Back at Zack’s pound, he enjoyed a rare moment of calm. After a refreshing swim, he lounged by the pool, letting the sun warm his skin as a soft breeze rustled the surrounding trees. For ohere were no zombies, no chaos—just peace.
“Ego,” Zack said, slipping on his sungsses, “sometimes I think the apocalypse isn’t so bad. Quiet, not too muoise…” He trailed off, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he watched the clouds drift zily across the sky.
His peace didn’t st long. When he opened his eyes, Sarah rawled out in the chair o him. Her red hair glinted in the sunlight, and the colr around her neck caught the light.
Zack frowned. “Do you need something?”
Sarah rolled her eyes dramatically, theled ba her chair. She’d been h around him all day, and by now, she seemed vinced he wasn’t lying about the colr being a safety measure. “Coward,” she muttered under her breath, though her fingers instinctively touched the colr as if to make sure it wasn’t about to explode.
“This isn’t cowardice—it’s caution,” Zack replied, not even looking at her. “You should try it sometime.”
“Got it,” Sarah replied with mothusiasm, stig her to at his back as he leaned further into his chair.
“I hear you,” Zack said with a sigh. He regretted bringing her along—her uable behavior and strange logic always caught him off guard.
Sarah hummed a little tune, pretending to rex just like Zack, sungsses and all.
“Ugh, ’t I get one day of peace?” Zack groaned, finally losing patience.
“Fine, fine,” Sarah said, quieting down, though her grin suggested she’d pushed him just enough for her liking.
“Big brother!” a cheerful voice called out, shattering what was left of his calm. Annie came running, a wren hand, her cheeks smudged with grease. “ you help me with Tarantu? Something’s wrong…”
Notig his annoyed expression, she hesitated. “I’m sorry, I fix it myself if—”
“It’s fine,” Zaterrupted, waving her over. “I’m not resting anymore, anyway.”
As Zack stood to leave, Sarah perked up. “ I e too? I haven’t seen it yet.”
Zack shot her an annoyed look, silently mouthing, '“Get lost.”'
She got the hint, throwing on her sungsses and flopping bato the chair with a dramatic sigh. “Fine, have your b robot fun.”
In Annie’s workshop, Zack immediately spotted the problem. Tarantu, her robotipanion, owered down on the workbench.
“You’re trying to upgrade her transmission system, aren’t you?” Zack asked, tapping Annie lightly on the forehead.
“Yeah, she’s too slow during fights,” Annie replied, rubbing her forehead.
“Good idea,” Zack said, nodding, “but you fot something simple.”
“What?” Ailted her head, fused.
“Her AI’s still running on the old system. Upgrading the transmission won’t help if the software ’t keep up.”
“Oh!” Annie gasped, realizing her mistake. “You’re right…”
Zack chuckled, patting her shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll figure it out.”
With that, he left her to work, heading to his own station. Activating his dispys, Zack leaned back, studying a glowing map of potential armory locations. One, led deep in a mountainion, caught his eye.
“This is the one,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes. His rare moment of peace was officially over.
"Well, if you're all set here, I’ll leave you to it," Zack said with a chuckle, clearly amused by Annie's expression. He gave her a final encing pat on the shoulder before walking out of the b.
"Phew," Annie exhaled, feeling the heat in her cheeks slowly fade away. She g Tarantu and pouted. "This is all your fault, Tarantu," she whispered, lightly tapping on its metallic shell. "If you’d just kept up, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself in front of my brother." A moment ter, guilt softened her features as she gently rubbed the spot she had tapped. "Sorry about that… didn’t mean to hit you," she murmured.
Meanwhile, Zack made his way to his workbench, his short break officially over. With a flick of a switch, he brought a series of holographic dispys to life, filling the room with a low, steady hum of teology.
"Ego, pull up all known armory locations across the try," he instructed, his mind already shifting gears to their strategic move. They needed resources to bolster their defenses, and Zack had a specific type of armory in mind.
"Mapping pleted, sir," Ego replied smoothly as a satellite map materialized on the rgest s. Red markers pinpointed locations scattered across the try. Most were trated in the northern regions, but oood out—a remote armory led in the mountains. It was heavily fortified, hidden, and strategically ideal.
"This is the one," Zack muttered, leaning closer as his eyes locked on the coordinates. Its location was isoted and secure—almost too well-hidden. If Ego hadn’t cracked the work back before everything fell apart, this pce would’ve remained off the radar.
Zack leaned ba his chair, his expression sharpening with determination. As the pn began to take shape in his mind, he felt the familiar spark of focus ighe road ahead wouldn’t be easy, but he was ready to tackle it head-on.
"Well, if you're all set here, I’ll leave you to it," Zack said with a chuckle, clearly amused by Annie's expression. He gave her a final encing pat on the shoulder before walking out of the b.
"Phew," Annie exhaled, feeling the heat in her cheeks slowly fade away. She g Tarantu and pouted. "This is all your fault, Tarantu," she whispered, lightly tapping on its metallic shell. "If you’d just kept up, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself in front of my brother." A moment ter, guilt softened her features as she gently rubbed the spot she had tapped. "Sorry about that… didn’t mean to hit you," she murmured.
Meanwhile, Zack made his way to his workbench, his short break officially over. With a flick of a switch, he brought a series of holographic dispys to life, filling the room with a low, steady hum of teology.
"Ego, pull up all known armory locations across the try," he instructed, his mind already shifting gears to their strategic move. They needed resources to bolster their defenses, and Zack had a specific type of armory in mind.
"Mapping pleted, sir," Ego replied smoothly as a satellite map materialized on the rgest s. Red markers pinpointed locations scattered across the try. Most were trated in the northern regions, but oood out—a remote armory led in the mountains. It was heavily fortified, hidden, and strategically ideal.
"This is the one," Zack muttered, leaning closer as his eyes locked on the coordinates. Its location was isoted and secure—almost too well-hidden. If Ego hadn’t cracked the work back before everything fell apart, this pce would’ve remained off the radar.
Zack leaned ba his chair, his expression sharpening with determination. As the pn began to take shape in his mind, he felt the familiar spark of focus ighe road ahead wouldn’t be easy, but he was ready to tackle it head-on.
