[Aria's POV]
Zombie-Sophie lunged at my throat.
I rolled sideways, screaming. Her teeth snapped shut an inch from my neck.
"Sophie, please!" I sobbed, scrambling backward. "It's me! It's Aria!"
But Sophie—the thing that used to be Sophie—didn't recognize me. Her white eyes were empty. Hungry. She moaned and crawled toward me, fingers clawing at the concrete.
I kicked at her. My foot connected with her chest, sending her sprawling.
I ran for the warehouse door, pounding on it with my fists. "Help! Someone help me! There's a zombie—"
The door flew open.
Marcus stood there, lightning crackling around his hands. Behind him, the entire group had gathered. All thirty-three survivors, watching with cold, calculating eyes.
"Please," I gasped. "Sophie—she turned—she's right behind me—"
Marcus looked past me. Saw zombie-Sophie crawling closer. His lightning flared bright.
One strike. Sophie's body hit the ground, burning and still.
My best friend. Dead twice now.
"Thank you," I breathed. "Thank you, I thought—"
"How did a zombie get through our defenses?" Vivian's sharp voice cut through my relief. She stood beside Marcus, her arms crossed. "That door was blocked. Sealed."
"I just needed air—"
"You opened a sealed door?" A man from the group stepped forward. "You could have let zombies in! Could have gotten us all killed!"
"I didn't—there was only one—"
"This time," Vivian said coldly. "What about next time? How many will you let in next time?"
My heart started pounding for a different reason. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just—"
"That's the problem." Marcus's voice was flat. Empty. "You don't think. You're weak, reckless, and now you're a danger to everyone here."
"I made a mistake! I'm sorry!"
"We can't afford mistakes," the man with the knife said. Others nodded. "One mistake and we're all dead."
"I'll be more careful! I promise—"
"Everyone, listen up." Marcus's voice cut through the murmurs. The crowd went silent. "We need to talk about Aria."
My blood turned to ice.
"She's a liability," Marcus continued. "F-Rank power that can't cure infection. Can't fight. Uses up food and water. And now she's endangering us by opening secured doors."
"I saved your life today!" I shouted. "I healed you! I healed Vivian! I'm useful!"
"You're useful until you're not." Vivian's smile was poison. "And right now, you're more trouble than you're worth."
"I think we should vote," a woman said. "Democratic. Fair."
"No—" Panic clawed at my throat. "You can't—"
"All in favor of removing Aria from the group," Marcus said, not even looking at me, "raise your hand."
Hands went up. One. Five. Ten. Twenty.
I watched in horror as nearly everyone raised their hands.
"No!" I looked desperately at the few who didn't vote. "Please! You can't do this! This is my father's warehouse! These are my supplies!"
"Were your supplies," Marcus corrected. "Motion passes. Twenty-eight to five. Aria, you're out."
"You can't just throw me out! I'll die out there!"
"Then you should have thought of that before putting us all at risk." Marcus turned to two large men. "Take her weapons. Her supplies. Her jacket. Everything."
"No!" I tried to run, but they grabbed me. Rough hands yanked my backpack off. Stripped the knife from my belt. Even took my jacket—my warm, protective jacket—leaving me in just a thin shirt.
"Please," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "Please, Marcus. I love you. We're supposed to get married. You can't—"
"I can. I am." His gray eyes were ice. "You're dead weight, Aria. You always were."
Jade pushed through the crowd. "This is wrong! She made one mistake! We all make mistakes!"
"Then you can leave with her," Vivian said sweetly.
Jade's face went pale. She looked at me, torn. "I... I'm sorry, Aria. I have a little brother in another camp. I need to stay alive to find him. I'm so sorry—"
"It's okay," I whispered. Because what else could I say?
Nobody was going to save me.
Nobody ever saved me.
"Wait!" A voice from the back. The woman with ice powers—not Jade, someone else. "At least give her a weapon. A knife. Something!"
"No weapons," Marcus said firmly. "She might use them against us later."
"She'll die without—"
"Not our problem." Marcus grabbed my arm, his grip bruising, and dragged me toward the main door. The one that opened onto the zombie-filled street.
"Marcus, please!" I clawed at his hand. "Please don't do this! I'll do anything! I'll be better! I'll—"
He shoved me forward. My knees hit the ground in front of the door.
Vivian appeared with her phone, the screen glowing. "Smile for the camera, sister."
She was filming me. Actually filming me crying and begging.
"Why?" I sobbed. "Why are you doing this?"
"Evidence," Vivian said cheerfully. "In case anyone asks what happened to you later, we'll say you left voluntarily. Tried to find help. So brave. So tragic." She zoomed in on my tear-stained face. "Look at that. The pathetic little girl who thought she was special."
Hands grabbed me again. Lifted me up.
Marcus pulled the warehouse door open.
The street outside was dark. Filled with shadows that moaned and moved. Dozens of zombies, maybe hundreds, wandering through the ruins of New York City.
"No!" I grabbed the door frame. "No, please! I'll die out there! Please!"
Marcus pried my fingers loose. One by one. His face showed nothing. No guilt. No mercy. Nothing.
"Goodbye, Aria." His voice was cold. Final. "Try to die quickly. It'll hurt less."
He shoved me through the door.
I stumbled into the street, falling hard on the pavement. Pain shot through my knees and palms.
Behind me, the warehouse door slammed shut.
I heard the lock click.
"MARCUS!" I pounded on the door. "MARCUS, PLEASE! LET ME BACK IN!"
No answer.
Just the sound of footsteps walking away inside.
A moan echoed behind me.
I turned slowly.
A zombie stood ten feet away. Then another appeared from the shadows. Then three more. Five more. Ten more.
They smelled fresh meat.
They smelled me.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no—"
I ran.
My feet pounded on broken concrete. Behind me, the moaning grew louder. Closer. The sound of shuffling feet multiplied into a terrifying chorus.
I was being hunted.
I turned a corner, my lungs burning. No weapon. No supplies. No plan.
Just pure, animal terror.
A zombie lurched out from a doorway. I screamed and dodged left, straight into an alley.
Dead end.
"No!" I spun around. The zombie was right behind me. More crowded into the alley entrance, blocking my escape.
I was trapped.
This was it. This was how I died. Torn apart by zombies in a filthy alley, thrown away by the man I loved.
The first zombie reached for me. I pressed against the wall, sobbing, watching death come closer.
Its rotting hand grabbed my arm.
And something inside me exploded.
Golden light erupted from my body—blinding, burning, pure. It poured out of me like a flood, like a wave, like the sun itself had exploded in my chest.
The zombie touching me shrieked. Its flesh started smoking. Burning. Turning to ash.
I stared in shock as the golden light spread, consuming every zombie in the alley. Their screams filled the air as they burned from the inside out.
In seconds, they were gone. Just ash and smoke.
The light faded.
I stood alone in the alley, shaking, my hands still glowing faintly gold.
What just happened?
My system screen flickered to life:
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED][User in life-threatening danger][True Power Unsealing: 15%][New Ability Unlocked: Purifying Light - Destroys undead within radius][WARNING: Power unstable - Continued unsealing required]
I stared at the words, my mind reeling.
I'd just killed zombies. Multiple zombies. With light.
F-Rank couldn't do that.
F-Rank could barely heal paper cuts.
"What am I?" I whispered.
The system didn't answer.
But new words appeared:
[Quest Unlocked: Survive 24 hours alone][Reward: True Power Unsealing +10%][Failure: Death]
I laughed. Bitter and broken. Even my own system was testing me.
A sound made me freeze.
Footsteps. Heavy. Multiple people.
I pressed against the alley wall, barely breathing.
Three figures appeared at the alley entrance. Not zombies. Humans. Survivors.
But the way they moved—predatory, circling—made my skin crawl.
"Well, well." A man's rough voice. "What do we have here? A little lost sheep?"
The three men stepped into the alley. All armed. All much bigger than me.
All looking at me like I was prey.
"Please," I said quietly. "I don't want trouble. I'm just trying to survive."
"Aren't we all, sweetheart." The leader smiled, showing yellow teeth. "And you look like you've got exactly what we need."
"I don't have anything. No supplies. No weapons. Nothing."
"We're not interested in supplies." His smile widened. "We're interested in powers. See, our system tells us we can steal abilities from other survivors. We just need to... drain them first."
Horror flooded through me.
They were going to kill me. Take my power.
"I'm F-Rank," I said desperately. "Healing. It's useless. You don't want—"
"We'll be the judge of that." The men moved closer, surrounding me.
I looked for escape. Found none.
I was going to die.
Not to zombies.
To humans.
Because in this new world, people were the real monsters.
The leader lunged at me.
My hands moved on instinct, that golden light flaring again.
It hit him square in the chest.
But he didn't burn like the zombies had.
Instead, his system screen appeared above him, glitching. Flickering. His eyes went wide with shock.
"What—what are you doing to me—"
His power started draining. I could see it, feel it—his C-Rank strength flowing out of him like water through a broken dam.
Flowing into me.
My system screen exploded with notifications:
[EMERGENCY: Unexpected power absorption detected][True Power Unsealing: 25%][New Ability Revealed: Power Drain/Transfer][WARNING: You are not F-Rank][WARNING: You have never been F-Rank][TRUE RANK: SSS][TRUE ABILITY: Restoration Goddess - Full control over life, death, and power itself]
The alley went silent.
The three men stared at me in terror.
I stared at my hands in shock.
SSS-Rank.
The same rank as Marcus.
No—stronger than Marcus.
Because I could heal. Destroy. And steal powers.
I was never weak.
The system had been hiding me.
Protecting the world from what I could become.
"Monster," the leader whispered, scrambling backward.
I looked at him. At the other two men. At the golden light still dancing around my fingers.
And I smiled.
Not a kind smile.
Not the smile of the girl who believed in love and happy endings.
The smile of someone who'd been pushed too far.
Someone who'd just discovered she had the power to push back.
"Run," I said softly.
They ran.
I stood alone in that alley, my true power awakening, my false rank shattering like glass.
Marcus had thrown me away because he thought I was weak.
He had no idea what he'd just unleashed.