THE CEO'S APOCALYPTIC EDEN

6

Alaric, a man with a solid jawline and a burn scar running across his left eye, stared at the hologram of the Earth, which was now mostly gray.

"Show me those coordinates again, Delta," his voice was heavy, echoing off the cold steel walls.

A bright blue dot appeared in the middle of the dead zone—a stable energy anomaly amid the world's chaos. Eden. A place where neon lights, electricity, and life still throbbed like a healthy heart.

"Hilgord Industries," Alaric growled, his hands clenching into fists until his knuckles turned white. "Shane Hilgord, that lab rat... bastard!"

Alaric was not just a survivor. He was the leader of The Apex Consortium, a paramilitary group consisting of former mercenaries, technocrats, and strategists who considered themselves the rightful heirs to what remained of civilization. To him, every inch of inhabitable land was rightfully his.

"He possesses atmospheric purification technology and energy shields that should belong to us," Alaric continued. "Prepare the Vanguard Unit. We will not beg for access. We will execute a forced acquisition."

"Commander," a lieutenant approached hesitantly. "Eden's shield cannot be penetrated by conventional artillery. Data indicates they are using unstable gravity technology."

Alaric turned, his gaze fierce enough to burn the lieutenant alive. "Then use the Seeker-Class with Void-Pulse warheads. I don't care about the building structures. I want Shane Hilgord on his knees before me when I take my first breath of Eden's clean air. Target that district as top priority. We move out at dawn."

Meanwhile, inside the shimmering district of Eden, Shane stood in front of a vast monitor screen. Aura had just reported an intrusion from an old server farm in Sector-7.

"Sir, data on 'Project Genesis' has been accessed. Perpetrator: Nyx. She is the hacker who breached our secondary firewall."

Shane deeply valued talent, especially talent capable of penetrating the strongest defenses he had built. A satisfied glint gleamed in his eyes.

"She bypassed our 256-bit encryption using legacy hardware. She has the 'brain' we desperately need for our next evolution."

"Should I send an elimination unit, Sir?" Aura asked.

"No, Aura. That would be a waste of an asset," Shane replied. He typed several commands into the main console, reverse-hacking Nyx's communication line that was still passively connected.

Ten kilometers away, inside a server farm smelling of rusted metal, Nyx stared wide-eyed at her laptop screen. The code she had written to stay hidden suddenly turned gold—the signature color of the Eden system.

"What is happening?!" Nyx panicked, her fingers dancing across the keyboard trying to sever the connection, but her system was locked down.

A chat window opened on the screen with no sender. Just a single line:

"I like the way you work, Nyx. However, your playtime is over."

Nyx froze. Her heart pounded violently.

The text continued,

"A Beast Horde on a scale you have never seen is heading toward your position. They will reach your coordinates in 60 minutes. Eden is the only safe haven. If you can reach the outer gate before the hour is up, I will let you in. If not... you will become part of their food chain."

"Damn you, Shane Hilgord!" Nyx shouted, her voice breaking with frustration.

She knew Shane was playing games with her, but she also knew he wasn't lying about the Beast Horde. The sensors on her laptop began picking up low-frequency vibrations in the distance. It wasn't the sound of the wind. It was the noise of thousands of mutants moving in a death migration.

Nyx had no choice. She snatched her backpack, packed the data drive containing the secrets of Project Genesis, and grabbed her old pistol. She emerged from her hideout just as the sky above began turning pitch-black with dust and radiation.

Time marched on ruthlessly. 45 minutes remaining.

Nyx ran through the dead zone, her feet kicking through ruined concrete debris. In the distance, she could see swirling clouds of red mist moving rapidly—the Beast Horde. It was a mass of mutants gathered into a single destructive entity. They didn't merely walk; they consumed everything in their path.

Every few minutes, Nyx glanced at her smartwatch screen, forced active by the signal from Eden. 40 Minutes.

She had to cross the damaged Iron Bridge. As she crossed, a low-level mutant—a Scavenger with elongated claws—emerged from behind an overturned truck. Without hesitation, Nyx fired. The mutant's head burst open, but the gunshot attracted others.

"Come on, hurry up!" Nyx groaned, her legs burning.

Meanwhile, Shane watched her progress through high-altitude drone surveillance cameras. He saw Nyx's red blip moving toward the gate, pursued by a black wave of monsters behind her.

"Sir, our energy shield will sustain the first impact from the horde in 15 minutes," Aura reported.

"Good," Shane answered, sipping his black coffee. "We'll see just how valuable this girl is. If she makes it here, she'll be the key to the encryption we are developing. If she dies, she is merely a footnote in a failed history."

In Sector B, Sloane was also monitoring the situation. "Sir, the outer gate at Sector 12 will automatically lock down when the shield activates to withstand the horde's attack. If she doesn't arrive on time, she will be locked in the elimination zone."

"That is part of the test, Sloane," Shane said calmly.

30 minutes until the deadline.

Nyx was now in an open area. She was gasping for air. In front of her, the blue dome of Eden began to come clearly into view, glowing amid the darkness of a dying world. But between her and the gate stood thousands of mutants that had split off from the main horde to pursue her.

"They're faster than I thought," Nyx muttered. She pulled out a small homemade hacking device. Knowing she couldn't fight them alone, she targeted an abandoned fuel tanker truck on the side of the road.

With one precise shot aimed at the tank, a massive explosion erupted. Flames billowed high into the air, creating a wall of heat that forced the mutants to take a detour. Nyx didn't stop. She ran with all her strength, her lungs feeling as though they were being pierced by needles.

10 Minutes remaining.

Eden's gate was now in sight. Massive thick steel mechanisms were preparing to close. Yellow warning lights began flashing, signaling the impending lockdown closure.

"Don't close! Don't close, you bastard!" Nyx screamed, taking wider strides.

From the gate, Sloane appeared holding her heavy combat weapon. She watched the young girl running, with thousands of mutants roaring behind her like a storm ready to swallow everything whole.

"She's going to make it, Sir," Sloane reported via comms.

Shane, watching from his monitor, didn't avert his gaze for a second. "Keep the gate open until the last second. We shall see if she has the courage to step into the lion's den."

5 Minutes.

The Beast Horde was right behind Nyx. The wave of monsters was so massive that the ground trembled. Nyx could feel the heat of the beasts' breath on her back.

She summoned all her strength to sprint. One more step. Two more steps. She collapsed in front of the gate, her knees slamming into the ground.

"Open it! Open this damn door!" Nyx screamed.

The steel gate began grinding shut with the heavy roar of machinery. Nyx crawled forward, dragging her backpack, and just as the gate was left with a half-meter gap, she dove inside.

The gate slammed shut, striking the ground right behind Nyx's heels. On the outer side, thousands of mutants slammed into Eden's energy shield with a thundering crash that shook the entire dome.

Nyx lay gasping on the clean concrete floor. She looked up and saw a pair of black combat boots standing directly in front of her.

She looked up slowly. Shane Hilgord stood there, gazing down at her with an unreadable smile.

"You are right on time, Nyx," Shane said softly, his voice a stark contrast to the apocalypse hammering against the shield outside. "Welcome to the future."

Nyx, her breath still ragged, clutched her backpack tightly.