Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 160

Chapter 160: 160

Winter adjusted his grip on Leo, shifting the toddler against his chest as he and Zara shared a glance. Their earlier experiments had gone as well as could be expected—Leo’s pocket space had clear limitations. But if there was one thing they’d learned, it was that abilities like his didn’t stay predictable for long.

Leo, however, was blissfully unaware of how terrifyingly powerful he was. He clapped his hands together, barely containing his energy. "Again!"

Zara exhaled, rubbing a hand over her face. "We’re supposed to be figuring out limits, not seeing how fast I can age."

Winter smirked. "C’mon, Zara. You have to admit—it’s kind of cool."

"Watching my baby drop out of thin air?" She shot him a glare. "Yeah, thrilling."

Leo, hearing none of their concerns, grinned up at them, clearly ready to go again.

Winter hummed, thoughtful. "Maybe... but what if we pushed just a little more?"

Zara narrowed her eyes at him. "Define ’a little.’"

Winter crouched, ruffling Leo’s hair. "I want to see if Leo can choose where he exits."

She blinked. "We already tested that. He comes back to the same place he left from."

"Yeah. When he’s calm." Winter looked down at Leo, who was playing with the strings on his hoodie. "But what if that changes when he’s emotional? Or making an effort to move?"

Zara frowned, arms crossing over her chest. "That’s dangerous."

"I know," Winter admitted. "But it’s also something we need to know before we get into a situation where he does it on accident."

Zara hesitated, glancing at Leo. His round face was scrunched in curiosity, clearly listening to them.

"...Fine. But if he gets hurt, that’s on your head."

Winter grinned. "Fair enough."

Zara shifted Leo to the floor. "Alright, baby," she said, kneeling so they were eye level. "We’re going to play a game. This time, when you go into your space, I want you to think really, really hard about coming out somewhere else, okay?"

Leo’s chubby fingers curled into a tiny fist. "Somewhere else?"

"Yeah. Try appearing on the bed instead of the floor," Winter suggested.

Leo clapped his hands excitedly, already delighted by the idea.

"Okay! Ready?"

Before they could confirm, he vanished.

Winter and Zara both snapped their gazes to the bed.

Nothing.

The floor? Nothing.

Zara’s breath hitched. "Leo?"

Silence.

Winter felt his stomach drop. "Leo, buddy?"

No answer.

Zara inhaled sharply, her back going rigid.

Winter kept his expression neutral, though his pulse ticked up a notch. "Alright, buddy. Come on back."

Nothing.

Zara’s breathing picked up. "Winter—"

"Don’t panic," Winter said immediately, but his voice was tight. "He can hear us. We just need to keep talking to him."

Zara swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay calm. "Leo, sweetheart, if you can hear me, come back now, okay?"

Silence stretched.

Winter felt the first tendrils of real worry creep in. Had they pushed too hard? Was Leo stuck somehow?

Winter forced himself to stay calm, but his heartbeat picked up. "He’ll come back," he said carefully, eyes scanning the dimly lit room. "He always does."

Zara’s head whipped toward him, her sharp glare barely masking the sheer terror beneath. "You don’t know that."

Winter swallowed. No, he didn’t.

Because this time, Leo hadn’t popped back into existence where he left.

That had never happened before.

"Leo, baby, come out," Zara urged, kneeling and pressing her hands to the floor as if she could physically reach into the space and pull him back. "Come back right now."

Still nothing.

Winter exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face. "We need to think," he said, voice steady, trying to anchor her. "He can hear us from in there, right? So panicking isn’t gonna help."

"Easy for you to say," she snapped, but the shake in her voice betrayed her.

Winter didn’t take the bait. Instead, he crouched low, levelling his voice. Gentle. Reassuring. "Hey, buddy," he said, speaking to the empty air. "I know you’re in there. I know you can hear us."

The silence in the room felt suffocating.

"You did something really cool just now," Winter continued, keeping his voice light, like this was just another game. "You changed the rules, didn’t you? You moved somewhere new."

Still no response.

Zara clenched her jaw, her arms trembling where she had them braced on the floor.

"But you scared your mom, bud," Winter said, letting just a bit of sternness slip in. "And that’s not cool, right? You know we’re here for you. So come out, okay?"

Then—

A soft thud from the other side of the room.

Zara spun on her heel, sprinting toward the sound, and yanked back the curtain separating the sleeping area from the rest of the room.

Leo sat there, under the bed, blinking up at them with wide eyes.

Zara practically collapsed in relief, grabbing him and pulling him into her arms. "Never do that again!" she scolded, pressing kisses into his messy hair. "God, you scared me."

Leo let out a muffled, breathless giggle. "S-sowwy, Mama!"

Winter gave the kid a reassuring pat on the head. "You did good, buddy. Just gave us a little scare, that’s all."

Then he exhaled, running a hand down his face. "Well. That’s a hell of a thing to learn."

Zara shot him a glare. "We’re done."

Winter held up his hands in surrender. "Agreed."

Leo, still half-squished against his mother’s shoulder, blinked innocently between them. "Again?"

Both adults turned to him with identical expressions of exhausted exasperation.

"Not even a little bit, kid," Winter muttered.

Zara groaned, rubbing her temple. "I need a drink."

Winter smirked. "I think I need a spare set of boxers. That glare was killer."

Zara rolled her eyes at him.

The tension started to ease, replaced by something warmer, more familial. Zara pressed a kiss to Leo’s temple, muttering under her breath about reckless experiments. Winter just shook his head, watching them.

Just as they were about to relax, a sharp knock at the door shattered the moment.

Zara stiffened, her arms tightening around Leo as her eyes flicked to Winter.

Winter was already moving, his hand sliding to the gun at his hip as he crossed the room. He pressed his back against the wall beside the door, exchanging a quick look with Zara.

She shifted, positioning Leo behind her, her stance tense.

Leo blinked at them both, his tiny hands gripping Zara’s shirt. "Who?" he asked innocently.

Winter exchanged a look with Zara. She gave a barely perceptible nod.

Winter took a slow breath before cracking the door open just enough to see outside.

And froze.

Ima. Marcus. Miles.

His crew.

For a moment, he could only stare.

"...You guys." How did they know where to find him?

Winter’s grip on his gun tightened for a brief second before he forced himself to relax. He stepped out, keeping the door mostly shut behind him.

Miles gave him a tight, sheepish smile. "Hey, man."

Winter frowned. "How did you—"

"We need to talk," Ima cut him off.

Winter didn’t move. He knew Zara wouldn’t want them in her space. "What are you doing here?"

"We were looking for you," Marcus said. "And before you ask—we didn’t follow you. We asked around."

Winter exhaled through his nose. "Should’ve known."

It wasn’t exactly comforting to know that just anyone could get their location by asking. Especially since they seemed to be on a psycho’s hit list.

Miles stepped forward. "Look, man, we’re sorry about the last time we saw you."

Marcus shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. "We—uh—wanted to check on you."

Miles nodded. "And to say sorry."

Winter exhaled through his nose, glancing away. "Guys, I’m not mad."

Ima sighed, crossing her arms. "You say you’re not mad at us, but you ignored me yesterday when I tried to talk to you."

Winter blinked, remembering. "That wasn’t intentional. I had an emergency."

Ima studied him for a long moment before nodding. "Alright. Then can we talk now?"

Winter hesitated. He glanced over his shoulder at the dor where he knew zara would be waiting with Leo. Shed smack his skull in if he let strangers in, worse of all now that shes still high strung from Leo’s little trip.

Turning back, he kept his stance firm. "I’m listening."

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, we didn’t mean to hurt you back then. We were just worried. You were going through a lot and—" he hesitated, glancing at the door, "—we were scared you weren’t seeing things clearly."

Winter’s jaw clenched. "You thought I was mistaking Zara for my ex-wife."

Silence.

Miles sighed. "We were wrong."

Ima stepped forward, her expression softer. "We weren’t trying to make you feel like shit. We just wanted to make sure you weren’t walking into something painful."

Winter studied them for a long moment.

He knew why they thought that. They’d been there, after all. When he lost his wife. When he spiralled.

But this wasn’t the same. Zara wasn’t some replacement.

A beat of silence passed.

Then Winter sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "You’re all idiots."

Ima cracked a small, relieved smile. "Yeah, well. You’re our idiot."

Winter huffed. "Don’t push it."

Marcus nudged his shoulder. "So? Are we good?"

Winter studied them, then finally let out a breath. "Yeah. We’re good."

Ima gave him a firm nod, then glanced at the door again. "We’ll leave you be, but—" She hesitated. "You are okay, right?"

"Yeah, your emergency was sorted, right?" Miles asked.

Winter glanced back at the closed door, at the space beyond it where Zara was probably still holding Leo tight.

His lips curled slightly. "Yeah," he murmured. "I’m good."

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