Everything changed overnight.
Police sirens pierced the midnight silence, jolting Elara awake. She'd already transferred all the supplies and equipment purchased from the garage to her temporarily rented villa in the suburbs the day before.
In fact, she'd been retrofitting this villa since the very day she awakened with memories of the apocalypse.
At 4 AM, the city barely maintained a semblance of order. Elara fought off sleep, constantly monitoring news on her phone until a massive explosion rocked the city center.
A panicked tanker driver had swerved left, sending his vehicle crashing into nearby shops. The resulting fireball created a mushroom cloud that seemed to emerge from street level, the combination of flames and fuel creating an infernal spectacle.
The explosion's thunderous boom mixed with urban chaos, as the ground itself seemed to shake. Police sirens and screams echoed through the streets.
The internet was still functioning, and Elara calmly watched the videos streaming in. The undead at this stage were relatively weak - pale-faced with bloodshot eyes, easily dispatched with a single shovel strike.
Nevertheless, the chronically overworked office workers had little resistance. Most fled in panic, and Elara could clearly see bite marks on their arms and shoulders.
Elara's brown hair cascaded over her shoulders as she pursed her light pink lips. Her phone suddenly lit up with an incoming call - Seraph.
Days earlier, Elara had convinced Seraph to upgrade her security door, citing an increase in criminal activity and community safety requirements.
The banging sounds outside had probably awakened her. Despite Seraph's higher position at work, she lived modestly, choosing an apartment near Elara's rented villa.
Through the phone, Elara could hear repeated thuds against Seraph's door and her friend's labored breathing as she struggled to maintain composure. "...I don't know what to do. Are you safe?"
Elara's grip tightened on her phone. In her previous life, she'd hesitated at this moment - a hesitation that had cost countless lives. Not this time.
"Stay put. I'm coming to get you," she said, already moving. Her training over the past weeks hadn't been for nothing. Every morning run, every weight session, every practice swing with the shovel had been preparation for this moment.
She grabbed her pre-packed emergency bag and headed for the garage where her modified SUV waited. The vehicle was another preparation she'd made - reinforced bumpers, run-flat tires, and extra fuel tanks. Some might have called it paranoid; she called it survival.
As she navigated the increasingly chaotic streets, Elara spotted her first real undead of this timeline. It was stumbling toward a crashed car, moving with that terrible, jerky motion she remembered all too well. Without hesitation, she pulled over, grabbed her shovel from the back seat, and approached.
The movement caught the creature's attention. It turned, revealing a face she might have passed on the street just yesterday - now transformed into a mask of mindless hunger. Elara didn't hesitate. The shovel's blade caught the morning light as it arced through the air, ending the threat with brutal efficiency.
The practiced motion felt natural - muscle memory from both her previous life and recent training serving her well. She couldn't afford to feel remorse; there would be time for that later. Right now, Seraph needed her.
As she approached Seraph's apartment complex, an unusual sight caught her eye. Several corpses lay scattered near the entrance, but these weren't typical undead kills. They were charred, flesh blackened and still smoking slightly. The air carried a distinct smell of burnt flesh mixed with... alcohol?
Elara parked the SUV, keeping the engine running. The security door she'd convinced Seraph to install had held firm, though scratch marks marred its surface. She pressed the intercom, "Seraph, it's me. Open up."
The door opened immediately, revealing Seraph in her silk pajamas, looking surprisingly composed despite the situation. Behind her, more charred corpses lined the hallway.
"I have something to tell you," Seraph said, ushering Elara inside. Her normally pristine apartment showed signs of recent chaos - broken glass, scattered furniture, and most notably, empty wine bottles everywhere.
"I... I think I did this," Seraph gestured to the burnt corpses. "When they started breaking in, I panicked. I threw a wine bottle at them, and somehow... I just knew I could light it. The fire came from within me, like it was always there, just waiting."
Elara's eyes widened as she took in the scene. She'd known Seraph would awaken powers, but this early manifestation was impressive. The control needed to contain the fire to just the undead, preventing it from spreading to the building, spoke of remarkable innate talent.
"Show me," Elara said softly.
Seraph hesitated, then picked up another wine bottle. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it spinning through the air. Before it could shatter, her eyes flashed, and the bottle erupted into a controlled fireball, leaving nothing but ash where it hit.
"I've always collected wine," Seraph said, leading Elara to what could only be described as a private wine cellar - hundreds of bottles lined the walls in temperature-controlled racks. "Never thought my hobby would become ammunition."
Elara couldn't help but smile. In her previous life, Seraph had died early, before her powers could manifest. Now, seeing her friend's strength, a weight lifted from her shoulders. Maybe this time...
"We need to move," Elara said, checking her watch. "The city center's already falling. We have maybe an hour before the military tries to establish quarantine zones, and we don't want to be here when that happens."
"Where are we going?" Seraph asked, already moving to pack essentials.
"I have a place prepared. Grab as many bottles as you can - your new talent might be exactly what we need to survive what's coming."
As they loaded the SUV with supplies and wine bottles, Elara caught glimpses of other survivors fleeing the city. Some looked shell-shocked, others desperate. She recognized a few faces - people who hadn't made it last time. This time would be different.
The sun was rising properly now, casting long shadows across the chaos-strewn streets. In the distance, more explosions lit the sky, and the wail of sirens grew more frequent. Elara guided the SUV carefully through the growing mayhem, one eye on the road, the other on Seraph, who was staring at her hands in wonder.
"You seem... prepared for this," Seraph said finally, breaking the tense silence. "Almost like you knew it was coming."
Elara gripped the steering wheel tighter. The moment had come sooner than she'd expected. "There's something I need to tell you," she began. "About the future... and how I've already lived through this once before."
As Elara navigated through the increasingly chaotic streets, she began to explain, choosing her words carefully. "What if I told you that I've seen all of this before? That I know what's coming because I've already lived through it?"
Seraph remained silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on the scene outside - people running, car alarms blaring, the occasional burst of inhuman screams. Finally, she spoke, "Honestly? After discovering I can create fireballs with my mind, time travel doesn't seem that far-fetched."
A ghost of a smile crossed Elara's face. This was why she'd always valued Seraph - her practical, adaptable nature. "In my previous life, you died early. Day three of the outbreak. I... I couldn't save you then."
The admission hung heavy in the air. Seraph absently traced her fingers along one of the wine bottles in her lap. "Is that why you've been acting differently lately? The security door, the strange warnings..."
"Yes. Everything I've done since waking up in the past has been preparation. The villa we're heading to - I've spent weeks fortifying it. Solar panels, water filtration, reinforced walls, emergency supplies..."
A sudden movement caught their attention. A group of the infected had surrounded a family's car ahead of them. Without hesitation, Seraph rolled down her window, a wine bottle already in hand.
"Hold the wheel steady," she instructed, her voice eerily calm. The bottle sailed through the air, igniting mid-flight before exploding among the infected. The blast cleared a path for the trapped family's vehicle to escape.
"Nice shot," Elara commented, impressed by Seraph's growing control. "Your powers are developing faster than I expected. In the previous timeline, most people took days to gain this level of control over their abilities."
"Maybe because you warned me? I've been feeling strange since that night with the fever. Like something was building up inside me." Seraph paused, considering. "What about you? Do you have powers too?"
Elara nodded slowly. "They're different this time. Before, I could create weak force fields - barely enough to deflect a bite. But now..." She closed her eyes briefly, feeling the familiar tingle of energy coursing through her body. "I can sense them. The infected. Their movements, their numbers. It's like having a radar in my head."
"That explains how you've been avoiding the larger hordes," Seraph observed, watching as Elara smoothly turned down another street just before a mass of infected shambled into view.
"The villa is about twenty minutes out, assuming the roads stay clear enough. Once we're there, I can tell you everything - about the stages of infection, the evolution of powers, the safe zones that will form, and the ones that will fall." Elara's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "Knowledge is our greatest weapon right now."
Seraph nodded, then suddenly straightened in her seat. "Wait - what about Cassian? The way you spoke to him the other day... does he survive in your timeline?"
A shadow crossed Elara's face at the mention of Cassian. "Cassian... he's a complicated part of the story. In my previous life, I never knew what happened to him. He disappeared during the early chaos. But I always suspected he was the one who saved me at that school..."
She trailed off as her enhanced senses picked up a large gathering of infected ahead. Smoothly, she turned the SUV down a side street. "His cologne - that mixture of ocean and ozone - it reminded me of something. The way those infected were electrocuted that day..."
"You think he has electrical powers?" Seraph's eyes widened with understanding.
"I'm almost certain. And based on our recent interaction, I think he's already aware of what's coming. The way he responded to my warning was too measured, too calm."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a military helicopter overhead, flying low enough to make the SUV vibrate. Elara checked her watch and muttered, "They're ahead of schedule this time."
"What does that mean for us?"
"It means we need to hurry. In about an hour, they'll start setting up blockades. They'll claim it's to protect people, but really..." Elara's voice turned bitter, "they're just creating kill boxes. Containing the infection by letting entire sections of the city burn."
As if to emphasize her point, a distant explosion lit up the morning sky, followed by the sound of automatic gunfire.
"There's something else you should know," Elara continued, taking a sharp turn to avoid a pile-up ahead. "The powers people are developing - they're not random. They seem to reflect something essential about the person. Your affinity for fire, for instance, it matches your passionate nature, your protective instincts."
Seraph looked down at her hands thoughtfully. "And your ability to sense the infected? What does that say about you?"
"Perhaps that I've spent too long watching for danger," Elara replied with a hint of sadness. "In my previous life, I survived by being paranoid, by always expecting the worst. Now that hypervigilance has become literal."
They were approaching the outskirts of the city now. The roads here were clearer, but Elara maintained her careful pace. Her senses told her there were fewer infected in this area, but they were faster, more coordinated than the ones in the city center.
"We're almost there," she announced, turning onto a private road that wound up into the wooded hills. "But first - look in the glove compartment. There's something I've been meaning to give you."
Seraph opened the compartment and pulled out a small leather-bound notebook. "What's this?"
"Everything I remember from the next three months. Safe zones, danger areas, major events... and a list of others like us. People with powers who might become either allies or threats."
Elara's voice became serious. "Memorize as much as you can. If anything happens to me, that information needs to survive."