Helena woke as the morning sun slid across her body. A faint groan escaped her as she turned onto her side.

  Nothing followed.

  No footsteps.

  No distant voices calling her name.

  There was no one left in this world who could disturb her. She was the only living person remaining. The only living being at all.

  Even so, habit pushed her to sit up instead of staying in bed. She stretched her arms and yawned softly. The woman who rose did not look her age. Her face held the ease of someone in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, despite the fact that she had lived far beyond a century.

  The small clock beside her bed read 19 April, year 2241.

  Helena had arrived in this world in 2120, pulled into a reality that had already been broken by the living dead. Since then, she had spent a very long time walking through silence.

  She had not always been alone.

  Once, she had built a life here. She had found a family. She had even given birth to a daughter. Those memories drifted through her thoughts now, carrying a quiet, familiar weight. The virus had always been the problem. The same cursed disease that had turned this world into a ruin long before Helena ever arrived.

  Its origin traced back to the year 2100.

  People had been celebrating the dawn of a new century when the sky shifted to a heavy red and the first violent attacks began. Infection spread faster than anyone could understand. Mutant bites carried it, but the air itself was the true danger. Simply breathing put people at risk. Some turned within hours. Others lasted longer. In the end, the result was always the same for those who could not endure it.

  Still, light had existed beside the darkness.

  The virus did not erase humanity entirely. Instead, it awakened a small number of people, granting abilities that made no sense under normal logic. Helena was one of them. Blessed, or cursed, depending on how one chose to look at it.

  She was different from the others.

  The virus that eventually consumed every awakened human never managed to break her.

  Most awakened knew how their lives would end. When the corruption inside them grew stronger than their bodies could endure, they would fall into mutation and join the mindless creatures that tore flesh without thought. Every survivor understood this fate.

  Only Helena stood outside it.

  She was the single person able to complete the purpose the virus had been designed for. A perfect human. An immortal existence born from an experiment that had failed for everyone else.

  Her gaze drifted toward the window.

  Beyond it lay the remains of a city. Towers leaned like exhausted giants. Streets were cracked, swallowed by dust and decay. She had lived here for over twenty years now. There was nothing left for her to do. No one left to speak with.

  Not even birds or insects survived in this place.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The virus had chipped away at every form of life until the world itself fell silent.

  The weight of that silence pressed gently but constantly against her mind. She remembered the year 2120, the moment she first arrived as a stranger. She had survived the chaos of the early days and awakened soon after. Back then, survivors still existed. Living had not been difficult with them. Many possessed abilities of their own.

  Helena’s ability had been Matter Manipulation.

  Those years had felt almost peaceful. She had married Joseph then, a man she had grown to love with quiet certainty.

  She stood by the window for a while longer, watching the morning light creep across the floor.

  A memory surfaced, and she released a soft breath.

  She should take a bath.

  If Hana were here, the scolding would have already started. It was past ten in the morning. A small smile touched Helena’s lips at the thought. Her daughter’s nagging. Joseph’s gentle reminders. They drifted through her mind with familiar warmth.

  She had always been a little lazy. The two of them never let her forget it.

  Helena pushed herself to her feet and walked toward the bathroom. As she stepped inside, she removed her clothes piece by piece. Her body came into view slowly, shaped by perfect balance and strength. It was the result of becoming a perfect human. A form untouched by age or weakness, sculpted with intention rather than chance.

  After bathing, she returned to her room, water still clinging to her skin as she dried her hair with a towel.

  Today was important.

  Very important.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her hand. Her spatial storage ring responded, releasing two folded letters into her palm.

  Helena wore nothing but her rings. Ten in total. Eight were storage rings. The remaining two were her engagement and marriage rings, worn without fail.

  She looked down at the letters. One had already been opened. The other remained sealed.

  Her family had given them to her before the Last War, on the Day of Vengeance. She had been allowed to read only the first one. It had been filled with warmth. Jokes. Love. At the end, beneath the final line, there had been coordinates and a time.

  And one simple sentence.

  It is a surprise for you.

  Helena still had no idea what that surprise could be.

  The coordinates led to the top of this building. The time written on the paper was approaching quickly.

  She closed her fingers around the letters and crossed the room. The window stood directly in her path. She didn’t slow down.

  Just before her body reached the glass, the pane softened. The center melted into a clear, liquid layer and slid apart without a sound. She had altered it long ago with her matter control. The stairs leading to the roof had collapsed years earlier.

  She would climb the rest herself.

  As she stepped through the window, gravity tugged at her. The edge of the building fell away beneath her feet, but the walls responded instantly. Concrete rippled and pushed outward, shaping itself into a steady platform.

  Helena stepped onto it calmly.

  A slab formed beneath her next step. Then another. Stone shifted and rose in sequence, creating a staircase along the outer wall. She climbed as the building reshaped itself ahead of her, obedient to her will.

  Several quiet minutes later, she reached the roof.

  The letters were still in her hand. The time written on the first one was close now. She only needed to wait.

  Helena stood quietly, unsure what kind of surprise her family could have planned. The idea felt impossible. She was the only living being left in this world.

  And yet, she trusted them.

  Without their wishes, she would have ended her life years ago. They had given her the strength to continue. They had asked her to live.

  So living had become her mission.

  She glanced at her wristwatch. Only seconds remained. For the first time in years, a spark of excitement stirred in her chest. Her heart beat a little harder.

  The watch was heavy, squared at the edges. A man’s watch. It had belonged to Joseph. She had polished it, repaired it, taken care of it carefully. It still looked almost new.

  “Just a little longer,” she murmured, impatience slipping through her voice.

  The seconds passed.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  Zero.

  Nothing happened.

  A hint of disappointment tightened her breath, but before it could settle, a sharp crack split the air nearby.

  Helena turned.

  The space a few feet away from her tore open. A jagged line split the air itself, widening into a fissure three or four meters across. Its edges shimmered like broken crystal.

  Shock stiffened her expression.

  She knew this.

  It was the same tear that had dragged her into this world decades ago. Back then, she had been a noblewoman, living in a convent as punishment. The crack had appeared without warning and pulled her through. When she opened her eyes, the living dead had surrounded her.

  Inside the fissure, darkness churned endlessly, like a window into another universe. A powerful pull reached toward her, strong enough to drag an ordinary human off their feet.

  Helena didn’t move.

  “Not this time,” she said with a small grin. “I’m not that fragile anymore.”

  She reached into her ring and took out the second letter. The seal broke easily. It was short.

  Mom, did you like our surprise?

  I found it using my Future Vision ability. It was pure luck.

  I don’t know exactly what it is, but I remembered how you said you came to this world through something like this.

  It might be able to take you home.

  To the world where you were born.

  Live happily, Mom.

  Love, me and Dad.

  Helena’s vision blurred. Tears gathered and slipped free.

  “Joseph… Hana…” she whispered. “I love you too.”

  She closed her fingers around the letter. It vanished into her ring.

  Her gaze returned to the crack. She could feel its instability. It wouldn’t stay open for long.

  This was her only doorway.

  Her only chance.

  Helena wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stepped forward. Before crossing, she turned around one last time.

  The ruins stretched beneath her. Silent. Still. A world filled with pain, warmth, blood, memories, and survival.

  “Goodbye,” she whispered.

  Then she stepped into the light and let the crack pull her in.

  Author’s Note:

  Thank you for reading the first chapter. I hope it earned at least a little of your curiosity

  Schedule: 1 chapter every 2 days.