Chapter 99:
The sun was setting behind the high walls of the base, casting long shadows across the farmland. Zara wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, smearing dirt on her already smudged skin. Her muscles ached in ways she hadn’t anticipated. The other women had complained about it when she first joined the farm work, but she hadn’t realized just how grueling it would be. Now, she understood their groans and muttered curses under their breath as they pulled weeds or hoisted heavy baskets of crops.
She leaned on her hoe for a moment, allowing herself a brief reprieve as her gaze drifted toward the flowerbeds near the far corner of the farm. There, crouched by a cluster of brightly colored blooms, was Leo. He was talking to the flowers, his little hands gesturing animatedly as if he were weaving some kind of story for them.
Zara’s lips curled into a tired smile. He always found ways to make her heart lighter, even on the hardest days.
"Leo," she called softly, about to wave him over. But before he could look up, a loud alarm blared across the farm, shattering the quiet evening.
The sound startled Zara, making her jump. Her heart raced as she instinctively turned to Leo, who had stumbled back in surprise, clutching his hands to his chest.
But then it hit her—a sudden wave of dizziness, like the ground had tilted beneath her feet.
Her vision darkened, and the world seemed to dissolve around her.
*****
In the darkness, faint shapes began to form, murky and distorted. She saw the wall—its towering silhouette broken by the jagged breach of twisted metal and crumbled stone. The mist was everywhere, thicker than she’d ever seen, swirling like a living thing.
Figures moved through it—zombies, faster and more coordinated than any she’d ever heard of. They surged toward the breach, their eyes glinting with an unnatural light.
Soldiers scrambled to respond, shouting orders, firing their weapons. But the horde was relentless.