Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 139

Chapter 139: 139

The lab smelled of sterilized metal and stale air, a far cry from the damp, heavy environment outside.

She followed the soldier through reinforced glass doors that slid open with a soft hiss. Inside, the room buzzed with hushed conversations, the clacking of keyboards, and the occasional beeping of machines. Whiteboards covered in hastily scribbled equations and anatomical sketches of the creatures they’d encountered lined the walls. The tension in the room was almost suffocating.

A woman in a fitted lab coat glanced up from a tablet as Zara stepped in. Short-cropped dark hair, sharp eyes that immediately assessed her, and a no-nonsense posture. Definitely a lead researcher.

"Dr. Zara Ashford," the woman said, setting the tablet down and extending a hand. "I’m Dr. Bianca Martez. Welcome to the research sector—though, I doubt you had much of a choice in coming here."

Zara hesitated only a fraction before shaking her hand. "That makes two of us."

Bianca smirked, a brief flicker of amusement, before turning to the rest of the group. "This is Dr. Hammond, Dr. Ji, and Ramirez. We don’t stand on formality much here, so just call me Bianca."

Zara nodded briefly, taking in the team. Hammond was an older man, grey creeping into his beard, and his fingers were stained with ink or possibly iodine.

Ji looked younger than her, barely out of her twenties, but her sharp, intelligent eyes reminded Zara of herself when she first stepped into a lab.

Ramirez was silent, focused on a microscope, and only acknowledged Zara with a nod before returning to his work.

"We’ve pulled what data we could from the main base," Bianca continued, motioning Zara toward a terminal. "But a lot of it was redacted before we could access it. There are entire sections just... gone."

Zara’s fingers clenched at her sides. Of course, there were. Someone didn’t want them to know the truth.

"What did you recover?" she asked, forcing herself to stay neutral.

Ji stepped forward, tapping a few keys on the console. A screen flickered to life, displaying a series of notes, anatomical breakdowns of the creatures, and a few grainy surveillance images.

"That’s all you got?" Zara asked, tilting her head. "Looks more like a cover-up than a report."

Ji stiffened. Bianca just smirked. "You don’t waste time."

"No one can afford to."

Bianca’s expression shifted, something calculating behind her eyes. "Then let’s not waste any more. The creatures... they aren’t just mindless. We’ve observed them acting in coordinated groups. Some even appear to—" She hesitated. Then, almost reluctantly: "Communicate."

Zara kept her expression impassive, but her stomach twisted.

They knew.

She folded her arms. "That so?"

Bianca studied her. "You’ve been out there. Up close. You’ve seen things we haven’t. So tell me—have you noticed anything... unusual?"

A test.

Zara held her gaze, carefully considering her response. They suspected something. But how much did they actually know?

She exhaled lightly, like she was unimpressed. "Unusual how? They rip people apart. That unusual enough for you?"

Bianca’s smirk didn’t waver, but Zara noticed the slight narrowing of her eyes. She was fishing.

"You’re deflecting," Bianca said smoothly, like she had all the time in the world to wait for a real answer. "You were attacked directly. And you survived. That’s not common."

Zara shrugged. "Guess I’m lucky."

"Luck doesn’t explain why we pulled an audio anomaly from the records of that attack."

Zara stilled.

Bianca turned to Ramirez, who tapped a few keys on the terminal. The speakers crackled with interference, and then—

A sound.

A distortion at first, static-heavy and warped. But then, beneath it, something else. Something vocal.

Not human.

A deep, guttural voice, words twisting through the interference:

"Give them to me."

Zara clenched her fists.

They had recorded it.

A flicker of memory—

—the creature’s breath against her cheek, the rasping demand: "Give me your lungs."

—Winter’s blade flashing, the creature shrieking before it fled.

Zara forced herself to stay calm. They don’t know what it said. If they did, they wouldn’t be asking her.

Think.

"Sounds like a bad signal to me," she said finally, tilting her head. "Could be interference from the mist. It messes with electronics, doesn’t it?"

Ji and Hammond exchanged glances. Ramirez hesitated.

Bianca, though, just smiled. Like she expected the lie.

"Mmm," she hummed, considering. "Maybe. Maybe not."

The tension in the room tightened. Zara could feel them waiting, feel their curiosity like a weight pressing down on her.

She refused to crack.

Bianca exhaled through her nose, her amusement barely concealed. "Either way, you’re right about one thing—no one can afford to waste time. And you, Dr. Ashford, are valuable."

Zara’s stomach twisted.

"Valuable how?" she asked, keeping her tone steady.

"You’re a scientist. And you’re an outlier. You’ve survived what should have killed you. And whether you’re telling us everything or not, you have insight we don’t. That makes you useful."

Zara didn’t like that. Didn’t like the word ’useful.’

Bianca’s gaze sharpened. "Welcome to the team."

*****

By the time she was allowed to leave, her mind was a whirlwind of calculations, theories, and a slow-growing dread that settled deep in her gut.

The hallways felt colder now, and most people quickly headed to their apartments.

She swiped her ID on the scanner in front of her room with a heavy sigh. Today had been intense.

She stepped inside, expecting quiet.

Instead, she found Winter and Leo sitting on the floor, surrounded by scattered toys and snack wrappers.

Leo was giggling, tiny hands clutching a toy figure, while Winter—Winter, of all people—was indulging him, sprawled out on the carpet.

Leo turned, grinning at her. "Mommy! Uncle let me win!"

Winter snorted. "I let you nothing."

Zara raised an eyebrow. "You’re getting soft."

Winter made a dry sound. "Almost dying earns me a better meal. It also apparently means I get bullied by a two-year-old."

Leo pouted. "I’m three." He held up four fingers.

So cute!

Zara smiled, the tension easing from her shoulders. She crossed the room and sank to the floor beside them.

"Rough day?" Winter asked, pulling her closer.

"You can’t imagine," she sighed heavily as she closed her eyes tightly.

Leo crawled over the toys towards her. "There there," he huffed, patting her forehead.

"Thank you, baby," Zara smiled, kissing his hand.

"There there," Winter smirked, patting her forehead.

"You two are terrible at keeping watch," she teased lightly.

Leo pouted harder. "Uncle was watching!"

Winter smirked. "Of course I was."

Zara huffed a tired laugh, shaking her head.

Her gaze drifted over the scattered toys, the empty snack wrappers, and the tiny hoard of supplies Leo had somehow pulled together. Her mind caught up.

She straightened. "Wait." Her eyes flicked to Winter. "Did he...?"

Winter smirked, tilting his head toward Leo. "You should’ve seen it."

Zara looked back at her son, who was chewing happily on a snack—a snack that hadn’t been in their rations this morning.

Leo beamed at her, little legs kicking excitedly. "I helped, Mommy! Uncle was hungry, and I had snacks, so I got them!"

Her lips parted in realization.

Leo had used his space.

While she trusted winter with her and Leo’s life, the ability wasn’t something to flaunt—if the base caught wind of it, who knew what they’d do?

She turned back to Winter, who was watching her.

"How much did he do?" she asked, keeping her voice casual.

Winter leaned back on his hands. "Enough to be impressed." He tilted his head. "You’ve been holding out on me, Doc."

Zara exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It’s not something we talk about."

Winter raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Leo, who was now deeply invested in stacking toys into an elaborate, precariously leaning tower.

"Kid pulled out everything like it was nothing," Winter admitted. His voice was quieter now, more thoughtful. "Not just the snacks, but blankets, extra water—stuff we shouldn’t have had."

Zara swallowed. "He has been following me around all this time. He has more than I can account for in there. It’s handy."

Winter snorted. "That’s one way to put it." His voice turned amused. "Another way is terrifying."

Leo’s tower finally collapsed, and he gasped in betrayal, staring at the scattered blocks.

Winter clicked his tongue. "Tsk. Amateur mistake."

Leo gasped louder. "Uncle!"

Zara bit her lip, barely holding back a smile.

Winter smirked at her before nudging Leo’s foot. "You’ll get it next time, champ."

Leo huffed, picking up a block and chucking it at Winter’s chest.

Winter caught it with one hand, unimpressed. "Really?"

Leo grinned.

Zara watched them, something warm curling in her chest. "Winter, these people are too strict. I’m worried they might have cameras in the rooms."

Winter understood immediately, brows furrowing as he sat up straight.

We were careful with it," he said, nodding towards a corner of the room where the snacks were still stacked. There didn’t seem to be any camera-like thing in the vicinity. But they couldn’t be too sure.

"Ok," she breathed slightly.

"Try not to doubt me so much," Winter said squeezing her arm slightly.

Zara exhaled, scanning the room again. It looked normal, but the nagging feeling at the back of her mind wouldn’t let go.

"We can’t risk it happening again," she murmured. "If someone saw, if someone put together what he did—"

Winter’s expression darkened. He shifted slightly, his body language more alert now. "Then we make sure they don’t." His tone was quiet.

Leo, oblivious to the weight of the conversation, had already gone back to stacking his blocks, humming softly. Zara envied his innocence.

She met Winter’s gaze, reading the promise there. If something happened, they’d handle it together.

But for how long?

Her gut twisted.

They’d have to be smarter.

"Tomorrow," she said, voice steadying, "we need to figure out how to cover our tracks."

Winter smirked, but his eyes stayed sharp. "You planning something, Doc?"

She picked up a stray snack wrapper and crumpled it in her hand. "I plan on keeping my family safe. Whatever that takes."