Winter."

Zara sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I know, kid."

A pause.

"I wanna see him too."

Then—

A movement.

A flicker at the edge of her vision.

She turned sharply, but whoever it was had already rushed away. Zara tensed. Who was that? Had they seen or heard anything?