Apocalypse Roleplay: I Watched Him Betray Me

When my fiance, Evan Ziegler, and I wake up, the world as we know it has already ended. He's now the commander of the safe zone, and I'm clinging to his arm, pleading with him. "Don't send me out. There are infected people everywhere out there." However, he merely stands on a high platform. His expression is icy as he announces, "Resources are limited in the safe zone. Zoe is frail and has to stay. As for Daphne, she should be sent to the contaminated zone as bait since she doesn't have any abilities." I'm bound and stuffed into an armored truck. Right before the doors shut, Evan's first love, Zoe Lodge, gives me a gentle smile while nestled in his arms. She says, "Don't worry, Daph. I'll take good care of Evan for you." I lose all hope. Then, to my surprise, the satellite phone I've been carrying, which hasn't had any signal so far, suddenly lights up. It's a message from my brother, Dominic Sadler. "Daphne, how's the stay at our apocalypse experience center? Have you figured out what kind of man your fiance really is yet? Hurry up and give me the verdict. We hired over 3,000 extras, and they've been cooped up in the underground base for a month. They're about to lose their minds." Chapter 1 "Daphne, if you sign the form for this voluntary field assignment, you can still leave with some dignity." Evan Ziegler, my fiance, tossed a pen in front of me. The tip smacked against the metal table with a sharp, crisp sound. I looked down at the document. It clearly stated that this field assignment was a bait mission in the contaminated zone. I was the assigned operative, and the survival rate was 3%. I lifted my head to look at him. Just 30 days ago, he'd still been holding me in his arms, telling me that he would protect me even if the world ended. Now, the world as we knew it really had ended, and he was shoving me to the front lines. "Evan." My voice came out hoarse. "The infected ones out there literally eat people." He frowned. "I know." "And you're still sending me there?" "The base isn't a charity." Evan sat at the far end of the conference table. His black tactical uniform made him look much colder and harsher than before. "You don't have combat training or medical abilities, and you don't control any resources. Keeping you here just burns through our rations." I stared at him, then suddenly let out a short laugh. "Then, why does Zoe get to stay?" The woman standing behind him, Zoe Lodge, visibly paled. She was wearing a clean white dress and had Evan's jacket draped over her shoulders. The apocalypse had started a month ago. Most people in the base looked grimy and exhausted, yet Zoe was still soft and delicate, like she'd stepped out of a different world. Evan's gaze darkened. "She's a doctor." "She's a pet groomer." "She's trained in first aid." "So am I." "Daphne Sadler!" He finally lost his patience and rapped his knuckles on the table. "Do you have to make this so ugly?" I didn't expect to hear that. I was making this ugly? He was sending me out as bait, and I'd asked why. He thought this meant I was causing a scene and making things ugly? Zoe bit her lip and said in a small voice, "Evan, maybe I should go instead. Daph grew up pampered. There's no way she can handle the contaminated zone." She started to step forward, but Evan grabbed her arm at once. He said sternly, "Don't be ridiculous. You're frail." Her eyes reddened. "But I don't want you to be caught in the middle because of me." His voice softened. "Nothing's going to happen to you." I sat across from them, feeling like I was some kind of joke. There were over a dozen squad leaders in the command room. They all kept their heads down and their mouths shut. Evan stood and walked over to me. "Daphne, I gave you a chance. If you'd been willing to share the medicine from your private storage, the base wouldn't be in this state." I stared at him in disbelief. "That's the medicine my parents left me to save my life." "Everyone's life matters." "Then why don't you tell Zoe to give up her climate-controlled room? Why don't you have her skip a nutrient pack once in a while?" I retorted. Zoe immediately burst into tears. "Daphne, I didn't know you hated me so much. If my being here makes you uncomfortable, I can leave." Evan turned toward her. "No one is asking you to leave." When he looked back at me, there was only disgust left on his face. "Look at yourself, Daphne. You're selfish, mean, and you have zero sense of the bigger picture." I felt like something was lodged in my throat. The doomsday broadcast had sounded 30 days earlier. We'd all woken up in this underground shelter. Everyone told us the surface had fallen, the city was gone, and order had collapsed. Initially, Evan had also been scared. The first time he'd faced a mock-up of an infected, his hands had shaken so badly that he could barely hold a gun. I was the one who'd trained with him. I was the one who'd given him the key to my storage. I was the one who'd steadied the residents of the base for him. At the time, he'd said to me, "I'm so glad I have you, Daph." After that? After that, he realized everyone had started calling him the commander. He discovered that with a single word, he could decide who got the good and bad meals, who slept in the climate-controlled pods, and who was sent to clear corpse piles. He started to enjoy wielding power. Then, Zoe had shown up. She was his first love and the woman who'd dumped him five years ago to move abroad with some rich kid. She'd cried for Evan over the broadcast, begging him to save her. He'd led a squad into an abandoned mall and carried her back to the base. That was the day my nightmare began. Half of my stash of medicine was taken, and my room was given to Zoe. I got sent on more and more missions outside the base, and now, Evan was even sending me to my death. I grabbed the assignment form and tore it in half. Paper scraps scattered across the floor. The command room went so quiet it was terrifying, and Evan's face instantly turned to ice. He hissed, "Do you really have to push me like this?" I looked him in the eye. "You're the one pushing me." He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his voice held no warmth at all. "Guards." The door swung open. Two guards in full hazmat gear walked in. Evan pointed at me. "Daphne Sadler has disrupted base operations by refusing to follow orders. Immediately escort her to the contaminated zone. Mission level upgraded to Red." I locked my gaze on him. "What does a Red mission mean?" No one answered. Zoe lowered her head, but she couldn't quite hide the smile playing on her lips. Meanwhile, Evan avoided my eyes. One of the guards muttered, "For Red missions… there's no return transport." My ears buzzed. So, Evan wasn't even giving me the chance to gamble on that 3% survival rate. He was handing me a death sentence. Evan turned away, not sparing me another glance. "Take her away." When I was hauled to my feet, the satellite phone strapped to my chest buzzed. For the first time in a month, the screen lit up. I looked down to see that I'd received a new message. The sender was my brother, Dominic Sadler. "Daph, don't be scared. I see what's going on. Just hold on for ten more minutes. Every light in this place is about to come on." Chapter 2 Ten minutes. I clenched the satellite phone tightly. The guard thought I was scared silly and didn't bother to grab it. The elevator to the surface was at the far north end of the base. On the way there, everyone stared at me. Some had pity in their eyes, some were just numb. Some looked like they were enjoying the show. Zoe walked beside Evan, pitching her voice just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Daph, don't blame Evan. He's the commander. He can't just think about you." I stopped walking. The guard shoved me in the back. "Move." I stayed where I was and just looked at Evan. "Do you agree with what she said?" He clenched his jaw. "I'm trying to save more people." "Save people?" I let out a laugh. "You're saving people by trading my life for your true love's climate-controlled room?" Zoe's face instantly turned pale. "Daph, how could you say that about me?" Evan whipped around and crossed the distance to me in a few strides. He lowered his voice and growled, "Daphne, stop letting me down." That line was painfully familiar. Back when my parents were against us getting married, he'd said, "Daph, don't let me down. We'll fight for this together." I'd fought back against my family for him, moved out of our villa for him, and suffered through cheap meals with him. I'd thought that was what love was about—two people standing side by side against the whole world. However, now, when the world was pretending to have fallen apart, he was the first to give up. I looked at Evan and suddenly asked, "If it were Zoe going today, would you still be talking about saving more people?" He went quiet. Zoe clutched his sleeve. "Evan, I'm scared." His eyes changed instantly. He pulled her behind him, shielding her. "There's no such 'what if.'" I nodded. "Got it." The elevator arrived. The iron doors slid open, revealing a modified vehicle inside. In the distance, the infected howled. It was all very realistic. If I hadn't gotten Dominic's message, my legs probably would've gone weak with fear. However, now, all I wanted to do was laugh. These actors were way too dedicated. I was shoved into the vehicle. Three other people were already sitting inside—a man with a scar across his face, a short-haired woman holding a gun, and a middle-aged doctor in a white lab coat. They all gave me complicated looks. The man with the scar cleared his throat. "Ms. Sadler…" The short-haired woman immediately stomped on his foot. He hurriedly corrected himself. "Daphne Sadler, fasten your straps." I glanced at him, and he twitched nervously. I didn't call him out. It wasn't time yet. Evan stood outside the vehicle. Zoe leaned against his shoulder. "Evan, the contamination zone is so dangerous. What if Daph doesn't make it back?" That was a great question. Evan didn't answer right away. After a few seconds, he said, "This was her own choice." I actually laughed in anger. "You'd better remember what you just said, Evan." He frowned. "What are you getting at now?" The car doors started to close. I looked straight at him and enunciated each word carefully. "Everything that happens from this second on is a result of your choice, too." The doors shut, cutting off the noise outside. The engine started. The short-haired woman immediately dropped her gun and lowered her voice. "Ms. Sadler, are you okay?" I rubbed my wrist. "You're all in on this, too?" The man with the scar bobbed his head so fast it was a blur. "The production team—uh, I mean, your brother's side just notified us. We wrap in ten minutes." The doctor pulled off his surgical mask. "Thank goodness. Playing apocalypse doctor every day sure gets tiring. I even had to pour my food into nutrition-gel pouches to eat." The woman cursed under her breath. "That Evan Ziegler really is something else. The day before yesterday, he even wanted to have me play as an infected and bite you. If not for the script stopping me, I would've bitten his head off." I looked up at the camera mounted on the ceiling of the car. The red light was still on. "Can he see this right now?" I asked. The man with the scar answered, "Only the main control room can see. Evan doesn't have access. He doesn't have that level of clearance." I lowered my head and checked my phone. Dominic had sent me another message. "Daphne, don't cry. I've put together an end-of-the-world level comeuppance package for you. The first light's about to turn on." Chapter 3 The car suddenly stopped. The lights in the carriage went out for three seconds. When they flicked back on, a broadcast echoed through the entire base. "The doomsday survival experience project has ended. All actors, attention—your contracts have been fulfilled. Stop performing. Repeating, stop performing." I heard people cheering outside the car. At first, it was just a few voices. Very quickly, it became a roar. It was like people who had been holding their breath far too long finally getting to breathe. The man with the scar ripped the fake scar off his face. "It's a wrap! I never wanna see another protein bar again." The short-haired woman tossed her prop gun onto the seat. "I need a drink. A strong one." The doctor pulled out his phone. "Honey, I'm off work. Yeah, 30 days. Did the final payment come in?" I sat in the carriage without moving. My chest still felt tight. I knew the apocalypse had been fake, but the way Evan had just sent me to my death had been real. Someone yanked the car door open from the outside. Bright light poured in. The contaminated zone on the ground was gone. Behind the so-called ruins, the steel frames, cameras, and track lights were all exposed. The infected took off their masks. Someone squatted by the road to smoke, and someone else was gorging on food from a lunchbox like crazy. A zombie extra walked past me and gave me a sheepish grin. "Ms. Sadler, did I scare you just now?" I shook my head. "You did great." He looked even more embarrassed. "Thanks, Ms. Sadler." By the time I got out of the car, the base's main lights were coming on one by one. All the dim corridors, crumbling walls, and blood-splattered warning signs clearly looked man-made and old. I headed back the way I came. All along the route, people were dropping character. The guards took off their helmets. The refugees tore off their filthy, ragged coats. The medical staff stuffed their stethoscopes into their bags. One guy who had been playing a corpse even climbed off his stretcher and stretched with a groan. "I've been lying there for two hours. My back's broken." I couldn't help but laugh. Halfway through the laugh, I stopped because I saw Evan. He was standing in the middle of the main hall, still in his commander's uniform. Zoe stood next to him. The fragile, gentle expression on her face finally stopped holding. She was stiff all over, like she was frozen. Evan looked around, his face darkening. "What are you all doing?" No one answered him. He raised his voice. "I'm asking what you're doing! Who allowed you to take off your protective gear? The infected are still outside. Have you all forgotten base protocol?" One of the extras standing off to the side snorted. "Dude, are you still in character?" Another person chimed in, "Don't laugh, man. He's been playing commander for a whole month. He's deep in the role." Evan snapped his head around. "Shut up!" The hall fell silent for a beat. Then, the people erupted in even louder laughter. Someone lifted their phone to record him. "Come one, come all. The doomsday commander's giving us a speech." "This guy really thinks he's the savior of the world." "I heard he just tried to send Ms. Sadler into the contaminated zone. Damn, he's got guts." Evan's face went from pale to stormy. He looked over at Zoe. "What the hell is going on?" Her lips trembled. "Evan, I… I don't know, either." She didn't know? Of course she did. She was an actress Dominic had found on a short-video platform. Her face was about 70% similar to Evan's unattainable first love. The real Zoe was still overseas, selling wine. This Zoe's real name was Mona Larkin. She'd played the third female lead in a web series and was best at crying on cue. Evan had no idea because he'd never really looked at anyone. He only ever saw what he wanted to see. I moved through the crowd until I stood before him. When he saw me, panic flickered in his eyes. "Daph, what's this?" I looked at him. "It's a wrap." He didn't seem to understand. "What do you mean, a wrap?" I pointed around us. "The apocalypse is fake, the infected are fake, and this base is fake. Your so-called role as commander is also fake." His lips parted. After a long moment, he forced out, "No way." I smiled. "Yes way. This whole underground city was a birthday present my brother built for me." Evan's eyes widened. The crowd whooped again. I looked him in the eye and said, "The experience is over, Commander Ziegler."