The Last Line of Defense

Day 5 – The Breaking Point

Dr. Evelyn Carter hadn’t left the CDC in five days.

The last time she had stepped outside, the world still resembled something familiar. The streets had been tense but intact. People had still believed—in the government, in science, in survival.

That belief was gone now.

She could hear it in the distance.

Even inside the fortified walls of the CDC, the sounds of gunfire and rioting echoed through the city. Atlanta was on the verge of falling, and they all knew it.

The last functioning scientific institution in America was about to become just another casualty of the end.

Evelyn stared at the screen in front of her, her hands trembling over her keyboard. Lab reports. Data sets. More evidence of what she already knew.

HNV-37 was unstoppable.

Her research team had analyzed every mutation, every attempt at neutralization, and it all came to the same conclusion. There was no immunity, no resistance, no hope.

And yet, she still couldn't stop.

Even as half the scientists here walked away from their stations, desperate to spend their final days with family, Evelyn remained at her post, staring at test results that would never matter.

Because if she stopped working, then what was left?

Behind her, Dr. Julian Cross—one of the few remaining virologists—rubbed his exhausted face. “We should’ve left days ago.”

Evelyn didn’t turn away from the screen. “You can still go.”

Cross let out a bitter laugh. “Go where?” He gestured to the reinforced glass windows, where the city skyline burned in the distance. “It’s only a matter of time before they come for us too.”

Evelyn tightened her grip on her pen. “We still have a chance.”

Cross scoffed. “A chance? Carter, it’s over.” He threw a report onto the desk in front of her. “The virus has a 100% kill rate. It doesn’t mutate into a weaker strain. It doesn’t burn out. It spreads, it incubates, and then it kills every single host.”

She forced herself to take a slow breath.

She knew the numbers.

She had read the reports.

But she still had to try.

Cross leaned closer, his voice lowering. “Do you know how many of us are left?”

Evelyn swallowed hard. She didn’t want to answer.

“Eighteen,” Cross said quietly. “Eighteen researchers still here. We started with over a hundred. Some left to be with family. Some…” His voice faltered. “Some gave up.”

Evelyn pressed her fingers to her temple, trying to force down the exhaustion clawing at her skull.

The CDC had once been a fortress of knowledge, a place where the world’s best minds came together to fight disease. Now, it was nothing more than a tomb waiting to be filled.

And the people outside knew it.

A voice crackled over the intercom.

“Dr. Carter, report to the command center immediately.”

Evelyn and Cross exchanged a glance.

That was Director Patel’s voice.

And he sounded afraid.

The command center was normally a place of order and discipline. A sleek conference room overlooking the lab floors, reinforced with bulletproof glass.

Today, it was chaos.

Security officers stood near the doors, rifles slung over their shoulders. CDC scientists argued with military officials, their voices rising as tension boiled over.

Evelyn spotted Director Patel at the center of the room. His usually composed demeanor was shattered—his tie undone, his hands gripping the table as he tried to maintain control.

“Dr. Carter,” he said the moment she stepped inside. “We have a situation.”

Evelyn glanced at the screens behind him. Satellite images showed unrest across the country—fires in New York, mass graves in Chicago, refugee convoys fleeing the West Coast.

She had seen all this before.

“What’s changed?” she asked.

Patel’s lips thinned. “The government is dissolving.”

Silence.

Someone—one of the younger lab assistants—let out a soft, broken sound.

Evelyn’s heart pounded. “What do you mean dissolving?”

Patel exhaled heavily. “The President is missing. The Vice President is dead. The remaining officials have gone into hiding or been evacuated to unknown locations.”

A cold dread settled in Evelyn’s stomach.

“The military is collapsing,” Patel continued, rubbing his temples. “Fort Bragg has fallen. D.C. is in chaos. And now, there’s talk of…” He hesitated.

Evelyn stepped forward. “Talk of what?”

A military officer—Colonel David Sterling, one of the few still left in Atlanta—answered for him.

“Containment measures.”

The room froze.

Evelyn’s stomach twisted. “You mean extermination.”

Sterling didn’t flinch. “It’s the only option.”

“No,” Evelyn snapped. “It’s a war crime.”

The Colonel crossed his arms. “We’re already past laws and morality, Doctor. If we don’t act now, what’s left of the country will collapse into total anarchy. We still have air support, missile sites, nuclear—”

“Nuclear?!” Evelyn’s voice rose sharply. “You’re talking about dropping bombs on American cities!”

A scientist near the back of the room—Dr. Morgan—covered his mouth, horrified.

Sterling remained calm, cold, and unmoving. “The infected are already dead. If we eliminate major population centers now, we might slow the spread. It buys time.”

“Time for what?” Evelyn shot back. “There’s no cure! No vaccine! You’re just speeding up the extinction.”

Sterling stepped forward. “Then tell me, Dr. Carter. Do you have a cure? Do you have any reason for me to believe that your research matters?”

Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat.

Because the answer was no.

She had nothing.

No breakthrough. No solution. Just false hope that kept her going long after everyone else had given up.

Patel slammed his hands on the table. “We are not endorsing mass extermination.” His voice shook with fury. “And if you even attempt to initiate such an operation, I will—”

A sudden alarm blared through the facility.

EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ENGAGED. SECURITY BREACH DETECTED.

Evelyn’s blood went cold.

“What the hell?” Sterling muttered, turning toward the monitors.

A security officer ran into the room, out of breath, panic in his eyes. “Sir! We have—” He hesitated. Shook his head. “We have a situation.”

“Spit it out, soldier!” Sterling barked.

The guard swallowed hard.

“There are people outside. Hundreds of them. Armed. They’re trying to break in.”

The CDC was under siege.

Evelyn’s pulse hammered in her ears.

They had spent too long clinging to the illusion of control.

And now?

Now the outside world had come to tear them apart.