Day 7.
Two days since the Hive King fell. Two days of cleaning up bodies, reinforcing walls, and sending patrols deeper into the city.
My army had grown to six thousand again—claiming the directionless zombies left behind by the Hive King's death. The compound was stable. The survivors were fed. For the first time since the apocalypse began, people were actually relaxing.
Which meant something was about to go wrong.
"Wei." Harold Chen found me on the compound's roof, where I'd taken to spending my mornings. "We've got a problem."
"What kind?"
"Radio kind." He looked uncomfortable. "Someone's been trying to reach us since yesterday. I didn't want to bother you until I was sure it wasn't just random chatter."
"And now?"
"Now I'm sure. They're broadcasting on a military frequency. And they're asking for you by name."
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The radio setup was in the basement—a collection of equipment Harold had salvaged and repaired since Day 0.
Rachel Chen was already there when I arrived, along with Maya and Min-Tong. Their faces told me this was serious.
"Play it," I said.
Harold adjusted some dials. Static crackled. Then—
"This is Facility Seven-Alpha, broadcasting to the survivor compound in Seattle's industrial district. We are aware of your presence. We are aware of your capabilities. We request communication with the individual known as Wei."
The voice was male, professional, utterly calm.
"Message repeats. This is Facility Seven-Alpha..."
Harold muted it.
"They've been playing that on loop for eighteen hours," he said. "Every thirty minutes."
"Facility Seven-Alpha." I looked at Rachel. "That mean anything to you?"
"Military black site. Defense Department." Her jaw was tight. "I heard rumors during my service. Deep underground facilities built during the Cold War. Supposedly decommissioned decades ago."
"Supposedly?"
"Nothing the government builds ever gets truly decommissioned. Just repurposed."
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"They know your name," Min-Tong said quietly.
"Yes."
"They know about your powers."
"It seems that way."
"How?"
That was the question, wasn't it?
I'd been careful since Day 0. My zombie army was visible—there was no hiding six thousand corpses—but my identity, my face, my name... I'd kept those protected.
Or so I thought.
"Maya." I turned to the precog. "Can you see anything?"
Her silver eyes went distant for a moment.
"It's... clouded. Interference. Something at that facility is blocking my sight." She blinked, refocusing. "But I can see intentions. They want to meet. They believe you're important."
"Important how?"
"They believe you're the key to something. A weapon. A solution." She paused. "Or a problem to be eliminated."
"Comforting."
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"We could ignore them," Rachel suggested. "Pretend we never got the message."
"They know where we are. If we ignore them, they might come to us."
"Then we prepare for that."
"Or," Drake said—he'd arrived during the broadcast, drawn by the commotion—"we go to them. Hit them first. Burn whatever facility they're hiding in."
"We don't even know where they are."
"Then we find out." His eyes flared with that ever-present fire. "They're watching us, right? Time to watch them back."
It wasn't a bad idea. But it wasn't good enough either.
"No. We respond." I moved to the radio. "Harold, can you transmit?"
"Yes, but—"
"Do it."
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I waited for the static to clear.
Then I spoke.
"This is Wei. I receive your message, Facility Seven-Alpha. You claim to know who I am. You claim to know my capabilities. Prove it."
Silence.
Long enough that I wondered if no one was actually listening.
Then—
"Wei. First-generation awakened. Necromantic abilities. Current zombie count: approximately six thousand. Killed the entity designated Hive King on Day 5." The calm voice had returned. "Soul-bonded with a feline companion. Allied with fire, invisibility, and strength awakened. Romantically involved with healer awakened designated Min-Tong Lin."
My hand found the edge of the table. Gripped it until my knuckles went white.
"Shall I continue?"
"How do you know this?"
"We've been monitoring awakened activity since Hour One. Satellites. Drones. Embedded sensors throughout the city." A pause. "We knew about you before you claimed your first zombie, Wei. We've been watching ever since."
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The room was silent.
Everyone staring at me. At the radio. At the voice that had just revealed the scope of our exposure.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"A meeting. Face to face. There are things you need to know—about the virus, about the awakened, about what's coming next."
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't. Trust is earned, not given. But consider this: if we wanted you dead, we would have struck during your battle with the Hive King. If we wanted to capture you, we would have done so while your army was scattered across the city."
"Then what do you want?"
"We want to offer you a choice." The voice paused. "The same choice we offer every awakened who proves themselves capable of affecting the outcome."
"What choice?"
"Join us. Fight with us. Help us rebuild."
A laugh escaped me—sharp and sudden. The sound surprised even me. A shadowy government facility, surveillance drones, satellite monitoring—it was like something from a pre-apocalypse thriller.
"You're offering me recruitment? After everything that's happened?"
"We're offering you resources. Information. Support." The voice hardened slightly. "The alternative is continued isolation. And isolation, Wei, is not a survival strategy."
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"Give me coordinates," I said.
"Wei—" Min-Tong started.
I held up a hand.
"I'm not agreeing to anything. But I want to know where you are. Consider it a gesture of good faith."
Silence.
Then: "Coordinates follow. Latitude 47.6, Longitude -122.1. Forty miles east of your current position. Mountain facility. You'll know it when you see it."
"How many people are there?"
"Enough." The voice paused. "You have seventy-two hours to decide, Wei. After that, the offer expires."
"And if I say no?"
"Then we continue as we have been. Watching. Waiting. Hoping you make better choices than the other awakened we've observed."
"Other awakened? How many are there?"
"Globally? Thousands by now. Locally... more than you'd expect." A final pause. "Seventy-two hours. Choose wisely."
The transmission ended.
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"That's a trap," Drake said immediately. "Has to be."
"Maybe." I stared at the now-silent radio. "But they're right about one thing. They could have moved against us during the Hive King battle. They didn't."
"That doesn't mean they're friendly."
"No. But it means they're strategic."
Maya spoke up. "I still can't see the facility clearly. Whatever they have there, it's blocking my visions. But I can see the surrounding area." She concentrated. "Mountains. Snow. Armed guards. And something else..."
"What?"
"Power. A lot of power." Her silver eyes met mine. "There's something in that facility, Wei. Something old. Something that feels like... like the thread I saw connecting you to the presence."
"The thing that sent me back."
"Maybe. Or something related to it." She shook her head. "I can't be certain."
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"So what do we do?" Rachel asked.
I thought about it.
A government facility that had been monitoring awakened since Hour One. Resources. Information. Answers about the virus, about my power, about everything.
But also risk. Control. The possibility of losing everything we'd built.
"We send a scouting party," I said finally. "Not me. Not yet. Someone who can observe without being detected."
All eyes turned to Sarah Kim.
The invisibility awakened had been quiet throughout the conversation, her slight form almost disappearing even in the dim light.
"Me?" she asked.
"You can get close without being seen. Map the facility. Count their forces. Find out what we're dealing with."
"And if I get caught?"
"Then I come after you with six thousand zombies." I met her eyes. "You're part of my inner circle now, Sarah. That means I protect you."
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. I want to give them a day to think we're deliberating. Might make them lower their guard."
"And in the meantime?"
"In the meantime, we prepare." I looked around the room. "Everyone. All of it. If this is a trap, I want to be ready to spring it right back."
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That night, I stood on the compound roof alone.
Six thousand zombies patrolled the streets below. Fifty-nine survivors slept peacefully in the buildings behind me. Min-Tong was in our shared quarters, her healing light dim but present as she rested.
And somewhere out there, forty miles to the east, a government facility was waiting for my answer.
The Hive King had warned me.
You're building a body for something to wear.
Maya had told me something ancient was watching.
And now a mysterious facility was offering resources, information, partnership.
Everything was connected. I could feel it. The virus. My return. The awakened. The facilities. The ancient presence.
Threads of a web I couldn't fully see.
But I was done being a spider's prey.
Whatever was coming—whatever had sent me back, whatever wanted my power, whatever lurked in those mountains—I was going to face it on my own terms.
Not as a puppet.
Not as a vessel.
As Wei.
The Zombie King.
And when I found out who was really pulling the strings...
I was going to make them regret it.