A sharp vibration pulled me out of sleep.
I woke up drenched in sweat, my hand instinctively reaching toward the sound before my brain caught up. The alarm. I turned it off quickly and sat there for a moment, breathing heavily in the darkness. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the bunker's ventilation systems.
I looked beside the bed.
Eva was still asleep, tucked carefully between pillows placed on all four sides so she wouldn't roll over. Her tiny chest rose and fell slowly, completely unaware of the world outside.
I reached into my dimensional storage and pulled out a bottle of water. The cold plastic felt reassuring in my hand. I opened it and drank greedily, the water running down my throat as if I hadn't had anything in days.
The clock on the wall read 5:01 AM.
I took a long breath and pressed my palms against my face, trying to calm my racing heart.
The nightmares never stopped.
Every night I relived that day. No amount of preparation, no bunker, no weapons, no survival plans had prepared me for the reality of watching the world collapse in hours. I still saw it clearly whenever I closed my eyes.
My mother's face.
The confusion.
The pain.
The way she bent unnaturally before I even understood what was happening.
And then the gunshot.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second before forcing myself to stand up.
Eva stirred slightly as I moved, so I quietly walked toward the kitchen area of the bunker. The lights turned on automatically as I entered. The kitchen alone was larger than our entire old house. Stainless steel counters, massive storage shelves, industrial refrigerators, automated cooking systems. I heated some milk and mixed in baby formula carefully, checking the temperature with my wrist like Mom used to do.
While I waited, I looked up at the massive ceiling above me.
This place was a fortress.
I had named it The Turtle.
Three hundred meters below the surface, buried under layers of earth and reinforced concrete. The walls were three meters thick, reinforced with titanium steel plates layered throughout the structure. Advanced air filtration systems constantly purified the air, capable of filtering biological agents, toxins, and radiation. The geothermal generators provided endless power. Water recycling systems, hydroponic farming modules, medical rooms, storage floors filled with food and supplies.
On paper, it was the safest place on Earth.
Yet none of that removed the heavy feeling sitting in my chest.
It had been twenty eight days since the outbreak.
Twenty eight days since I saw my mother get shot in the head.
Twenty eight days since I watched people tear each other apart in the streets.
The worst part was how sudden it had been. One moment the world was normal. The next moment it felt like everyone had gone insane at the same time. Infection spread faster than anything I could imagine. I still didn't understand how it worked.
All I knew was one rule.
A bite meant death.
I picked up the bottle and walked back to my room. Eva was awake now, quietly making soft little sounds as she waved her tiny hands in the air like she was greeting the morning. A small smile escaped me despite everything. "Morning, troublemaker," I whispered. I lifted her carefully from the bed and carried her to the bathroom. I bathed her gently, making sure the water was warm enough, then wrapped her in a soft towel before dressing her in a clean little outfit. After feeding her the milk, I secured her in the small front carrier strapped across my chest so she rested against me.
She liked being close.
Whenever she could hear my heartbeat she calmed down almost instantly. Maybe it reminded her of safer days, back when the world was still normal. I adjusted the carrier straps and stepped out of the room, the quiet bunker hallway stretching out ahead of me under the soft white lights. The silence here was different from the silence of the city. It was controlled, mechanical, almost artificial. Only the distant hum of generators and air filtration systems reminded me that the facility was alive.
The bunker spread across the third underground floor, the only level currently active. The other floors remained sealed and powered down to conserve energy and supplies. The corridors were wide, reinforced with thick concrete walls layered with titanium steel plates. Emergency lights ran along the edges of the floor while cameras watched every angle of the hallway. Even after weeks living here, the place still felt enormous. Built to hold dozens of people, now occupied by only two.
Eva shifted slightly against my chest as I walked toward the control room.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was filled with the glow of dozens of screens covering the walls. Some displayed camera feeds from the outside world. Hidden cameras placed across the surrounding land, watching roads, forests, and distant hills. Others showed motion sensors and thermal scans designed to detect any movement near the bunker entrance. Everything still worked perfectly, the systems running exactly as Dave had promised.
On the other side of the room several screens were dedicated to news channels.
Or at least they used to be.
Now every single one of them showed nothing but gray static and dead signals. I stared at the empty screens for a long moment, hoping something might suddenly return. But nothing changed. It had been seventeen days since the mobile networks completely collapsed. Seventeen days since the last emergency broadcast reached any receiver.
Twenty eight days since the outbreak began.
And now, standing alone in the bunker control room with Eva resting quietly against my chest, I realized something that made my stomach tighten.
I had no idea what was happening in the world above anymore.
I was completely blind. Then the static suddenly flickered.
One of the news screens cracked back to life with a burst of distorted audio and a shaky government broadcast. I straightened immediately, my eyes locking onto the monitor. A man in a military uniform stood behind a podium surrounded by armed soldiers. His voice sounded strained but controlled as he spoke about restoring order, establishing quarantine zones, and maintaining public safety. Words like new order, quarantine camps, and FEDRA authority filled the broadcast.
I scoffed under my breath.
The president was already confirmed dead weeks ago. Half the government had vanished with him. Now the military had taken over completely, wrapping themselves in the language of stability and protection. The man on the screen talked about control, security, and rebuilding civilization while armed soldiers stood behind him like silent reminders of who actually held the power now.
"Yeah right," I muttered.
Bloody bastards.
The speech dragged on for several minutes before finally shifting to something actually useful. A second officer stepped forward and began explaining the infection itself. The name appeared on the screen in large red letters.
Cordyceps Brain Infection.
They explained that it spread primarily through bites and bodily fluids. Once infected, the fungus invaded the nervous system and took control of the host's body. Victims lost higher brain function quickly, becoming violent and aggressive while the parasite continued to grow inside them. The broadcast repeated the same instruction several times.
Neutralize infected individuals with shots to the head.
My jaw tightened.
That matched exactly what I had seen that night.
The broadcast shifted again to global reports. Maps flashed across the screen showing entire regions collapsing. One image zoomed in on Southeast Asia. Cities marked in red were spreading across the map like a disease.
"Jakarta… Thailand…" the officer said grimly.
Those places had fallen first.
Billions dead.
Or worse.
The official then began asking surviving citizens to donate supplies to local authorities so they could be redistributed to refugee camps and quarantine zones. Food, medicine, weapons, vehicles. Anything useful for rebuilding society.
I laughed quietly.
"My ass."
The final announcement was worse. Under emergency military authority, the government now had the right to forcibly occupy private shelters and secured facilities if needed to support the public. Any underground bunkers or survival compounds discovered would be taken over by FEDRA forces.
I leaned back slowly in my chair.
"Over my dead body."
I leaned back in the chair and switched several of the surface cameras to a wider angle view. From this distance I could occasionally see helicopters passing overhead, flying low and fast toward the city. Every time one flew by, groups of infected below would start chasing it, drawn by the noise like animals following prey.
Some of them even ran straight off broken bridges trying to keep up, tumbling into the empty roads below. Being only about twenty miles away from the city meant the number of infected wandering through the outskirts was massive. Every now and then a few would wander close to the bunker's outer perimeter, only to step on one of the mines or grenade traps I had buried around the area. The explosion would echo through the hills and another body would disappear from the thermal sensors. A few unlucky ones had fallen straight into the concealed ditch traps too.
I took a sip from my coffee mug and let out a quiet breath. For a few minutes I tried to pretend things were normal. Soft jazz played through my old Sony Walkman headphones, the music giving me a brief escape from the world above.
The bunker lights were warm, the air filtered and clean. Eva sat on the floor nearby surrounded by cushions, watching the Shrek movie I had put on for her. She usually crawled around a little, giggled at the bright colors, and eventually fell asleep. When she cried it was almost always for simple reasons. A dirty diaper. Hunger. Discomfort. Simple problems that felt almost comforting compared to the chaos outside.
I leaned back in the chair and switched several of the surface cameras to a wider angle view. From this distance I could occasionally see helicopters passing overhead, flying low and fast toward the city. Every time one passed, groups of infected would begin chasing it, drawn by the noise like animals following prey. Some even ran straight off broken bridges trying to keep up, tumbling down onto the empty roads below.
Being only about twenty miles away from the city meant the number of infected wandering through the outskirts was huge. Every now and then one would drift too close to the bunker perimeter. A loud boom would follow as one stepped on a buried mine or grenade trap. Another body gone. A few unlucky ones had fallen into the deep ditch traps I had dug too."Well… that's one less problem," I muttered quietly.
I took a slow sip of coffee and leaned back further in the chair. For a moment I tried pretending the world was still normal. Soft jazz played through my Sony Walkman headphones while the bunker lights glowed warmly around me. Eva sat on the floor nearby surrounded by cushions, watching the Shrek movie I had put on for her.
She laughed randomly at the bright green ogre jumping across the screen. "You like that one huh?" I asked softly. She responded with a happy squeal and waved her hands. Most of the time she crawled around until she fell asleep. If she cried, it was always something simple. A dirty diaper. Hunger. Maybe she felt uncomfortable. Small problems that almost felt comforting compared to the madness outside.
Another flash lit up one of the monitors. One of the infected had wandered straight into a pressure plate mine. The explosion threw the body backward before the camera feed settled again. I leaned forward slightly, watching the thermal cameras scan the surrounding area. "Walkers," I murmured. "That's what you guys are now." I still had no real idea how many people had turned, but judging by the scattered movement on the sensors it had to be thousands around the outskirts alone. If the outskirts were this bad, the city itself was probably a nightmare.
I removed one headphone and began slowly turning the dial on the radio receiver. Static filled the room for a few seconds before voices suddenly broke through the noise. Several people were communicating over the same band, their voices tense and cautious."Don't say locations on open channels," one man warned."Yeah, FEDRA's listening to everything," another replied."They tracked a group near Houston yesterday. Whole bunker got raided.""Food, medicine, fuel… they took everything."I leaned closer to the speaker, listening carefully.
Then one of them said something that made my stomach tighten."Especially the rich bunker owners. Government already knows where most of those are.""Yeah," another voice replied. "Permits, construction taxes, land records. Easy to track. Military convoys are already moving to those places.""Public resource redistribution," someone mocked sarcastically. "Right."A few bitter laughs followed over the radio.
I slowly turned off the receiver and leaned back again."So they'll come for me too," I said quietly to the empty room.Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow.Eva giggled suddenly at the movie and I looked over at her for a moment. The tension in my chest softened slightly. "Don't worry," I whispered to her. "They're not taking anything from us."
Eventually I stood up and walked toward the storage area of the bunker. Over the past weeks I had moved almost everything into my dimensional storage. Food supplies, medical equipment, tools, fuel, weapons, spare parts. The bunker itself now looked almost empty from the outside. If anyone managed to break in, they would find very little to take. Inside the storage space though… it was a completely different story. I had enough food preserved to feed generations.
I stopped walking and looked back toward the control room where Eva was still watching her movie."Still…" I muttered under my breath.In this new world food wasn't just survival.
Food was going to become currency.