CHAPTER 25 — The Cabin
ELION — POV
Hours blurred together into road and sky.
The world passed by half wrong. There were trees, houses and cars parked normally, but then also broken houses, burnt cars, and bodies laid around every corner.
The world felt… hollow. Like someone had scooped out all the noise and poeple and left only the wind.
Around late morning, just before noon, my stomach reminded me I was still technically a living thing.
"Alright," I said, easing the SUV off onto a side turnout. "Food break."
We pulled into what used to be a scenic rest area—one picnic table still standing, the others overturned, trash cans knocked over. No zombies in sight.
"Everyone out," I said. "Well take a half hour break. Eat, stretch, use the potty, then we're back on the road."
Sarah gave me a grateful look. "Thank you. My back is not meant for this many hours in the car."
The kids poured out first. Aaron stumbled, hair a mess, rubbing his eyes. Lily popped out with the tablet still clutched to her chest like a cursed relic. Rea and Delilah stretched stiffly. Danny followed, hovering near his sister.
Alexiy walked around to my side and bumped my shoulder lightly with hers.
"Good job, driver," she said.
"Actually, this is the first time I've driven like this. I only got my license for a part time delivery job," I shared.
We grabbed some snacks and drinks from my Inventory — sandwiches, chips, jerky, granola bars, juice boxes. Something simple, and fast. We couldn't cook something unless we wanted to start a fire.
I stood near the SUV, eating and scanning the tree line, mana lightly pulsing at my fingertips out of habit.
Rea walked up beside me, opening a bottle of water. "You really don't relax, huh?"
"I am relaxed," I said.
She gave me a look.
"…This is your relaxed face?"
"...Yes."
She shook her head, amused, then turned her gaze outward. Her eyes unfocused slightly, getting that faraway sharpness that told me she was using Eagle Eye.
"Nothing near," she reported quietly. "At least within… I don't know. A few hundred meters? Maybe more. It's weird. I can see really far now, but I'm still getting used to the skill."
"Good," I said. "Keep practicing when you get the chance. That's one less thing to worry about."
We ate in uneasy peace.
Aaron and Lily were running around, it was fine as long as they didn't stray to far.
Alexiy came and sat next me, then she grabbed the side of my head and slowly pulled my head down so it was resting her lap. I could've resisted, by what man would resist being placed on heaven.
She wasn't wearing the extreme boot shorts, but she was wearing a short pair of jean shorts.
Her thighs were so pillowy and so warm. Her skin felt so soft and smooth. I laid down and jsut closed my eyes.
Roughly 30 minutes later, everyone was back in the car.
Back to the road, we finally got out of the city and on the open freeway. We started seeing people just after noon.
Little dots of movement on the sides of the highway. A figure waving both arms, screaming something I couldn't hear. A family huddled on an overpass. A guy on a bike pedaling like the devil was behind him.
Sometimes there were zombies behind them.
Sometimes there weren't.
I didn't stop.
Not once.
Not even when one guy ran toward the center divider and started shouting, face streaked with sweat and blood, eyes wild.
"Elion…" Sarah's voice was soft. "He looks—"
"I know," I said my voice flat.
I drove past. I wasn't a hero, or a savior. We didn't have the room or time to intervene and save each person we saw.
The SUV rolled on. His figure disappeared in the rearview mirror.
Rea watched me carefully.
"Doesn't bother you?" she asked.
"Of course it bothers me," I said. "I'm not that far gone."
"Then why—"
"Because if I stop for everyone, we all die," I interrupted, my voice harder than I ment it come out. "I already have eight people relying on me. I'm not gambling their lives for more strangers. That's the logical choice. Right now it's every man for themselves. I'm not a God, able to save everyone and offer mercy...."
Silence.
Uncomfortable. But nobody spoke up or argued. They all understood. They all saw the same thing I did: too many bodies, not enough space, not enough food, not enough control. If I started playing hero, we'd sink.
I tightened my grip on the wheel.
I wasn't a hero. The protagonist of a story. No...
"...I'm simply an insane bastard chasing power to be free...." I whispered so low nobody could hear.
The highway got worse the farther we went.
Cars had swerved sideways, blocking lanes. Trucks jackknifed across three rows. Some vehicles had just stopped dead, doors flung open, no one inside.
I had to slow down, weaving carefully between mangled metal and shattered glass.
"Why aren't there more zombies?" Lily whispered, peering out the window.
"Probably wandered to the cities," I said. "More noise. I don't think they eat so they don't need food. They probably just moved chasing whatever caught their attention. We're just driving through the aftermath."
It made things easier for us, sure. But that didn't make it less creepy.
At one point we passed a school bus on its side.
Nobody said anything.
We didn't need to.
The day dragged on. The sun arced across the sky. Shadows changed direction. The mountains grew closer—silver and green giants looming ahead.
By mid-afternoon, we finally left the worst of the highway behind. It took longer than expected driving through the remains of civilization but now that were on the more open road heading up the mountain we can speed up again.
The GPS directed us onto a smaller road. Then a smaller one.
Then what was basically a narrow, cracked mountain road that snaked upward like a drunk serpent.
Trees closed in on both sides. The temperature slowly dipped and the wind was picking up.
"Are we…" Sarah hesitated. "Is this really the right way?"
I glanced at the screen.
A thin blue line crawled up into the mountain.
"Yeah," I said. "We're on track. Remember this safe house was ment to be hidden."
The farther we drove, the less civilization there was. No gas stations. No houses. No barns. We were far away from any normal tourist or camping spots. Around us were just trees, rock, and the occasional rusted sign warning about ice and steep grades.
The sun began to slide toward the horizon, painting the sky in orange and violet.
"Are we close?" Aaron mumbled sleepily from the floor. He'd behaved the whole trip but I could tell he was hungry and tired of sitting down.
"I don't know," I admitted. "The GPS says yes. My sense of time says no."
"Can we text your friend?" Lily asked. She woke the tablet and frowned. "No service."
Of course.
"Don't worry about it," I said. "We'll just follow the road. She'll be there. Trust me."
Probably.
Hopefully.
By the time the GPS chimed and announced, "You have arrived at your destination," the sun was gone.
The mountain road curved into a small clearing—a roughly flattened patch of earth surrounded by trees. In the middle of it sat a old cabin.
From the outside, it looked… ordinary.
Old wooden walls. A slanted roof. The small porch with two worn steps. No were lights on. And there wasn't any smoke from the simple crude, chimney.
No cars were around. Or any visible life.
Just a cabin in the dark.
The GPS cheerfully pinged like this wasn't the most suspicious thing ever.
I parked the SUV facing the cabin, leaving the headlights on, washing the front in bright white light.
Nobody spoke.
Rea's hand found her gun again. Danny swallowed audibly. Delilah clutched the edges of her jacket.
Lily muttered, "This feels like a horror movie." And she wasn't wrong.
I turned off the engine but left the headlights on.
"Everyone stays in the car," I said. "Locks on. If anything looks off, drive back down the road. Rea, you take wheel, if something happens or I give you the single, go back to the first gas station down the road the one about 10 miles away at that one intersection. Wait 24 hours if I don't show then... sorry. "
Rea nodded once, serious.
Alexiy's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
"Wait," she whispered. "You're going alone?"
I squeezed her fingers.
"I'll be fine," I said. "There's only a small chance that this is a trap. Meso just has... weird tastes in interior design, that's all."
"Not funny," she murmured.
I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"I'll be right back." I whispered to her. Then I stepped out of the vehicle and shut the door. I saw Rea crawl forward and sit in the drivers seat and start the car up again.
The night air bit colder up here.
Crickets chirped faintly. Leaves rustled in the wind. The cabin's dark windows stared back blankly.
My footsteps crunched over gravel and dirt as I walked toward the porch.
Every instinct in me was alert. Mana coiled just under my skin, ready.
I reached the front door and knocked.
Four firm knocks.
The sound echoed strangely in the quiet.
No reply.
I tried again.
Nothing.
"Of course," I muttered.
I wrapped my hand around the knob and turned.
Unlocked.
I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.
It was dark. Dusty. But not… lived-in.
There was no furniture. No couch, or tables. The room didn't even have a secondary room. The interior was just a wide, empty space of wooden floor and walls.
And in the center of the room—
A square of reinforced metal.
It looked like the top of an elevator shaft, with industrial doors and a panel beside it. The panel had a keypad and a small red light.
I smiled despite myself.
"Classic."
I looked back over my shoulder at the SUV and lifted a hand, making a small "wait" motion to the others.
Then I walked up to the keypad.
The numbers glowed faintly.
Code: 02152020.
I typed it in. The first day we messaged each other off a sketchy forum.
The red light turned green. A soft mechanical chime sounded beneath my feet. The elevator doors slid open with a smooth hiss, revealing a metal interior lit with fluorescent strips.
Of course it wasn't just a cabin.
This was Meso.
There were always layers.
I stepped back to the door of the cabin and waved at the SUV.
"Everyone in!" I called. "Bring your bags. It's an elevator, not a trap."
Lily cautiously cracked the car door.
"How do you know it's not a trap?" she yelled back.
"If she wanted me dead, she'd do it by now, and way more creatively than death by elevator!" I shouted back.
Somehow that seemed to reassure nobody.
Still, one by one, they climbed out.
Sarah looked nervous but resigned her hands holding her children's. Aaron looked delighted—like this was some secret hideout from a comic book, and Lily still seemed hesitant. Rea's expression was unreadable, but she walked with calm steps. The twins stuck close together.
Alexiy came last, moving straight to my side, and holding my hand.
"If this is a trap, and I die" she whispered, "I'm haunting you."
"Fair enough." I winked.
We all squeezed into the elevator. It was surprisingly roomy, but eight people plus some bags still made it cramped.
The doors slid shut.
A moment of weightless silence followed.
Then—
We began to descend. Fast.
The feeling was subtle but unmistakable. The faint pressure in the ears. The soft hum of machinery. The cabin floor above us receding into darkness. It was very fast but felt sturdy at the same time.
"How far down are we going?" Danny asked softly.
"No idea," I said.
The ride continued.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
For a moment it felt like we were falling forever.
Then—just as Aaron started whispering, "This is so cool," under his breath—the elevator slowed.
The hum shifted pitch.
Then we stopped. The doors slid open with a smooth chime.
Light flooded in.
The first thing I noticed was the floor: A solid slab of black polished concrete.
The second that stood out were the walls—clean, white, lined with metal panels, emergency lights, and a few cameras in the corners. A sort of sci-fi bunker vibe. Functional but sharp.
The third thing that caught my eye—
Was the mounted, framed object on the wall opposite the elevator.
At first glance it looked like art. A dark, wet-looking thing preserved behind reinforced glass, labeled with neat black marker:
"Zombie Heart — First Kill 💖"
Lily made a strangled noise.
"WHY," she whispered, "is there a heart framed on the wall."
"Decoration," I said automatically.
"I hate this already," she muttered.
We stepped out into a wide corridor. Dim but lit enough to see. Doors lined both sides, some labeled, some not. I saw signs: STORAGE, GENERATOR, GYM, MED LAB, WORKSHOP.
Of course she had a whole facility down here.
Of course.
We stood there in a small, uncertain cluster.
Then a voice drifted down the hallway.
"Heeey~ You didn't die on the way here. I'm almost disappointed."
The voice was female. It sounded Light, almost amused. Her voice rang clear. Echoing a little off the concrete.
Everyone tensed.
I felt myself relax.
Just a little.
Because I knew that voice. While we had never met in person, we had send voice memos and pictures of each other.
A figure appeared from around the far corner.
She walked toward us with casual, unhurried steps—like she was heading to meet friends at a café, not greeting eight armed survivors in an underground bunker at the end of the world.
She was… Short.
Not super Short. But she had short legs, and short arms, she held her shoulders and chin up in a way that told me she couldn't stand even taller if she wanted. Around 5'2 or so. Short black hair cut close on the sides, a bit longer and messy on top. Sharp red eyes behind round glasses. She was wearing a band hoodie, cargo pants, boots. her hands in pockets.
There was a faint smear of something dark on one sleeve.
I chose to assume it was engine grease.
It probably wasn't.
Her gaze swept over the group rapidly. Calculating, dissecting, assessing. Not lingering on anyone specific to to long...
Until she got to me.
Then her whole face lit up.
"El. Freaking. Fio," she grinned.
She closed the distance in a few quick strides.
Before anyone could react, she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.
It was… surprisingly solid. She felt warm. Familiar, despite this being the first time we'd ever actually met in person.
She smelled faintly like metal, coffee, and blood.
"Wow," she laughed against my shoulder. "You're actually real. And you match your pictures. How disappointing. I was kinda hoping I could call you out for catfishing and add a pair to my collection."
I huffed a small laugh and hugged her back. Trying not think about the fact I knew she was talking about her 'castrated collection'.
"You're taller than I expected," I said. "I'm offended."
She pulled back just enough to look up at me—because yeah, I still edged her out by a bit.
Her lips curled.
"You sent that 'headpat' message, then drove off without opening the tablet again, didn't you," she said. Her eyes turning sharp on me.
"Maybe." I said lightly.
She reached up.
And flicked my forehead.
Hard.
I winced. "Ow."
"That's for dropping the 'I have a girlfriend' bomb in a text," she said sweetly.
Right.
There it was.
Her gaze slid past me then, to the others.
It was like watching a predator take inventory.
Her eyes moved over Lily. Aaron. Sarah. Rea. The twins. Alexiy.
She didn't smile.
Didn't frown.
Just… observed.
I felt the group stiffen behind me with every second.
Then she spoke.
"So," she said, tilting her head. "These are the strays you picked up."
Her tone wasn't cruel.
Just curious.
Dangerously curious.
I stepped slightly in front of the group without thinking.
"Yeah," I said. "They're with me." Then I pulled her face up to look back at me. Our eyes met.
We held that for a moment.
Then she shrugged.
"Alright then," she said. "If they're yours, they're under my roof. Just tell them the rules; I don't like my things getting broken."
Everyone exhaled at once.
She clapped her hands together.
"Welcome to Base A-17!" she said cheerfully. "We have beds, water, food, electricity, semi-stable structural integrity, and only a 4% chance of collapsing if the mountain above us shifts too much. Please make yourselves at home."
Lily mouthed, four percent?! behind me.
Meso saw that and smirked.
Then her eyes landed on Alexiy again—just for a beat longer.
She studied her.
Then looked back at me.
"So," she said casually. "'Girlfriend', huh?"
My stomach did a weird flip.
I opened my mouth—
And that was where I decided, for survival purposes, to stop thinking about it.
Because the real challenge?
Was just beginning.