บท 30: Stage 1: No hope

Rapidly sliding about the tangible projection, Alex's fingers and eyes worked in tandem. Even as she desperately wished to be wrong, reason told her that her assumption was accurate.

' It isn't possible right?' A foreboding feeling built in the pit of Alex's stomach. 'It was just a few hours.'

Alex did not know what exactly happened, but the result was reflected clearly by the map.

A candid representation of the truth was right before her, so Alex did not bother to deny it anymore.

She reeled in her incredulity and took a deep breath. Then Alex bowed her head in silence and allowed seconds to pass before raising it with calm resolve. She minimized her map, ready for an impending battle, only to be stunned once again.

' What?'

Her eyes were stuck on a certain position, perhaps the cause of her surprise. The golden hue of the bold numbers sharply contrasted with everything else in Alex's line of sight, further enhancing its already ethereal appearance.

66: 34: 09

°°°

2 days prior

113 : 53: 09

'The Underground Bunker'

'An hour more, just an hour more.'

"John, back to earth please."

A large fair hand waved frantically in front of John, an attempt to draw his attention to the present.

"You can't blame him, Anthony, meaningless daydreams are a thousand times better than leading a bunch of mad hens." Evan chuckled, his playful demeanour lightened the frigid atmosphere.

" I wasn't daydreaming, I was engaging in a session of…silent rumination." John audibly cleared his throat under many doubting eyes. " Diego, what else do they want? We settled on fairly sharing supplies already, didn't we?"

Diego stood up; his usual downcast expression plastered across his face.

" Well, sir, Theresa and the rebels demand we kill all the zombies in the next battle or surrender more food."

Before he finished his report, a resounding thud rang across the room, causing all of those present in the conference room to turn to the source of the interruption.

Uncaring of all the other eyes on him, Tarid's dead stare was locked on John. His unflinching stare shook those around him. He silently stood still glaring at the bunker's 'leader'.

"She… Alex was right." The mention of her name prompted the majority of those in the room to don a sour expression. "I mean, she told us, didn't she? She even gave us a way out. But what did we do? We wanted to be 'compassionate'." The intensity of Tarid's voice increased with every word spoken, his fists balled, nostrils flaring.

" Rudra died! We couldn't even mourn him properly because we had to deal with a bunch of whining little kids. We should have thrown them out at the first sign of insubordination, just like we said we would. Look at us now. It's completely pathetic. We barely kill ten zombies altogether, instead of trying to improve we huddle together and barely scrape by. We'll all be killed in the next stages if we even make it." Tarid inhaled and exhaled, and after- with the calmest voice possible- he spoke.

" Yeah, I blame you, John. You're way too soft to be a leader. Some advice, grow. A . Pair." Without waiting for a response or reaction from John, Tarid turned around and walked towards the door.

" You can't just say all that and walk away wimp." Evan, although a tad bit late, responded to Tarid who paid him no mind and left the room unimpeded.

Pairs of eyes displayed different emotions as they discreetly stared at John.

"Leave. All of you should just leave. It's obvious you agree with him, at least he said it to my face."

Like a newly broken dam, his words elicited a torrent of responses. Some openly agreed with Tarid, some comforting him, others mocking him. However, the one person who had not shown any reaction to either Tarid or John's words directly stood and left.

Evan looked at John with a guilty expression on his face while the others wondered whether to leave or not.

"I said leave." He turned to look at Even for the first time since Tarid spoke. "Even you."

Only John remained in the deserted conference room.

He leaned into his chair and covered his face with his left hand in absolute defeat. The pressure of expectation, grief, disappointment and regret bore down on his shoulders yet he was powerless to assuage his burdens.

|Notice|

Alarm bells rang in his head as he saw the translucent screen materialize before him.

[ Congratulations on surviving the first two battles ]

[ The third battle has different rules.]

[ Your base, having the highest number of challengers, will clear an •infested base• with the highest number of zombies. If there is no •infested base• then all bases will merge successfully at the center.]

[ During the temporary merge of your base • The Underground Bunker • and •The Castle •, all doors will be forced open, when all zombies are killed then the doors will return to their standard states.]

[ • The labyrinth • and •Everbloom Fig• will commence their merge during battle 5 where they will face •The Castle• if you do not succeed in your merge. If you do succeed, all bases will merge at the centre during battle 5.]

[ You are not permitted to leave your base until all designated enemies have been eliminated. ]

[ Type any questions here ]

His pupils expanded like saucers as he scrambled away from the hovering death notice. His efforts proved futile as no matter how far back he moved, the screen followed, maintaining a strict distance from him.

John was palpitating from fear but managed to pick himself up just enough for him to bolt out of the room.

' I need to- I need to find the others.' His mind raced with anxiety, and a dreary picture morphed into shape.

'Ah.'

He had finally reached the lounge, his department heads, close confidantes and supporters were all there. What broke him was not that they had gathered without him, rather it was the veil of resignation that obscured every face.

"John, it's over."