Chapter 12: Chloe Lansing's secret

Chloe's POV

At the register, Ada took the bagged medication from the clerk, checked it over carefully, and turned and walked out without so much as another glance in my direction.

Thinking of that pendant that had vanished for no reason, I followed her out.

Ada moved faster than I'd expected. I had barely stepped out of the pharmacy when I saw her getting into a black sedan parked at the curb.

I hurried over at a jog and pounded on the window. "Wait! Ada! Listen to me..."

The car shot forward right in front of me. I stood frozen, watching the bright yellow taillights slip past the corner.

No. Something was wrong.

That thought wound round and round in my head. And at the same time, my thoughts went back to that strange post that had quietly appeared in my inbox.

One morning I'd received an email with no signature. The sender was a string of garbled characters, and inside there was nothing but a link hanging alone in the middle of the screen.

As a hardcore doomsday enthusiast, I recognized it at once as the URL of a post on a doomsday forum. I clicked through, and a line of bold, oversized text struck my brain like a thunderbolt: "The end is coming. Brad Whitaker is the one true god."

I scrolled down, dumbstruck. There were prophecies of a zombie virus and the collapse of order, and my neighbor Brad's name appeared again and again. Most of it was about him, really, as if it were a novel with him as the protagonist.

From that day on I clicked into it every single day. New content appeared every few days, but there was never a single comment beneath it, and I couldn't find the post by searching the forum, as if it were open to me alone.

According to the post, Ada Reyes was supposed to be the stupidest of all the women around Brad.

Brad was never short of beautiful admirers, and Reyes was hopelessly devoted to him. She wore herself out looking after him, and even extended that love to the rest, treating his other women kindly.

There was no doubting the post's accuracy. After I followed its prophecies and witnessed with my own eyes several attacks by the infected, I never questioned its credibility again.

But the way Ada Reyes had acted in the pharmacy just now was not the attitude of a woman who still loved Brad. It was more like the detachment of an outsider looking on coldly, with a trace of mockery.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms; the sting cleared my head a little.

That woman's pendant was a wondrous portable space, and she didn't even know it herself. Judging by her reaction just now, she hadn't discovered its secret. She'd probably just been overcome by old memories and put it away for the time being.

When the time was right, I had to find a way to get that pendant for myself, bind myself to its space ahead of time, and become the woman Brad valued most.

According to the post's prophecies, Brad would survive the outbreak and evolve. So far there were only vague fragments mentioning that in his early stage he could harden soil. But the post stressed his role as the Savior time and again, prophesying that he would later awaken the most powerful ability in the world.

If I could win Brad's favor, then with his formidable power I would have the safest possible refuge in this apocalypse. While everyone else struggled to survive among the hordes of the zombies, I'd be sitting in a beautifully decorated villa enjoying wine and parties, wouldn't I?

As for Ada Reyes, I was sure she was just being stubborn. Women with broken hearts are all like that. She gave every appearance of not caring at all, but deep down she was probably longing more than anyone for Brad to come back and sweet-talk her properly.

Once Brad was out of the hospital, with a little nudging from me, she'd come meekly back to his side. And then I'd find an occasion to ask Brad for the pendant, and to please him, she might even hand it over herself, with both hands.

"Fine." With that thought, I smoothed my windblown hair and smirked at the receding car. "I'll let you keep up that stubborn act a couple more days."

Half an hour later, carrying a fruit basket, I knocked on the door of Brad's hospital room. He was propped against the headboard, scrolling through his phone, a shadow of barely concealed sullenness in his eyes.

When he saw me come in, a delighted smile spread over his face. "Baby, you came."

I set the basket on the bedside table. "How are you feeling?"

He moved his right arm, which was in a cast, his expression sour. "The doctor says the bone's shattered too badly. Even after it heals there'll be aftereffects. That damned woman..."

"That fucking bitch Ada! She does this to me and then has the nerve to block my number." He bit down hard on that name, as if he wanted to swallow the woman whole.

I reached out and laid my hand gently over the back of his uncast hand. "Calm down, darling. I'm sure it's just a little misunderstanding between you two. Wait until she's cooled off, then go talk to her properly."

Brad snatched his hand back, his voice turning shrill and twisted. "Misunderstanding? All I wanted was to borrow five million from her, and she cripples my hand! She got that huge sum of money. As her boyfriend I'm entitled to half!"

A vicious glint flashed through his eyes, and he laughed through gritted teeth.

"Hah. A few days without me and she'll come begging me to come back. And then I'll make her kneel down and apologize."

Make that woman from the pharmacy today bow her head and show weakness? Her look flashed suddenly through my mind, and an inexplicable chill ran through me.

There had been no emotion in that look at all, only a calm like someone who had already seen how it all ends.

I shook my head and pushed the unease back down. The post's prophecies couldn't be wrong. Brad had only to curl a finger, and Ada Reyes would crawl back to him like a faithful dog.