Letting strangers into your bunker during a zombie apocalypse is like opening emails from Nigerian princes — **you know you shouldn't, but curiosity always wins**.
And this guy outside?
He was holding up a literal **red sign** that said:
> "I KNOW WHAT HE IS."
Then right under it:
> "LET ME IN OR THEY FIND YOU FIRST."
"Who's 'they?'" I asked, peering through the periscope. "Why does this feel like the start of every betrayal movie?"
Chai pulled her hoodie up. "If he pulls out a USB drive labeled 'TRUTH,' I'm out."
Sir Quackers squawked dramatically like he agreed.
---
The guy stood still. Not twitching. Not yelling. Just staring at our bunker hatch like he had *subscriptions to all our secrets*.
He looked rough — as in "I survived three explosions and a buffet shutdown" rough.
Dirty boots. Tattered military jacket. Scar on his left cheek that screamed "I've stabbed and been stabbed."
"Name?" Edgar shouted from the hatch.
"**Rafe**!" the man called back. "Rafe Velasquez! I used to work in Eden's containment division. I know what's in the kid."
I froze.
"The kid?" I repeated.
Chai patted my back. "Congrats, you're officially a plot device."
---
After a long, suspicious silence and a whispered vote where Chai and I said "yes," Edgar said "hell no," and Sir Quackers pooped on the floor (interpret how you will), we decided to let the guy in.
But only *halfway*.
Rafe stood in the decontamination room, arms raised, while Chai aimed a mop at his face like it was a shotgun.
"Talk," Edgar said from behind the glass.
Rafe glanced at me. "What do you remember from your delivery run to Eden?"
"Uh… nothing shady. Just a regular night. The receptionist had a nice pen. I may or may not have taken it."
"That wasn't a pen. That was a neurodata scanner," Rafe said flatly.
I blinked. "So I stole government brain tech."
"You touched more classified equipment than a janitor at Area 51," Rafe muttered.
---
He tossed a folder onto the metal table. It slid open and revealed **more photos of me**.
From multiple angles.
Some clearly from security cams. Others… not.
Chai picked up one. "Wow. Your side profile actually looks heroic."
"Thanks," I muttered.
Then I saw the last photo.
Me.
Hooked up to wires.
Unconscious.
Wearing a hospital gown.
"What is this?" I whispered.
"Backup copy," Rafe said. "From the first loop."
---
Everyone turned to him at once.
Edgar narrowed his eyes. "What loop?"
Rafe sat down slowly. "Project Eden wasn't just about enhancing the human brain. It was about controlling it. Syncing minds to time. Rewriting trauma, rewinding death, pausing regret."
He looked at me. "You were the test subject they couldn't wipe."
My throat went dry. "You're saying I was part of the experiment?"
"You *are* the experiment."
---
Chai raised her hand. "Okay. Can we rewind a sec? Loop? Like a literal time loop?"
"Yes," Rafe said. "This isn't the first apocalypse. It's the third."
I just stared.
"Third?" Aira echoed.
"They reset the outbreak every time it got out of control. Using temporal energy stored in infected carriers."
"And me?" I asked.
"You were supposed to stay asleep," Rafe said. "But somehow, you glitched. You woke up mid-cycle. Now you're remembering things the virus doesn't want you to."
---
The bracelet on my wrist pulsed again.
Not a soft glow.
A deep, *angry hum*.
I backed away from the table. "Okay, well maybe it's a good time to remove this thing."
"You can't," Rafe said. "It's fused to your nervous system. It's not just a bracelet. It's your anchor."
"Anchor to *what*?"
"To everything," he said. "Your power. Your memories. And whatever's still inside the virus."
Aira crossed her arms. "How do we know you're not lying?"
"You don't," Rafe said calmly. "But if I were lying, would I be this exhausted?"
Chai snorted. "Fair."
---
Rafe opened a new page in the folder.
It showed a map — same location we found from Bruno's mumbled coordinates.
**Sector 12.**
**Repeater Hub.**
"The signal tower's still broadcasting," he said. "The virus is looping memories through the network. Anyone with Eden exposure is being dragged along the ride—zombies included."
"So we destroy the tower?" Edgar asked.
Rafe nodded. "It'll break the loop's sync. And maybe—just maybe—Darren gets his memories back."
I hesitated.
"What if I don't want them?"
Everyone looked at me.
I scratched my neck awkwardly. "What if what I remember makes things worse?"
---
Before anyone could answer, a sound echoed through the hallway.
A long, mechanical **whine**.
Chai turned toward the speaker. "Did someone order creepy background ambiance?"
Then: *BANG. BANG.*
Gunshots.
"Topside perimeter breach!" the Boy Scout shouted.
We all ran to the periscope.
Three men in tactical gear.
Helmets. Visors. Armbands labeled **E.D.U.**
"Eden Defense Unit," Rafe growled. "They found us."
One of the soldiers spoke through a megaphone.
"**Surrender the anomaly. Or we open fire.**"
Everyone turned to me.
I raised my hand weakly. "...Hi. Anomaly here."
---
Sir Quackers waddled under the table like *nope nope nope*.
Rafe grabbed my arm. "You need to run."
"Why me?!"
"Because they don't want you dead. They want to reboot you. Again."
"Oh, great! So I'm a glitch they're trying to factory reset?!"
"Exactly."
The walls shook as the first explosive charge hit the bunker doors.
Rafe tossed me a backpack. "Sector 12. It's your only shot."
I hesitated. "What about you guys?"
Edgar loaded a makeshift grenade launcher. "We'll hold them off."
Chai handed me a GoPro. "If you die, die with good camera angles."
Aira handed me a knife. "No offense, but don't let your face be the first thing they see."
Even Sir Quackers quacked dramatically.
---
I strapped the bag on. Opened the back hatch.
Smoke outside. Screams. Gunfire.
The world felt heavier than ever.
The virus buzzed under my skin.
My powers flickered.
And for the first time
I didn't feel like a delivery guy.
I felt like a fuse.
Ready to light.