Chapter 1
“Aurora! Get in the car!”
“Any later, and the horde will completely surround us!”
I looked into the distance; the energy shield on the outskirts of Zone C was weakening.
Zach was practically in tears.
“Sis! You’re the only one in the entire base with powers! Don’t you get it? You’re our only ace, our last hope! If you’re gone, there’s nothing left!”
I was about to speak.
The safe house’s steel door was violently kicked open.
Landon’s elite guard roughly grabbed my arms, dragging me out without a word.
Zach screamed hysterically behind me.
“Let her go! Aurora is pregnant, you animals! You’ll make her miscarry! You base lapdogs!”
They finally shoved me into the base’s main plaza.
A pre-battle rally was taking place here.
In the center of the plaza, a dozen people were already kneeling.
These were the unlucky souls accused of various crimes.
Some were charged with hoarding canned food, others framed for trying to steal a vehicle to escape.
Then, the enforcement squad stepped out.
They carried a large wooden bucket, going to each person, prying open their jaws.
Spoonful after spoonful of black-green liquid was forcibly poured down their throats.
That bucket contained the base’s failed purified, contaminated water, full of radiation.
The entire plaza was instantly drowned in screams and retching.
A man beside me convulsed violently, foaming at the mouth.
“We just wanted to save more food for our kids… Why are you doing this to us?!”
I wasn’t spared either.
A full spoon of the toxic waste water was poured into me, and my stomach cramped in agony.
Blood gushed from my lower body.
I let out a muffled groan of pain, which startled those around me.
“That’s Aurora! The leader’s wife! She got dosed too?”
“Isn’t she our hero of Zone C? She led a team yesterday to retrieve medical supplies! What the hell is going on?”
The intense pain blurred my vision, and I crumpled to the ground.
“Medic! Call a medic, fast! Someone’s going to die!”
Just then, the noisy crowd parted automatically.
Seraphina, dressed in a brand-new white combat uniform, looked too clean for this apocalypse.
She intimately linked arms with Landon, a saintly yet pitying smile on her face.
Landon’s gaze swept over us, groaning in pain on the ground, his face grim.
Seraphina dramatically covered her mouth.
“Oh my goodness, why is everyone collapsing? Who could be so cruel as to destabilize our morale at such a critical moment, with the zombie horde surrounding us?”
Before she finished speaking, Landon’s face was filled with fury, and he delivered a vicious kick to my stomach.
“You wicked woman!”
He roared at me, “The moment I was out of the base, you dared to incite unrest and stir up dissent!”
“You’re so consumed by jealousy that you’d try to steal Seraphina’s credit for finding the oasis!”
That kick left me unable to even cry out.
I looked at Seraphina’s smug, triumphant face behind him.
Gritting my teeth, I squeezed out a few words from my throat.
“I didn’t… It was her…”
“Still trying to lie your way out of it?”
Landon roared.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve been so unscrupulous for credit! This time, I will absolutely not spare you!”
2
He pointed at the struggling survivors on the ground and ordered them.
“Each of you give her one taser shock. After you’re done, I’ll personally send you to the oasis, and your food and medicine will be doubled.”
The elite guard dragged me up from the ground, completely disregarding that I had miscarried.
The survivors who had been forced to drink the irradiated water looked at me, their eyes filled with reluctance.
A middle-aged man, Mr. Miller, walked forward, crying, and pulled the trigger through tears.
“I’m sorry, Captain Aurora… I still have two kids at home…”
One person, two people…
Blue electric arcs flashed again and again, scorching the remnants of my child.
Only after everyone had tasered me and left did Landon finally take the water Seraphina offered, pulling her towards me.
He looked at me, covered in dirt, my cheeks bruised, a flicker of something complex in his eyes.
But the next moment, he coldly lifted my chin.
“Don’t blame me for making them do it. I had to teach you a lesson, to make you understand what happens if you dare to be jealous, if you dare to harm anyone again.”
“Otherwise, you’ll try to steal Seraphina’s credit again.”
I trembled all over, looking up at him.
So, I wasn’t the only one reborn.
No wonder they found the oasis without my ‘good luck’.
No wonder he said it wasn’t the “first time” I’d done this.
Because in the previous life, he had also unjustly condemned me for Seraphina’s sake.
My eyes reddened, and I wiped away my tears.
“Aurora, playing victim won’t work anymore. No matter how capable you are, it’s useless.”
“I’ve already had the medical team give Seraphina the highest-grade genetic enhancer. Her powers are sure to upgrade and help me become the leader.”
I gave a bitter laugh, clutching my constantly throbbing abdomen.
“I already paved the way for you. But why did you make them poison me? Why did you have to destroy Zone C and kill my teammates…?”
He paused, his brows furrowed.
“Don’t talk nonsense. You clearly led your team’s breakthrough attempt yesterday and failed, leading to everyone being wiped out.”
Cold sweat streamed down my face from the pain. I grabbed his pant leg, trying to make him look at Zach, our scout, who was still alive in the surveillance feed.
His face was filled with disgust, and he impatiently kicked my hand away.
“Stop the act. If you want to prove you weren’t trying to harm Seraphina, then tomorrow during the base-wide broadcast, you can personally admit that you were incompetent and failed in your reconnaissance, and that you begged Seraphina to share some of her credit with you.”
“Then, hand over all your commendations and supplies to her and her unborn child, and serve as her loyal second-in-command from now on.”
“If you dare to play any more tricks, or even touch a single hair on her head, this time I won’t just deal with you and your useless team—Zach, the one you care about most, won’t get a single dose of anti-infection medicine either.”
My eyes widened, staring at Landon in disbelief:
“Landon, you bastard! Zach was scratched by a zombie while covering me, he’s a hero of the base! How can you use his life to threaten me?!”
Landon’s face was full of impatience.
“As long as you obediently serve Seraphina’s team and take good care of them in the future, I won’t touch him.”
With that, he put his arm around Seraphina, preparing to leave.
“Seraphina, thank you for finding hope for the base. I’m going to reward you handsomely.”
I watched their retreating backs, my lower body constantly oozing warm blood from the miscarriage.
Dr. Anya Sharma, a researcher who treated me like her own daughter, rushed over, her face turning ashen at my injuries.
“Get her to medical treatment immediately! If anything happens to Aurora, I won’t let any of you off the hook!”
I was sent to the medical bay, but the healing medic never arrived.
Dr. Anya was furious, demanding to know where the medical team assigned to me had gone.
3.
The assistant, Cassidy, replied apologetically.
“Dr. Sharma, all the healing medics in the entire base have been called to Captain Seraphina’s room by the General Commander. Miss Seraphina scratched her finger while testing a weapon, and Commander Landon is afraid something might happen to her, so he ordered all healing medics to stand by.”
“Right now, there are no healing medics in the entire base.”
Dr. Anya was so enraged she kept calling. “This is insane! His own wife is critically injured, yet he’s called all the medics away for some mistress, completely disregarding her life!”
After the comms operator made the twentieth call, Landon finally answered.
“Is Aurora throwing another tantrum, trying to get you to back her up?”
Dr. Anya shouted, agitated, “Aurora is bleeding internally and on the verge of unconsciousness! Several of our brothers are barely holding on! And you took her healing medics away?! Are you trying to kill the base’s elite unit?!”
Landon sneered, “Did Aurora tell you to call me? Her check-up was fine; why is she faking critical injury now?”
“Alright, alright, I still have a victory banquet to host for Seraphina and her team. Doesn’t she want healing medics? I’ll send someone over.”
Dr. Anya hung up the phone, gripping my hand tightly.
“Don’t be afraid, Aurora, the healing medics will be here soon.”
I felt my life force gradually fading.
I remembered how, in my previous life, my teammates were also stabbed in the back by Landon’s forces, devoured alive by zombies.
Trembling all over, I clutched Dr. Anya’s hand, speaking with difficulty.
“Dr. Sharma, you promised me you’d treat me like your own granddaughter. If Landon didn’t treat me well, you’d help me leave him.”
“I just want to save Zach’s life, and then live.”
Dr. Anya was in tears, repeating,
“Landon, after you saved him, he loved you so much. It’s all Seraphina’s fault, that bitch. If she hadn’t suddenly appeared, you two wouldn’t be like this now.”
I gave a wretched smile. How could a life-and-death partner, who once fought alongside me, become like this?
The man who, after repelling the zombies, blushed and vowed to face life and death with me, promising to be torn to shreds and never find peace if he ever betrayed me.
Now, for another woman, he abandoned me without a thought.
“Please, Dr. Sharma.”
I gnashed out each word.
Listening to my plea, Dr. Anya finally nodded.
“Tomorrow, I’ll announce that you are the only ability user in Zone C. As for that ungrateful beast, I won’t assist him anymore!”
Dr. Anya immediately left to handle the matter.
I lay on the medical bed, the sharp pain in my abdomen surging like a tide.
Cassidy, the assistant Dr. Anya left behind, anxiously kept hoping for the healing medics sent by Landon to arrive.
Finally, someone came.
But it wasn’t a healing medic; it was a logistics grunt.
Seeing the bloody mess in the medical bay, he handed over a few rolls of bandages and a bottle of expired antiseptic.
“General Commander Landon said it’s just a minor injury, nothing life-threatening. He told you to deal with it yourselves and stop bothering him with such disgusting matters.”
Cassidy cried and smashed the box.
“Captain Aurora, I’m taking you and the brothers to another base right now. You have to hold on.”
My vision went black, and I finally lost consciousness.
I woke up again, startled by a bucket of icy snow water suddenly being poured over me.
Before me was Landon’s face, filled with disgust.
“You’re awake, stop faking it.”
He looked down at me. “You know I’m about to announce the oasis and Seraphina’s achievements, yet you’re making a fuss about going to my enemy’s base? Are you hoping everyone will think Seraphina is bullying you?”
Seraphina clutched a report, tears streaming down her face, standing behind him, looking utterly pathetic.
“Sister Aurora, I know you hate me. But it’s one thing to get revenge on me, why do you have to make Dr. Sharma steal my credit?”
4.
“That assistant, before she was dragged away, was still shouting that I was a bitch, saying I wasn’t worthy of being the savior’s partner…”
I opened my mouth, but not a single word came out of my throat.
I could only shake my head with all my might, trembling as I pleaded, “I… I didn’t… Send me to the medical bay… My team… they’re barely holding on…”
“You’re lying again!”
Landon frowned impatiently. “Dr. Sharma gathered her old subordinates overnight and even found the base’s records officer. Wasn’t it you instigating her from behind? Do you think by stealing Seraphina’s credit, you can secure your position as the base’s second-in-command?”
Seraphina curled into his arms, crying and pleading, “Sister Aurora, I beg you, don’t separate Landon and me… If you insist on taking my credit, I’ll just run out of the base alone and die in the zombie horde!”
She made a motion to run, and Landon quickly held her tightly.
He was furious, and he kicked my stomach again.
“How many times have I warned you not to bully Seraphina, but you just won’t listen! Since that’s the case, I’ll have to use some special methods.”
He abruptly turned, coldly ordering his elite guard.
“She’s forcing Seraphina to rush into the zombie horde, so she should pay the price. Go, shut down Dr. Sharma’s lab’s purification system and throw her out of the research facility!”
“Landon!” I shrieked, tearing my throat. “You’re insane! That’s Dr. Sharma! Her research is for all of humanity!!”
“So what!”
Landon sneered, “To get you into the command structure, she forced me to marry you. Now you’re a captain, and I even gave you your own unit. If you couldn’t find the oasis, that’s your own uselessness. I’ve repaid my debt, I owe you nothing more!”
“Do it!”
I frantically lunged at the elite guard, trying to stop them, but was brutally kicked to the ground.
The wound on my abdomen, which had barely stopped bleeding, burst open from the violent impact, gushing like a broken dam, instantly staining the floor beneath me crimson.
I screamed in agony, my throat raw, curling into a ball.
Landon was about to drag me further, but suddenly he saw the pools of scarlet, and his face paled.
He instinctively stopped, turning to Seraphina and demanding,
“What’s going on?! I told you to take care of her and her pregnancy, why is she still bleeding?!”
Seraphina’s face subtly changed.
But her eyes darted around, and she quickly squeezed out tears.
“I’ve always taken good care of Sister Aurora… This is the medical report they gave her yesterday.”
She handed over the report, her voice choked.
“The report says she only has superficial wounds, and her physical functions and the baby are completely normal.”
Landon snatched the report, merely glancing at it, and believed her.
The next second, he furiously lifted me from the ground and violently slammed me onto the cold, hard metal floor.
My head hit the ground hard, and blood instantly spurted out.
“You dared to lie to me!”
He roared, “To make me soften, you’d even fake a miscarriage?! How disgusting, how vile are you?!”
“You think I’ll fall for it this time? Dream on!”
He raised his leg, kicking my abdomen mercilessly, blow after blow.
Blood and screams splattered with each impact.
“Ah… No… Please no…”
I begged, almost tearing my throat, my body growing colder and colder.
Until I had no strength left to even beg, only able to curl up in my own pool of blood.
He shook off his blood-stained boots and turned to Seraphina, his face full of apology.
“I’m sorry, Seraphina, for making you smell this disgusting odor. I’ll deal with her now. Once she’s handled, I’ll take you to the oasis to see the scenery, as compensation for me misunderstanding you, alright?”
Seraphina, however, shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, her voice sounding utterly pathetic.
“Forget it. Sister Aurora hates me so much; what if she comes up with a new way to deal with me the moment you take me away?”
“Perhaps I should just leave with my team instead, and let her have the credit.”
She spoke cautiously, sounding incredibly wronged, but perfectly hitting Landon’s anger button.
His face instantly turned as dark as night, his voice gentle but chillingly menacing: “Don’t worry, I won’t give her any more chances to harm you.”
5. He waved his hand: “Lock her in the underground bunker outside the base. Once I officially announce Seraphina as the discoverer of the oasis tomorrow, then release her.”