[Aria's POV]
"Everyone behind me!" Marcus shouted, lightning exploding from his hands toward the warehouse entrance.
The zombies kept coming. Wave after wave of gray, rotting bodies with white eyes and snapping teeth. There were too many. Way too many.
Marcus's lightning hit the first zombie. Then the second. But on the third strike, his power flickered and died.
His face went white. "No. No, no, no—"
A zombie lunged at him.
I moved without thinking. Grabbed Marcus's bleeding arm and felt my healing power surge through my hands. Golden light—much brighter than it should be for F-Rank—poured into his wounds.
His torn flesh closed. The bleeding stopped.
"What—" Marcus stared at his healed arm, then at me. For just a second, something like surprise crossed his face.
His lightning roared back to life, stronger than before.
He blasted the zombie into ash.
"Marcus!" Vivian screamed. A zombie had grabbed her leg, its teeth inches from her skin. Blood poured from cuts on her arms where she'd fought them off.
Marcus was too far away.
I ran to Vivian and pressed my hands against her wounds. That same golden light flowed out, sealing the cuts instantly. The zombie lost its grip. Sophie's fire turned it to smoke.
"Thanks, I guess," Vivian muttered, pulling away from me like my touch burned. She wouldn't even look at me.
But I'd saved her life.
"Close the doors!" Marcus commanded. "Reinforce them with everything we have!"
The team worked together—moving crates, boxes, anything heavy to block the entrance. The zombies clawed and screamed outside, but the barrier held.
For now.
Marcus leaned against a wall, breathing hard. His lightning had saved us, but it had also drained him. Everyone else collapsed on the floor, exhausted and terrified.
I stood there, alone, my hands still glowing faintly gold.
Nobody thanked me.
Nobody even looked at me.
"That was close," Sophie panted, sitting next to Marcus. Too close. Her hand landed on his knee. "You were amazing out there."
"You too," Marcus said, smiling at her. At my best friend.
My chest ached so badly I could barely breathe.
"We need to talk strategy," Vivian announced, standing up and moving to Marcus's other side. She put her hand on his shoulder. "That horde will break through eventually. We need a plan."
"Agreed." Marcus stood, and both Sophie and Vivian stood with him. Like they were a unit. A team.
And I was nothing.
"Wait," Jade spoke up from the corner. Her voice was quiet but firm. "Shouldn't we talk about what just happened?"
"What do you mean?" Marcus asked.
"Aria healed you. Both of you." Jade pointed at Marcus and Vivian. "Your wounds were bad. Really bad. But she fixed them in seconds. That's not F-Rank healing. That's way stronger."
Everyone turned to look at me.
My heart started pounding. The system had said F-Rank. But Jade was right—that golden light, the instant healing, that wasn't normal.
"Her system says F-Rank," Vivian said dismissively. "So it's F-Rank. She probably just got lucky."
"Lucky?" Jade's voice rose. "She saved your life! Both of you would be dead right now if—"
"Enough." Marcus's cold voice cut through the argument. He walked toward me, his gray eyes hard. "Show me your system screen, Aria."
My hands shook as I pulled up my system display. The blue screen appeared in the air between us.
[ARIA CHEN - Power Rank: F][Ability: Basic Healing][System Name: Minor Support System]
"See?" Vivian smirked. "F-Rank. Just like we said."
But Marcus was staring at the screen with a strange expression. "Your healing light was gold. F-Rank healers have white light."
"I—I don't know why—"
"Maybe her system is glitching," Sophie suggested, but she sounded uncertain.
"Systems don't glitch," Marcus said slowly. His eyes narrowed at me. "Unless you're hiding something."
"I'm not hiding anything!" The words came out too loud, too desperate. "The system says F-Rank. That's what I am. I don't understand it either!"
Marcus studied me for a long moment. I could see his mind working, calculating. Then he stepped closer, so close I could smell blood and ozone on him.
"If you're lying to me," he whispered, low enough that only I could hear, "if you're hiding a stronger power, I'll make you regret it. Understand?"
My blood ran cold. This was the man who'd kissed me goodnight for five years. Who'd proposed with tears in his eyes. Who'd promised to love me forever.
Now he was threatening me.
"I'm not lying," I whispered back.
He held my gaze for another heartbeat. Then turned away. "Everyone rest. We have four hours before we need to clear those zombies and find a better location. Aria—you're on healing duty. Anyone gets hurt, you fix them. That's your job now."
Not his fiancée. Not his partner. Not even his friend.
Just his healer. His tool.
I sat down in my corner, watching Marcus lean close to Vivian, whispering something that made her laugh. Sophie joined them, creating a tight circle I wasn't part of.
Jade sat beside me again. "That was brave. What you did out there."
"Brave would be having a power that actually matters."
"Your power does matter." Jade looked at her hands. "I have C-Rank ice. It's strong. But you know what? Ice can't heal. Ice can only hurt and defend. Your power saves lives. That's worth something."
Her words should have made me feel better.
They didn't.
Because I'd just realized something terrible.
Marcus hadn't thanked me for saving his life. Vivian barely acknowledged me. Sophie ignored me completely.
But they'd keep me around because they needed healing.
I wasn't a person to them.
I was a resource.
A tool to be used until I broke.
"Get some sleep," Jade said softly. "You look exhausted."
I closed my eyes but didn't sleep. Couldn't sleep.
Instead, I watched Marcus and Vivian through my lashes.
Watched as they stood too close.
Watched as his hand brushed her waist.
Watched as she smiled up at him with triumph in her eyes.
They thought I couldn't see them.
But I saw everything.
And the pain in my chest wasn't just heartbreak anymore.
It was rage.
Two hours later, a scream woke everyone up.
One of the survivors—the man with C-Rank super speed—was convulsing on the floor. Black veins spread across his face like spider webs. His eyes were turning white.
"No," Sophie breathed. "No, that's—"
"Zombie infection," Marcus finished, his voice grim.
"But he wasn't bitten!" Jade cried. "I checked everyone! Nobody was bitten!"
The man's screams got louder. His bones cracked as his body started changing.
"He's transforming," Vivian said, floating backward with her telekinesis. "We have to kill him before—"
"Wait!" I ran forward. "Let me try to heal him! Maybe I can—"
"You can't heal infection!" Marcus grabbed my arm, yanking me back. "Once it starts, it's over. Move!"
Lightning gathered in his hands.
"Please!" the man begged, tears streaming down his changing face. "Please don't—I don't want to—please—"
Marcus raised his hand.
I closed my eyes.
The lightning strike lit up the warehouse. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
When I opened my eyes, the man was dead.
Marcus turned to face everyone else. His expression was carved from stone. "Check yourselves. Now. Anyone with black veins or white eyes speaks up immediately."
One by one, people checked their arms, their necks, their faces in phone screens and mirrors.
Then Sophie's voice, small and scared: "Marcus..."
We all turned.
Sophie was staring at her wrist.
Where a single black vein was spreading under her skin.
"No," I whispered.
Sophie's eyes met mine. For the first time since the apocalypse started, I saw real fear in them. Real vulnerability.
"Aria," she breathed. "Your healing. You have to try. Please. We're best friends. You can't let me die like this. Please—"
Marcus looked at me. Vivian looked at me. Everyone looked at me.
Waiting to see if I could save her.
If I couldn't, they'd kill her.
Just like they killed that man.
My hands shook as I stepped forward.
But deep inside, in a dark place I didn't know existed, a terrible thought whispered:
She abandoned you. She chose Marcus over you. She doesn't deserve saving.
I pushed the thought away, horrified at myself.
I reached for Sophie's infected wrist.
And my system screen flickered.
[WARNING: Zombie infection detected][Your current rank is insufficient to cure][Cure requires Rank: S or above]
My heart stopped.
I couldn't save her.
Sophie saw my face and started crying. "No. No, please, Aria. Please!"
Marcus's lightning crackled.
"Wait!" I grabbed Sophie's hand, desperate. "Let me try anyway! Maybe the system is wrong!"
I pushed all my power into her. Every bit of golden light I had.
The black vein glowed. Flickered.
Then spread faster.
Sophie screamed.
Marcus pulled me away. "It's not working. You're making it worse."
"No! I can save her! I just need—"
"She's dead, Aria." Marcus's voice was flat. Empty. "Accept it."
Sophie looked at me with betrayed, terrified eyes. "You promised. You promised you'd always be there for me. You PROMISED—"
Her eyes turned white.
Her scream changed to an inhuman shriek.
Marcus's lightning ended it.
My best friend's body hit the floor.
Dead.
I stood there, staring at my hands. My useless, weak, F-Rank hands.
"This is why healing is useless," Vivian said quietly. "It can't stop infection. Can't cure disease. Can't save anyone when it really matters."
Marcus turned away from Sophie's body. Away from me. "Everyone sleep in shifts. Watch for symptoms. If you see black veins, speak up immediately, or you'll end up like her."
He walked to the office without another word.
Vivian followed him.
They closed the door.
I sank to the floor next to Sophie's body, my whole body shaking.
I'd failed. Failed to save her. Failed to prove my worth. Failed at everything.
But as I sat there in the dark, something changed inside me.
My system screen flickered again.
Different words appeared, so faint I almost missed them:
[Emergency Protocol Activated][True Power Unsealing: 1%][Current Status: Suppressed][Reason: Protection Mode - Power too dangerous for current user level]
I stared at the words, my heart pounding.
True power?
Suppressed?
What did that mean?
The screen vanished before I could read more.
Leaving me alone with questions, with grief, with rage.
And with the terrible knowledge that my power was lying to me.
I wasn't F-Rank.
I was something else.
Something the system itself was afraid of.