The farm fields had long since given way to crumbling roads and barren landscapes as August, Jude, and Cara trudged forward. After the hospital debacle, none of them had much energy left for conversation. Jude leaned heavily on Cara’s shoulder, his injured leg making every step a battle. August led the way, his eyes scanning the desolate terrain ahead, the glow of his system’s HUD a steady reassurance even if the ominous warning still lingered in his thoughts.
Interference Detected.
What interference? And from where? The system, usually cryptic but direct, had offered no further clarification. The warning hung over him like a cloud, a constant reminder that even his greatest advantage wasn’t infallible.
They crested a low hill, and August stopped short, raising a hand to signal the others. Below, in the remnants of what had once been a vibrant town square, stood a woman. Her figure was gaunt, her clothes ragged but functional, and her hands were raised in surrender.
"Help!" the woman called, her voice cracking. "Please, don’t shoot! I’m not armed."
Cara immediately raised her rifle, suspicion tightening her features. “What are the chances she’s not a trap?”
“Better than the chances we can keep going without supplies,” August replied, though he didn’t lower his own crossbow.
Jude, pale and sweating from his wound, let out a labored groan. “If it’s a trap, let them take me. I’m about done anyway.”
“Shut up,” Cara snapped, adjusting her grip to better support him.
August held out a hand to Cara. “Let me handle this.” He approached the woman cautiously, his steps slow and deliberate. “We’re armed,” he called. “So don’t try anything.”
“I told you, I’m unarmed!” the woman repeated. Up close, August could see her more clearly. She looked to be in her early forties, her sun-weathered face framed by dark, tangled hair tied back in a loose braid. Her eyes were sharp but sunken, carrying the weight of someone who had seen too much.
“Who are you?” August demanded, keeping his crossbow trained on her.
“Lara,” the woman said. “I was part of a research team—before all this happened. I can explain, but first... do you have water? Food? Anything?”
August hesitated, his finger hovering over the trigger. Behind him, Cara barked out a sharp laugh. “You expect us to just believe you? That you’re not some desperate scavenger trying to play us?”
“I don’t care if you believe me,” Lara snapped, her voice suddenly fierce. “But if you want answers about Sabrina Delgado, you’ll let me talk.”
The name hit August like a jolt of electricity. He glanced over his shoulder at Cara and Jude, their expressions shifting from skepticism to cautious interest. Turning back to Lara, he narrowed his eyes. “How do you know Sabrina?”
“Because I worked with her,” Lara said. Her tone was matter-of-fact, but her expression betrayed a flicker of pain. “I was part of the team. The team that made the virus.”
----------------------------------------
They found shelter in the ruins of a small diner on the edge of town. The cracked windows were boarded up, the interior stripped of anything valuable long ago. Still, it offered cover from prying eyes—and a chance to rest.
August sat across from Lara in one of the few remaining booths. Cara and Jude lingered nearby, Cara keeping her rifle within easy reach while Jude leaned against the counter, wincing with every shift of his weight. The air was thick with unspoken tension.
“Start talking,” August said, breaking the silence.
Lara took a long swig from the canteen they’d reluctantly handed over, her hands trembling slightly. “I was part of a government-funded research initiative,” she began. “We were studying pathogen mutation, bioengineering, that sort of thing. Sabrina was one of the lead researchers. Brilliant, but... driven, to a fault.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“And this virus?” Cara interjected. “How does a research project turn into this?” She gestured vaguely at the broken world around them.
Lara hesitated, her fingers tightening around the canteen. “We weren’t working on a weapon. Not at first. The goal was disease eradication—targeted cures that could adapt as quickly as the diseases themselves. But then the military got involved.”
Jude let out a bitter laugh. “Of course they did.”
Lara shot him a glare but continued. “They wanted to see if we could reverse the process. Instead of curing diseases, they wanted to weaponize them. Create something that could incapacitate an enemy force without conventional warfare. Sabrina hated the idea. She fought against it, but...”
“But what?” August pressed.
“She stopped fighting,” Lara said softly. “And started working. She said it was better to be on the inside, to make sure it didn’t get out of control. But I think she started to believe in it, in the power of it. She was always chasing something bigger.”
The group fell silent, the weight of Lara’s words settling over them like a shroud. Finally, August spoke. “You said Sabrina might have released the virus. Why?”
Lara looked him straight in the eye. “Because she was afraid of what they were going to do with it. She thought if she let it loose in a controlled environment, she could expose the program, force the government to shut it down. But something went wrong. It spread faster than anyone expected.”
“That’s the understatement of the century,” Cara muttered.
----------------------------------------
The system’s HUD flickered faintly in August’s vision as he processed Lara’s story. His trust in Sabrina, already fragile, began to crumble under the weight of her potential actions. Had she truly believed she was doing the right thing? Or had her ambition blinded her to the consequences?
“What’s your connection to all of this?” Cara asked, her eyes narrowing. “Why are you out here, and why should we trust anything you say?”
Lara’s jaw tightened. “Because I’m the one who sent the signal you intercepted. I’ve been trying to track Sabrina down, just like you. But unlike you, I don’t have a magic system guiding me.”
August stiffened. “How do you know about the system?”
Lara’s lips curved into a humorless smile. “Because Sabrina mentioned it. Before the outbreak, she started talking about... enhancements. An interface that could help humans adapt to rapidly changing environments. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now... well, here you are.”
The revelation sent a chill down August’s spine. Was the system connected to the virus? To Sabrina’s experiments? The questions swirled in his mind, but there was no time to dwell on them.
“What do you know about her location?” he asked.
“Not much,” Lara admitted. “I’ve been piecing together fragments from old records and radio transmissions. Last I heard, she was being held at a facility south of here. Marcos’s territory.”
Jude groaned. “Not that bastard again.”
“Why would he have her?” Cara asked.
“Leverage,” Lara said simply. “Sabrina’s knowledge is valuable—especially to someone like him.”
----------------------------------------
As night fell, the group huddled together in the diner, their exhaustion palpable. Jude drifted in and out of restless sleep, his leg stretched awkwardly across a bench. Cara sat by the window, her rifle resting on her lap as she kept watch. August and Lara spoke in hushed tones, their conversation laced with tension.
“Why are you helping us?” August asked.
“I’m not helping you,” Lara said. “I’m trying to fix what Sabrina and I helped destroy. If that means working with you, so be it.”
August didn’t trust her, not completely. But her knowledge was too valuable to ignore. He glanced at Cara, whose skeptical gaze hadn’t left Lara since they’d met. She didn’t trust Lara either, but for now, they didn’t have a choice.
The system’s voice interrupted his thoughts, cold and monotone: New Mission: Reach the Southern Facility. Timer: 48 hours.
“What was that?” Lara asked, her eyes narrowing.
August ignored her, his pulse quickening. A timer. The system rarely imposed such constraints, and when it did, the stakes were always high.
“What now?” Cara asked, sensing his unease.
August met her gaze. “We move at first light.”
----------------------------------------
The revelation that Sabrina might have released the virus on purpose hung over the group like a dark cloud as they prepared to leave. Trust was already a fragile thing among them, and Lara’s arrival had only made it more tenuous.
As they stepped out into the cool dawn air, August couldn’t shake the feeling that they were walking into something far more dangerous than zombies or mercenaries. The system’s warning echoed in his mind, its implications chilling.
Interference Detected.
What had Sabrina truly created? And what role was the system playing in all of this? As the group set off toward the southern facility, August knew one thing for certain: the answers wouldn’t come easily. And they might not be answers he wanted to hear.