Chapter 4
668 Words
I spent the next two days in the bunker in surprising comfort. Once I consolidated the supplies I had originally divided into four shares, I realized that for one person alone, what I had stockpiled would last me the rest of my life.
It seemed that without them, I would only fare better.
On New Year's Eve, someone knocked at the small window by the door. I had no intention of answering, but the knocking went on and on until I was too annoyed to ignore it, and I made my way over.
It was Vivienne, as expected. She had dressed up and put on her finest makeup, a jewelry box in her hand.
"What do you want?"
She smiled with obvious pleasure and tilted the box toward the glass. Even through the window, the diamonds on the necklace caught the light and glinted sharply.
"Mom and Dad's New Year's gift to me. Jealous?"
I won't pretend it didn't sting. The moment I saw that necklace, something in my chest tightened despite everything, because in my previous life, that necklace was the reason I had been locked away and left to starve.
I held her gaze, steady and expressionless.
The look on her face shifted. "What's wrong with you? Have you actually lost it in there?"
I let out a quiet breath. "Vivienne, I don't have time for this right now. If you have even a shred of concern left for Mom and Dad, go back inside and talk some sense into them. There's still time before midnight. Get them to go out and buy supplies, whatever they can carry. And tell them to send the relatives home. Don't let anyone stay for dinner tonight. Someone in that group has been exposed to the Virus."
She cut me off with a wave of her hand. "The Virus? Oh, that's hilarious. Okay, I get it now. You've completely lost your mind." She was already laughing, pressing a hand to her stomach. "Fine, I'll pass that along to Mom and Dad. I promise you, it'll be the funniest thing anyone says at the dinner table tonight."
I looked away.
That was the last warning I had to give. If they chose not to take it seriously, there was nothing more I could do. When the Collapse came, everyone would be fighting to keep themselves alive.
I pulled the blind shut over the small window and went back to the Control Room, pulling up the feed from the Dining Room at the Estate.
The room was packed. Relatives had arrived from every direction, and course after course of food was being laid across the table. Toasts were exchanged, laughter rose and fell, and the whole scene glowed with the easy warmth of a family celebration.
Someone called out, "Where's Iris? Is she pretending to be sick again?"
Vivienne burst out laughing. "Celia, you have no idea! She's convinced the Collapse is coming tonight. She's been locked in her underground bunker this whole time!"
Celia Barnes's eyes went wide. "On a night like this? She's holed up in that awful place?"
"That's not even the best part," Vivienne said, covering her mouth. "She told me one of the relatives here tonight has been infected with the Virus."
The mood around the table shifted.
I turned my gaze to the man who, in my previous life, had been the source of everything that destroyed the Calloways: my uncle, Gerald Calloway.
His expression stiffened for just a moment before he was the first to laugh. "Ha! Well, I did get bitten by a stray dog yesterday, but I've already had the shots. Nothing to worry about."
The table relaxed into laughter again.
I sat quietly with a cup of coffee, watching the monitor.
As midnight drew close, I began counting down in silence.
Ten. Nine. Eight...
Three. Two. One.
Gerald, who had been mid-conversation, suddenly went still. Then he lunged and sank his teeth into the throat of the person sitting closest to him.
- Writer
