2026-08-28 07:00:51Chapter 5 — The Woman I Was Supposed to Hate
Ethan stared at Mia.
She was crying.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just two silent tears sliding down her cheeks.
For some reason, that frightened him more than the soldiers surrounding them.
Mia looked at him as if she were waiting for a verdict.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ethan didn't answer.
His mind was still trapped inside the memory.
A laboratory.
A Tower.
A woman beside him.
Her face.
Mia's face.
It couldn't be a coincidence.
But there was something else.
The woman in his memory had called him by a different name.
Not Ethan.
Subject 72.
He looked down at the device in his hand.
The screen had changed.
MEMORY RESTORATION: 17%
Only seventeen percent.
If seventeen percent had already shown him that much, what would happen when he remembered everything?
A gunshot cracked through the street.
Ethan moved instantly.
He grabbed Mia and pulled her behind a concrete barrier.
The bullet struck the pavement where her head had been.
"Down!"
More shots followed.
Adrian ducked behind a vehicle.
"Those aren't ordinary soldiers!"
Ethan looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"They're Helix security."
"They're soldiers."
"No."
Adrian shook his head.
"They're hunters."
Ethan peeked over the barrier.
Eight men.
Black armor.
Advanced rifles.
No panic.
No hesitation.
They were moving as a unit.
One soldier raised his hand.
The others stopped.
Then he pointed directly toward Ethan.
"Subject 72 confirmed."
Another soldier spoke into his radio.
"Secondary target confirmed."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Secondary target?"
He looked at Mia.
The soldiers weren't just after him.
They were after her too.
"Mia."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"They know you."
Her expression changed.
"What?"
"They called you the secondary target."
Mia shook her head.
"I don't understand."
Adrian shouted from behind the vehicle.
"Because you're not who you think you are!"
Mia looked furious.
"Stop talking in riddles!"
Adrian stood.
"They erased your memories."
"Why?"
"Because you were the only person who could control him."
Mia stared at Ethan.
"Control you?"
Ethan felt another wave of confusion.
Adrian continued.
"You were partners."
Mia's lips parted.
"No."
"Before the apocalypse."
"No."
"You designed the Awakening together."
Ethan suddenly remembered something.
A hand.
His hand.
Holding another hand.
A woman's fingers intertwined with his.
They were running through a laboratory.
Someone was chasing them.
The woman laughed.
"You always run too slowly."
Ethan heard his own younger voice.
"Because you never wait."
The memory vanished.
Ethan looked at Mia.
She was staring at him.
"I remember that."
"What?"
"You said that to me."
Mia shook her head.
"I don't remember."
"But I do."
He took a step toward her.
"You were always faster."
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
"Stop."
"You hated elevators."
She stared at him.
"You always took the stairs."
"Ethan..."
"You drank coffee without sugar."
She covered her mouth.
"I said stop."
"You used to call me..."
Ethan froze.
He couldn't remember the word.
It was right there.
At the edge of his mind.
A name.
A private name.
Something only she had called him.
Then—
A soldier threw a grenade.
Adrian shouted.
"GET DOWN!"
The explosion knocked Ethan backward.
Smoke filled the street.
The barrier shattered.
Mia screamed.
Ethan crawled toward her.
"Mia!"
No answer.
He pushed through the smoke.
She was lying on the ground.
Blood covered her shoulder.
Ethan grabbed her.
"Stay with me."
She opened her eyes.
"I'm okay."
"You're bleeding."
"It's not deep."
Ethan looked at the wound.
The blood was strangely dark.
Almost black.
His expression changed.
"Mia..."
"What?"
"How long have you had that mark?"
He pointed at her wrist.
A tiny black symbol was visible beneath her skin.
72.
Mia stared at it.
"I've never seen that before."
Adrian suddenly appeared beside them.
His face had gone pale.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
Adrian grabbed Mia's wrist.
"She's activating."
"Activating what?"
"Her original ability."
The mark began glowing.
Mia screamed.
Black energy spread from her wrist toward her arm.
Ethan grabbed her.
"Adrian!"
"I can't stop it!"
"Then do something!"
"I don't know how!"
Mia's body began shaking.
Her eyes turned completely black.
Then—
Everything stopped.
The gunfire.
The rain.
The screaming.
Even the smoke seemed frozen.
Ethan looked around.
"What happened?"
Adrian whispered:
"Time."
Ethan stared at him.
"What?"
"She stopped time."
Mia slowly stood.
Her eyes remained black.
She looked at the soldiers.
Then raised one hand.
Every weapon in their hands shattered simultaneously.
The soldiers froze.
One tried to move.
He couldn't.
Mia looked terrified.
"I didn't do this."
Ethan stared at her.
"Yes, you did."
"I can't control it."
Adrian looked at Ethan.
"You need to talk to her."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the only person she can hear when she enters this state."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Mia."
She looked at him.
"Ethan..."
Her voice sounded distant.
"Tell me to stop."
"You need to stop."
"I can't."
"You can."
"I'll hurt them."
"They're trying to kill us."
Mia looked toward the soldiers.
"That doesn't make it right."
Ethan stared at her.
Even with her memories erased, she was still the same person.
He remembered that.
She had always hated violence.
Even before the apocalypse.
"Ethan..."
"I'm here."
"I'm scared."
He reached for her hand.
The moment their fingers touched—
A shockwave exploded.
The world snapped back into motion.
The soldiers collapsed.
The rain continued.
Cars burned.
People screamed.
Mia fell into Ethan's arms.
He caught her.
Adrian stared at them.
"You still have the connection."
Ethan looked at him.
"What connection?"
"The Resonance."
"What is that?"
Adrian hesitated.
"The reason the two of you were chosen."
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Chosen for what?"
Adrian looked toward the Tower.
"To decide what happens after humanity ends."
A low rumble shook the city.
The Tower's countdown continued.
71:41:08
Ethan stared at the numbers.
Almost seventy-two hours remained.
He looked at Adrian.
"Tell me everything."
Adrian shook his head.
"Not here."
"Why?"
"Because they're coming."
"Who?"
Adrian pointed toward the Tower.
"The real Helix team."
Ethan looked down the street.
Far beyond the destroyed vehicles, another convoy was approaching.
Not three vehicles.
Dozens.
Black armored trucks filled the road.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"How many?"
"Too many."
Mia slowly regained consciousness.
She looked at Ethan.
"What happened?"
"You saved us."
"I did?"
"Yes."
She looked at her hands.
"I don't remember."
Ethan helped her stand.
"You will."
Mia stared at him.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I remember something now."
"What?"
He hesitated.
"I remember loving you."
Mia's eyes widened.
Adrian looked away.
For a moment, the apocalypse disappeared.
There were no soldiers.
No Tower.
No black rain.
Only the two of them.
Then Ethan's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
One new message.
UNKNOWN:
If you trust Mia, you'll repeat your first mistake.
Ethan frowned.
Another message appeared.
UNKNOWN:
She wasn't the woman who betrayed you.
Ethan's heart stopped.
A third message.
UNKNOWN:
Maya was.
He stared at the screen.
Maya.
His wife.
The woman he had hated for three years.
The woman he believed had betrayed him.
The woman who had supposedly abandoned him during the apocalypse.
Ethan looked at Mia.
Then at the approaching convoy.
His memories were changing.
Everything he believed about his first life was beginning to collapse.
And then his phone displayed one final message.
UNKNOWN:
Find Maya before Helix does.
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Where is she?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Who?"
"Maya."
Adrian's face changed.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"Maya isn't your enemy."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Where is she?"
Adrian looked toward the Tower.
"She's already inside."
Ethan froze.
"Inside what?"
Adrian pointed toward the black structure.
"The Tower."
The countdown continued.
71:32:44
And somewhere inside that impossible building...
Maya Carter was waiting for him.
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