Chapter 2
The man entered my room and stopped at the foot of my bed.
I knew him.
His name was Caleb.
Son of the former base commander. The most cold-blooded and ruthless security officer.
Rumor had it, he’d personally killed his parents when he was just ten.
The first time I saw him, I was struck by his appearance.
But the next second, his gun was aimed straight at my head.
Isabelle and I had been transported here while at an amusement park.
The ground had suddenly caved in, and we’d fallen.
I was still wearing grey-blue contact lenses then.
Grey-blue eyes were the mark of the infected.
Caleb had mistaken me for one.
Though the misunderstanding was later cleared, he had always loathed me.
He hated that I, a human, would adorn my eyes with the color of the infected.
Yet, the base had assigned him to oversee Isabelle’s and my safety.
He was an absolute enforcer; even with his disgust, he had to follow orders.
But I didn’t like him either.
Many people at the base disliked him.
They said the security officers were the lapdogs of the elite, and Caleb was the most loyal and vicious among them.
Caleb stood still by my bed.
I heard the metallic buckle of his belt unfasten.
I’d guessed right.
He was indeed here to carry out the breeding assignment.
I stopped pretending to sleep, sat up, and pressed a small knife I’d prepared against my throat, speaking each word slowly: “Get out, or I’ll die right here in front of you.”
I’d sharpened the knife considerably. My hand trembled slightly, and the blade cut into my skin.
Warm blood trickled down my neck.
I was gambling.
Gambling that he wouldn’t dare, couldn’t allow me to die.
Sure enough, Caleb froze.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face.
It seemed I wasn’t supposed to be awake.
I immediately thought of the milk from today.
I hadn’t drunk it.
Isabelle, not wanting to waste it, had drunk mine.
That’s why she’d fallen asleep so early.
They had drugged the milk.
Now, another man had already entered Isabelle’s room.
I continued to threaten Caleb with death. “I said get out, and take those men with you.”
But the next second, he snatched the knife away, and his hand clamped tightly over my mouth.
I tried to struggle, but I couldn’t move at all.
For the first time, I clearly and desperately realized the massive strength disparity between women and men.
Especially when I was facing the strongest man in the base.
My tears fell uncontrollably.
I didn’t want to be forced into breeding.
So I bit down hard on Caleb’s hand, and my mouth was soon filled with the taste of blood.
Caleb remained unmoved.
But he didn’t make any further moves either.
A voice came through his comms unit: “Major Caleb, what’s your situation over there?”
Caleb glanced at me. “She’s awake, uncooperative, and self-harming.”
The voice simply said, “Oh.” Then, “Then terminate the mission for now. Don’t let her harm herself.”
Caleb responded, “Understood.”
He released me.
I pushed him away and jumped off the bed. I had to go save Isabelle.
But Caleb threw me back onto the bed.
I thought he was going to continue and sneered, “What, is a lapdog like you going to defy your master’s orders?”
He lowered his gaze, said nothing, then unbuckled his belt, tied my hands to the headboard, and gagged my mouth with a piece of cloth.
Then, he sat down on a chair, facing me.