Love's End, Betrayal's Sting

told me he was a

e light I' d never seen before. We were in our fortified pentho

. "It helped me in my past life, and it' s helping me now. I

he dangers of the new world, and build an empire from the ashes. I, a scientist who dealt in facts and evidence, found it hard to believe

was my fi

utated creatures from the Wastes had broken through the outer perimeter. Panic erupted. People screamed and ran for

g at the door, then a heavy thud. The reinforced steel buckled inward. I grabbed the h

their eyes glowing with a feral hunger. They lunged. The first one knocked the wrench fr

crete floor. Teeth sank into my leg. I felt a sickening tear as muscle and flesh gave way. I fought, I kicked, I punched, bu

to die here, torn apart o

trange phrase he said was a backdoor, a way to link directly to his "system" in

oked out, the words tast

hs, everything faded. A soft, electronic chime echoed in my head, and th

do to you? How could you t

t sounded like confusion, maybe even disapprova

e were standing next to me. But the warmth

t handle the pressure, and Luna is my c

ted to creep back in. I felt a sharp, n

ttered my entire world. They plunged me into

ecting her a little? After this, my stock options wi

. He had sacrificed me, his wife, the woman who had built the very cure that kept this settlement alive. He had traded me to a pack of monsters to prot

ed deals. I was just a liability to be liquidated. The last of my strength left my body. The fight was gone. I stopped resisting. I closed my eyes an