Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday - Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Doomsday (III)

Fifty-nine seconds

The air seemed to freeze.

Forty

A bead of sweat rolled down someone’s temple.

Thirty

Hearts started pounded louder than any clock, or even the timer that was doing the countdown.

Fifteen

The room held its breath.

Ten

The tension became suffocating as the final countdown of the remaining nine seconds began. Every second was dragging the world closer to what felt like the edge of existence. Each number weighted with the dread of an inevitable end.

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

Zero

END!

But nothing happened.

No earthquake. No volcanic eruption. No apocalyptic rain. No swarming hordes of the undead. The world remained eerily, impossibly still.

And yet, Grace and the others huddled in her apartment couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief. The silence wasn’t comforting – it was the kind that seeped into the soul, whispering that the worst had already arrived.

“Why is… nothing happening?” It was Aleena who broke the silence and asked what everyone was wondering about at that moment. All the eyes settled on Grace who moved closer to the floor-to-ceiling window to take a look at the outside world that was covered in darkness.

When she found nothing different outside the window, she peeked at the timer again inside her space, only to see big bold letters that read – THE END OF WORLD IS HERE!

“Grace?”

Her attention returned to the people standing behind her, specifically on Davian who just called her name. She took a moment to study them all and found herself feeling relieved when she realized that not even one of them was looking at her with judgemental gaze.

No! They hadn’t begun questioning the liability of her information about the world coming to an end. They were just as confused as her and wanted to know what was going on.

“The system is showing that the world has already come to an end. But I can see no such sign just like the rest of you. I’m lost too.” She finally spoke, turning her attention to the outside world.

There was silence in the room for what felt like next two minutes before Dr. Kian spoke – “Maybe it’s a kind of end we can’t see or feel immediately?”

His words pulled her out of her thoughts and made her recall the happenings of the previous timeline once again. “In my and Davian’s previous timeline, the government announced the end of the world when around a million cases of zombies were recorded. However, not all those people turned into zombies immediately. They took about 2-3 days for the transformation…”

As she continued speaking, the wheels were turning in her head, trying their best to make sense of the current situation.

Her gaze shifted to Davian as she continued, “Maybe the system is recording today as the end of the world because the world might see the first zombie case today?” While this sounded like a good enough reason, she still couldn’t make herself sound confident as there was no way to confirm it… yet.

However, it seemed like her reason sounded good enough to others. Little by little, they all started to relax.

“To be honest, it sounds crazy now to think that we all were literally waiting for a group of zombies to suddenly appear out of nowhere and attack us.” Ryan said with a small smile and a shake of his head.

Soft chuckles suddenly broke out in the previously super-tensed living room, bringing a much-needed lightness with it.

“You all should return to your apartments and get some rest. We will continue with this tense waiting from morning.” Grace said while addressing the team, fully aware that they might still not be able to fall asleep peacefully.

She watched as the team members shared glances among themselves, not really liking the idea of separating. Letting out a sigh, she spoke again, “I know what you all are thinking, but don’t worry. I’m sure if anything dangerous might come our way, 2025 will alert us. I will not leave you all alone… none of you.”

She wasn’t sure if her words were going to help much or not, but it seemed like she underestimated their trust in her. One by one, they all nodded their heads, accepting her promise and showing their trust in her.

“Good night, Boss.”

“Good night, King.”

“Good night, Doc.”

The team soon left the apartment, leaving behind only Davian and Dr. Kian to accompany Grace who moved to clean the almost cleaned dining table. Seth and a few others from the team were quick to clean the table and wash the dishes. Everything was neatly placed back in its place.

“Why you both are still here?” She asked as she stored all the remaining ingredients back in the warehouse inside her space.

The two were silent and shared a quick look between them. In the past few days, they seemed to have developed a mutual understanding and respect toward each-other, and this development was helping them a lot as they accepted each other’s presence in the life of the woman they cherished.

It was Dr. Kian who cleared his throat before speaking, somehow knowing just by a glance that King was thinking the same thing as him. “We don’t think staying alone in your apartment tonight is a good idea. How about the two of us stay here with you? I mean… we can stay in the second bedroom…”

Somehow, he ended up stuttering a little in the last sentence when Grace suddenly shifted her full attention toward him, her eyebrows arching as if she was questioning his bold and very unexpected suggestion.

“We?” Grace asked, her gaze shifting between Dr. Kian and Davian.

Dr. Kian turned his attention toward Davian and the latter decided to answer the question. “That’s right. We.” He took a step toward her, removing some of the space from between them as he continued, “The two of us are going to sleep in the second bedroom.”

Unlike Dr. Kian, he wasn’t asking, but letting her know that she wasn’t going to be left alone on a night like this.

Before Grace could have spoken, someone entered her apartment…!