Mara stunned the first zombie attempting to enter the bunker's iron door with the heavy satellite phone she had retrieved from the safe. This bought her only a second. As the door hinges groaned, Mara clutched the necklace tightly. Elara's necklace. Why had Jonas left this for her now?
Her mind, despite the adrenaline of the danger, drifted into a moment of sharp, painful nostalgia.
[1 Year Ago – Edison City, 58th Street]
Mara stood by the window, watching Edison City's endless rain. Their small attic apartment was more precious than any luxury condo in the city; it was where they could watch the moment the lightning struck.
Jonas approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. He was stained with ink from the old electrical schematic he'd been working on for days. Jonas was an engineer; his dreams always touched the sky.
"Philosophizing again?" Jonas whispered.
Mara caressed the necklace (then just a simple gift from Jonas, not yet known to be Elara's) with her fingers. "I'm chasing the light, Jonas. The darkness of this city runs too deep."
"There is no such thing as darkness," Jonas said, in his usual scientific and affectionate tone. "There is only the absence of light. Just as silence is the absence of sound."
"And you," Mara turned to face him, "are still solving those riddles? Do you really believe something called 'Aether' exists?"
Jonas's face grew serious. In those days, "Aether" was just academic gossip, a legend of a lost energy source that Jonas relentlessly pursued.
"I have to believe in it, Mara. Elara's family... they vanished chasing this idea. So did mine. It's not just a myth. It's a key. If we find that key, maybe we can..." Jonas couldn't finish his sentence.
"Maybe what?"
Jonas looked into Mara's eyes. "Maybe one day we'll find the power to light up this city. The power to change everything."
Mara had always admired Jonas's idealism but also feared it. These dreams kept leading Jonas to dangerous places—to forgotten basements and forbidden laboratories in the city.
"Enough," Mara said, placing her fingers on Jonas's ink-stained cheeks. "No engineering today. Today is just us. Whatever happens tomorrow, this night is ours."
Jonas smiled. That smile was always enough to erase all the city's darkness for a moment. "Shall we watch those bad 'zombie last night' movies? There's a terrible new one out."
"No," Mara said, pulling him close. "I just want to watch the absence of light with you."
[Now – The Bunker, Rooftop]
The memory of that moment, that final innocence, pierced Mara's heart like a sharp knife. That night truly had been their last night. The 'terrible zombie movie' had become a reality a day later.
The noise at the door stopped. Silence had briefly returned. This was the most dangerous moment for Mara: the zombies weren't retreating; they were just waiting for an opportunity.
Mara tossed Jonas's final note, the necklace, and the satellite phone into her backpack. The bunker was no longer safe. It wasn't time for philosophizing, either. It was time to move.
Everything Jonas had taught her was for this moment. Jonas had said, "Red Queen." That was the heart of the virus, the key to Aether, and now, it must be where Jonas was.
Mara looked at the bunker's back wall. There was a ventilation tunnel Jonas had prepared for emergencies. It was small, dusty, and terrifying.
She touched the necklace one last time. Her eyes fixed on the shattered doorway. A low growl was coming from it. Jonas's light was gone now.
"Alright, Jonas," Mara whispered, as she began to crawl into the tunnel. "If darkness is only the absence of light, I'll find that absence and bring you back."