The Bigshot's Superstar Wife

Athena and Xavier barely made it out of the chamber before the entire facility rumbled.

A series of mechanical clicks echoed through the halls, and the red emergency lights flickered as if something had been activated deep underground.

They rushed down the corridor, weaving through debris and scattered documents, but Athena's mind was racing.

Protocol Z-13. It was clearly something dangerous, and if the facility was initiating it, they needed to know what it meant.

They entered the control room again, and Athena immediately hooked up the data drive to the remaining functional console.

The screen buzzed to life with garbled text and corrupted files. Xavier stood watch at the door, gun drawn, while Athena worked her fingers over the keyboard, typing commands to bypass the security lock.

"How long?" Xavier asked, glancing back at her.

"Give me a minute." Athena narrowed her eyes as a line of encrypted code scrolled across the screen.

The symbols were foreign, resembling something far more complex than standard military encryption.

The deeper she dug, the more she realized this wasn't just a normal research facility, it had been experimenting with something beyond Earth's knowledge.

She finally managed to crack the first layer of encryption, and the screen flashed with a classified file.

As she scrolled through the logs, her stomach twisted. The facility had been studying alien lifeforms long before the apocalypse began.

More than that, they had been developing genetic experiments using a combination of human DNA and extraterrestrial material.

"Xavier…" Athena whispered, her throat dry.

"What is it?" He moved closer, his brows furrowing as he scanned the screen.

"This place… they weren't just researching the zombies. They were creating something much worse."

Before she could read further, the alarms blared again. A robotic voice echoed through the speakers: "Containment breach detected. Facility lockdown commencing in sixty seconds."

Athena immediately yanked out the data drive. "We need to go!"

Xavier grabbed her wrist, and they sprinted toward the exit. The moment they reached the main corridor, the reinforced security doors slammed shut behind them, sealing off the interior.

The walls groaned under pressure, and a deep, guttural noise vibrated from below. Something had been released.

They bolted through the hallway, but a shadow loomed from the end of the corridor. A massive figure emerged, something humanoid but grotesquely altered, with elongated limbs and razor-sharp claws.

Its skin pulsed with bioluminescent veins, and its head twisted unnaturally as it zeroed in on them.

"Run!" Xavier shouted, raising his gun and firing a round directly into its head. The creature barely flinched.

Athena unsheathed her sword, the silver edge gleaming under the emergency lights. As soon as she moved, the creature lunged.

It was fast, faster than anything she had fought before. She barely had time to dodge as its claws slashed through the air, cutting deep into the steel walls.

Xavier fired again, aiming for its joints, but the bullets only slowed it down. Athena leaped forward, bringing her sword down in a precise arc.

The blade met flesh, and for a split second, she thought she had cut through until the wound sealed almost instantly. Regeneration.

She barely had time to process it before the creature struck again. It moved unpredictably, its limbs contorting at unnatural angles as it launched another attack.

Athena ducked, feeling the sharp wind of its claws grazing past her.

"We need to get outside!" Xavier called, reloading his weapon.

Athena knew they couldn't keep up with this fight indoors. They had to lead it somewhere open.

She pivoted and sprinted toward the main exit. The creature screeched and followed, its movements jerky but terrifyingly quick.

As soon as they burst into the open air, Athena turned and dug her heels into the ground. "Xavier, cover me!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He unleashed a barrage of bullets, forcing the creature to slow just enough for Athena to charge.

She poured every ounce of strength into her next strike, aiming for its neck. The moment her blade made contact, a strange phenomenon occurred, glowing red butterflies burst from the wound.

The creature shrieked, convulsing violently as its body started disintegrating. Xavier watched in stunned silence as the monstrous figure collapsed into ash, the eerie red light fading into the wind.

Athena panted, gripping her sword tightly. The butterflies, she had seen them before, in her dreams. They weren't just illusions. They were part of her.

Xavier holstered his gun and stepped beside her. "What the hell was that?"

Athena couldn't answer. Her heart was still racing, and her thoughts were tangled between the dreamlike familiarity and the horrifying reality they were facing.

Then, a voice crackled through their radio.

"Xavier, do you copy? What the hell is going on over there?"

Xavier grabbed his radio, his expression dark. "We had a breakout. The facility is compromised. We're heading back."

The voice on the other end hesitated. "...Understood. But you need to see this when you get back. The sky—it's changing."

Athena and Xavier exchanged glances before looking up. For the first time since the apocalypse began, the dark clouds overhead weren't just from pollution or decay.

There was something unnatural about the swirling formations. The sky itself was shifting.

Without another word, they ran toward their vehicle. The research facility had given them more questions than answers, but one thing was clear, the apocalypse was just the beginning of something far worse.

The drive back to the base was eerily silent, the weight of what they had uncovered pressing heavily on Athena's chest.

She clutched the data drive in her hands, knowing it held secrets that could change everything they thought they knew about the apocalypse.

Xavier was focused on the road, his jaw clenched tightly, but his occasional glances toward the sky showed his unease.

As they neared the outskirts of the base, they could finally see what the radio had warned them about.

The sky was no longer just a dull gray, it was shifting, rippling like liquid, as if something beyond the clouds was trying to break through.

Flashes of deep crimson flickered through the thick atmosphere, and a low hum vibrated through the air, making the very ground beneath them tremble.

Athena's grip on the data drive tightened. "This isn't natural."

Xavier exhaled sharply. "No. This is something else. Something... bigger."

For the first time since the outbreak, Athena felt something even worse than fear, an overwhelming sense that Earth was no longer just fighting a virus or an invasion. It was being rewritten.