The night passed quietly at Celestine's base. The fog had lifted, the rubble was slowly being cleared, and the survivors clung to what little hope remained. The villa where Celestine and I were resting was wrapped in silence, broken only by the sound of night insects and the whisper of cold wind slipping through cracks in the windows.
But elsewhere specifically at Sofia's base the atmosphere was starkly different.
BZzzzttt
The soft sound of a military-grade radio connecting echoed in the room, linking Sofia to a source she had already expected.
A deep, arrogant voice slid through the speaker.
"You're close to the Zombie Queen, aren't you? Hand her over to us. It should be easy for you to deceive her. This is for the sake of humanity."
Sofia sat calmly in her chair, one hand supporting her chin as she stared blankly at the strategy board before her. Her voice was cool laced with thorns.
"For the sake of humanity, you say? What a cliché excuse."
