But the news she received had shattered her completely: Silas was already with another girl.
Raya’s chest tightened painfully. Betrayed by her best friend when the apocalypse began, betrayed again by the man she had once loved... she couldn’t help but wonder if soday her brother would betray her too.
But she quickly shook her head, forcing herself out of that downward spiral. She must not allow paranoid thoughts to eat her alive.
She looked at the masked leader and asked cautiously, "Are you the boss?"
The man didn’t speak. Instead, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to her.
Raya took it with trembling hands and carefully opened it.
As she read the content, realization dawned on her... the mastermind wasn’t here at all. Instead, she was being assigned a task, one that would determine whether she was worthy of joining their organization.
If she proved useful, they would help her take revenge, and more importantly, they would help awaken her superpower.
Her heart thudded wildly. For a mont, excitent overtook fear. She looked at the masked leader again and asked, her voice unsteady, "Are you telling the truth?"
He nodded with a calm, unbothered air.
Raya inhaled deeply to steady herself and unfolded the second sheet, which contained the mission details.
The task seed almost absurdly simple: she only needed to enter Starfell Base and retrieve a large bag containing hair samples.
Soone would be waiting at a secret location. She would approach them, speak the designated code, receive the bag, and smuggle it back to the organization.
The more she read, the more she felt this wasn’t a challenge at all... almost laughably easy.
As if reading her expression, the masked leader let out a low chuckle.
"Don’t underestimate the mission," he said calmly. "The difficulty isn’t retrieving the bag. The problem lies with what’s inside it. Its contents will attract a large number of zombies. How well you can handle them... that will determine whether you survive long enough to return."
Raya swallowed hard, her hands tightening around the paper. She understood the risk. She understood she might not return alive.
But revenge burned too deeply in her heart.
"Rember not to tell anyone, this mission is absolutely confidential." The masked man warned and for the first ti Raya froze.
She raised her head and asked in a low voice, "If I complete this mission... will you really help get my revenge?"
The masked leader nodded once again.
Raya took a deep breath, her resolve solidifying.
"Then I want to add a condition," she said. "If I finish this mission, you must help find soone nad Ivy. She was last seen near the Silvy Base."
The masked leader repeated the na "Ivy," as if he were hearing it for the first ti, and Raya’s expression softened imdiately.
She explained, in a quiet voice tinged with worry, that Ivy was her sister and she had been trying to find her for a very long ti, yet no matter how many bases she searched or how many people she questioned, she hadn’t been able to locate her at all.
Hearing those words, the masked leader gave a slight nod, as though acknowledging her request.
Raya continued, her voice gaining a note of urgency.
"You just need to tell Ivy that her sister is looking for her. If you ever find her... if you just give her that ssage, she will definitely stop and agree to travel with you. She’ll reach out to ... at least that’s what I hope. You just need to act as the dium."
Her reasoning seed firm, but the masked n exchanged subtle glances, as though they sensed sothing was off. However, none of them questioned her further.
Feeling both relieved and tense, Raya exhaled deeply and announced, "Then I’ll take my leave for now."
"Wait." One of the masked stopped her and stated, "Since you are a candidate to beco our organization’s mber, soone among us can help you to drop you."
"No need, my brother is waiting for in the car." Raya said with a grin and left. This ti no one stopped her.
With that, she walked out of the warehouse with an air of confidence, as though she completely believed in the mission they assigned her.
The mont she stepped outside, she quickened her pace, got into her car, and drove off without looking back.
Only when she was far... so far that she knew none of their scouts or hidden eyes could detect her... did she finally pat her chest, her forehead tightening into a deep frown.
’Of course it was a human trafficking racket,’ she thought bitterly.
She had realized it almost instantly after reading the mission.
How could a supposed organization with enough manpower to send over a dozen n to an abandoned warehouse not have the manpower to fetch or deliver a simple package from Starfell Base?
How could they need her for such a task? It was too suspicious, too illogical, and too convenient. Everything scread danger.
She knew she should have left imdiately, but walking out without suspicion would have been impossible.
So she had used Ivy’s na as a shield, a distraction, sothing to make them believe she fully intended to cooperate.
’If they end up searching for soone, better Ivy than my brother,’ she thought coldly, even though guilt pricked her heart. At least Ivy wasn’t her friend, so even if Ivy was hurt, it won’t matter much!
A small smirk curled on Raya’s lips at her own quick thinking... but the satisfaction didn’t last long.
Just as she drove away, a dark figure appeared directly in front of her car, materializing so abruptly that she barely had ti to react.
At first Raya assud it was a zombie warrior sprinting out of nowhere, but when the figure slamd onto the front hood of her jeep, she froze.
The person was dressed head to toe in pitch-black clothing, with not even their eyes visible. Yet a cold, primal fear surged through her.
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