Chapter 402
Chapter 402
“Something needs to be done about the morphus,” Samantha said after she finished recounting to the leaders of the other two strongholds the grim fate of Noah and Victor. The screen of her wide monitor was split into two sections: one showing Catalina, the other Melissa, each framed against the dim glow of their respective command centers.
For a moment, neither of the two spoke. Then Catalina, carefully choosing her words, said, “I’m truly sorry for what happened to your people. But let’s be reasonable here. Jake warned us that as long as we let him be, he’d return the favor. Los Demonios crossed paths with him, and where are they now? Gone. They’re now nothing but a memory. Let’s not repeat their mistake. Jake also explicitly warned that anyone who entered his lair would never be heard from again. By now, I doubt there’s a single survivor who isn’t aware of that.”
“What exactly are you implying?” Samantha said harshly, folding her arms across her chest.
Catalina seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if weighing her words to avoid a confrontation. However, her face then took on a surprisingly hard expression as she stated, her tone unyielding, “I’ve already said I’m sorry for what happened to Noah and Victor, but the truth is, they brought it on themselves. Nobody made them step into that place.”
Samantha fell silent, taken aback. Catalina was usually gentle in tone and demeanor, but now her voice carried an iron edge, and her eyes turned cold, drilling into Samantha’s with unflinching intensity. This was a side of Catalina she had never witnessed, and for a heartbeat, she was unsure how to respond. Obviously, Catalina could be stern and unyielding when the situation demanded it.
Samantha’s first urge was to raise her voice, but she forced herself to remain calm. Picking a fight with the leaders of the other two human strongholds wouldn’t be smart.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and said, “We can’t just turn a blind eye to him luring survivors into his lair so he can turn them into raw materials for creating more monsters. Why can’t you see that?”
“Jake isn’t luring anyone,” Catalina shot back without hesitation. “Your people walked into his lair of their own free will. You said it yourself. You can’t pin it on Jake.”
“The freak has to be stopped!” Samantha almost cried out, slamming her fist against the table, failing to keep her composure despite her best efforts. “Why can’t you see he’s going to be a huge threat to us all very soon unless we do something about it?!”
“What exactly do you want to do?” Catalina asked. “Do you want to declare war on him? Have you already forgotten what happened to the last guys who crossed his path? Jake can wipe your entire base off the map without even lifting a finger, letting his minions do all the work instead. And after he freed you, this is how you choose to repay him? Tell me, are you truly willing to gamble with the lives of your people?”
“Of course, I can’t defeat him on my own. But if the three of us joined forces…”
“It wouldn’t make a difference,” Catalina finished for her. “Los Demonios outnumbered us by a wide margin, and they were much more powerful than we are now. Even together, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Samantha shifted her gaze to Melissa, who still hadn’t said a word. She looked for her support, knowing that Melissa also didn’t trust the morphus. However, Melissa was avoiding her gaze now. It was obvious she had decided to side with Catalina instead, which shouldn’t have come as a big surprise, considering Melissa and Catalina had known each other for a long time.
With a heavy exhale, Samantha sank back into her chair, her determination crumbling. Reasoning with them was pointless. She could see it clearly now.
“You should be thankful for his help and concentrate on the survival of you and your people from now on, instead of putting their lives at risk,” Catalina urged, a flicker of relief crossing her face as she noticed Samantha’s resistance waver. “Trust me, keeping Jake as an ally is much better than making him an enemy.”
“All I’m saying is that he could soon become a very serious threat to us all,” Samantha said stubbornly.
“Right now, the biggest threat to our survival is the Ravage Contamination,” Catalina replied evenly. “Let’s focus on that, shall we?”
Samantha didn’t reply. She hadn’t truly expected the two of them to support her, but she had still hoped she could win them over. But it seemed she was on her own in her fight against the morphus. So be it.
As soon as she gained some kind of advantage over the morphus, she would go on the offensive. For the past several days, some of her people, whom she had dispatched to the location of the Los Demonios’ main base, had been scouring the wreckage, searching for scraps of technology that might prove useful in the battles ahead.
So far, their search had yielded nothing, yet Samantha clung to the hope that her people might uncover a relic intact enough to repair and replicate, using it as the blueprint for advanced technology of their own. The weapons Los Demonios had used were far superior to those of regular survivors, so Samantha hoped that even fragments of their shattered machines might hold the secrets she needed. If she could study the remnants and reverse-engineer their design, she could lay the foundation to build powerful weapons of her own.
“Have you finished developing your weapon?” Melissa suddenly asked, snapping Samantha out of her reverie.
For a fraction of a second, Samantha was confused. She hadn’t told either of them about the team she’d sent to sift through the ruins of the Los Demonios’ main base, so how could they possibly know? Then she realized that Melissa’s question wasn’t aimed at her at all, but at Catalina.
“My team is putting the final touches on it,” Catalina replied. “We’ll be testing it against the Ravage Contamination in just a couple of hours.”
“And if it works, will you share the tech?”
“Absolutely. What matters most is that it performs as intended.”
“When are you heading to the Dead City, by the way?”
“As soon as possible. Ideally tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure you want to go there yourself?”
“I’m sure.”
“Kat, that’s risky. Why not send someone else?”
“After all the men I lost on this assignment? No. This time, I’m taking it upon myself. I’m not going to lose any more of my people over this. That said, I do intend to bring in some help.”
“What kind of help?”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Samantha demanded, cutting in before Catalina could reply. Both women looked at her, their faces momentarily blank as though they had already forgotten she was there.
“My team has been working on and testing new weapons, trying to develop one that can actually damage the Ravage Contamination,” Catalina finally said.
“And tomorrow? Where are you heading?”
“There’s something I need to look into. I’ll explain everything when I come back.”
“If you come back, that is,” Melissa said.
“I will come back. Don’t worry.”
It was the first time Samantha had heard that Catalina was working on a weapon to destroy the Ravage Contamination. She also hadn’t known Catalina was going somewhere, while Melissa was aware of it all. The two of them were obviously close, constantly keeping in touch, while she was kept out of the loop.
She wasn’t all that surprised. After all, she had only recently crossed paths with them. Yet, as the leader of another stronghold, Samantha felt she deserved more transparency. Secrets, especially in times like these, could be as dangerous as any enemy.
“Well, if that’s everything, I need to attend to something,” Catalina said.
“Yeah, me too,” Melissa added way too quickly.
It was obvious they couldn’t wait to get rid of her. They probably wanted to talk in private.
“Fine,” she muttered, closing the video connection. The screen faded to black, and she sat there for a long moment, gaze still fixed on the dark screen before her, thoughts swirling like storm clouds.