Sleep. Most of all, Sinjin yearned for sleep. Ever since she had stepped foot in Singapore, it had been a non-stop whirlwind of frenzied running around and navigating the chaos that followed. Pitching her technology, ZBot, to Zone 0’s chair had been the easiest part of it all. As expected, the chair was suitably impressed. They had shook hands, and decided to remain in contact, and Sinjin had stepped away from the meeting invigorated and pumped to return to China.

Instead, she had been assaulted on the way to the heli, dumped into the trunk of a car, and left for dead. Once she was rescued, she had mostly kept to herself, hugging her heavy red duffel to her chest. The man who had rescued her didn’t once look her way despite being her savior. Instead, he only hung his head between his knees and rocked on the balls of his feet. 

She figured it was the burden of guilt. Saving her had cost him his friend. It wasn’t her fault…not really. But the loss of an able man who had participated in her rescue didn’t sit well with her either. She hadn’t gotten the chance to thank him or the other young kid properly. She never would.

All she could do was move forward. Use her life to save as many people as she could. Even if that meant sacrificing the few. 

And she had seen so many die. At Zone 0, at the Jurong Lake zone. Many more would die if they knew who she was. Now that Zone 0’s shield was down, she knew Eden would be after her. It couldn’t be such a coincidence that the day she arrived in Singapore was the day she got kidnapped and the surrounding plasma shield went down. All this time, she thought Eden would want to capture her alive. Apparently not.

That was why it was in everyone’s interests that she kept her identity secret. The less they knew, the better. But now that they were out in the wild, she had second thoughts. If Eden was bent on teaching Singapore a lesson because of her, these people needed to know. Otherwise, they didn’t stand a chance. 

So when her real name left her lips in front of the doctor, a wave of anxiety swept over her. She could read in his face that her name hadn’t rung a bell in his mind. It shouldn’t. But still, paranoia seeped into her nerves.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

Realizing that her features had contorted into a wince, she shook her head. “No, you didn’t. And what’s your name?”

The doctor smiled. His kind eyes brought back memories of her mother and she couldn’t help but feel a sort of affection for him. “I’m Junming.”

The fact that his Chinese accent was so familiar only made her feel more at ease. She returned his smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“How long have you been in Singapore?”

“Just today.”

His mouth dropped wide open. “Wow. So you arrived by heli, I assume?”

“Yeah.”

She braced for the question that was bound to come. I mean, who wouldn’t ask why she was found in the trunk of a car?

“There. All done.” He patted her bandaged wrists. “Were your legs bound too?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?”

She shook her head.

He crouched and gently pulled the leg of her jeans up.

“It’s not as bad as your wrists,” he said after a short examination. “I can still bandage them-”

“No need,” she cut in. “Save it for those who are more injured.”

“Are you sure?”

She tugged her jeans down. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” His tone carried a tinge of disbelief but he got up anyway. The smile never left his lips. “I’m sorry your first day in Singapore had to end this way. Our country’s safe zones are pretty good.”

She couldn’t help but snort. “You don’t say.”

He colored in embarrassment, his hand flying to rub the back of his neck. As he backed away, she felt a little bad. It wasn’t his fault she had ended up here. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Her presence in Singapore was why they were holed up in this school.

But before she could apologize, he said, “Well, I’m glad to have met you. If you don’t mind, I’ll get back to my other patients.”

The corner of her lips twisted in an awkward smile. “Thanks for the bandage, Doctor.”

His gaze dropped to the floor and he ambled away to the group of people huddled near the grand piano. Now that she was alone again, she needed to sort out her survival plan. First things first, she had to contact her people in China. Based on what she remembered about the network in Singapore, there was probably a base station nearby. But she didn’t trust the security of the mobile network. No, she needed a secure line.

She dashed her gaze to the survivors at the other end of the atrium. They weren’t looking in her direction. Unzipping her bag, she removed a few items and placed them on the table. Then, she slowly lowered the bag to the floor with both hands. She kept her eyes peeled, making sure no one was watching her. With the toe of her shoes, she nudged the bag until it was nestled between the rows of table legs, right behind a large cardboard sign with “Happy holidays” printed in white letters.

With the items cradled in her arms, she backed away until she reached the wall, behind which stood two large scrolls with Chinese characters spelling out the school motto. Then, with a quick inhale, she rounded the corner. She circled the basketball court to the other block of buildings. Shielded by the short trees that lined the court, she ducked into the corridor and walked past several classrooms, keeping her eyes and ears peeled out for any signs of the undead. Specks of old blood dotted the windows of the classrooms and she was pretty sure she saw a hand hanging out between the slats. 

Repressing a shiver, she took a left and emerged on the other side of the school. The back road was surprisingly empty, save for a red car sitting in the carpark, its windshield shattered. If she squinted, she thought she saw a motionless corpse inside. She remained still.

The rain drummed heavily on the tarmac, a sheet of white blanketing the sky, obscuring the view of the buildings behind the school. Sinjin tried to calm her pounding heart. Bad visibility was good for her too. The zombies couldn’t see and hear her very well over the sound of the rain. 

She waited. A miniature lick of wind swayed the branches of the trees. Other than that, nothing moved.

She decided it was safe. She set her miniature communications pack down on the concrete ground and opened it. The pack had all she needed to communicate with the low earth orbit, or LEO, satellites launched by China, called QuanYun. She first set up the portable satellite dish, then the satellite terminal, and finally fished out her PalmComm.

It took her all of three minutes to get a signal and launch communications. When all was done, she picked up her PalmComm and tapped on the first number in her contacts. She pressed the PalmComm to her ear. Hearing the sound of the dialing tone brought a wash of relief.

After three rings, a man spoke. “Wei?”

“It’s me,” she replied in Chinese.

“Sinjin!” Relief flooded through the man’s voice. “I’m so glad to hear your voice. We were panicking over here when the heli didn’t come back on schedule. Are you still in Zone 0?”

“Yes. Wen ge,” she addressed him as Brother Wen, “listen to me. Things have gone to shit. Zone 0 is down-”

“It’s down?!”

“Eden turned off the shield.”

“Holy hell.”

“I think…” she paused, lowering her voice as her eyes flitted over her surroundings. “...they know I’m here.”

She could hear Wen suck in a breath, the gears in his mind turning as he figured out the implications of what she had said.

“We need to consider that they have infiltrated ZBot then.”

“It’s hard to say.” She rubbed her forehead and looked up at the falling rain. She should have brought an empty bottle to collect the fresh water. “There could be an Eden insider in Zone 0 too. Someone kidnapped me-”

“You were kidnapped?!”

“Calm down, Wen ge, I’m fine. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be calling you. Anyway, I got rescued by some survivors. We’re now holed up in a school. When can you airlift me off this island?”

Silence drifted down the line. Sinjin gulped as a chill ran through her veins. She rubbed her hands over the goosebumps that had popped up on her arms.

“Wen ge?”

“Sinjin, the heli that was supposed to pick you up hasn’t arrived at our base. We don’t have any more helis.”

“Councilor Fu. Let him know that I’m stranded here. I’m sure he can dedicate some resources to save me.”

“There’s been a zone breach in Beijing. All resources have been directed to save the Vice Premier there.” Wen paused, his tone taking on a severe note. “Councilor Fu can’t help.”

Sinjin stared out at the white sheet of rain. The drumming of water on the roof was muffled by the blood pounding in her ears. Dread seeped into her skin. Her breath shook as she tried to gather her wits.

“Sinjin, there is one way we can get to you.”

“How?”

“Remember the group of developers we were working with in Malaysia?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed through the enveloping fear that sat on her chest. “Y-Yeah, I remember them.”

“They have a heli in their zone. We can offer them ZBot’s latest technology for free in exchange for their heli.”

Hope bloomed in her. Her eyes flew open. “That could work. They can’t deny me entry if I promise them all the equipment in my bag.”

“You just need to get to their zone in Malaysia. I’ll message you the coordinates.”

“Great. Thanks, Wen ge.”

“And Sinjin?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

A smile split her lips. She pictured Wen ge standing in front of her now, his dark eyes anchoring her every time she looked at him. ZBot would not have come this far without him, her right-hand man. Neither would she. 

“Don’t worry,” she said, her voice strong and firm. “If Eden wants me, they’d better throw in everything they have. I’m not going down without a fucking fight.”

A warm chuckle trickled down to her. “That’s my girl. Well, I’m going to take care of the arrangements. You get your ass down to Malaysia.”

“Thanks, Wen ge. Stay safe.”

“You too.”

The call ended with a click. Sinjin let out a breath of relief and tucked her PalmComm away. As she knelt to pack her things, she mentally noted a list of things she had to do. Things were not ideal but it could be worse. At least Brother Wen was aware of-

She caught movement from the corner of her eye and spun to her left. 

Nothing.

She was alone. Heart racing, she held her breath. Her ears strained to hear the familiar guttural grunts or the shuffling of feet. Still nothing.

Seconds passed without event. She slowly zipped up her pack, got up, and retreated in the opposite direction without making a sound. When she had safely rounded the corner, she ran. There was no way in hell she was letting an undead get the best of her. Nor Eden, for that matter. She gritted her teeth.

Try and get me, you fucking bastards.