The night of November 18th fell like a heavy shroud over the outskirts of Eldridge, a town that looked plucked from a forgotten postcard: wooden houses with porches illuminated by soft lights, a distant bell tower silhouetted against the starry sky, and the subtle scent of pine and woodsmoke drifting in the cold air. But it was a fragile illusion.
The streets were unusually empty, as if the residents had sensed something in the wind. A makeshift sign on a light pole warned: "Beware of strange flus – stay home if you feel unwell." Another, more official one, bearing a military seal, stated: "Federal Restricted Zones – Do not enter without authorization."
Kane felt a chill that wasn't just from the cold; it was paranoia lurking, reminding him that LyraGen left no loose ends. They had walked miles from the hill, avoiding main roads, always with the distant echo of imaginary sirens in their minds.
Lina, her hair tangled and hands trembling, stopped beside him at the forest's edge, where the asphalt began. Her eyes, red from exhaustion and suppressed tears, looked at him with a mixture of anger and supplication.
"Don't do this, Kane," she murmured, her voice broken by fatigue. "We've come this far together. Why split up now?"
Kane swallowed, feeling the weight of the decision like a slab of concrete on his chest. It wasn't just strategy; it was sacrifice. If LyraGen found him—and they would, sooner or later—Lina didn't deserve to fall with him. She had been his anchor in the lab, the one who pulled him out of his obsessions with a joke or a touch on the shoulder.
He remembered a night, weeks ago, during the midnight shift: Lina laughing as they shared stale coffee, talking about silly dreams like traveling to the coast after all this.
"We'll be free," she had told him, and for a moment he had believed that the virus was nothing more than an academic puzzle. Now, that memory ached like an open wound.
"Precisely because of that," Kane replied, his voice low but firm. "If we stay together, we're an easy target. You go north, to your aunt's house. It's remote, it's safe. I'll stay here and try to... disseminate what we know without being tracked."
He pulled a small USB drive from his pocket, one he had improvised in the maintenance tunnel with fragmented data: notes on general symptoms, patterns of "latent diseases" that activated something worse after death, but nothing that mentioned TS-996 or LyraGen directly. It was a calculated risk, a side narrative that Lina could activate if he failed.
"Take this. There's enough to alert someone, but not so much that they'll find you. If I don't make contact in a week, release it. Use a proxy, a false name. You decide."
Lina took the USB, her fingers brushing his in a fleeting gesture that sent a wave of warmth through the cold.
"This isn't goodbye, is it?" she asked, her voice trembling. Kane shook his head, though inside he doubted. He embraced her then, a brief but intense hug, inhaling her scent of sweat and earth, memorizing it as if it were the last. When they separated, Lina turned toward the forest path, her silhouette merging with the shadows.
"Take care, Kane. And don't be an idiot hero."
She disappeared among the trees, leaving a void that hit him like a punch.
Only then did Kane advance toward the town. The crunch of his boots on the gravel was the only sound, amplified by the unsettling quiet. He walked past a closed store, where a group of locals whispered at the door: "I heard that at the Miller farm, the old man got sick and... didn't stay still. The military came and took everything away."
"Erratic sick," added another, his voice trembling. "They say it's a mutated flu, but why all the secrecy?"
Kane tensed; it was the virus, already seeping into the rural communities, or rather, reanimated infected appearing more frequently. That spurred him on: he needed refuge, information. The local medical center, at the end of the main street, seemed the logical place. He could fake an injury, buy time to think.
But first, the leak. He found an old cybercafé on a corner, with a flickering sign that read 'Internet 24/7'. The interior was gloomy: dusty computers, a sleepy owner behind the counter who barely looked up. Kane sat at a machine in the back, opened a browser in incognito mode, and created an anonymous account on a local health and conspiracy forum.
He typed quickly: "Warning: Latent diseases in everyone. Not infected by bites, they are already there. Death activates them. Look for erratic symptoms on farms. Share if you know more."
Vague, untraceable details. He posted and logged out, feeling a pulse of adrenaline. It would attract trolls, the curious, perhaps even someone who would connect the dots. It was like dropping a spark in a dry field; the network chaos would follow.
He left the cybercafé, the night air biting his skin. A car drove slowly down the street, its headlights sweeping the shadows. Paranoia or reality? Kane quickened his pace toward the medical center, knowing that the separation from Lina was only the beginning. The world didn't yet know what was coming, but he did. And now, with that post floating on the net, the truth was beginning to spread like the virus itself.
Interlude 6: Lina's Shadow
The night of November 18th stretched out like an endless veil over the wooded path, where the trees leaned like silent guardians, their branches creaking under the weight of the cold wind. Lina walked with measured steps, the damp ground absorbing the sound of her boots, while the USB stick in her pocket felt like it was burning her skin through the fabric. Kane was gone, vanished into the flickering lights of Eldridge, and with him, a part of her.
Had it been the right decision? Separating to survive, as if the world wasn't already fracturing under the weight of what they had discovered. The virus, that invisible thing that pulsed in every human cell, waiting for death like a switch. And LyraGen, the serpent that had unleashed everything.
Her mind wandered back to the lab, to those stolen moments amid the chaos. Kane, with his intense gaze, obsessed with genetic patterns, always a step ahead in science, but an emotional disaster. She had been his assistant, yes, but more than that: the one who anchored him to reality, the one who reminded him to eat when he got lost in the data, the one who shared the horror when the first reanimated subject opened its eyes in that cold cell.
"We are a team," he had once whispered during an endless shift.
Now, alone in this seemingly infinite forest, she wondered if that loyalty was a chain or a lifeline. Should she contact him later? Or just hide, hoping what they both feared would never happen? A quick message, an agreed-upon code on some dark forum. But no, that would put both of them in the crosshairs. LyraGen wasn't just a corporation; it was a monster with tentacles in governments, military, and networks. Contacting him would be signing her own death warrant.
Her aunt's house was a few hours north, a remote cabin in the hills, far from main roads. Aunt Elena, a woman tough as granite, who had lived alone since being widowed, tending her garden and avoiding the outside world.
"Come whenever you want, child," she had said years ago. "There's only peace here. Away from the city bustle."
Lina quickened her pace, her breath forming white clouds in the frigid air. The USB stick weighed like a broken promise. Partial data: vague symptoms, post-mortem activation patterns, warnings about bites that didn't infect directly, but killed due to bacterial fever. Nothing pointing to TS-996 or the Omega Phase.
Kane had been careful, but what if she released it? Join a resistance?
The idea made her laugh bitterly in the darkness. What resistance? For now, it was just rumors on forums, anonymous posts about 'latent diseases'. But if she released it, she could light a spark. Become something more than a fugitive assistant: a rebel against the ambition that had unleashed hell.
A noise jolted her from her thoughts: the distant purr of an engine. She stopped, her heart pounding in her ears. The path was narrow, flanked by dense thicket, but back there, between the trees, lights flickered. A car, moving slowly, as if searching for something. Or someone.
Lina crouched behind a fallen log, the rough bark against her palm. The vehicle advanced, its headlights sweeping the path like accusing fingers. It wasn't just any car; the plates were discreet, unmarked, but the model—a black, low-profile sedan—reminded her of those used by LyraGen security.
Were they following her? How? They had been careful in their escape, but Mercer and Rivas weren't fools. They knew about her, the 'loyal assistant'. The car paused for a moment, the engine purring like a threat, and Lina held her breath.
Would they get out? Had they seen her?
Eternal seconds passed. Finally, the car accelerated and drove away, the lights fading around the bend. Lina exhaled, trembling not just from the cold. It wasn't paranoia; it was real. LyraGen wouldn't leave witnesses. Kane was in danger, and so was she.
She stood up, adjusting her backpack, and continued. The forest now opened to a clearing next to a road, where the moon illuminated the path toward the hills. With just a ride and a couple of hours' walks, she would reach her destination.
Aunt Elena would be there, with her rifle and her innate distrust of the outside world. Lina imagined the cabin: the fire crackling, a hot cup of tea, and perhaps, an old computer to release the USB drive.
Contact Kane? Not yet.
First, survive. She reflected on her loyalty: it wasn't blind, it was forged in the fire of the laboratory. If he fell, she would continue the fight.
At dawn, after getting a ride from a stranger, the cabin appeared in the distance, smoke rising from the chimney. Lina smiled for the first time in hours, but the suspense of the car still haunted her.
Would they return? Would Kane manage to escape? What would he do with the information?
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
I'm back with a new chapter.
Although I don't promise more will come soon, I will post from time to time.
This chapter is actually a transition to less technical content, at least in general, and also a farewell to Lina, at least for now.
By the way, if it seems like we're already in the apocalypse, it's because they were inside the facility for at least a month in Kane's case, and Lina for much longer. Neither of them knew what was happening outside.
But in the next chapter, you'll see that things are bad, but society hasn't fallen yet.
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Read my other novels
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future. (Chapter 83)
#Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time. (Chapter 102)
#The Walking Dead: Emily's Metamorphosis. (Chapter 30)
You can find them on my profile.]