At full speed, she drove her Jeep toward Jeffry's last known location.
Yanking the door open, she stepped back into the mutant zombie chamber.
But the place showed no signs of life; even the zombies had been torn apart beyond recognition. Using her flashlight, she began searching through the dark corridors filled with corpses.
As she scanned her surroundings, someone suddenly grabbed her arm. Instinctively, she fought back, driving her sharp elbow into her assailant's stomach.
A groan of pain followed as the figure doubled over. She quickly shone her flashlight on their face.
She was stunned when the beam revealed a bloodied and battered Jeffry—the man she had left behind earlier.
Without hesitation, she helped Jeffry up and searched for a safe hiding spot, worried that the zombies might rise again, considering how much blood he was covered in.
"Sorry, I didn't know" she said, panic evident in her voice as blood continued to seep from Jeffry's abdomen, soaking his black clothing.
She swiftly unzipped the black backpack she always carried and skillfully cleaned the wound on Jeffry's arm with alcohol.
As she reached to lift Jeffry's shirt to treat the wound on his stomach, a hand stopped her.
She glanced at Jeffry, confused by his resistance.
"I'll handle this part myself," he muttered.
Hearing this, Karina chuckled.
"What, are you embarrassed?" she said casually. "It's not like I'm interested in your abs. Move aside!" she added, shoving Jeffry's hand away.
After cutting his shirt open, she paused for a moment, taking in his well-defined muscles. Although she was used to seeing men shirtless during training, this time felt different.
Realizing strange thoughts were creeping into her mind, she shook her head to refocus.
"How did you get shot?" Karina asked as she continued treating his wound.
"A mutant attacked me—with a gun."
"I thought the mutants in the tubes were already dead?"
"Not them. There was another one—one that could think."
Karina froze, her hand still hovering over Jeffry's wound. The situation was escalating too fast.
She remembered that mutants with such intelligence weren't supposed to appear until three years later, yet only six months had passed. The events from her past life were unfolding much earlier in this one.
"Karina…" Jeffry's voice pulled her back to reality.
"Ah, sorry."
"There's something I want to ask you," Jeffry said, his bruised face tilting up toward her, one eyebrow raised as if prompting her to continue.
"How did you kill the mutant?"
"You just need to make a hole in their head and extract the core."
Jeffry fell silent after that. Karina braced herself for more questions, but none came.
"Done," she said as she finished wrapping the bandages.
Packing up her supplies, she let the silence settle over them. The moonlight peeked shyly through the window.
"Yawn…"
Hearing the sound, Jeffry turned his attention to Karina. "We'll head back tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm," Karina mumbled, placing her backpack under her head as a makeshift pillow. She was exhausted after the long day.
Watching her drift off to sleep, Jeffry stood up to ensure the door was locked and pushed a few tables against it. He pulled the curtains over Karina's body as a makeshift blanket.
Once the room was secure, he lay down beside Karina, who was already fast asleep. Under the dim moonlight, he observed her peaceful face.
As dawn broke, they made their way back to headquarters. After parking in the underground lot, he leaned on her for support as they approached the main gates.
Upon reaching the lobby, Jeffry was immediately surrounded by medical personnel dressed in white. As the group gathered around him, Karina slipped away unnoticed.
Feeling hungry, she headed straight for the cafeteria, realizing she hadn't eaten since yesterday.
"Karina," Eila called, suddenly plopping down across from her. "Hey, by the way, are you dating Mr. Jeffry?" Eila asked out of nowhere.
"Dating? What?" Karina replied, unfazed as she focused on her meal.
"You know, like a couple. I heard from the others that you two were holding hands. Ooh, ooh," Eila teased, her grin mischievous.
"I was just helping him," Karina answered nonchalantly.
"But it seems like Mr. Jeff has a thing for you. Rumor has it he never lets any woman get close to him—not even female doctors. Some even say he might be gay," Eila added excitedly, though she whispered the last part.
"You're ridiculous," Karina muttered, stuffing a piece of bread into Eila's mouth, signaling her to stop talking.
A fresh piece of bread was placed on Karina's plate. She looked up.
"Hey, long time no see," said a tan-skinned young man, his complexion having darkened further.
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages."
"You know what? Instead of joining the military team, he went and joined the cooking squad," Eila chimed in, her tone provocative.
"Hey, what's wrong with that? At least I'm not sneaking around the kitchen just to spy on Mr. John through the window. And now you got rejected, ha-ha!" Haikal shot back, sitting beside Eila.
"Why did you have to bring that up?" Eila snapped, stomping on Haikal's foot.
"Hey, ow! Why'd you step on me?"
"You two are hilarious," Karina remarked.
"You helped Mr. Jeffry earlier, so I'm here to say thanks," added a woman nearby.
Ignoring her, Karina stood up to return her plate. Seeing her leave, Eila followed, still pouting.
Haikal, confused, debated whether to follow. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to join them, leaving the woman alone at the table.
In the hallway, Eila continued trailing behind Karina.
"Who do you think that woman was? Mr. Jeffry's mother? Saying 'thank you' like that," Eila scoffed.
"You're just jealous because she's dating Mr. John," Haikal interjected.
"Shut up, Why are you even following us?" Eila shot back.