"Vivian, are you sure the commander is alright?" a male voice said, full of concern. "He has been asleep for three days."
"Marcus, the doctors said he has collapsed from exhaustion," Vivian assured him. Don't tell me you forgot how many sleepless nights he spent since the start of the apocalypse?"
"Sighh..." Marcus let out a heavy sigh. He is too kind-hearted. " But precisely because of this, he was willing to follow him unconditionally.
Marcus and Vivian stood near the door of the room.
The white lights reflected from the white concrete walls, material that made almost the whole underground base.
The commander lay on his be, soundly asleep in the corner of the room.
"Ahh..." His body moved as he slowly opened his eyes.
Marcus' and Vivian's voices woke him up.
Bright light enters his eyes.
"Commander," Vivian rushed to him.
"Vivian," the commander looked at her, unable not to notice the dark circles under her eyes that were not there before.
He smiled gently. "It must have been hard. Sorry,"
Vivian grabbed his palm and shook her head. "Not at all."
The commander smiled as he slowly rose and leaned on the headboard.
Deep in his heart, he knew how hard Vivian must have worked. She must have taken on his duties as well. His heart warmed in appreciation, but since she was adamant about refusing any credibility, knowing her stubborn nature, the commander decided to drop the matter and not pursue it.
However, immediately, his smile vanished as he became dead serious. "How is the situation?" he questioned. "Food supplies? Survivors? Fuel for the generators?"
These were crucial matters weighing down on his heart. Without food, they would starve. With his magnanimous heart, he didn't want to see anyone suffer, much less lose their life. As for fuel, it was equally crucial.
If the generators stopped working, they would fall in complete darkness as the base was underground.
"Marcus," Vivian looked at Marcus. "I'll trouble you to bring the doctors to check on the commander."
"It's no problem," Marcus immediately left the room.
"Many died," As he left the room, Vivian started her report. "Of the previous number exceeding 10.000, only 1159 survived, including us."
The commander's face turned dark.
"Looking at the bright side, the remaining survivors are all awakened, and the deaths of the others greatly reduced the pressure on our supplies.
As for the generators, we have enough fuel to last us several months."
"There is no bright side when a life is lost," The commander looked up at the ceiling, his eyes trembling.
A silence took over the room for a few seconds before the commander spoke again, breaking the silence.
"Did you clean the base?"
"Yes," Vivian replied immediately. We transported the corpses near the city, forming a small flesh wall. It should stop the zombies from sensing us for the time being. The scent of corpses and our scend will mix; they won't be able to distinguish it."
The commander's eyes widened. "But it will also prevent other survivors from reaching us."
"Yes." Vivian nodded. "No new survivors reached us."
"Vivian, how could..."
"Commander," Vivian pushed her glasses back, interrupting him. There are other military bases they can go to. However, securing resources is becoming more difficult even though we have gained many awakened.
The number of zombies is continuously growing in the city. The number of demons also grows. We can't waste resources unnecessarily."
"But..."
"Moreover," Vivian pushed her glasses back again, gazing sharply at the commander. Although you want to help everyone, please refrain. The world has become chaotic and deadly. If you don't think about yourself, please think about us and everyone in this base. If we take in survivors recklessly, we might collapse or starve to death."
Faced with the gaze of his trusted aide, the commander couldn't help but back down. Though he knew what was right and couldn't deny it, he also couldn't deny Vivian's words.
"Sighh..." He let out a breath of turbid air, pinching his nose bridge. "What about the awakened? Did you take the information regarding their abilities?"
Vivian nodded. "We have, and I have divided them into several categories."
The commander raised his eyebrows.
"Refinement category. Poison category, elemental category, medicine category, and so on." She explained. "As the name suggests, in the refinement category, the people can refine or create items.
In the elemental category are those who can wield the elements.
There are many abilities, each unique in its own way. However, many abilities repeat, mainly the element-related abilities.
I created the categories to make the people easy to use, but while they are useful, there are also abilities we can't use and are useless."
"Ohh? How so?" The commander became even more curious, as he didn't think there were useless abilities.
"For example, the city governor's ability. He calls it large appetite. His appetite increased by several times, but that's all. Though his body strength increased as everyone else who awakened, that's his only ability.
His body still processes the food at the same speed, making him even fatter. But not just his; there are many other useless abilities."
The commander nodded. "That's for the better. With his character, if he awakened a powerful ability, he would become even greedier."
Vivian nodded and continued her report.
She informed the commander about everything that had happened those few days he had been asleep, except for the incident with the old man.
Creak!
Suddenly, the door opened, and Marcus walked in, bringing in the two doctors.
The two doctors checked on the commander.
"He is fine," one of the doctors quickly confirmed.
Vivian frowned. "Are you sure?" She asked seriously.
The two doctors shook, the scenes of her coldly shooting in the head of the old man resurfacing in their minds.
"Yes, yes,"
They quickly nodded.
"I can guarantee it."
The commander furrowed his brows.
Vivian sighed in relief. "You can leave then. Thank you,"
"Vivian, it's rude to send them away just like that," The commander smiled. "See them off yourself,"
Vivian hesitated for a second, but then she stood up and left the room to see them off.
"I'll leave then as well. You should rest." Marcus turned to leave.
"Marcus, wait a second,"
As the commander called, Marcus stopped in his tracks.
"Yes?"
"When Vivian spoke, I could see fear in the doctors. Do you know what happened?"
Seeing the commander's serious expression, Marcus couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise. "She didn't tell you what she had done when she went to bring the doctors the day you collapsed?"
The commander's expression turned even more serious. He could feel something unpleasant.
"Sighh..." Marcus released a sigh, shaking his head.
He decided to inform the commander about the events between Vivian and the old man.
As he spoke, the commander's eyes continuously widened. He couldn't believe his ears.
"And that's why everyone fears her now," Marcus finished. "I can see you angry?" He raised an eyebrow.
The commander was drowning deeply.
"Of course I'm angry." He gritted his teeth. "Why would she become so emotional? She even took an innocent life? Because he had different opinions?"
"Why would she become so emotional?" Marcus muttered. "Commander, you are so blind sometimes." He shook his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind that," Marcus suddenly became dead serious. "You may feel angry, but you'll say nothing to her." He spoke, his voice full of authority.
"Are you ordering me right now?" The commander frowned, battle intent growing in his eyes.
"I dare not," Marcus replied straightforwardly. You are the commander. However, this time, you are wrong. Her actions are justified. Whether he was innocent or not is irrelevant.
What's important is that he tried to sow discord among the survivors. We can't have the people divided. We need everyone united if we want to survive.
Had it been me, I would have killed him and the others following him.
While you might think my words are extreme, I don't care. You might be the commander; your words might be the absolute order. However, it's time to stop acting like a child. You can't save everyone. No one can.
A great leader is not afraid to make choices just because he fears the losses. He leads despite the risks and takes full responsibility for his actions. He takes paths that would be the most beneficial for the group. He doesn't act like a spoiled child living in a wonderland.
This has become a world of pain, suffering, endless slaughter, and blood flow."
The words rang in the commander's head. He fell into deep thought.
Marcus didn't interrupt him, and since he said all he had, he left the room.