“Approximately 600,000, sir. It’s one of the rgest survivor bases in the region,” Ego replied.

  “What about their resources?” Zack pressed.

  “The city houses top-tier uies and research facilities, with rare materials and elemeimated to be more thaimes the amount in NYC,” Ego said.

  “Good,” Zack said with a chilling smile. “Put everything else on hold. Focus all produ on the Avalon transport fleet.”

  Ba Washington, chaos had erupted. Despite Kane’s efforts to keep the news tained, rumors of the approag zombie horde spread like wildfire. “Arrest anyone spreading rumors!” Kane roared, his voice eg through the base aer. But his orders did little to quell the panic. Fear had taken root, and no amount of authoritarian trol could stop it. People whispered about how the base’s defenses would crumble uhe sheer weight of the horde. Some even cimed Kane had already made pns to abandon them and flee.

  Ihe aer, Ka with his cil in an emergency meeting, his usually pompous demeanor repced by visible desperation. “We need a solution,” he barked, gring at his subordinates. “What we do to stop this horde?”

  The room fell silent. Every proposed solution had been shot down after rounds of debate. Finally, someone broke the silence. “Sir, it’s… unstoppable,” a cil member said hesitantly. “Even nuclear ons won’t be enough at this stage.”

  Kane smmed his fist oable. “I don’t believe that!” he shouted. He had cwed his way to power, eliminating rivals and seg his position as leader of Washington DC’s base. Now, faced with an unpreted threat, he wasn’t ready to give it all up. “Fine!” Kane snapped. “We’ll create a nuclear barrier. Bst a radiation field horizontally across the horde’s path. That should stop them!”

  His subordinates exged uneasy gnces. Finally, someone spoke up timidly. “Sir… zombies aren’t affected by radiation.”

  The color drained from Kane’s face. He froze, theed in fury. “If that won’t work, then what will? What do you expect me to do?” he roared, his voice shaking with anger and frustration.

  Kane, despite his reputation as a shrewd businessman, had earned respect over the years through his mix of ing and brute power. But when his temper fred, it left everyorembling. One of his subordinates, a skinny man with an unpleasantly sly face, visibly quaked as Kane’s sharp gaze locked onto him. “You. Speak!” Kane barked, his tone leaving no room fument. His gre seemed to say, ‘e up with a solution, or you’re dead.’

  The man stammered, his voice crag uhe pressure. “I… I think we could try tag other bases. Maybe… trade like we did with Carribiean Base… exge people for their help.” The words barely left his mouth befret washed over him. The room went silent, the air thick with judgmental stares. Kane’s face darkened, his already round cheeks seeming to sink into a shadow.

  “You idiot!” Kane bellowed. “How exactly do you pn to tact them when all our satellites are gone? Huh? Tell me that!”

  The man flinched but couldn’t respond. “We don’t even know where the horde is anymore, let alone have a way to reach other bases!” Kahundered, his rage reag its peak. “Drag this fool to the wall! Let him greet the zombies when they arrive!”

  Two tattooed guards strode in, grabbed the trembling man, and dragged him out of the room. The man screamed, begging for another ce. “Wait!” he shouted desperately. “I have a way to track the horde!”

  Kane raised his hand, signaling the guards to pause. His gre turned icy as he addressed the man. “Talk.”

  The man’s voice wavered. “We… we could use pnes. Even without satellites, the pnes—”

  “Pnes?” Ka him off, his face livid. “Drag him out! I don’t need fools wasting my time!”

  Before the man could defend himself, the guards hauled him out of the room. His cries faded into the distance, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Everyone exged uneasy ghey all knew mentioning airpnes was a touchy subject. After the old anders’s fall, Kane had executed the base’s few remaining military pilots, leaving them with no one capable of flying fighter jets. Even their civil aviation pilots were barely petent. But despite his anger, Kaually grumbled, “He’s irely wrong. We still use droo track the horde.”

  One of his subordinates hesitated before speaking cautiously, “Leader, the drones have a limited range. Even if we spot the horde, we won’t have much time to prepare.”

  “It’s better than nothing,” Kane snapped. “Send the drones out. Once we locate the horde, we’ll drop the nuke and prepare to leave.” With that, he slumped bato his chair, his massive frame seeming to sink uhe weight of his desperation. The room remained quiet. No one voiced objes—they were all focused on their own survival, not the 600,000 lives in the base.

  Under Kane’s orders, military drones unched in waves from the Washington DC base, sing the northern pins. Without satellite support, their range was limited to a 200-kilometer radius. This limitation posed a dire problem. The moment the horde was detected, it meant the zombies were already dangerously close—just 24 hours away for ordinary undead. For faster variants like Night Stalker and Hunters, the time could be cut down to less than 10 hours. Kane, ever cautious, had already prepared his escape. A luxury transport p fueled on the runway, stocked with fine wines, gourmet food, and a group of young women dressed as flight attendants. To Kahese women were more than pany—they were currency, valuable enough to barter for safety and resources at another base.

  But not everyone shared his selfish mi. In the crowded survivor living quarters, reseoward Kane simmered. In one of the makeshift prefab houses, a group of mutants gathered. These weren’t ordinary survivors—they were powered individuals who had formed a resistance of sorts.

  “That fat bastard Kane,” one of them growled, smming his fist on a creaky table. “He’s got no iion of defending this pce!” The speaker, a muscur man with a bull-like frame, ched his fists in frustration.

  “Why don’t we just send Fang to take him out?” he suggested. “End this nonsense before it’s too te.”

  Another mutant shook his head. “It’s not that simple. You think Kane’s mutants are just for decoration? He’s got them guarding him day and night.”

  The man known as Fang rolled his eyes, frustrated and out of breath. His ability, akin to a chameleon’s camoufge, allowed him to blend seamlessly into his surroundings at night, making him nearly invisible. However, the ability was useless under ultraviolet light, rendering him powerless during the day. Hearing about Kane’s loyal mutant enforcers, the burly man beside him instinctively rubbed a scar on his arm, letting out a long sigh.