The sound of the courtyard gate splintering open echoed through the house.
Jude clapped his hands gleefully, his eyes glinting with malice.
“The real show is starting. Let’s guess, do those things out there like eating humans?”
“Will your daughter manage to escape their claws tonight?”
Panic surged through me. Without thinking, I grabbed a kitchen knife and swung it straight at Vienna.
“You lunatic! Are you fucking serious?!”
Vienna barely dodged, the blade slicing into her calf and leaving a deep, bleeding gash.
Jude staggered back, his smug grin replaced by wide-eyed fear.
Out in the yard, my daughter’s cries grew louder, her voice cracking with terror. More and more zombies crowded around the windows, pressing against the glass.
My heart clenched so tight it almost stopped.
But what made my blood run cold was when Vienna, right before my eyes, yanked open the basement hatch.
“Open your eyes and look. See what’s in here!”
The basement was overflowing with supplies.
Food. Water. Daily necessities. It was almost completely filled, every last item part of the stockpile I had hidden in the villa next door these past few days.
How could this be here?
What was going on?
What the hell had she done?!
I clutched my head, unable to believe what I was seeing, my mind spinning in confusion.
I had locked all those supplies in the other villa and never breathed a word to anyone. How had they ended up in this basement?
Could it be that even after being reborn, I still couldn’t escape the same fate, devoured, with nothing left behind?
Vienna threw back her head and laughed. “Idiot! You really thought you were clever, didn’t you? Want to know why everything’s here with me?”
“Apollo, let me tell you because I—”
I didn’t care to hear another word from her mouth. Clutching the knife, I rushed out.
Vienna and Jude lunged for the door and slammed it shut behind me, locking me out.
By the time I stumbled back into the villa next door, clutching my daughter in my arms, my body was covered in cuts and bruises from the struggle.
The storage room where I had hidden all our supplies was empty, stripped bare by Vienna, leaving only a few boxes of water and instant noodles behind.
I forced myself to stay calm as I cleaned and dressed my wounds.
When I looked up at the rooftop across from us, I saw Vienna standing there, a megaphone in her hand.
She raised two fingers slowly, her smile vicious.
“Apollo, didn’t expect it, did you? I’ve been reborn twice! Three days later, the apocalypse won’t end!!”
