Calista suddenly sat upright, her fingers trembling as they brushed over the small line of text beneath the appendix:
"…biological effect observations based on blood-related samples associated with the sponsor…"
Biological effects? Blood-related samples?
Calista suddenly recalled the fierce argument the original Calista had with her mother in the car before the accident.
She hadn't inherited the original body's memories, but the dashcam from that horrific crash hadn't been completely destroyed.
Because the original Calista and her mother were wealthy, and Margaret was something of a social figure in Knoxville, the local police had once suspected the accident might have been intentional. They later visited Calista and played back the conversation recorded by the dashcam.
Margaret: "He hasn't cared about you for more than ten years, and now you're just going because he called? Calista, do you have any sense? A cold-blooded businessman like him suddenly acting nice—there's definitely something wrong!"
Calista: "Mom, he's my dad! Can't you think about it in a better way? Maybe he's just getting older and wants to make things right between us!"
Margaret: "I don't agree! I'm telling you, you're not going! Do you hear me?"
Calista: "I'm already seventeen! You can't control me like I'm a child! I can go wherever I want!"
What followed were the panicked screams of the two women, mixed with the shrill sound of brakes as the violent collision happened.
Margaret ultimately stopped that trip to France with her life.
To Leah, she might have been an irresponsible mother.
But to Calista, she had given all of her maternal love.
After that, Calista remained in the hospital for a long time.
In the end, she didn't make it.
After Cali transmigrated into this body, the so-called biological father seemed to disappear entirely and never contacted her again.
So that sudden burst of "fatherly affection" had only been for the convenience of observing her as a "blood-related sample"?
Observing what?
Observing what kind of "biological effects" the experimental vaccine from the Wildfire Project would have on her?
Holy shit.
The paper in Calista's hand suddenly felt both scorching hot and unbearably heavy.
In the original storyline, the Wildfire virus began leaking in April 2010.
The people who created it, the governments funding the research, and sponsors like Silas Norton must have known about it long ago.
But the Wildfire vaccine had not been successfully developed yet. It was still in the experimental stage.
So they sealed off the information and kept the public in the dark.
Occasionally, when one or two cases appeared in different countries, officials brushed them off with various excuses.
As for the experimental vaccines or serum, no one knew if they actually worked. The effects varied from person to person, and the side effects could be severe.
Those powerful figures behind the scenes had turned their attention to people closely related to them by blood.
Even monsters don't treat their own children like this!
And now her father suddenly remembered this daughter living far away in America—the one he hadn't seen in more than ten years?
He secretly had a doctor slip the vaccine into Calista's routine physical examination, then used the excuse of a vacation invitation to lure her to France so he could observe and control her at close range.
Bastard.
What the hell was this?
It was a ticking time bomb planted inside her body.
The best possible outcome would be that it actually worked and Calista became completely immune to the virus.
But considering that the apocalypse in the original storyline lasted for years without a solution, that possibility seemed unlikely.
Most likely it was completely useless and she'd be ripped apart by walkers the next moment.
Or maybe it worked a little, turning her into something half-human, half-monster.
The worst possibility was that one day she'd be eating canned food and humming a tune when suddenly—crack—her body would rot and she'd turn into a walker herself.
Calista thought about what had happened to the original body.
After the car accident, she had been alive and gradually recovering. Logically, she should have woken up.
But one day, Cali suddenly transmigrated into her body.
And over the past two months, her energy had been ridiculously high. She had assumed the pressure of surviving in the apocalypse had pushed her body's potential to the limit.
To hell with pressure.
It was probably this damned Wildfire vaccine.
The overwhelming anger and lingering fear hit her like a tidal wave, nearly suffocating her.
But two months of leading people through the apocalypse wasn't for nothing.
Calista took several deep breaths, digging her nails into her palms to force herself to calm down.
Cry? Scream?
Cross the Atlantic through a world full of walkers just to settle accounts with Silas Norton?
Complete nonsense.
The real issue was: what exactly was this experimental vaccine?
Would she suddenly die? Would she mutate into a walker?
Calista needed answers. She had to find out.
Her mind flashed to the place Rick and the others visited in Season One of the original story.
The CDC in Atlanta.
What was that survivor's name again?
Dr. Jenner.
The serious-looking scientist from the show.
He definitely knew something.
Even if he didn't know about this experimental vaccine, he certainly understood viruses.
"Leah!"
Clutching the medical report, Calista rushed into Leah's room, startling her in the middle of push-ups.
She was wearing a gray tank top soaked with sweat. Her lean muscles were taut and clearly defined. She paused for a second in the thumb-supported push-up position before standing up smoothly.
Her core strength was astonishingly stable.
Leah casually grabbed a nearby towel to wipe her face and exhaled slowly.
"What's wrong, Cali?"
If this had been before the transmigration, Calista would definitely have commented under a video of this scene:
"Damn… she's incredible."
But right now, she had absolutely no mood for that.
Calista slammed the life-threatening report onto the table, her eyes blazing.
"Leah… I might be in serious trouble."
"Huh? Right now?" Leah looked at her furious but very much alive sister, clearly confused.
"Look at this!"
Leah picked up the paper. The dense professional terminology made her head spin.
But she could clearly read the words "experimental vaccine" and "sample injected."
"What's going on?"
Calista said angrily, "My deadbeat father secretly had me injected with an experimental virus vaccine. No one knows the effects. It might give me some resistance against the walkers outside—or it might mutate me into one of those things!"
Leah immediately realized how serious this was. Her expression changed at once.
She grabbed Calista and rushed out with the paper to find the only doctor in Rock Fortress—Evans.
Leah kicked the door open with a bang and slapped the wrinkled appendix report onto the examination table.
Evans, who had been organizing medical equipment, jumped in surprise and turned around.
"Leah? Calista? What's going on? You both look terrible."
"I heard you used to be one of Calista's family doctors. Do you know about this?" Leah asked coldly, her tone sharp.
Evans picked up the report in confusion. After reading a few lines, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his face gradually turned pale.
"This… this is the Wildfire Project's associated protocol. Biomarker observation… V-07α compound…"
He muttered to himself, speaking faster and faster as his breathing grew more uneven.
Evans suddenly raised his head.
"Silas?! How could he—Cooper, that idiot! How dare they!"
"So you knew?" Calista's heart sank.
"No! My God, Calista, I had no idea!" Evans immediately protested, his voice rising with anger.
He pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose and explained.
"Cooper and I were both family doctors for you and Margaret, but we handled different specialties. I only knew Mr. Silas funded some biological research projects in Europe. I never knew Cooper was colluding with your father!"
Evans' chest rose and fell violently, his face flushed red with rage.
"I swear! I had no idea he would dare take advantage of your medical exams to do something like this! Injecting an experimental compound that hasn't been fully verified? That's a crime. That's attempted murder!"