My Apocalypse Was Just a Sick Reality Show

Five years into the apocalypse, our entire office building had been on the run. To survive, I gave myself to Marcus, our former head of corporate security. Right after a brutal skirmish, Marcus handed me a ration of bread. But when my eyes landed on the packaging, my heart skipped a beat—the expiration date was stamped just three days ago! How was that even possible? Five years of wasteland hell had shut down every factory on the continent. Everything we scavenged was stale, moldy, and years past its prime. Yet here was freshly baked bread! I frantically checked the manufacturing label. The bakery was less than six miles away! Was this apocalypse... staged inside our studio walls? A violent shudder ran down my spine. I opened my mouth to tell Marcus, but bit my tongue just in time. When the outbreak first erupted, Marcus was the one who pulled me out of a walker’s jaws. I stayed by his side after that. He wasn't particularly gentle, but he wasn't cruel either. As long as I pulled my own weight, he protected me—which was infinitely better than the women forced to sell their bodies for stale crusts of bread. But if this entire nightmare was a lie... would Marcus ever let me walk away? I choked down the bread, shoved the wrapper deep into my pocket, and followed him back to the compound. We turned in our scavenged haul and received our daily allotment: another bun and a small carton of milk. This time, I examined the carton meticulously. Fresh date. A local dairy farm I used to buy from every week before the collapse. This made zero sense. "Spacing out again? I've been calling your name!" Marcus's harsh voice snapped me out of my trance. I met his hardened gaze, hesitated for a second, and finally handed him the packaging. "The date is from three days ago. The production facility is six miles down the highway. And this milk? It came from the exact same dairy plant I bought from before the world ended." Marcus froze. He stared at the wrapper, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Without a word, he turned on his heel and marched toward the barracks. Panic surged through my chest; I hurried after him. "Marcus!" "Where are you going?" He didn't answer. He stormed straight to his inner circle. By the time I caught up, the guys were gathered in grim silence. After what felt like an eternity, Marcus cursed under his breath. "Damn it. You're telling me we've been played like fools for five whole years?" "Fucking bastards! Someone's watching us right now. Let's hunt down whoever's directing this sick show!" "And who the hell is the director? There are hundreds of people here. Even if you're right, do we stand a chance against them?" "Don't forget—the apocalypse might be staged, but the weapons are real as hell!" Five years of hell had carved scars into every single one of us. My thigh bore a jagged, ugly gash, the flesh torn and scabbed over. Marcus had survived actual gunshot wounds. His words silenced the room instantly. I glanced out through the reinforced fence. Night was falling fast. The compound searchlights swept across the perimeter, illuminating the low snarls of walkers wandering in the dark. I clenched my jaw and took a step toward the gate. Marcus grabbed my arm in a vice grip. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" "Real or fake, I have to know! I can't keep living like this for another second!" "Hiding like rats every single day, risking our lives on supply runs, begging for scraps like dogs... I'm done!" I fought like a wild animal, desperate to break through the wire, but Marcus's open palm cracked across my cheek, making my vision swim. He twisted my arm behind my back and shoved me into our quarters. "Lynn, are you trying to get us all killed? Even if you hate this, you keep your damn head down!" Leo, his right-hand man, stepped in to calm things down. "Lynn, please, take a breath. We believe you, but we can't just charge out blindly. We need a plan." "Yeah, honestly, does it even matter if it's real or fake?" another guard chimed in. "You're just bitter because you had to shack up with Marcus. But be real—without the apocalypse, you'd never find a man willing to put his life on the line for you every single day!" Tears burned my eyes. No better life? I was a lead creative director before this! Now I was playing house with a corporate security guard! Even if he was the chief, he was still just a damn guard! Marcus scoffed, eyeing me with contempt. "Don't act like you're doing me a favor. Dragging you around hasn't been a walk in the park for me either." "If the world hadn't ended, I'd have a house in the suburbs and a kid in school by now. My high school sweetheart was eighteen when she got with me. Look what happened to her." My face burned with humiliation and fury. Leo quickly stepped between us. "All right, all right, drop it. What matters now is figuring out our next move." Marcus snorted. "What move? We go find proof, obviously." "Tomorrow's supply run. I'll scout the route. We talk when I get back."As the squad leader, his word was law. The guys nodded in agreement immediately, giving him more respect in two seconds than my screaming ever could. Marcus grabbed me by the scruff of my jacket, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Now that it's decided, shut your mouth. Remember this: I never begged you to stay. You're the one who crawled into my bed to survive." "If we're making a run for it, let's get one thing straight. Real or fake, the second we're out, we are total strangers." I stared back at him. His eyes were cold and ruthless. I knew my words had cut deep, but after five years of surviving side by side, there had to be something between us. Yet in that moment, survival was all that mattered. "Fine." I gave him a crisp nod. Marcus stared at me for a long beat, then let out a dry, bitter bark of laughter. "Cold as ice. Slept with me for five years and you throw me away like trash." I shot him a cool glare. "Takes one to know one." Fury flared in his jaw. He spun around and stormed out. I inhaled deeply, steadying my trembling hands. This world was a sick, twisted trap. Marcus, the guards, everyone—I didn't care what they thought anymore. I just wanted out, once and for all. Marcus huddled with his inner circle, whispering and plotting well into the night. I didn't bother listening. The next morning, Marcus shoved my shoulder roughly. "Up. Move. Don't cause any trouble today." I nodded, geared up, and fell into line. Before we walked out, Marcus gave me an unreadable look. I kept my chin down and ignored him. At sunrise, the search parties marched out through the heavy steel gates. The morning air was tense, heavy with dread. Dark storm clouds smothered the sky. A cold weight settled in my gut, an ominous premonition. The rest of the squad felt it too; even Leo, who usually never shut up, walked in eerie silence. Halfway along the route, we hit an ambush. Walkers swarmed from the tree line. Marcus charged first, cutting them down with terrifying efficiency. I froze in terror. Leo suddenly lunged forward, shoving me to the ground as he drove a combat knife through a walker's skull. He barked at me, "Lynn! What the hell are you daydreaming about?!" I snapped out of it. Viscous fluid from the creature's split skull had splattered across my cheek. I wiped it with my fingers, brought it to my nose, and paused. Something was wrong. I stared at the thick substance on my palm, then brought it to my tongue to taste it. Before I could, Marcus kicked my arm away! "Are you insane?! That's poison!" "I'm not crazy!" I gasped, scrambling back. "It's been five years! Walkers don't have cores, and this... this smells sweet! Doesn't this taste like strawberry gelatin to you?!" Leo rushed over, dipped a finger into the muck, and licked it. A second later, he gagged and spat violently onto the dirt. "Gelatin my ass! That's rotting brain matter! Ugh, Lynn... gross!" I stared at them, bewildered. Were their noses broken? There wasn't a trace of copper or decay—it smelled sugary, artificial. Before I could inspect it again, Marcus yanked me to my feet by my collar. "Stop losing your damn mind!" "If you want this escape to work, quit drawing attention to yourself!" I swallowed my protest. We pressed on toward the coordinates, six miles out. With every step, the tension in my chest tightened like a vice. Suddenly, a blaring siren ripped through the air, and Marcus's radio crackled wildly to life. "Base under heavy assault! All units, fall back immediately! Requesting immediate backup!" Marcus turned on his heel to retreat. I grabbed his forearm with both hands. "We're almost there! It's right in front of us! If you turn back now, we lose everything! Let's just go check it out first!"He ripped his arm away and wrapped a hand around my throat, choking the air out of my lungs. "Lynn, you want to be stupid, don't drag me to hell with you! What if you're wrong? What if the apocalypse is real, our home base gets overrun, and we have nowhere left to go?!" "Lives are on the line! I don't give a damn about your pride—swallow it and get back to defend the compound!" He shoved me to the ground and sprinted off with the squad. I watched their retreating silhouettes, then looked toward the coordinates—barely a mile away. I balled my fists, spun around, and ran headlong toward the truth! I hadn't made it twenty yards when a blinding pain ripped through my calf. I crashed face-first into the dirt. As my vision faded to black, Marcus's grim face floated above me. "I can't let you ruin this for the rest of us..." When I woke up, I was lying against the crumbling brick wall of an abandoned shed. Blinking through the haze, I saw Marcus sitting across from me. I moved my leg; thick white bandages bound my calf tightly. "You're awake?" Marcus knelt beside me, handing me a canteen of water. "You... you shot me?" "The base radios pick up everything. If I didn't put a round in you and haul you back as a 'casualty,' I couldn't explain why we broke protocol." "Relax. We're still out here. We're only three miles from the bread factory." My eyes widened in shock. "We're still outside?! Then why did you chew me out earlier?!" "Leo betrayed us. He squealed to the higher-ups. It took everything I had to slip you out." The realization hit me. No wonder he insisted the walker brain was real. He was putting on an act to throw Leo off. "Then... what now?" "We move. Right now. Sunset's coming." A rush of adrenaline wiped away the pain. I hauled myself up, leaning on him. Outside, twilight was bleeding into ink. "Hurry," he whispered. He held my waist, guiding me along. Three miles. Five years ago, that was just my casual morning jog in Central Park. But now, starved and bruised, my legs felt like lead pipes. Yet the further we walked, the more an uneasy dread gnawed at my stomach. "Marcus, let me see the map. Are we heading the right way?" I stopped, scanning the jagged skyline. The terrain... it felt eerily familiar. A gust of wind whipped up gravel, swirling discarded trash toward my boots. I snatched a piece of fluttering foil out of the air. My breath caught in my throat. It was a protein bar wrapper. My dried blood was smeared right across the logo—the very one I had eaten an hour ago! "Marcus... we're back where we started. You've been walking us in circles!" Marcus stopped dead in his tracks. Without a word, he reached into his vest, pulled out a flare gun, and fired a brilliant crimson streak high into the night sky! Within seconds, the roar of heavy engines tore through the dark. Several military-grade pickup trucks barrelled toward us, headlights blinding. I froze in horror. "Marcus, what did you do?!" "Nothing," he said smoothly. "I'm just not going back." "Are you insane?! This whole apocalypse is a lie!" His calm demeanor confirmed every terrifying suspicion I had. Marcus let out a dark, mocking laugh. "Go back to what? Being a nobody in a security uniform? You were right, Lynn. In the real world, you would never have looked twice at a guy like me!" "God finally leveled the playing field. It took the end of the world for a dirty mall cop to pin an untouchable corporate queen to the mattress!" "Remember back at the office tower? You strutted around with your nose in the air. Every time your luxury sedan rolled up to the gate, I lifted the barrier before you even honked. Did you ever say thank you? Did you even look at me?" "Then the world burned, and you were begging on your knees beneath me. That's when I realized: only in this wasteland do I get to be a king." "I'm never letting you leave. Never." Rage roared in my ears. I lunged at him like a feral cat, driving my thumbs straight into his eyes! Marcus shrieked in agony. In that split second, I snatched the radio, the combat knife, and the paper map from his belt, then spun and sprinted into the darkness! I knew the road had to be ahead. I needed the truth. I was going home!