Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

Hector Grant led the way inside, and the others followed close behind.

Sierra was just about to take Candice’s hand and head in when she noticed Nathan standing rooted to the spot, hesitating.

Not only did he show no sign of going in, but he even seemed to want to back away.

He was acting so strangely. Sierra frowned. ”Nathan, what’s wrong with you? What happened?”

Nathan was usually carefree and boisterous, but he wasn’t the type to get easily spooked.

From the start of the apocalypse until now, Nathan had been through a lot. Ordinary things couldn’t scare him anymore.

For him to suddenly act like this, something serious must have happened.

Hearing Sierra’s question, Nathan subconsciously glanced inside but didn’t answer right away.

He was hesitating.

After all, what he had just seen was only a fleeting glimpse. He hadn’t even gotten a clear look at it.

So much so that now, thinking back, he felt like he might have been hallucinating.

’Would it be a bad idea to shout about something I’m not even sure of?’

With that in mind, Nathan ultimately just shook his head.

”It’s nothing. Let’s go in too!”

He said this through gritted teeth, as if psyching himself up to make some kind of decision.

After speaking, Nathan glanced inside again.

Hector Grant and the others were already inside. If they had really seen something amiss, it wouldn’t be this quiet.

’Could it be... I really saw it wrong just now?’

Thinking this, Nathan even walked ahead of Sierra.

Watching Nathan’s back, Sierra’s brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly.

Nathan could be odd at times, but this was the first time he’d ever acted this strange.

Just as she was thinking this, Sierra felt her hand being gently tugged.

”Sierra, why is Nathan being so weird?”

’Even Candice can tell Nathan’s being weird!’

Sierra thought to herself, but outwardly she just shook her head. ”I don’t know either. This is a new place, after all. There might be dangers, so Candice, you need to stick close to me, okay? Don’t run off on your own.”

”Okay!” Candice nodded her little head forcefully. ”I’ll stick to you like glue, Sierra!”

Candice’s face was all smiles, her eyes curving into little crescent moons.

’I like Sierra the best, so of course I have to stay with her always!’

...

Although Nathan had made up his mind, the farther he walked inside, the slower his steps became, and his heart couldn’t help but race with anxiety.

But when he finally walked all the way in and got a clear view of everything in the room, he froze.

Nothing!

There was nothing there!

There were no cylindrical tubes, let alone any corpses floating inside them.

Nathan was first surprised, then filled with disbelief.

”How can there be nothing? Did I really just hallucinate?”

Sierra had just led Candice inside and happened to overhear Nathan’s mumbling.

”What’s not there? What hallucination? What on earth is wrong with you?”

Just as Sierra finished asking, Jayce walked over.

”Sierra, what’s wrong? What are you guys talking about?”

Sierra shook her head. ”I’m not sure. I just walked in and heard him talking to himself.”

Jayce joined Sierra in looking at Nathan, waiting for his answer.

Nathan was still scanning his surroundings, his eyes wide.

But no matter how hard he looked, nothing around him had changed. He couldn’t see anything.

”I think I was hallucinating just now. I thought I saw corpses in this room.”

Nathan said, a wry smile on his face. ”I don’t know, maybe I’m just too tired. To think I’d have a hallucination like that.”

But Sierra found this strange. ”Whether it was a hallucination or not isn’t the point. The important thing is, you’re afraid of corpses?”

’That can’t be right!’

She’d known him for so long. How had she never noticed before that Nathan was afraid of corpses?

The apocalypse had been going on for so long; Nathan had seen more than his fair share of dead bodies.

Whether they were Aberrant Beasts, humans, or zombies, he saw them almost every day.

Even if there were corpses here—which there weren’t—it would be strange for Nathan to make such a big fuss about it.

”It’s not that I’m afraid of corpses, it’s—”

”What are you all talking about?”

Dr. Hayes’s voice suddenly cut in.

They all turned at once to see Dr. Hayes, who had approached them at some point and was now standing a short distance away, watching them.

Dr. Hayes’s face was as expressionless as ever, and even his voice had been completely flat.

Sierra shook her head slightly. ”Nothing, Dr. Hayes. What brings you over? Is there something you need our help with?”

’Shouldn’t Dr. Hayes be busy right now?’

’How does he have time to come over here?’

Just as she was wondering, she heard Dr. Hayes’s reply.

”Didn’t I just say? There’s a lot of equipment here that can be used to give you all a check-up.”

Sierra was about to say they didn’t need one, but Dr. Hayes spoke again.

”Didn’t you ask me before to take a look at Candice? There’s equipment here, so it’s a good opportunity to examine her.”

Sierra was a little surprised and glanced down at Candice.

It was true that she had wanted to find out what was going on with Candice.

But now, she no longer felt that way.

As long as Candice was healthy and safe, nothing else really mattered.

”Thank you, Dr. Hayes,” Sierra said first. ”But that’s alright. Candice is perfectly healthy right now, and there haven’t been any issues. Nothing else is that important.”

Dr. Hayes didn’t answer right away, seeming not to have expected Sierra to refuse.

After a moment of silence, Dr. Hayes finally nodded. ”If that’s the case, then I’ll get back to work.”

With that, Dr. Hayes turned and walked away.

In the instant he turned, unseen by anyone, a dark glint flashed in his eyes and was gone.

”Dr. Hayes is so nice,” Candice said in her sweet, childish voice.

”Dr. Hayes is indeed a good person,” Sierra agreed with a nod.

Since they had met Dr. Hayes, he had indeed helped them quite a bit without asking for anything in return. He was a very decent person.

As she was speaking, Sierra noticed Nathan staring at Dr. Hayes’s retreating back. His expression was very strange, as if he was thinking about something, but also hesitating.

”Nathan, what is it, really?” Sierra pressed him again.

’Just spit it out. Acting like this is so weird. It’s not just baffling, it’s actually kind of irritating.’

”I just think...” Nathan paused for a moment before continuing, ”There’s something weird about Dr. Hayes.”

...

Dr. Hayes was bustling about with a group of researchers.

They were calibrating various machines.

The entire laboratory was now powered up.

The cold, white light reflected off the various metal instruments, making the whole lab feel even colder.

With nothing else to do, Sierra watched their busy figures for a long time. As she watched, she noticed something.

It seemed that Dr. Hayes and his team had no intention of taking anything with them when they left...