[A/N: Hello everyone.
Alex spends his days trying to heal from his first death.
Comment and support with power stones.]
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Monday, November 16, 2026, day two.
"No!", I screamed as I woke up.
It was the first nightmare I'd had since that time when I'd woken up alarmed by dream images. This time, however, I knew exactly what the bad dream was about.
"It was just a nightmare", I thought as I tried to calm my labored breathing.
I slowly got out of bed and walked to the sink, where I let the water run. When my hands touched the warm liquid, my heart began to pound. I felt like the water was the blood that had stained my hands during my adventure the day before. I didn't want to look at my hands; I was afraid that if I did, I'd see them stained with blood.
"There's no blood", I muttered, relieved, after a quick glance.
Ring, ring.
"Yes?", I answered, a little scared, not noticing the name of the person calling. "I hope it's not the police", I thought as I replayed what had happened the day before.
"What's wrong, Alex?", David asked on the other end of the phone.
"Nothing's wrong", I tried to sound casual, even though it was difficult.
"Don't tell me you ran into a zombie yesterday?", he asked, worried and scared at the same time.
"How did he know? Am I that easy to read?", I wondered when I heard his question. "Hmm... Yes, that's right", I replied in a subdued tone, unsure whether to tell him the truth or not.
"Did they bite you?", he inquired, his concern evident.
"No", I downplayed the situation.
"Fuuu... What a relief", he exclaimed after letting out a sigh of relief. "How did you get into that mess?", he asked curiously.
Even though I didn't want to relive that moment, I shared with him what had happened the day before. I told him how my curiosity led me to search hospitals without success, and how, remembering the series *Fear TWD*, I thought about finding people with addiction problems. I also told him what happened in the park.
"I feel a little better now that I told someone what happened", I thought, feeling a slight calm after talking to David.
"You should have waited a bit or taken someone with you. You could have died", he chided me worriedly.
"Yes, I know", I replied, resigned.
"Well, changing the subject", he said tactfully. "Are you going to keep working?", he asked suddenly.
"Hmm... I think so", I replied after a moment of thought.
"What?!", he exclaimed in surprise. "We know an apocalypse is about to begin. Shouldn't you be reinforcing your house or moving to one of the houses we've improved to keep you safe?", David asked, confused by my response.
"Uh... Well, I don't know how to put it... I feel more confident these last few days at work", I replied, feeling a little embarrassed. "I can't say my future self-faced this apocalypse unprepared, and that on the day chaos erupted I should have been working as if nothing had happened", I thought with resignation.
"Fuuu... I don't understand what you're saying", he commented, a little annoyed. "In the afternoon, we'll go pick up the rest of the medicines and supplies to distribute to homes. And at night, we'll move the modified vehicles to homes or strategic locations around the city... Take care, see you later", David told me with a farewell.
"He seems pretty angry", I muttered when I heard his tone through the phone.
Noon, in Rick's office.
"Alex, I wanted to thank you for letting me know", Rick, my supervisor, said.
"Actually, it wasn't me, it was David who alerted you", I corrected him, feeling a little embarrassed for not having done so sooner.
"I know, but David mentioned to me that you were behind all the preparations they're making", he said in a grateful tone. "Besides, those weapons and medicines are hard to come by, and they helped me quite a bit", he added with a warm smile.
"Did Rick smile?", I thought, surprised. "You're welcome, just make sure you take good care of yourself these days", I warned him.
"You too", he replied. "I'll be off work on Wednesday, and you should do the same", he suggested gently.
"I'll consider it", I replied noncommittally.
"By the way, David asked me for maps or information on fuel supply centers or other key resources. This is the information I managed to gather", he said, handing me a stack of papers.
"Thank you very much, Rick", I said gratefully. "This helps us quite a bit", I added. "You're welcome, I'm just returning the favor", he replied politely. "If you have nothing further to discuss, you can leave", he said, returning to his usual demeanor.
"But it was you who called me to your office", I thought wryly. "Okay, take care", I replied as I left, a little annoyed.
A few hours later.
"Fuuu… We're finally done, Alex", David said happily as we left the last house.
Each house we had prepared had enough resources to last a couple of months if rationed properly. They also had alternative energy sources and some water tanks that would last a few weeks, depending on their use. They were equipped with solid defenses, weapons for self-defense, and reinforced doors and windows, as well as alternative escape routes.
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[A/N: David is becoming Alex's emotional support, but it won't be for long.]
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"Yes, it was a very tiring day", I replied, feeling the fatigue creeping in.
"But it's not over yet", he commented with a regretful tone.
"You're right, there are still the cars", I said listlessly.
And so, night approached.
"This day couldn't have been longer", I muttered exhaustedly as I fell onto my bed.
David and I had spent the afternoon and part of the evening moving cars, SUVs, and trucks to inconspicuous locations, making sure we could find them in an emergency or park them inside the houses we had reinforced. Each vehicle had a supply kit, medicine, and weapons to survive for a couple of days. At that moment, a thought crossed my mind: "I should consider quitting work."
Today had been exhausting, and part of it was because I had to spend the entire morning making deliveries within the city and then beginning moving resources to homes. I knew that with the preparations we made; I could easily stay in my house and survive for weeks. However, I feared I wouldn't be able to survive as I had in the visions. Most importantly, the knowledge that I had helped people during the chaos weighed on my conscience, and that if I decided to take refuge within the safety of the walls, I could indirectly kill all those people.
"What will happen to the group in the garden? Would some people in the larger group die without my help? Could I save the woman in the security booth?", I wondered worriedly.
"Fuuu... I should rest", I said to myself, coming out of my state of anxiety.
"At least nothing strange happened in the city today", I thought before falling asleep.
Tuesday, November 17, 2026, Day 3.
"Uh-huh… What a dream", I said in a tired tone after a long yawn.
I woke up like any other day, or at least like I had woken up after losing the visions. Yesterday, I had the unconscious impulse to reach for my notebook to write about the visions, but then I thought, "It's true, I no longer have that blessing."
Today I was going to start the day the same as always, but a part of me was guiding me to do something I'd never done in the mornings. I got out of bed with a clear goal, walked to the living room, turned on the TV, and switched on the most popular news channel.
The news showed an increase in crime, but that's normal in the city, at least it has been in recent years. At first, I thought this feeling, or premonition, that led me to look at the TV, something I never did in the mornings, would give me a clue that chaos had begun, but that wasn't the case.
"Wait a minute", I said, noticing one of the international news stories playing at the bottom of the newscast. "A case of rabies in a building?", I asked myself, feeling suspicious about this supposed case of rabies abroad.
I immediately took out my phone and called David.
"Good morning, Alex. How are you feeling today?", he asked when he answered the call.
"Fine", I responded quickly. "I need you to put the news on TV", I said immediately.
"All right", he said after a few seconds. "What's up?", David asked.
"There's a news story at the bottom, it's from the international section, it'll be on again in a minute", I explained. "The news is talking about a possible case of rabies in people. The building where they were is cordoned off, and they're in quarantine", I added, a little anxiously.
"Do you think they're zombies?", he asked for confirmation.
"Yes", I agreed without hesitation.
"It's already appeared", he said after a couple of seconds. "I'll talk to some people in the Discord group, and you can contact Ron. Let's try to find out if what's happening is what we feared", he told me before hanging up.
I looked up Ron's contact information and called immediately.
"Good morning, Alex", he said in a tired tone. "I hope this is good news", Ron said jokingly.
"Sorry to disappoint you", I shook my head in a serious tone. "We saw a case of rabies on the news in another country. They say they've quarantined the building, and David and I believe this disease is getting out of hand", I said regretfully.
"Really?", Ron asked me. "Unfortunately, it's not a joke", I confirmed.
"Hmm… That means you weren't mistaken", the dejected man said. "However, why do they say it's rabies?", the confused man asked.
"There's something I didn't make clear last time, and I hope you don't get mad at me for it", I commented cautiously.
"Alex, you've helped me enough already, so I won't criticize you for keeping secrets", he said, calming my worries.
"Well… I told you that it's quite possible that this disease would make people's behavior more aggressive, and I wasn't lying. However, the truth is, if I told you what it turns into, you wouldn't have believed me", I began to explain. "People who get infected will turn into zombies", I added seriously.
"Zombies? Are you kidding?", he asked incredulously.
"Unfortunately, I'm still telling the truth", I said reluctantly. "I've even faced one who attacked a woman… And even though I didn't want to, I had to kill both of them, because if I didn't, they probably would have attacked more people", I told him, doubting his reaction.
"You killed two people?", Ron asked, stupefied.
"They weren't people anymore", I corrected him. "I'm calling because we wanted to ask you to investigate the rabies case… And with that information, you can draw your own conclusions", I said in a subdued tone. His reaction had made me feel guilty, but I knew it was normal for him to react this way.
"It's okay", he said seriously. "I'm sorry for my reaction", he said remorsefully.
"Don't worry, I understand", I said in a calmer tone. "I hope your investigation helps us understand everything that's going on", I told Ron before hanging up.
"Fuuu… It was much harder to explain to Ron than to David", I remarked reluctantly.
This conversation was one I dreaded having with anyone who started denying that zombies were no longer people, but having it with someone I knew, like Ron, is much harder than I thought.
"Tell me", I said to David after seeing him calling me.
"Alex, there's a girl streaming from inside the building", David said urgently.
"Really?", I asked, surprised, as I opened the streaming app.
"Yeah, her username is DailyAngela", he quickly informed me.
I started listening to the broadcast and noticed the girl repeating over and over that it was all a setup. Her voice was shaking, and as I looked around, I saw people were hurt. Unease filled me.
"Are you sure it's real?", I asked after watching a minute of her stream. "She keeps insisting it's all a setup", I added, sensing something didn't add up.
David explained, "One of the group members tracked her IP address, and it matches the exact location of the quarantine." That statement made me pay even more attention to the broadcast. The girl continued speaking: "Hello to all the new viewers joining, remember that if you subscribe, you can help my channel reach much further... Today we're here with a group of firefighters who came to the rescue of a neighbor..."
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the floor where the firefighters were working. In an instant, a body fell right behind the girl.
"What happened?", she exclaimed, visibly scared as she turned around.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Thanks everyone for reading.
Alex is trying to overcome his problems, and signs of losing control begin to appear.
By the way, I wanted to delve deeper into Alex's mental state, but as I mentioned in the previous chapter, I don't want us to lose track of these last few days of "normalcy."
Read my other novel called Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time.
You can find it on my profile.]