Chapter 1

My name is Jack Morris, I'm thirty-two, and I used to be the youngest captain in the New York Fire Department. But that was before the zombie virus outbreak.

March 15, 2024, the day that changed everything. I will always remember the image of Amelia White sitting in the coffee shop across from me—her long, golden hair cascading over her shoulders, her lake-blue eyes gleaming with tension. She wanted to break up with me.

"Jack, we're not right for each other." Her voice was as light as a feather, yet heavy enough to crush a man's chest. "I love Adam, and I always have."

Adam Kane, that damned Wall Street elite. Blonde, blue-eyed, incredibly wealthy, a prince driving a Maserati. And I'm just a firefighter rushing into a burning building to save people. Six feet two inches tall, muscular, scarred—these things seem rough and unsightly next to his perfect face.

We've been together for eight months. In those eight months, I thought I had melted the iceberg in her heart, that she had finally learned to love an ordinary person. But now I realize that I was just a stepping stone between her and true love.

"Amelia, I know I'm not as rich as him, but..." I wanted to persuade her, to convince her that I had a sincere heart and the determination to give everything for her.

"It's not about the money," she said, avoiding my gaze, her slender fingers gripping the coffee cup tightly. "It's about the feeling. With you, I don't feel that spark."

Heart flutter. What a cruel word. I fluttered my heart for her for eight months, but she never fluttered my heart for even a second.

Before I could stop them, a heart-wrenching scream came from outside the window.

On the street, a ragged homeless man was tearing at the throat of a passerby. Blood splattered on the glass window of the coffee shop. The bitten man twitched a few times, then... stood up, his eyes filled with nothing but bloodthirsty madness.

"What the hell is this?" Emilia grabbed my arm in horror.

I immediately stood up, my professional instincts driving me to quickly assess the situation. More infected people poured in from all directions, their movements stiff but aggressive, emitting beast-like growls. Within minutes, the entire city of New York was plunged into chaos.

Cars slammed to a halt and crashed into each other; drivers abandoned their vehicles and fled. Shop windows shattered, and screams of agony echoed from inside. Military helicopters began circling overhead, their loudspeakers blaring a chilling voice: "All civilians evacuate immediately! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"

"Stay close to me!" I grabbed Emilia's hand and rushed towards the back door. No matter what she had just said, I couldn't let her die here.

But I knew what she was thinking—she was thinking of Adam. The man who was working in Manhattan's financial district right now.

We rushed out of the coffee shop, the streets filled with blood and screams. A woman in a business suit was being attacked by three zombies, her screams piercing the sky; an old man was pushing his wife in a wheelchair, running frantically, but they were quickly overtaken and disappeared together into a horde of zombies; a school bus lay overturned on the side of the road, the cries and pleas for help of children coming from inside.

This is the beginning of the end of the world. The collapse of civilization, the test of humanity, a game of life and death.

"Adam! I need to find Adam!" Emilia struggled to run towards Manhattan.

"Are you crazy? That's the most dangerous place!" I held her tightly. Manhattan is the most bustling part of New York, with the highest population density; it's definitely a sea of zombies now. "Let's get to a safe place first!"

The tears and despair in her eyes pierced my heart. Even in this life-or-death situation, she was still thinking of another man. Love can be so cruel sometimes; it can make a person forget themselves, forget danger, and even forget the instinct to survive.

We ran for a long time in the chaos, and I used my firefighter experience to guide her through alleys, avoiding most of the zombie hordes. My physical training came in handy at this point, and although Emilia was wearing high heels, fear gave her strength.

Finally, we took refuge in an abandoned supermarket. It had been under renovation, so there were no customers, making it relatively safe. I blocked the door with shelves and checked all possible entrances to make sure we were safe for the time being.

Emilia huddled in the corner, dialing Adam's number repeatedly. Her fingers trembled as she pressed the numbers, over and over again, but the line was always busy.

"Please answer...please answer..." her voice was choked with sobs.

The phone network was down, but she refused to believe it. She preferred to believe that Adam was just too busy to answer the phone at the moment.

That night, I stood guard at the door, a hammer I'd found in the toolbox, listening to the howls of zombies outside, watching Emilia weep for another man. I finally understood what it meant to be utterly heartbroken.

The sounds outside were incessant: the roars of zombies, the screams of humans, and the distant explosions. Occasionally, living people would pass by; we could hear hurried footsteps and suppressed conversations, but I dared not open the door. In this situation, strangers might be more dangerous than zombies.

"Jack." In the dead of night, Emilia suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse.

"Um?"

"If...if we survive, can you help me find Adam?"

My heart was torn apart again. Even in this desperate situation, she was still thinking of him.

"Yes," I agreed reluctantly. "Once all this is over, I'll take you to him."

But I still love her. Even though she just rejected me, even though she has someone else in her heart, I'm still willing to give everything for her. Love is just like that—blind, irrational.

As dawn broke, the sounds outside gradually subsided. Emilia, exhausted from crying, fell asleep against the wall. I gently took off my coat and covered her with it, looking at her pale face.

Even in her sleep, her brow was furrowed, and she murmured Adam's name.

"Once all this is over, I'll take you to him," I whispered to her, though I knew she couldn't hear me.

What I didn't know was that this promise would become the biggest mistake of my life. Nor did I know that three years later, this very woman I had risked everything to protect would end my life with her own hands on our wedding night.

If I had known the ending back then, perhaps I would have chosen to turn away. But young love is always terrifyingly blind.

The world outside is no longer what we know. The zombie virus swept the globe in just a few days, paralyzing governments, routing armies, and collapsing human civilization in an instant. Power was cut off, communications were severed, and law and order vanished.

This once bustling metropolis has now become a living hell. And I, Jack Morris, am about to begin the most painful and longest three years of my life.

At that time, I had no idea what love would become in the apocalypse. I thought that as long as I was sincere and persistent enough, I would eventually win her heart.

How naive I was.