2025-07-29 00:08:29Jared sat alone in the Bai family’s garage, his hands black with grease, hunched over the engine of a forgotten SUV. The thing hadn’t run in years, but he remembered it vividly—an old model the Bai family deemed too ugly for their polished image. That was fine. He didn’t need pretty. He needed functional. Strong. Durable. He needed an escape vehicle.
The system’s timer hovered faintly in his mind’s eye:
[Time Remaining: 71 hrs 03 mins]
[Mission: Secure a Safe House]
There was no more time to play the fool.
His shirt clung to his back, sweat soaking through the thin fabric as the heat rose—part from the weather, part from the thickening dread outside. The smoke was creeping closer. Reports were trickling in: riots downtown, a strange virus spreading, people tearing each other apart in traffic jams and supermarkets.
It wasn’t panic anymore. It was desperation. The first taste of collapse.
But inside this garage, there was only the sound of clinking metal and Jared’s even breathing.
“Hey.”
He didn’t turn.
“I said hey, Jared.” A pause. “You got a second?”
Jared slowly turned his head. A tall, broad-shouldered man stood in the doorway, hair slicked back, wearing a sharp suit that looked out of place in this new world unraveling by the second.
A world where clean suits meant nothing.
“Vin,” Jared said, standing upright and wiping his hands on a rag. “Didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.”
Vincent Wang.
His old college buddy. Once his closest friend. Now the CEO of Eastern Pharmaceuticals—a company built, in part, on Jared’s stolen research. In the old timeline, Vin had become a warlord in the new world, hoarding medicine and selling hope to the highest bidder. Jared remembered watching him on a rooftop as fire rained down from the sky, his friend-turned-tyrant laughing while cities burned.
But here he was again. Clean. Polished. Still pretending this was a world that could be saved with charm and a Rolex.
Vin smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I was in the neighborhood. Heard about the fire, thought I’d check in. You okay?”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “You came here to check on me?”
Vin chuckled, stepping into the garage. “Well, no. Not really. I came to talk to Mr. Bai, but he’s in full meltdown mode upstairs. Something about losing contact with his warehouses. Figured I’d kill time with an old friend.”
“Friend,” Jared echoed.
He didn’t forget. Not the betrayal. Not the lies. Not the last time he saw Vin holding a gun to his back.
“You’re quiet,” Vin said. “Did I offend you?”
“No,” Jared said. “I’m just deciding whether or not to punch you.”
Vin gave a low laugh. “Still got that temper, huh? That’s good. Means you haven’t totally given up.”
Jared went back to the car. “What do you want, really?”
Vin leaned against the wall, arms folded. “I want information. You’re not acting like the loser son-in-law you used to be. People are talking. You’re calm when everyone else is losing their minds. That usually means one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“You know something.”
Jared said nothing.
Vin continued, “You always had that brain. You see things others don’t. Hell, you warned me about that virus theory back in school, remember? The one that mutated under radiation stress? You called it ‘Phase Z’.”
Jared froze.
Vin grinned. “Yeah. That one. The same strain some news outlet just mentioned five minutes ago. You told me it was theoretical. Funny how it suddenly isn’t.”
“You’re reaching,” Jared muttered.
“Am I?” Vin stepped forward. “I think you know what’s coming. And I think you’re planning something. Stockpiling. Hiding. Escaping.”
Jared kept his expression unreadable.
Vin’s voice dropped. “I want in.”
Jared looked up slowly. “You?”
“Yeah. You’re not the only one who sees the writing on the wall. Whatever you’re building, I want to be part of it. No strings. Just survival.”
There it was. The same snake charming his way into safety. But Jared wasn’t the same fool who once trusted him.
“You’ll betray me the second it benefits you,” Jared said.
Vin didn’t deny it. “Maybe. But right now, I’m useful. I’ve got contacts, warehouses, tech. You’re going to need people like me.”
“I don’t need rats.”
“You’ll need allies,” Vin said, stepping closer. “And trust me, when society collapses, the only people still breathing are the ones who knew how to play dirty.”
Jared met his gaze. And for a moment, it was like looking back through time—at the man he once admired. Before the power. Before the greed.
“Here’s what I need,” Jared said, tossing a wrench onto the workbench. “Three crates of antivirals. Two satellite phones. One secure truck with an armored chassis.”
Vin blinked. “That’s a tall order.”
“Consider it your buy-in.”
Vin’s mouth twitched into a half-smile. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“I’m not bargaining,” Jared said. “I’m building a future. Either you help me or get the hell out of my way.”
Vin stepped back, clearly weighing his options. Then he nodded once. “Alright. Give me twelve hours.”
“Eight,” Jared said.
Vin arched a brow. “That’s not enough time—”
“You said you’re useful,” Jared interrupted. “Prove it.”
They stared at each other for a long second. Then Vin smiled again, this time more genuinely.
“You’ve changed,” he said. “I almost forgot what you were capable of.”
Jared didn’t answer.
Vin turned and walked out, disappearing into the thick heat of the late afternoon. The smoke was thicker now. Sirens had stopped. The city was falling silent in the worst way.
And Jared?
He tightened the last bolt on the engine and closed the hood.
The old SUV roared to life.
One step closer.
The countdown ticked on.
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Episode 12: Storm Roads
The rain started two hours after they left the bunker. It wasn’t gentle or forgiving—it came down in sheets, pounding against the broken asphalt of the highway like the sky itself was trying to scrub the world clean.Jared gripped the handlebars of the old military bike they’d found in an abandoned checkpoint shed. It roared down the cracked road, tires skimming puddles, engine groaning from years of disuse. Mei sat behind him, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, face pressed to his back to shield against the cold wind.They hadn’t said much since escaping the bunker. There was nothing to say. Every second counted now.“We’ll need fuel in the next twenty miles,” Jared shouted over the storm.Mei nodded, wiping water from her eyes. “How do you even know this bike will make it?”“I don’t,” he replied flatly. “But it’s faster than walking.”The sky above them flashed—lightning streaked jagged through the clouds, illuminating the skeletal remains of a once-bustling town. The buildings
Episode 11: Beneath the Surface
The entrance to the uplink bunker was buried beneath layers of moss, rotting leaves, and a collapsed thicket of tree limbs. No one would have known it was there unless they were looking. And even then, it took Jared nearly twenty minutes to uncover the old steel hatch hidden beneath a camouflaged tarp coated in decades of forest debris.Mei knelt beside him, shivering from the cold sweat that came with fear. She held the rifle tightly, even though she hadn’t fired it once yet. Her hands trembled, but her stance didn’t break.“This is it?” she asked quietly.Jared gave a slight nod. “Used to be a failsafe command post. Remote systems control. It was taken offline before the Collapse.”“Why would they hide it way out here?”“Because it wasn’t meant to be found. Not by the public.”The badge Finn gave him still felt warm in his hand. Like it carried the weight of all the ghosts it had passed through before reaching him. He slid it into the scanner beside the hatch. There was a long silen
Episode 10: The Ones Who Wait in the Fog
The fog hadn’t lifted by sunrise. If anything, it had grown thicker—so dense Jared could barely see past the tree line without straining. Nature didn’t move like this unless something unnatural had disturbed it.He was already dressed in full tactical gear, rifle strapped tight across his chest, boots laced up to the shin. His breath was slow, even, but everything about his body was alert. Primed.Mei stood on the porch in his old hoodie and jeans that didn’t quite fit, trying to shake the cold out of her limbs. She looked at the treeline and then at him.“You’re going out there, aren’t you?”Jared nodded once. “North Ridge sector. Something pinged the motion sensors.”“Could it be an animal?”He strapped on his knife. “Not unless it knew how to disable the backup camera first.”Her mouth parted slightly. “Someone’s watching us.”“They’ve probably been watching for days.”She took a breath, trying not to panic. “Let me come with you.”“No.”“I’m not staying behind while you walk into
Episode 9: Shadows in Echo Ridge
They reached Echo Ridge just before sunset. The cabin sat at the top of a narrow gravel road, shrouded by thick pine trees and jagged cliffs on either side. To Mei, it looked like something out of a forgotten survival manual—modest, solid, a little crooked with age, but hidden well.Jared cut the engine and sat still for a second. His eyes swept the treeline like they always had before he approached any shelter—measured, alert. You didn’t survive as long as he had by assuming any place was truly empty.Mei leaned forward. “This is yours?”He nodded. “I built it after I left the service. Never brought anyone here.”“Why not?”“Because this was the only place in the world that was mine.”The wind picked up. It carried the faint scent of pine needles and distant smoke. Mei wrapped her arms around herself as they stepped out of the SUV. The air felt colder here—sharper.Jared led the way to the front door, keys already in hand. He paused as he reached for the knob.The door was slightly a
Episode 8: Fire on the Horizon
Jared didn’t waste time watching Mei pack. He knew the moment she walked back into that house, she’d feel the pull of comfort again. The luxury. The lie. If he gave her too long, she might stay.He loaded the SUV with what little gear he had—his old rucksack, a folded camp stove, a water filter he hadn’t touched in months. There was a sidearm buried in a lockbox under the driver’s seat. He checked it now, loading each bullet with mechanical precision.[Time Remaining: 66 hrs 03 mins][Objective: Evacuate Safe Zone]The system’s calm tone was beginning to unnerve him. Like a god whispering in a burning temple—offering guidance just moments before everything crumbled.Mei came back out fifteen minutes later, wearing a dark hoodie and jeans, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She looked different. Smaller. Like the world had finally reached her skin.“I didn’t bring much,” she murmured.“Good,” Jared said. “We’ll need room for supplies.”She climbed into the passenger seat without ano
Episode 7: The Tipping Point
The SUV’s engine rumbled low and steady like a warning growl. Jared stood beside it for a moment, listening, testing—every gear, every turn, every tremor in the machine. It wasn’t perfect. It wouldn’t outrun an explosion. But it would move, and in the days ahead, that was enough.He wiped his hands clean, though the grease clung to his fingers like guilt. The garage lights flickered. Another surge. The city’s power grid was failing in waves now, and no one was fixing it.[Time Remaining: 68 hrs 42 mins][Objective Update: Gather Med Supplies – In Progress]The system had gone quiet after that, no new prompts. No help. Just a countdown.He turned back toward the house.A sharp voice echoed through the halls upstairs—Mrs. Bai, again, her shrill tone cutting through silence like shattered glass.“You’re saying we can’t get through to the warehouse? What do you mean gone dark? Are you telling me the entire eastern district shut down and no one knows why?”Jared climbed the steps slowly, e
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