Chapter 2

Ethan stared at the phone, his heart pounding in his chest as though it sought escape. Jane's sudden silence, the unidentified noises, the disconnection — all coalesced into a nauseating blend of dread and confusion. With a shaky hand, he re-dialed her number, praying for the sound of her voice. But the call diverted straight to voicemail, Jane's recorded message a haunting contrast to the urgency he felt.

"Hey, you've reached Jane. Sorry, I missed your call. Leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

The mundanity of the recording left him hollow. He tried calling again, and once more the same voicemail greeted him. He dialed several times, each attempt deepening his despair as his calls continued to meet the same recorded message.

His gaze shifted to his dual monitors, the lines of code now meaningless, their symmetrical beauty overshadowed by a world suddenly steeped in chaos. The second screen still displayed the news, the anchor now replaced by images of military vehicles patrolling the streets.

Ethan's eyes flitted between the images of the military vehicles on the screen and the still-silent phone beside him. He felt a gnawing tension at the core of his being, a tangle of impulses that seemed at war with each other. One voice urged him to take action, to venture out and find Jane, to ensure her safety amid the spiraling chaos. The other voice whispered cautions, magnifying his inherent dread of the unpredictable, chaotic world beyond his curtains.

For a moment, he felt paralyzed, caught in an internal stalemate. His meticulous nature demanded a plan, a clear path of action backed by logic and data. Yet, the situation defied such clarity. It was as if the lines of code that had so long governed his world had been scrambled into an incomprehensible jumble.

His gaze fell on the row of succulents lining his windowsill — the tiny lives he had nurtured in the isolated biosphere of his apartment. They stood in silent testimony to his ability to care for something other than just lines of code. If he could maintain those fragile lives in this confined space, then could he also not extend that same care to his own sister, who now, possibly, needed him?

That thought acted as a catalyst, breaking the inertia that had gripped him. With a newfound resolve, Ethan turned back to his computer. He minimized the lines of code, opening a new browser window to search for the quickest route to Jane's apartment. Even as he did, he realized there was something else he needed to do first — prepare.

Ethan walked briskly to his kitchenette. He reached into cupboards and drawers, gathering what little food and supplies he had left — several cans of beans, a jar of peanut butter, some packets of instant noodles, and a bag of trail mix. A quick survey of the fridge added a few bottles of water and some perishable items he knew wouldn't last long. All of it went into his backpack, along with a first aid kit from the bathroom and a flashlight from the utility drawer. He also grabbed his most recent tech gadget, a portable phone charger, before zipping the backpack shut.

As he collected these items, each action felt both mundane and incredibly significant, as if he were crossing an invisible line between his former self and who he needed to become. His meticulous nature revealed itself in the care with which he packed, ensuring that the weight was evenly distributed and that nothing would shift and unbalance him during what would be an unpredictable journey.

Before stepping out, Ethan took one final look at his apartment. His eyes swept over the workstation, the kitchenette, and the silent row of succulents. The man who walked out that door felt unlike the same one who had hidden behind its security. The walls remained, but their purpose had now shifted. They were no longer barriers that shielded him from the world; they were now reminders of what he could lose — and what he could gain — by stepping beyond them.

With a deep breath to steel himself against the uncertainty that lay ahead, Ethan locked the door behind him. The metal key turned with a finality that seemed to echo in the emptiness of the hallway. Slowly, he descended the stairs and emerged into the dim light of early evening. The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows that stretched out before him like dark fingers grasping for stability in an unstable world.

He walked briskly toward the bus stop, his backpack snug against his shoulders, each step carrying him farther from the sanctuary of his apartment and closer to a reality he couldn't yet comprehend. The streets, usually teeming with life, now seemed deserted, the atmosphere thick with tension that mirrored his own apprehensions. His eyes darted nervously from side to side, half-expecting to see the military vehicles that had flashed across his screen now rolling down his own street. But everything remained eerily quiet, heightening his sense of dread.

Ethan arrived at the bus stop and checked the schedule displayed on the weather-beaten sign. Even under normal circumstances, buses to Jane's area were infrequent, and he found himself hoping that today's chaos hadn't completely upended the public transportation system. As he stood there, peering down the empty road for any sign of the approaching bus, his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. A surge of hope rushed through him, only to ebb away as he saw it was an emergency alert rather than a call from Jane.

The minutes stretched into an uneasy eternity before the bus finally rumbled into sight, its approach punctuated by the mechanical hiss of hydraulics and the low growl of its engine. Ethan boarded, his fingers fumbling for his transit card, then sighed with quiet relief when the card reader emitted the reassuring beep of acceptance. The bus was nearly empty, and as it began its journey, the landscape outside the window seemed to blur into a monotonous tapestry of uncertainty.

Ethan tried to focus on what lay ahead. The bus ride to Jane's apartment would take nearly two hours, a span that stretched out before him like an ocean of imponderables. He found himself going over various scenarios in his mind, each a branching path in a maze of worry and conjecture. What would he find when he arrived? Amidst the swirling possibilities, a chilling thought began to solidify in the corners of his mind: what if, when he finally reached her apartment, Jane was no longer alive to greet him?

His eyes momentarily pulled away from the landscape passing outside the window, refocusing on the bus's interior. That's when he noticed her — a woman sitting a few rows ahead, twitching erratically. Her movements were unnerving, her head snapping to odd angles as though driven by some internal dissonance. But what truly chilled him were her eyes. Time seemed to stop as her eyes, creepy and bloodshot to the point of resembling a grotesque map of veiny roads, suddenly met his.