Hand Over the Spring, Belong to the Nation

I'm changing Sophia Reynolds' dressing. The bandages are being unwrapped, revealing a wound on her calf that's beginning to heal. She leans back in her wheelchair, her blind eyes staring blankly out the window, the Colorado July sun casting a warm glow on her face.

The door lock clicked.

Liam appeared at the door, dragging his suitcase, drenched in sweat, his T-shirt collar soaked. He glanced at the gauze in my hand, his eyes lit up, and he rushed over in a few strides.

"Brother, let me do it."

The gauze was snatched away. My fingers hovered in mid-air, grasping at nothing.

Liam squatted down in front of Sophia, his voice as sweet as expired honey: "Sophia, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you. I regretted it at the airport, all I could think about was you—what if no one changed your dressings, what if no one cooked for you? I flew back overnight."

Sophia turned her head, her blind eyes pointing precisely in Liam's direction: "Didn't you leave?"

“I regret it.” Liam’s tears came easily. “The thought of you having no one to take care of you breaks my heart. I brought you back, and I have to take responsibility for you to the end.”

I leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, watching it all with a cold eye.

I know it all too well.

Liam was reborn as well.

In my past life, Liam found a severely injured Sophia on the highway, cared for her for two days, then got tired of it and left her to go on a trip to Miami. After the apocalypse, I healed Sophia with my spiritual spring, and she awakened the strongest ice-based superpower in the country. We fought side by side, and I became the leader of the Doomsday Fortress. Two years later, Liam returned—disfigured, missing a hand, and with a numb eye. He was jealous of everything I had and didn't hesitate to use himself as bait to lure in mutated infected, wiping out the entire base.

Then I woke up in my rented room and heard Liam next door making a phone call to cancel his plane ticket.

It's the third day since we started over.

Liam's performance continued. He rested his head on Sophia's knees, his shoulders trembling: "I will never leave you again, I swear."

Sophia frowned slightly. She couldn't see it, but her intuition told her something was wrong.

Liam looked up and gave me a smug look—that "I won" smile I've seen since I was a child.

“Brother,” Liam stood up, patted my shoulder, and said in a tone as if he were comforting a loser, “You’ve taken care of me long enough. Let me take over. You should go relax and go on a trip or something.”

I didn't say anything.

no need.

Liam dragged the suitcase from the doorway, unzipped it, and found it empty—he hadn't packed anything; the suitcase was just a prop. He shoved the suitcase into my hands and pushed it outside: "It's a shame the attraction tickets can't be refunded, you go ahead."

Then he stepped back inside, one hand on the doorframe, a bright smile on his face: "Oh, by the way, give me the car keys. You can take a plane."

I tossed him the car keys.

He took it, nodded in satisfaction, and then—

"Bang."

The door closed.

I stood in the hallway and heard Liam's voice inside become extremely gentle: "Sophia, let me help you to the sofa, it's not comfortable here."

Then came the sound of wheels turning.

I didn't look back. I dragged my suitcase down the stairs and across the community sidewalk. A few neighbors were watering their plants in their yards and nodded to me; I responded mechanically.

As I walked into the community parking lot, I opened the pickup truck door—no, this wasn't my car anymore. My car now belonged to Liam.

But I have something else.

I got into the driver's seat—this was a used Ford I'd bought six months ago; the keys were in my pocket, and Liam didn't know it existed. I started the engine, and the air conditioning blew out hot air.

I pulled out the silver pendant from under my collar.

The pendant was left to me by my mother, and I used to treat it as just a keepsake. Until the third day of the apocalypse in my previous life, Sophia had a high fever, and in my panic, I knocked over a water glass, which soaked the pendant, and then I was sucked into it.

It's a space inside.

The meadow, about an acre in size, was as soft as a carpet underfoot. In the center was a spring, roughly a square meter in size, with a faint shimmering light on its surface. I scooped up some water and took a sip; my wounds instantly healed, and all my fatigue vanished.

That is the fountain of life.

I used the spring water for three days to confirm it had no side effects, then I started giving it to Sophia. Three days later, Sophia regained her sight. A week later, her legs allowed her to walk again. On the tenth day, she awakened her superpower—ice magic, powerful enough to freeze an entire street instantly.

We became the strongest team in the apocalypse.

As for Liam, the younger brother who abandoned Sophia to go on a trip, he crawled back to the base two years after the apocalypse, disfigured and with a missing hand. He was driven mad with jealousy when he saw Sophia and me standing at the top of power.

"That's all thanks to me!" Liam screamed in the base plaza. "I'm the one who brought her back! You should all be loyal to me!"

Nobody paid him any attention.

He attracted mutated infected individuals.

The entire base, with more than 3,000 people, was reduced to ruins overnight.

I closed my eyes and exited the space. The pendant pressed against my chest, slightly cool.

I took out my phone and glanced at the calendar.

July 14th.

There are three days left until the apocalypse begins.

Three days later, an unknown virus will break out simultaneously across the globe. Those infected will turn into bloodthirsty monsters, and ordinary people who are scratched or bitten will mutate within ten minutes. Governments will collapse within forty-eight hours, and order will vanish within seventy-two hours.

I dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

“Captain Miller,” I said into the microphone, my voice as calm as if I were making a car repair appointment, “this is Ethan Cole. We need to meet; it concerns national security. Now.”

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Send me the coordinates.

I hung up the phone, and the pickup truck drove out of the community gate. In the rearview mirror, my rented townhouse grew smaller and smaller. The second-floor window was open, and Liam leaned out, holding a beer, waving at me.

A bright smile.

I looked away and stepped on the gas.

The pickup truck merged into the traffic on the highway. On the dashboard, the phone screen lit up; a text message from Miller popped up: "Carsenberg, tomorrow at 12:00. Don't be late."

I flipped my phone over and placed it face down on the dashboard, looking straight ahead.

At the end of the highway, Denver's skyline was distorted by the heatwave.

Three days later, that city will become a living hell.

But this time, I will not let the tragedy of my past life repeat itself.

This time, I won't rely on anyone.

I have a sacred spring.

I have the state apparatus.

And my greedy younger brother—

A slight smile played on my lips.

I want to see how Liam will turn Sophia into a superpowered queen without the magic spring.