Apocalypse Days: I Rule with Foresight and a Powerful Son
Chapter 189

Chapter 189: 189

"Let’s take five."

Zara collapsed onto the floor against the wall, chest heaving. She was pale, her side blooming fresh blood despite the pressure she’d been applying.

Winter crouched beside her immediately and tore at the hem of his undershirt. "Leo," he said gently, brushing the boy’s hair back from his damp forehead, "you remember that trick you do sometimes? Where you think about something really hard, and then it pops out of your space?"

Leo nodded hesitantly.

"I need you to think about a box. A small one. Plastic. White or gray, with a red cross on the front. It might rattle a little when you shake it, like pills and bandages inside."

Leo scrunched up his nose, then closed his eyes tightly.

A few seconds passed.

Then—with a soft pop—a small white box appeared on the floor beside him.

"That the one?" he asked, eyes wide.

Winter blinked, then grinned. "That’s exactly the one."

He ruffled Leo’s hair. "You’re a smart, good boy, Leo. That was perfect."

Leo smiled shyly but crawled closer to his mother’s uninjured side and clung to her sleeve.

Winter popped the box open and went to work. Gauze. Disinfectant wipes. A single tube of clotting gel. Not perfect, but better than nothing. He peeled Zara’s shirt up gently, bracing her when she hissed.

"This is going to sting like hell," he warned.

"Do it," she rasped.

He cleaned the wound, hands fast but careful. Her fingers clenched into the concrete, body tense, but she didn’t cry out. He packed it, sealed it with gauze, and wrapped it tight with another piece of his ruined shirt.

"That should hold," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "At least until we’re out of here."

She exhaled shakily. "Thank you."

Winter sat back on his heels, eyes still on her. There were so many things he wanted to say—but they tangled in his throat. All he could do was reach for her hand, pale and trembling on her knee. He brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

"I’m sorry," he said. Voice rough. "Zara, I’m so damn sorry."

She didn’t pull away. Just stared at him—eyes damp, jaw clenched.

"I came back to an empty apartment," he went on, voice quieter now. "I thought...I thought of all the worst case scenarios."

Zara looked up at him.

"I knew Adrian had gotten his claws into something. But I didn’t think he’d use you. Not like this."

Zara blinked hard, a tear slipping free. "He said if I didn’t cooperate, Leo would be taken to a place where I’d never see him again. I believed him."

Winter cursed under his breath. He pressed her hand to his chest, right over his racing heart.

"I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve never left you alone for that long. I let the bastard get close."

"You didn’t know," she whispered. "You couldn’t have known."

He lowered her hand slowly, lacing their fingers together.

"What were you doing?" she asked after a beat. "Before you found us?"

He hesitated.

"I was sent in," he said eventually. "Not this deep, but... deep enough. A squad of us. Military orders. They wanted us to confirm sightings of Subject 17."

Zara stiffened.

"I lost Richard," Winter continued quietly. "And Marcus. One of my original crew. We were ambushed near the coolant junction. I barely made it out alive."

Zara gripped his arm. "They were family, Winter. We don’t leave them."

"I know," he said. "We’ll find them if we can. But you and Leo—" his voice cracked slightly, "—you’re my priority."

Zara would have smiled if the world wasn’t spinning rapidly. "If we happen upon them, then we have to help."

Winter nodded. Then his gaze sharpened. "We also need to talk about Adrian."

Zara’s breath caught.

Winter’s hand curled into a fist at his side. "He’s the one who forced you into this—into taking Leo through the underground route. Do you know where he is?"

"No," she said bitterly. "He was vague. Kept pushing me to make use of my ability. I was honestly surprised that I was allowed to get as far as I did. He might be looking for —"

Winter’s face darkened. "Of course he is. Always was a smug bastard, but this? He tried to sacrifice my family to get a trophy."

"I haven’t seen him since we got separated when the tunnels collapsed behind us."

"He’s not dead," Winter muttered. "Men like him survive by letting everyone else bleed for them."

Zara shifted Leo closer to jer side and nodded toward the corridor. "Then we survive. We live. And if he’s still breathing when we get out..."

"I’ll finish the damn job."

He touched her face then, a moment of quiet amid the blood and fire. "Can you keep walking?"

She nodded. "If you’re with me."

"Always."

Winter’s jaw clenched. "We find him—he pays."

Zara nodded. "Agreed."

Leo touched Zara’s knee. "Mama... can we leave now? I don’t like it here."

She forced a small smile. "Neither do I, sweetheart."

Winter stood, tested his weight on his leg—then winced.

Zara caught it. "You’re limping."

"Don’t worry about it, come on." He helped her to her feet, keeping one arm around her waist. She hissed again, nearly buckling.

"Are you ok?"

"I am."

Winter scooped Leo up again, keeping the boy nestled close against his chest. Then he flicked his flashlight toward the far hallway.

"Let’s go. Service Rung’s this way—if the floor hasn’t collapsed. We follow the red lines along the wall."

Zara squinted. "I see them. Faint, but they’re there."

They moved, slow but steady, deeper into the tunnels. The red emergency lights gave way to darkness in stretches, and Leo hid his face when the pipes creaked or something skittered beyond reach.

Zara held Winter’s shirt like a lifeline.

In the silence, she whispered, "Do you think it’s still watching us? The thing that followed the shuttle?"

He didn’t answer.

He didn’t want to.

But in the pit of his gut, he knew the mimic they killed wasn’t the same one that had tapped the shuttle walls.

That one was still out there.

Watching.

Waiting.