LETHAL REVIVAL: AN APOCALYPSE REBIRTH

ONE

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ONE - BEFORE REBIRTH

October 12, 2090 - Country Q, Base D, Laboratory

The first rays of sunlight fell on a small, isolated white bed through the frosted windows of the laboratory. Although it was dawn, the reddish hue of the sky gave the whole chamber a gloomy look. The sight made onlookers think of human blood fused into the atmosphere.

On the bed, there laid a naked woman, with dozens of syringes attached to her torso and a thick tube connected to her hairless scalp.

Puss was dripping from the cimmerian blisters covering her whole body, and a foul smell permeated the room.

Only, despite her condition, the person on the bed had strikingly bright, clear eyes. Her orbs spoke volumes of resolution and indifference, glimmering with wisdom. Even while lying inert on the bed, it was hard to overlook the noble air around her.

The woman grimaced, musing that she had to live through yet another day of hellish torture. The rims of her eyes turned red. If it's not that her loved ones were waiting for her, she would have given up already.

There is no reason for her to persist if not for the anticipation of a better future.

But now, in this condition, she felt that it was better not to burden them. She is paralyzed from head to toe now. She didn't want to hold back their hind legs and depend on them each time she stirred.

She tilted her head and tried to glance at the date in the calendar.

She felt like she used all her strength but didn't even move her head an inch in reality.

Before she nearly collapsed, she finally saw the date.

October 12, 2090.

She stiffened. It was precisely seven years since Day-1, the start of the apocalypse.

She laughed humourlessly. She had never thought that her life would end up like this!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The daily alarm near her bed rang, signifying it was 6:30 am. For her, the sound was like a call from hell.

A scientist entered the laboratory room, walked towards her bed, and silently injected her with a chemical mixture. Piercing pain crashed over as usual, and yet, she didn't even protest. She knew it wouldn't make a variance.

She, Feng Zhi Lian, herself was a distinguished scientist. So she clearly understood the havoc induced by years of unauthorized medical practices.

By terming 'medical practice' here, she means pure misery in the name of baseless injections and surgeries!

At first, they had anaesthetized her. But gradually, for the sake of observing her body reactions, they stopped doing so. Even though the pain was temporary, the tension has taken a severe toll on her mental endurance and health. Presently, she couldn't even handle a little bit of strain - she was slowly, but surely, dying.

Two years had already passed since her captivity. The scientists here treated her as a test rat - a victim of countless experiments. Now, she has gotten ill to the point that she couldn't even lift her hands! A mere panic attack could be lethal. Looking at her bony limbs blankly, she widened her eyes. She seemed to have abruptly realized that she was presently just a foot away from death's door.

She eyed the transparent virtual screen in front of her as it swiftly reported the current affairs. It was by this terminal before her bed that she had acquired the happenings of the past two years. Her thoughts shifted to her family, and she couldn't help the bitter-sweet smile that appeared on her lips.

Her father and elder brother were both in a high position at the Xi Base. They were still looking for her whereabouts tirelessly. She knew that for her, they would have searched for every minute detail. Nevertheless, even after seven years, they couldn't find her. From this fact alone, she knew that her information hadn't leaked outside the laboratory.

Reminiscing, she wondered if she could see them all for one last time. She suddenly jerked tautly.

Due to over-stimulating her nerves, she was overly sensitive to her surroundings. So when she suddenly perceived a high-pitched voice sounding next door, she wasn't taken aback, but her orbs instantly turned icy. The one yelling was her so-called follower, Shen Yuan.

Before, she had blindly believed that Shen Yuan was the only reason for her years of suffering as a test subject. After all, she and her scientist boyfriend - Xing Ming, were the ones who captured her when she was at the weakest. But, contemplating after all these months of interactions with them, in addition to a few suspicious events, Feng Zhi Lian couldn't think so anymore.

There was something more perplexing, someone more sly involved in this matter than she had reckoned. She also discerned that keeping her as a captive here is only a part of their scheme. Their real motive is something huge, something dangerous.

Abruptly, the laboratory door opened. Feng Zhi Lian instantly steadied her emotions and expressionlessly looked at the woman who had just entered the room.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 30's approached her with steady steps. Despite living at the apocalypse times, she was donning a showy and heavy red long dress. Her makeup, however, couldn't conceal her dry and ageing skin. Nevertheless, in the apocalypse, she appeared to be living just fine. She had delicate features and could be called good-looking. However, the malice displayed between her eyebrows diminished her beauty by several points. With lips hooked into an egotistic smile, she somehow appeared to be in a pleasant mood.

"Look who is putting on airs as if they own the whole world." Shen Yuan looked at her and sneered, "Just from your disgusting appearance and smell, even zombies would start vomiting. For whom are you pretending to be all great?"

Feng Zhi Lian didn't even bother to spare an extra glance at her.

Shen Yuan scoffed. She didn't know what the other has to act so sophisticatedly.

She smirked. She is just like filth now.

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Author's note: So that's all for the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.

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