Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 148

Chapter 148: 148

Zara sat at the lab bench, her eyes scanning the words on the document in front of her, but nothing made sense. The letters blurred together, the sentences tangled in knots she couldn’t untangle. She clenched her jaw, tapping her fingers against the cold metal surface.

Leo.

He was alone.

He was fine—he had to be fine. Their room was safer than out here. She had left him alone before, back when they were still running, when there was no other choice. But that was different. That was before they had found this place. Before she got used to keeping him close. Before she let herself think that having him near meant keeping him safe.

And yet, unease clawed at her chest.

A sharp exhale slipped from her lips.

Focus.

She flipped the page. Read a sentence. Lost track halfway through. A smudge of ink smeared beneath her fingers as she rubbed her thumb over the margin, trying to ground herself. It didn’t work. The words swam again.

She ran a hand through her hair, exhaling sharply.

The lab wasn’t exactly silent—keyboards clicked, pens scratched against paper, the hum of machines filled the air—but to her, the background noise only amplified the restless thoughts swirling in her head.

"Zara."

She barely registered the voice. Her nails tapped restlessly against the desk.

"Zara," the voice came again, firmer this time. A hand tapped the table in front of her, and she flinched slightly, eyes snapping upward.

This time, she blinked and looked up. Sienna, one of the research assistants, was watching her with an unimpressed expression. Around them, a few other lab workers had taken notice of her jitteriness, their gazes lingering for a beat too long.

"Shit, you look awful," another woman muttered. Zara recognized her—Mina, one of the researchers. Not a friend, but not an enemy either. Just another face in the lab that tolerated her presence.

"Didn’t get much sleep," Zara said, rubbing her temple.

"Obviously," Mina deadpanned, crossing her arms. "And you’ve been staring at that same page for the last five minutes."

Zara’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"You should take a break," another voice chimed in. Jared, another researcher, didn’t look up from his work. "Go eat something. Whatever you’re doing isn’t working."

"I’m fine," Zara muttered.

"You’re not," Mina shot back, unimpressed. "But whatever. Just don’t mess up anything important."

Zara swallowed her retort. She wasn’t in the mood to argue, and they weren’t entirely wrong. She couldn’t concentrate. She wasn’t here—not really.

Her main team had been called away for a meeting with the higher-ups, without her, suspicious, but who was she to judge?

Zara gritted her teeth but didn’t respond. She was too tired to argue. Instead, she flipped back to the beginning of the page and forced herself to try again.

Her mind went back to earlier that morning when she tried to get Leo ready for the day.

The dim lighting in their small room made everything feel smaller. Quieter.

Leo stood in the middle of the space, watching her closely.

"You remember what I said?" Zara asked, crouching down to his level, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

Leo nodded, his dark eyes serious. "Stay quiet. Hide in my space. Don’t come out until you come back."

"Good," she murmured, ruffling his hair. He tolerated it, barely, before looking around.

"Where’s Uncle?"

Zara’s hand froze for a second. Then she pulled back.

"He had to leave early," she said, voice carefully even.

Leo’s lips pressed into a pout, disappointment flickering across his face. "Oh."

Zara exhaled slowly, forcing herself to smile. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "Don’t worry, alright? He’ll be back soon."

Leo perked up a little at that. "Okay!"

And just like that, he shimmered out of sight, disappearing into his space.

Zara let out a breath, lingering for a moment before shaking herself and heading for the door.

*****

Zara inhaled sharply, bringing herself back to the present.

Her fingers drummed against the table as frustration simmered in her chest.

Winter had left.

When she stepped out of the bathroom earlier, she had expected to talk to him about what had happened. Needed to. But he had just left her there. No explanation, no warning. Just gone.

Her jaw clenched.

The lines between them were already blurred, but if they were going to be stuck here together, they needed boundaries. She wasn’t part of his group, and she wasn’t going to play by their rules.

She had wanted to talk to him about that. About them.

But Winter had left before she could say anything.

Her fingers tightened into a fist.

And despite everything, despite her frustration, her mind kept circling back to how he had looked that morning.

And now, here she was, worrying about him when he was the one at fault.

"Asshole," she muttered under her breath, scribbling something in the margins just to do something.

She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to focus on the documents again.

Her voice slipped out in a quiet mutter. "Stupid, frustrating—"

"What was that?" someone asked from across the room.

Zara shook her head. "Nothing."

She felt a few more glances in her direction but ignored them. She had bigger things to worry about.

Leo.

Winter.

This damn base.

She dropped the file with a huff and turned away from the table. Maybe she should take a break? Gather her thoughts and come back to work.

She took a step away, brows furrowed and then everything went black.

She wasn’t in the lab anymore.

Darkness stretched around her, shifting, curling like smoke. A flash of movement—figures blurred and indistinct. She tried to focus, but the scene twisted before she could make sense of it.

Then—

Winter.

She saw his back first, his stance rigid, shoulders squared as he faced something ahead. His face flickered into view—tense, unreadable.

Something green.

Vibrant. Sickly. Pulsing.

A metallic scent. A sharp sound, like steel scraping against stone.

Then—

Pain.

Zara gasped.

The vision cracked apart.

Her breath ripped back into her lungs as she came to. She was on the floor, people standing over her.

A small crowd had gathered around her, some curious, some wary.

Mina. Jared. A few others.

She blinked rapidly, pulse hammering in her ears. Her fingers curled against the cold floor, grounding herself.

"What—?"

"You blacked out," Mina said, arms crossed, eyes sharp. Not accusing, not kind. Just watching.

"You good?" Jared asked, but there was something cautious in his voice.

Zara swallowed. Nodded. "Yeah. Just... dizzy."

"Right." Mina didn’t look convinced. "Well, medics are already on their way."

Zara stiffened.

"You called them?"

Mina raised an eyebrow. "You collapsed. We don’t take chances here."

Zara opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, the door swung open, and two medics stepped in.

"Zara Ashford?" one of them asked.

She clenched her jaw.

"Come with us."

If she fought this, it would only make things worse.

With a stiff nod, she stood and let them lead her out of the lab.

The walk through the base felt longer than usual, every step heavy with irritation and worry.

Winter wasn’t here.

She didn’t know when he’d be back.

And Leo—

Her chest tightened.

She had no idea how long she’d be stuck in quarantine.

As they passed through the medical wing, her gaze lifted, and she locked eyes with Sam across the room.

His brows furrowed immediately, and he pushed off the wall, heading toward her. "What’s going on?"

"Stay back," one of the medics warned.

Sam’s jaw ticked. "She’s with me, what’s going on?" He repeated.

"She exhibited symptoms that need to be examined."

Sam’s eyes widened and he looked at her.

"I was just dizzy, this is all uncalled for." Zara tried not to roll her eyes.

"Where is winter?" Sam asked, stepping closer.

"He left," she glared at the thought.

Sm looked confused at that. The medics had enough of their talk and pushed Zara forward. "Let’s keep this going."

Sam’s eyes narrowed at the act and Zara shot him a look. "Sam, don’t."

He hesitated, his eyes scanning her face. He must’ve seen something there because, after a tense moment, he exhaled sharply and stepped back.

She gave him the smallest nod—one that meant I’ll handle this.

Then she was led away.

*****

The quarantine room was sterile and cold. Zara paced, her arms crossed tight against her chest.

This was ridiculous.

She didn’t have time for this.

Her mind raced through all the possible ways this could go. Maybe they’d keep her for a few hours. Maybe longer. Either way, she needed to get back to Leo as soon as possible.

Then a thought came to her. What was that vision about? That had felt weird, there hadn’t been any zombies or weird creatures in them this time.

Which carried her to another thing she had noticed.

She had never really felt pain from her foresight visions before. What had happened? Where were they? why did these visions never give her enough to go with?!

She groaned, resisting the urge to pull at her hair as she paced.

The door clicked open.

Zara turned sharply, expecting another medic.

But the man who stepped in was different.

Tall. Familiar.

And his eyes—

Green.