Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 137

Chapter 137: 137

The military van rattled over uneven pavement, its shocks doing little to cushion the impact. Inside, the air was thick with exhaustion and unease.

Civilians, soldiers, and the wounded sat shoulder to shoulder, the weight of the past few days pressing down on them like a suffocating blanket.

Zara sat in the back, Leo wedged securely between her and Winter. The child had woken up an hour ago, but his fingers still curled tightly into Winter’s sleeve, refusing to let go. Winter, for his part, had drifted into a half-conscious state, head tilted slightly toward Zara. His breath was steady, but the deep lines of fatigue around his eyes hadn’t faded.

Zara was worried, she knew he wasn’t physically injured again, she might have taken a peek while winter was out but that was besides the point.

Like he said, there was no injury there again. So why was he so exhausted? Maybe the pay off for using the healing was that the person’s energy was converted into healing energy?

Something about the warmth of Winter’s body, the way his exhaustion mirrored her own, made her stay still. A strange sense of protectiveness stirred inside her. He looked too pale, too damn fragile, and she didn’t like it.

The van suddenly jerked, lurching forward as the brakes screeched. Hands shot out to grip whatever they could, weapons clanking as soldiers tensed.

"Shit," one of the soldiers near the front muttered.

Ahead, another van had come to an abrupt stop. The convoy stalled.

Zara straightened, eyes sharp. A checkpoint loomed in the distance.

Towering walls, floodlights slicing through the dim evening, and guards clad in full tactical gear. The entrance to Sector 2.

She exhaled through her nose. Another goddamn screening.

All she wanted right now was a bath and an actual place to sleep for a few seconds. Was that too hard to ask for?

The van doors creaked open, and commands barked through the cold air.

"Everyone out! Form lines! Weapons visible!"

Leo flinched at the harshness of the voices.

Zara didn’t miss the way Winter’s hand twitched, even half-asleep, toward the knife at his belt.

With a deep sigh, Winter pushed himself upright, rolling his shoulders as if to shake off the pain. He caught Zara’s gaze and gave her a dry, knowing look.

Here we go again.

*****

The moment they stepped past the barricades, the scrutiny intensified. Soldiers scanned each person with clinical efficiency—checking for wounds, searching bags, scanning ID chips for those who still had them.

Winter, already visibly battered, immediately drew attention.

A tall, grim-faced guard narrowed his eyes. "Injured?"

"Obviously not," Zara snapped, crossing her arms. "He has been healed, all the injured are on that side of the loading cue. You know that, so why would you ask again?"

The guard barely flicked his gaze to her before focusing back on Winter. "Step aside. We need to confirm your condition before processing you further."

Zara tensed immediately. "What? He’s already been checked at the last base."

The soldier ignored her, focusing on Winter’s medical report. "Injuries like this make you a liability. We need additional questioning before we clear you for entry."

Zara’s pulse spiked. "That’s bullshit—"

A rifle tilted slightly in her direction. "Stand down."

She took a step forward anyway. "Or what?"

The soldier’s grip on his weapon tightened

Zara tensed. "He’s not going anywhere without us."

The guard’s lip curled. "You don’t give orders here."

Zara’s hand twitched toward her knife, but Winter’s voice, calm and firm, cut through the tension.

"Zara."

She turned. His gaze held hers steady.

Stand down.

She exhaled sharply, jaw tightening.

Winter turned back to the soldier, his posture deceptively relaxed, but there was something cold in his stare.

The guard faltered, shifting under the weight of that silent challenge.

Leo, standing between them, suddenly gripped Winter’s hand. "You’re coming back, right?"

The child’s fingers curled tightly around Winter’s palm, his small knuckles white with tension.

Winter’s features softened just slightly. He crouched, resting a hand lightly on Leo’s shoulder.

"I’ll be back soon, kid." His voice was quieter now, lower. "You hold onto your mum, yeah?"

Leo nodded, lip quivering.

And then Winter was led away.

Zara watched, every instinct screaming against the separation.

She didn’t like this. Not one damn bit.

"You come with me," another soldier said, already waking away.

A soldier gestured for her to step forward.

"What’s your name?"

"Zara."

"Full name."

Her eyes narrowed. "Zara Ashford."

"Where are you coming from?"

She gritted her teeth. "The base everyone here is from? The one that just got razed. It’s gone now."

"Any injuries?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

The soldier looked her up and down before motioning to a medic. "Check her for bites or wounds."

Zara barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as gloved hands skimmed over her arms, shoulders, neck. The medic’s hands hovered over a faint cut on her palm, scrutinizing it before stepping back.

"She’s clear."

"What was your duty before the breach?"

Zara frowned, she had heard the researchers were missing. What if it wasn’t an accident and someone had taken them out to hide something? But she still needed more information on the orb and those new creatures. She had seen one of their bodies being packed up, no doubt for research purposes.

"Scientist," she said after a while. "Worked in the lab."

The soldier looked up from his screen, eyeing her for a while before typing it down.

"You can go with her for his screening," the soldier said, motioning to a lady on the side. "Next."

Zara scooped up Leo before anyone could think about pulling him away from her.

His screening was gentler, but the way he clung to her the entire time made her gut twist.

*****

After waiting for God knows how long, they were finally allowed into Sector 2 with new IDs. Apparently that was what would allow them access to food and amenities in the base and must be worn at all times.

Even Leo had one. It would have been cute watching him trying to read what was written on it if it weren’t for their current situation and the fact that winter wasn’t here yet.

Inside Sector 2, the first thing Zara noticed was the silence.

Unlike the first base, which had been messy and barely held together, Sector 2 was controlled. Buildings had been repurposed into housing units and military barracks. The streets were clean, the food stations organized. No one loitered.

Cameras were everywhere.

They were assigned quarters—a small apartment that was sterile and impersonal, with a single bed, a cot, and basic supplies. The bathroom was private, a relief after the communal showers at the last base. They were given clean clothes—standard military-issue gray sweats and shirts. Functional.

It was feeling like more of a prison than the last base, at least people had been allowed to move about then.

Zara helped Leo wash up first, scrubbing away the grime of the last few hours or maybe even days. She hadn’t been paying attention to the sky, plus the mist covered most of the dome.

She barely registered her own exhaustion until she sat down.

Still no sign of Winter.

Minutes stretched into an hour. Zara began to pace. What were they doing for so long? Winter needed to rest. She thought of the weird soldier that had asked her questions about winter. Were they doing something weird to him right now? Should she have been more insistent on him sticking with them?

Just as she was about to snap, the door finally creaked open.

Winter stood there, looking drained but unharmed.

Leo launched himself at him. "You’re back!"

Winter caught the kid with a rough laugh. "Didn’t I say I was coming back?"

Zara’s relief was quiet—just a slow exhale, a subtle loosening of her shoulders. But her eyes flicked down—his wrists.

Red. Raw. As if he’d been restrained.

What the fuck?

Her jaw tightened. She took a step forward, but she saw the way Winter avoided her gaze.

Instead, she stood. "Go get cleaned up."

Winter didn’t argue.

*****

Night settled in, the apartment quiet. Leo was curled up on the bed, safely tucked between the wall and Zara.

Winter sat on the other side of the bed, freshly showered, his damp hair falling into his eyes.

He was too quiet.

Zara watched him from the edge of the mattress.

"Hey, you gonna tell me about it?" She asked softly as she patted the bed.

The lights suddenly went off, no doubt being controlled by the base.

Winter sighed as he leant back into the sheets. His fingers brushed against her wrist, deliberate but unhurried. Zara didn’t pull away. Their bodies were close, sharing the same breath, the dim light casting their features in half-shadow.

His warmth seeped into her skin, grounding her. It had been so long since she let anyone this close—not just physically, but in the way that mattered.

Winter shifted slightly, his thigh pressing against hers. "We need to talk in the morning," he murmured, voice low and rough. "About the attack. About what we saw."

Zara exhaled, her eyes lingering on the faint bruises on his wrists. "Yeah." A pause. "And about this place. It doesn’t sit right with me."

"Because it isn’t right," Winter said. His fingers tightened briefly around her wrist before sliding up her arm, slow and sure. He didn’t need to say more. The security, the cameras, the whispered rumors—it all pointed to something deeper.

She met his gaze, and the air between them thickened. He looked at her the way a man did when he was past pretending he didn’t want something.

Her pulse beat steady and deep. "We should get some sleep," she muttered, though she didn’t really mean it.

Winter huffed a quiet laugh. "Yeah." But neither of them moved.

His hand lingered at her shoulder, fingers barely resting there. His lips parted like he was about to say something else, something more, but in the end, he just exhaled, his breath warm against her cheek.

Zara tilted her head, just slightly. Close enough that if either of them shifted forward, even an inch, there would be no room left between them.

Not yet.

Winter’s hand slid down, his palm warm as it dragged briefly along her side before retreating. Heat followed in its wake, and she let out a slow breath.

They settled, finally, Winter reclining against the pillow, Zara stretched beside him. Leo slept curled up at her other side, his small body tucked against her like he knew, even in sleep, that she would keep him safe.

Winter hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, the weight of him pressing against her back, solid and warm.

Zara rested against him without hesitation, letting herself be held.

Sleep didn’t come right away, but she didn’t mind. Not when Winter’s breathing slowed behind her, steady and alive.

Whatever tomorrow brought, they would have to work though it.

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