98

Stay Alive

Chapter 98 – Communication

Alan walked into the room where Elias and a man named Billy were working. Both of them were trying to repair the radio, so he asked, “Can it be fixed?”

“It can. I’m just replacing a few burnt-out parts, and it’ll be in perfect working order,” Elias replied. He was an expert at repairing radios; he used to have many of them and always handled their maintenance to make them last longer.

Even though the situation was urgent, things were calm. Alan didn’t want to pressure them, so he waited patiently.

It had been many days since he had left the base, and as far as he understood, if he didn’t return soon, leadership would fall into the hands of Tommy—a man Alan trusted deeply. Tommy, once a soldier, could surely carry out all the plans for the greater good.

But the real reason Alan wanted to return was that he needed to accelerate things even further. His plans were laid out to continue for a year, but after that, they would need to be updated.

As he was thinking about all this, Elias, now closing up the radio, turned it on again—and it powered up without any problem.

“It’s on.”

Billy stepped closer and said, “My God, you did it, man.”

Alan took the radio, placed it on his station, and spoke: “Tower Zero, this is Charlie One. Checking in after a long time—requesting answers.”

Zz…

“Requesting answers now. This is Charlie One, over.”

Elias’s smile faded when there was no response. His expression filled with frustration, and he leaned back in his chair, processing the disappointment.

But just as hope was about to fade, a voice came through Alan’s radio: “Tower One in control. Confirm your location for immediate extraction.”

“Negative. Send in armed drones to eliminate a hostile and dangerous group,” Alan said, referring to the Governor’s shelter. He didn’t want to leave loose ends before leaving.

Zz… “Copy. Should we also send in the Wolf team?”

“One squad. They’ll extract me and over twenty people.”

Zz… “Nearest base is already moving—ETA a few hours. Drones will arrive in thirty minutes. The area you’re in has recently been cleared, so there won’t be many infected.”

Elias went quiet. His smile was gone, replaced by a chill running down his spine.

“Hey, man… who are those drones for?”

Alan turned his head and said, “For our enemies. I’m not letting them live before we leave this place.”

When Alan stepped out, he called for Riya, who was glad the communication line was working again. She asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”

“I’ll handle it alone,” Alan said, refusing to involve Riya in his genocidal actions.

When he explained everything to Lee’s group, most said nothing, but Daryl decided to follow—he wanted to keep an eye on his brother and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

Lee wanted to go too, but he had to stay behind to protect the rest of the group.

Once Alan had left, Margaret, who was among them, asked, “Are they going to kill people?”

“Enemies. Nobody enjoys this…” Lee answered, his head pounding with uncertainty over whether they were truly on the right path.

“Then… what will they do to us?”

Riya, who overheard, replied, “Save you, of course. Anyone who doesn’t want to follow us can stay—at their own risk.”

Those words, coming from Riya, translated to one thing: elimination for compromised information. That was exactly what they did to anyone who refused to join them after learning too much.